[Cog]

Cops are still injured, still thrown under the bus by politicians for dubious prosecutions, and frankly in a lot of places the pay simply sucks.

Pro tip. If you don't run from police, fight police, or commit crimes, the likelihood of ending up face down on the pavement is very small.

Of course cops could simply stop patrolling high crime areas. Much hilarity would ensue.

[PrestonSturges]

I love that there are people who are into conspiracy theories and believing that they fighting conspircaies, but they are often the ones who parrot the latest wave of conservative propaganda, urban legends, hoaxes etc. For instance here we have Cog and others saying (if we read behind the lines just a little) that this is conspiracy to kill cops and orchestrated by the White House.

Naturally, sites like this are full of people (or should I say sheeple) who rush around buying Berky water filters and survival seeds convinced they are so smart they have opted out of the consumer culture. Oh really?

And so we have people claiming they are fighting some conspiracy, but as I like to point out "You are the conspiracy numbnuts!" And I think they know but they don't care, because at the base are the unemployed or unemployable people who will embrace anything to get someone to pay attention to them. It is impossible to humiliate them, because they have no self esteem to begin with.

And we have to include Obama's Jew puppetmasters like Saul ALinsky, dead 40 years, but like Emmanuel Goldstein in 1984 who is the intellectual Osama Bin Laden character of the novel, he probably does not exist except as a figure for the public to scream at in the Two Minutes Hate. Conservatives love to claim they are the victim of the Two Minutes Hate directed at Bush or Cheney, but the real point of the TMH was whipping people into a frenzy of hatred over something that doesn't exist. Now that's power right there.

And 15 years down the road, people like Cog will be sitting in some nursing home, gumming their lime jello, and still shaking with rage, traumatized by this thing that never happened, or any of the other things on the long list of shit that never happened but still traumatized him.

[Cog]

It doesn't require a conspiracy to see that politicians are all too ready to throw cops under the bus when a protected class citizen gets killed by the cop. Now the citizen might have been a total scumbag, trying to kill the cop, but that doesn't matter to the race pimps and appeasers to the rioting mobs. Saw it happen in Ferguson, Mo and Baltimore, MD and New York, NY.

The fact that the White House sent two staff members to Michael Brown's funeral sends a certain message to the mob. Saint Michael got exactly what was coming to him. A thug who died a thug's death. Not surprising since his mother and grandmother are thugs in their own right. Got caught fighting over Mike Brown T-shirt sales of all things.

Course it would be racist for me to suggest that cops stop patrolling black neighborhoods completely, even thought that is what the black lives matter folks want. It would almost be worth it to see the drama that would develop.

[evilgenius]

Violence seems to run in the profession...

One Group Has a Higher Domestic Violence Rate Than Everyone Else — And It's Not the NFL

http://mic.com/articles/106886/one-grou ... ot-the-nfl

"In families of police officers, domestic violence is two-to-four times more likely than in the general population — from stalking and harassment to sexual assault and even homicide. As the National Center for Women and Policing notes, two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to 10% of families in the general population. "

I wonder if this is because there are too many cops, it being that you will only really find so many fit for the job as a percentage of the population, or if it has to do with something about the job? It could also be that the wrong parts of the job are glorified, violence over the human relations aspect, appealing to less stable people. When municipalities rely upon their police forces to generate revenue, to keep local taxes cheaper, there can be unforeseen consequences.

[Cog]

One way to eliminate a lot of cops is to end this futile war on drugs. A lot of the negative interactions between cops and the black community arise over drugs. A lot of crimes arise because people are trying to get money to buy drugs.

[augjohnson]

Just can't stop trying to make someone else look bad, can they?

Not only was tennis star James Blake innocent, so was the other black man NYPD said he looked like
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/1 ... ooked-like

"Now this man's face is all over the internet, mostly mentioned with the words "suspect" and "theft." Who gave the them this photo of some other random dude off of Instagram? The courier? The NYPD now claims the company, GoButler, gave them the random Instagram photo of this man, but that still doesn't explain the self-serving reason they released it to the public.
What's crazy about all of this is that the entire case is supposed to be about identity fraud. Yet the NYPD continues to mangle the identities of innocent black men who had nothing at all to do with the case."

They just keep trying to make the other black guy look bad, even though he has nothing to do with the case.

BTW COG, I wholeheartedly agree with your statement about ending the "War on Drugs"!

[augjohnson]

And some wonder why the cops aren't given the highest respect by poorer people? This wouldn't happen in a White Middle Class neighborhood.

California Police Ransacked Public Apartments Without Warrants Under ‘Neighborhood Blitz’ Program
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/0 ... suit-says/

"In an invasive, war-like operation known as the Neighborhood Blitz, police officers in Stockton, California illegally searched the apartments of poor minorities and physically disabled people, according to a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday. Under the guise of standard housing inspections, armed officers routinely burst into homes with little to no warning, ransacked the premises without warrants, demanded personal information from tenants that had nothing to do with their homes, and threatened renters with arrests and homelessness."

[americandream]

One way to eliminate a lot of cops is to end this futile war on drugs. A lot of the negative interactions between cops and the black community arise over drugs. A lot of crimes arise because people are trying to get money to buy drugs.

Local communities also need to stop the pervasive popularisation of the drug culture which sees these people so drug addled that they are incapable of articulating a collective response to issues.

This bullshit elevating of drugs to pop culture is decadent nonsense.

