Our Police State

[Not Insane]

Originally Posted by Pio1980

I believe in effective civilian oversight and accountability for standardized strictly enforced standards and practices.
Law enforcement should be a profession, not a fraternity.

On that we strongly agree. However, in our current culture I actually have very little respect for anyone that would aspire to be a police officer. I see them as either thugs or hopelessly naive. Or it's the only job they can find that pays very well.

People think I support what the cops did to George. I don't. My problem is that I actually see NO good guys in this case. And the key point for me is that the protesters are being absurdly reckless, going off half cocked on partial information. I know they "have their reasons", but EVERYONE has their reasons for acting badly. Ask any guy with a bad temper that, after the fact, justifies his "blowing off steam" by punching his wife for burning dinner. That's how I see the protesters.

The wheels of justice were moving without the protests. But it is possible that the protests gave us another Zimmerman/Martin case. That is, if they result in over charging, these cops could go free. And if they were obeying their department's policy and the autopsy shows the cause of death was something other than the knee to neck, well, these cops are gonna walk.

That is worth pondering.

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by Not Insane

On that we strongly agree. However, in our current culture I actually have very little respect for anyone that would aspire to be a police officer. I see them as either thugs or hopelessly naive. Or it's the only job they can find that pays very well.

People think I support what the cops did to George. I don't. My problem is that I actually see NO good guys in this case. And the key point for me is that the protesters are being absurdly reckless, going off half cocked on partial information. I know they "have their reasons", but EVERYONE has their reasons for acting badly. Ask any guy with a bad temper that, after the fact, justifies his "blowing off steam" by punching his wife for burning dinner. That's how I see the protesters.

The wheels of justice were moving without the protests. But it is possible that the protests gave us another Zimmerman/Martin case. That is, if they result in over charging, these cops could go free. And if they were obeying their department's policy and the autopsy shows the cause of death was something other than the knee to neck, well, these cops are gonna walk.

That is worth pondering.

Martin was complicit in his own demise, but Zimmerman instigated and escalated the confrontation, and as the "adult" in the matter, should have acted responsibly. I see him as the only guilty party because of that.

[Not Insane]

Originally Posted by Pio1980

Martin was complicit in his own demise, but Zimmerman instigated and escalated the confrontation, and as the "adult" in the matter, should have acted responsibly. I see him as the only guilty party because of that.

I'm not comfortable arguing the details of the Martin/Zimmerman thing, but I'll throw out this generic perspective: The law is quite aware that just because someone's 18th birth day is the day after the crime, doesn't mean they see the person, when they committed the crime, as a "child". i.e. if Zimmerman had been 11 years old, I'd agree with you.

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by Not Insane

I'm not comfortable arguing the details of the Martin/Zimmerman thing, but I'll throw out this generic perspective: The law is quite aware that just because someone's 18th birth day is the day after the crime, doesn't mean they see the person, when they committed the crime, as a "child". i.e. if Zimmerman had been 11 years old, I'd agree with you.

Martin certainly wasn't a child in many respect, but Zimmerman was the more life-experienced and assumed mature elder with the judgement and impulse control that entails. He had the adult duty to disengage before needlessly inciting Martins aggressive defence.
Martin should not have responded aggressively, but he was not the adult in the confrontation.

[Chicks]

Protests spread over police shootings. Police promised reforms. Every year, they still shoot and kill nearly 1,000 people.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/inves...82b_story.html

To protect (white people) and serve (rich white people).

[RickeyM]

There is a move on to de-fund, with a side of de-militarizing, police departments that get a disproportional amount of a municipality's funds. Of course the Mango Mussolini is going to use that to sow further division. He will vigorously attempt to tied de-funding with disbanding. Saying "they" want no policing so "they" can run wild in the streets attacking law abiding white folk. "They" being Blacks, Hispanics, illegals, ANTIFA and every other boogie-man the right has been using to scare people with. I would not be surprised to see one of the idjits on Faux News to accuse the BLM movement of being at the root of it. Should this concept get floated it will go right into tRumps limited thought process. Orange Blob has already tried to tie the de-fund movement to Joe Biden who has already said he's not in favor of defunding. Since the Mango Jeezus has uttered it and of course Faux News will repeat it the tRumplings will regard it as the holy gospel and refuse to believe anything else.

[Pio1980]

FOP should be the target for shielding the bad actors.

[Chicks]

What the city where defunding police worked really tells us about it

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/camde...105251107.html

Complaints of excessive force have come down 95% since 2014, according to the department’s own metrics, and unlike violent protests across the Delaware River in Philadelphia last week, Camden enjoyed shared, peaceful protests between police and demonstrators.

[Chicks]

IBM scraps facial recognition tool in wake of Black Lives Matter protests

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ibm-s...090156854.html

IBM is set to make an exit from its facial recognition business after claiming that it opposes the use of the technology for mass surveillance and racial profiling.

In a letter to US Congress members, IBM’s chief executive Arvind Krishna confirmed the US firm’s shift away from facial recognition software as it looks to “advance racial equality” and encourage a responsible use of the technology.

“IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms,” he wrote.

The IBM boss also called on the US Congress to establish a “federal registry of police misconduct” to hold law enforcement to greater account.

I own a good number of IBM shares. They pay a good dividend in retirement. Glad they're taking this stance.

[Chicks]

Why Twitter (probably) won’t do anything about Der Fuehrer's conspiratorial Buffalo protester tweet

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-t...180441285.html

At 8:34 am on June 9, President* Donald Trump hit send on a tweet laced with innuendo and false information about an elderly protester in Buffalo, New York.

Two police officers have been charged with felony assault after pushing 75-year-old Martin Gugino to the ground in a widely circulated video where he can be seen bleeding as police officers walk by. Gugino remains hospitalized from his injuries.

Trump baselessly made a range of claims, from saying that Gugino “could be an ANTIFA provocateur” to suggesting he “fell harder than was pushed.” The president* wrapped up with the question of whether it all “[c]ould be a set up?”

In the hours following the roundly condemned tweet, CEO Jack Dorsey’s mentions were flooded with calls for action but Twitter (TWTR) has not responded.

Dorsey's a coward, just like Donny. Donny should have been shut down by Twitter long ago.