Are police abusing their powers?

[Shasta]

The question here is what are Police doing? It has been brought to my attention that within the past year there have been many reports of police abusing their powers, or the like. The most recent evidence I have of this is a Georgia boy was shot and killed by a police officer for "pointing a gun" at the officer who then proceeded to shoot him. Witnesses say that he had no weapon in his hand, and only wielded a Wiimote as he answered his door, note that he didn't aim it towards her at all. The officer was there for a very different reason, but the boy was a direct victim.

Here is the article: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...ps-front-door-family-lawyer-article-1.1619842

I'm sure that's not a decent enough reason for me to make the post I did, but there was another incident where police were called in to help calm down a schizophrenic child, only to the parent's horror did the offending officer shoot the child because he calmed to "not have time for this". The quote I mentioned isn't in the article below, but a different article on the same subject. Though, in the later articles I've read the police officer shot him in self-defense.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/justice/north-carolina-teen-killed/

There are also more instances of police taking matters into their own hands..such as a state police officer pulling a motorcyclist over, while welding a gun at the time of getting out of his car. He was dressed very plainly and didn't signal that he was an officer at all until a few seconds in. However, the man who filmed and uploaded the video is slated to get five years in jail for "embarrassing a police officer"

Article: http://www.popehat.com/2010/04/14/embarrass-a-cop-in-maryland-thatll-be-five-years-in-jail/

I made the post to spark discussion on people's personal views about these issues. Do you think Police are abusing their powers? Are court systems being unfair and unreasonable? If so, why do you think that way?

 

[ryaneden]

Yes, Yes they are. the cops in my town. are very stupid. they let two inmates escape while they where sitting at a store in town eating hamburgers. and they new they where escaping as well. and they don't even pick up drug dealers when there reported around here. :|

 

[Solar]

They've always been like this, always will. The institution is designed to uphold convenience of power and rewards bullies; they're designed to enforce the law, and the law has (and is) been frequently racist, sexist, targeting the power and defenceless. Prisons are sources of cheap labour and great money-makers all around instead of sources of real punishment or reform, absurd with sentences on often harmless crimes (to the public, anyway). Police brutality is a rule, not an exception, and given the right-wing infiltration of it, not hard to see why. I respect honest cops a great deal, I can't really believe or trust in them, just because it feels like they're so damn rare.

 

[Ballad of Caius]

Municipal, city, district, state, national guard, armed forces, whatever you want to name it is part of the Establishment's repression tools to "maintain order" and intimidate the populace. Just look at what Venezuela's "honorable" President Nicolas Maduro is doing to the striking students in the city all in the name of "democracy": killing and/or injuring people. Oh, and as always in Communist regimes, EVERYTHING is Uncle Sam's fault. In today's speech, the American Empire is crumbling down, but in tomorrow's, they are organizing these extreme-right movements. But are they not falling, though? I do not know if these country "executives" are equal or worse to Hitler and the rest of Communist dictators.

 

[Noir]

Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day.
Give a man a fishing rod, he'll eat for life.

Give a man police authority, he'll have your ass hauled in jail for allegedly stealing fishing related items, while planting cocaine on you.

 

[Ballad of Caius]

Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day.
Give a man a fishing rod, he'll eat for life.

Give a man police authority, he'll have your ass hauled in jail for allegedly stealing fishing related items, while planting cocaine on you.

Precise, but sad analogy. Thank you for sharing it. Reminds me of the "big fish eating the small fish(es)" analogy, haha. There is also this image I found on Twitter:

It is Spanish for:
The People IGNORE the Power They have.

 

[Deleted member 36435]

haha must suck to not be a white person

 

[Ballad of Caius]

haha must suck to not be a white person

Or rather rich, seeing as how, in terms of poverty versus Wall Street, the white are in both groups.

 

[Marly]

Ok, naturally there are going to be incidents of misconduct and abuse, and also naturally, those will be the stories you hear from the media. You shouldn't generalize a whole occupational field just because of a few mishaps. I've been pulled over twice and both cops were very nice and professional. Concerning them drawing arms, that's their job. They have every right to treat every civilian as dangerous and they're trained accordingly I'm sure. But I'd imagine if I were a cop I'd know that taking those precautions could very easily mean the difference between getting home that night or dying. So yea, call me cycnical, but I'd treat every person I encountered as someone who could threaten my life.