[Oneaboveall]

Legislation introduced in California to rein in police use and misuse of asset forfeiture laws in order to take people’s money and property (often without ever charging with them with a crime) has seen some significant changes in the Assembly since we’ve previously reported on it.

...it turns out just requiring a citizen to be convicted of a crime before the government can keep his or her stuff may be too much for the federal government’s liking. The Institute for Justice (non-profit working towards passage of the bill) provided a copy of an e-mail from a Treasury representative sent out last week that warned, “I highly doubt our federal agencies can figure out whether a conviction occurred in a timely manner. I’m not sure they would have the resources, desire, or technical capability. … Accordingly, I think I would still advise our policy officials here that it would be prudent not to share with agencies should this law be passed.”

http://truthvoice.com/2015/09/californi ... orfeiture/

Basically, some legislators in California are trying to pass that would allow assets to be forfeited only if the person is convicted of a crime and local, state, and federal law enforcement is trying their best to defeat the bill. Civil forfeiture basically gave the soldiers permission to loot and now their freaking out because someone is trying to rein in their abuse of power.

[Cog]

Like the war on drugs, civil forfeiture needs to go away as well. There should be no profit motive in law enforcement. Encourages lying and overall bad behavior to obtain a conviction or simply to take money without anyone being charged. Parallel construction and that sort of thing. Violates the 5th Amendment if nothing else.

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

[evilgenius]

I just watched the video of James Blake getting tackled and cuffed. The man that tackled him was not wearing shorts, as I had been led to believe by some earlier outside quote. Also, Blake was apparently talking on his phone, not talking to a reporter who was standing next to him. As such he was by himself, leaning back against a wall with his phone up to his ear. He was not in any position to either flee or pay much attention to people around him. The undercover cop could easily have waited for all of his buddies to surround him before walking up and introducing himself as a policeman.

What this reminds me of, by the way, is how the whole Branch Dividian thing was handled by the Feds way back when. While it's pretty clear that David Koresh was a weirdo, and may have harmed children, it was also known that he went into town every now and again. Instead of biding their time, however, and simply catching Koresh by himself they felt it necessary to rush and catch him at home, surrounded by a whole bunch more lunatics with guns in a place they felt it necessary to defend.

In another thread there was a long talk about political correctness. Mostly people hate it. It does, however, come about for some very good reasons having to do with past oppression receiving modern answers. The thing is along with political correctness there comes a kind of judgement. People think they know what is right without consulting the immediate circumstances of the situation they are engaged in. That same sort of judgement appears to be going on here as well, but not with any connection to things PC.

Think about how hard it was to talk to people who were filled with fear after 9/11. They were willing to sacrifice anything when it came to security. They blew security up to a level of importance in their lives that it should never rise to. With the cops their livelihoods are connected to the idea of security, and its implementation. They have as much reason to override people who disagree with them, even when it's obvious that they should listen to them, as any PC trumpeter. This is why it's really important that things like Posse Comitatus are part of our governing structure. This is why it's important that the cops not be allowed to be both judge and jury, taking people's money simply be dint of accusation. It not only doesn't burden us, but it also doesn't burden them. When they have clear lines to follow they can do a much better job. Cloud those lines with the vagueness that the fear of the people can introduce, though, and watch out.

It's even more tough, it seems, to be a cop than I had ever realized. They already have too many reasons of their own built in that are ready to escalate things, to jump to conclusions. They have to watch that in themselves. Also, though, If they are aware, they know they don't go out there to merely protect against bad guys on the street, but potential bad guys in uniform as well. You gotta wonder what your average good cop thinks when he or she sees some of the stuff that's come up over the past year or so? Beyond whether they wonder if they might have acted the same way they must also ask themselves what they can do about it if they see if amongst fellow officers.

[PrestonSturges]

What this reminds me of, by the way, is how the whole Branch Dividian thing was handled by the Feds way back when. While it's pretty clear that David Koresh was a weirdo, and may have harmed children, it was also known that he went into town every now and again. Instead of biding their time, however, and simply catching Koresh by himself they felt it necessary to rush and catch him at home, surrounded by a whole bunch more lunatics with guns in a place they felt it necessary to defend.

Regards Waco, I always said that part of the problem is that law enforcement is too full of Bible college graduates, and they instinctively want to execute someone like Koresh. If law enforcement consisted of Reform Jews, violence involving cops would go down 90%

And a Texas county is being sued for asking questions about religion and hiring only Baptists.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/texas-l ... onstables/

[americandream]

What this reminds me of, by the way, is how the whole Branch Dividian thing was handled by the Feds way back when. While it's pretty clear that David Koresh was a weirdo, and may have harmed children, it was also known that he went into town every now and again. Instead of biding their time, however, and simply catching Koresh by himself they felt it necessary to rush and catch him at home, surrounded by a whole bunch more lunatics with guns in a place they felt it necessary to defend.

Regards Waco, I always said that part of the problem is that law enforcement is too full of Bible college graduates, and they instinctively want to execute someone like Koresh. If law enforcement consisted of Reform Jews, violence involving cops would go down 90%

And a Texas county is being sued for asking questions about religion and hiring only Baptists.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/texas-l ... onstables/

Better still if law enforcement was full of those who did what they were paid for....enforce the law and not their own favourite theories, that would be a start.

Having said that, as globalisation proceeds, secular government agencies will become essential.

The redeeming feature of capitalism is that it forces functions that have been anathema to date in our regionalist paradise for a few.