Texas cop suspended for body slamming 12-year-old girl onto concrete

boing
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But it IS the issue. The other assumption is cops are “untrustworthy, lying, aggressive, trigger-happy thugs who will beat, maim, or kill you without warning, provocation”. I don’t believe there is evidence that shows this is the reality for a majority of cops or a majority of areas. Sure it makes sense to use caution, even avoidance (never invite the man in to your life). But the bias or assumption that all cops are like that is just as bad and counter productive as cops assuming a black suspect has drugs, is hiding something, and/or is a threat.

I agree that IS a problem. I also agree that it IS hard to trust others based on the action of their peers. It doesn’t mean that is the right thing to do. And at the same time, it isn’t a RATIONAL response, nor a productive one.

If one was a victim of a black person, say an assault or theft, would they then be justified in characterizing all blacks as dangerous or thieves? Or at least enough of them are that the default is just not trust them? I would say no, that is not justified, but at the same time I concede that when trust is broken it is hard to not do what more or less comes naturally and become more discriminatory.

I agree that cops are the epitome of “some animals are more special”. The system needs revised for better oversight of their actions, quicker reactions to bad behavior, and punishments that would equal what you or I would get had we done the same offense.

Again, I too agree avoidance is the best policy (but hey, I say that about all government entities.) But there is also a difference between avoidance and using caution that you might run into a bad one, and making the quoted extreme characterizations I quoted above and before.

If every one makes it “us vs them”, things will get worse for everyone.

Thanks - saved to read when I have more time.

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christ are you actually equating racism and the distrust of police.

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Can you explain to me how discrimination is different, whether it be based on race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, job, class, weight, political affiliation, etc?

Are you saying discrimination is ok in some of those examples?

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That depends entirely on the KIND of adult who is “resisting like that” and the circumstances. “Resisting” is a perfectly natural and normal reaction to being grabbed. That one is being grabbed by an authority figure or an agent of the state has no bearing on the justification of the reaction.

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You get to pick your job, religion, and political affiliation.

That makes them extremely different from race, sex, sexual orientation, class* and weight*

*(to greater and lesser extents)

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discrimination doesnt exist without an inequality in power which enables it and is in turn reinforced by it

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I can’t fathom how any officer, even the biggest piece of shit, would have this guy’s back.

He attacked a little girl, only luck had her survive it…

WTF

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I’m actually veeeery interested in this topic. I really want to know if “resisting” is actually a fundamental human reflex. Think about the last time someone (even a close friend) tried to steer you out of a room- even in jest. I’ll bet you resisted. I think that the level of passivity expected by police might actually be physiologically impossible (limp but somehow also not so limp that it’s difficult to restrain them.) Also, when putting people in handcuffs, the person being handcuffed does not generally know (unless they’ve been arrested a number of times) that correct procedure is to turn the hands outwards. This is an unnatural position, and I can see someone eager to comply failing to anticipate that the cop is trying to get them into it, and “helping” in the wrong way.

I dunno, whenever I see these videos, I see cops yelling at people who have hormones surging wildly and then expecting that handcuffing them isn’t going to result in a little extra motion than in a calm collected situation. I genuinely don’t believe it is possible in many instances where things are getting exciting for people to fail to resist, at least on some level, being restrained.

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Oh, ok. So all programmers are nerds. People with manual labor jobs are idiots and that is all they are suited for. Muslims want to kill infidels, marry children, and stone disobedient women (it’s A OK in the Koran), right?

It’s ok to discriminate against people with tattoos or colored hair, or people who wear short skirts. OBVIOUSLY I can tell who is a slut or not by the way they dress, right?

You can’t go a week with out hearing about a teacher fucking a student. So they must all be sex crazed deviants just waiting to fuck our teenage kids.

I hope just a few of these examples show that yes, there is discrimination against things you don’t have control over, and things you do.

But that doesn’t mean discrimination over things you DO have control over is any less wrong.

Eh - I don’t buy that at all. Systematic discrimination, sure. But you don’t think the poor and powerless don’t discriminate against others? Because they do.

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Your willful ignorance and white privilege are astonishing.

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There are different legal standards for more than a few on your list, esp. when you consider which state is hosting the discrimination.

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Enlighten me. I am just asking for some consistency here.

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People make choices for reasons. We can’t always judge the reasoning behind choices people make. But they still actively make choices.

You’ve just argued that discriminating against someone because of the freely chosen things they do, that they can chage, is wrong.

Sometimes this is true. Sometimes not.

As it stands the police tolerate working with murderers, and often actively protect these murderers.

Why shouldn’t I discriminate against them for that? They’re job is to protect the public. Not their buddies.

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Again. That is a broad brush you paint with. You know there are areas where cops haven’t had a suspect die ever. Or in decades. Are they as evil and worthy of your prejudice when they have nothing to do with another department 1000 miles away? What about black cops? What about those trying to work within the system to make it better? What if I told you there were cops who were NOT happy with the many of the bad shoots and violence cops are exercising?

Just like any large group of people, trying to pin a label on them as this or that simply mislabels most of them.

ETA - this sounds JUST like the right wing argument that the moderate Muslims aren’t critical enough of Fundamental terrorists and thus are condoning and complicit with their actions.

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For mister44?
Does not compute.

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“Just as bad”? Are you fucking serious!?!?!? What do the police risk when they are distrusted by the populace? Mean things said about them on internet forums? The occasional protest? Oh, the poor delicate flowers!

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We’d have to take your word for it. That’s kind of the problem.

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I have always told my kids not to talk to the police except to ask them - what do they want me to do? Then to do whatever they say. If they try to engage you in conversation strive to answer pertinent questions with yes or no and tell them that your parents told you not to talk to the police unless they or their lawyer is present. When I want to witness what a cop or cops are doing I take out my license and my lawyer’s card and hand it to the officer before I say anything. I tell him I am interested in what is going on and want to observe and where should I stand so I don’t interfere. That tells the cop who you are and that you are not interested in interfering but want to observe and you are compliant. You can look but it is not a good idea to offer suggestions or questions to anyone in that situation. Sometimes there’s a matter of privacy but you are still allowed to observe. Once when I did that (handed my license to the officer and told him I wanted to observe), another cop came up to me and started to be aggressive - like why was I there? - and the cop I had given my license to told him that I was OK and he knew who I was. You have to be polite and unemotional. Cops have guns and it is best not to get into it with an armed human of any occupation. If they mess up, then you are an established witness and can file a complaint or take it to another level if you can are motivated. Best to refer legal questions to a lawyer and not the police - they are not lawyers. Be courteous and don’t mention your constitutional rights. They know your constitutional rights. I was shot at by some kids that were 12-14 so if that has happened to you, you are less likely to assume the best from a group of adolescents acting stupid. The police are usually cool with kids but some take the offensive in heated situations involving minors and adults. It is best not to become part of any argument and if they decide to arrest you, do not resist. “What should I do now?” is a good question in that situation. You have to submit to even an illegal arrest. You can do your resistance in court. Having your ID out and ready to present to the police can distract them from deciding that you are the problem even though you may become a problem to them later, in court or in the news. It is not an easy job being a cop. Expecting them to be child psychologists is unrealistic and is above their pay grade. They should not be in schools dealing with children but this is what has replaced the swat from the principle which was a much better way of dealing with discipline - it avoided criminalization of students… Since they can no longer do that schools now days defer to the police to keep from being sued…

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