It sucks that people lose their lives to cops when it wasn't necessary but why is it a cop thing and not just a human who couldn't do their job properly?

 

[Dentim]

While abuse of power is real, you have to look at it like this: for every story that makes the news, there are untold hundreds of stories of cops doing something good you don't hear about. You know why? Because it's assumed that's business as usual for cops and thus not worth mentioning.

That said, human error is an exception but cops that abuse their power should get removed from the force.

 

[Pinwheel]

mangartist pretty much hit it dead on. Nobody wants to read about cops doing their job, the only incidents you're really going to see in the media are just cops fucking up.

 

[Ballad of Caius]

While abuse of power is real, you have to look at it like this: for every story that makes the news, there are untold hundreds of stories of cops doing something good you don't hear about. You know why? Because it's assumed that's business as usual for cops and thus not worth mentioning.

That said, human error is an exception but cops that abuse their power should get removed from the force.

mangartist pretty much hit it dead on. Nobody wants to read about cops doing their job, the only incidents you're really going to see in the media are just cops diddlying up.

In summary: people like their sensationalism. We accuse the Media of being Yellow and Sensationalist, but we feed them with that impression that we like that sort of news, or rather, are more attracted towards it.

 

[The Conquerer]

They can tend to, but don't all necessarily do. I had a bad experience with mall cops before and my friend had terrible experiences with cops multiple times. I can't help but notice if we weren't black, those incidents wouldn't have happened.

 

[Solar]

IAma former employee of a jail where I watched inmates be beat for fun. I was fired for reporting it, and have spent the last decade of my life testifying for those inmates. I did an AMA before, but couldn't say what really needed to be said. I'm don

Worth a read for anyone interested in police brutality; what's scary is the notion that no matter what proof you leverage, there's little that can be done.

 

[Jesus]

IAma former employee of a jail where I watched inmates be beat for fun. I was fired for reporting it, and have spent the last decade of my life testifying for those inmates. I did an AMA before, but couldn't say what really needed to be said. I'm don

Worth a read for anyone interested in police brutality; what's scary is the notion that no matter what proof you leverage, there's little that can be done.

I came here to post that ama. Absolutely eye opening stuff

This "blue silence" thing is ridiculous

 

[KaiserAssassin]

While it's true that sensationalism causes people to turn a far more critical eye upon the subject, the fact that so many of these cases arise is alarming. Even if there were an equal amount of stories about cops doing good things, the idea that is a large amount of cops abusing their power remains just as bad.

As for the "blue code of silence", it seems to become increasingly prevalent as more stories pop up of police corruption. The mentality of "us vs. them" is a highly concerning one, and if I recall correctly back in 2012 when the officer who lied about/used excessive brutality on Otto Zehm (who was killed) was convicted, all the officers at the court stood and saluted the officer despite what he had done.

 

[SephirothZ]

As a police officer myself, I say no. Only a few bad apples like every other job. Seriously guys, dont stereotype an entire group of people.

 

[Absent]

Had you asked my ignorant young self, I would have said no. However my eyes and ears are now open, and the world's injustices are more easy to see.
If you guys think the rising amount of cases is alarming, you should see the number of the cases that're swept under the rug. There is a problem with some if not most police departments. Racial profiling is the issue.

"Its not about race! Why are you bringing race up?!" Yeah let's dismiss decades of slavery and the horrid effects it has on our present society. It has affected the work force, the educational system and the law, so yeah its about race. Racial profiling happens everyday and the one's denying it are the same people who don't suffer from it.
Also when I thought the police's image couldn't get any worse, boom.
I know this sounds rude and harsh, but I don't care to see any reports about police doing good deeds. That's their job, they're supposed to enforce the law for our safety, not use it against us for their own means. I care more about the reports telling me of police abuse, because they're a threat and should be shown to the people for their safety.

 

[SephirothZ]

The media has really persuaded you...

 

[Absent]

The media has really persuaded you...

No, the media alarms me of the issues that I've not noticed. If I find it important, I look it up online and find multiple sources. There's nothing more pathetic and embarrassing that professing to know an issue when you've heard one side of the story, especially if the story conforms to your liking. I never use my experiences for my arguments because that's a one sided story. I did that once and I sounded like a fool.
Also if you're referring to the media persuading me on slavery then no. I took African American, History Review, and sociology courses that opened my eyes. Slavery affected our society, even to this day.