Continuation The behaviour of US police officers - part 2

[shemp]

Originally Posted by Disbelief

Fear when waking a man in the middle of the night, so one immediately opens fire.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ohio-poli...003757956.html

The video is here: Columbus police release body camera footage of fatal police shooting in the Hilltop

The officer pushes open the door at 2:08, at 2:09 the light comes on in the room, and I estimate there's no more than 2-3 tenths of a second between the light coming on and the officer firing. It's almost instantaneous. Even if Lewis was holding a vape pen, I don't see that the officer took any time to determine whether or not Lewis was a threat before he shot him. I'm not even sure he had time to see if there was anything in Lewis' hand.

Quote:

Bryant has not addressed whether police believed the device was a weapon, a determination that will come during the probe by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

This is screaming for independent investigation. I don't trust any official bureau to properly investigate this any further than I can throw a 16-ton weight.

[Aridas]

Deeper examination of Oath Keepers' member data finds hundreds of law enforcement officers

Is anyone here not deeply, deeply shocked?

[lobosrul5]

Originally Posted by Aridas

Deeper examination of Oath Keepers' member data finds hundreds of law enforcement officers

Is anyone here not deeply, deeply shocked?

Well known that police handle right-wing protests/riots with relative "kid gloves" compared to left-wing. This is because they see kindred spirits.

[ponderingturtle]

Originally Posted by lobosrul5

http://www.internationalskeptics.com...a0f1a2078b.jpg

Well known that police handle right-wing protests/riots with relative "kid gloves" compared to left-wing. This is because they see kindred spirits.

Also all the cops trying to overthrow the government on Jan 6.

[lobosrul5]

Originally Posted by ponderingturtle

Also all the cops trying to overthrow the government on Jan 6.

Yeah that ex-NYPD officer sentenced to what 10 years had me thinking... so "liberal" America has treated you so horribly what with your free healthcare for life and probably 70k+ pension that you needed to go EYE-GOUGE a Capital Police officer. These people with WEALTH who can find nothing better to do than listen to Alex Jones etc all day instead of enjoying their life. I don't get it.

[Armitage72]

Originally Posted by lobosrul5

Yeah that ex-NYPD officer sentenced to what 10 years had me thinking... so "liberal" America has treated you so horribly what with your free healthcare for life and probably 70k+ pension that you needed to go EYE-GOUGE a Capital Police officer. These people with WEALTH who can find nothing better to do than listen to Alex Jones etc all day instead of enjoying their life. I don't get it.

For some, it's not about what they have. It's about what the wrong people have, whether it's the wrong race, wrong religion, wrong political views, wrong sexual orientation, etc.
Everything is a zero sum game. If someone benefits then someone else has to suffer. If the wrong people benefit, it increases the risk that the right people will suffer, including them.

[bruto]

Originally Posted by Armitage72

For some, it's not about what they have. It's about what the wrong people have, whether it's the wrong race, wrong religion, wrong political views, wrong sexual orientation, etc.
Everything is a zero sum game. If someone benefits then someone else has to suffer. If the wrong people benefit, it increases the risk that the right people will suffer, including them.

Right, and don't forget the union issue here. After all, one of the big campaign issues of the right is usually the bane of labor unions, and the desire to eliminate them. But the unionized police don't have any problem with theirs.

[bruto]

Another one that seems maybe just a teeny weeny bit more aggressive than called for, West VA police shoot pallbearer at funeral.
He seems to have been a genuine bad guy, although the gun the police say he drew was not apparently visible to any but the police, who do not seem to have left much time for argument.

But hey, I'm sure the "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" battalion will be coming up to the plate saying he asked for it, nothing to see, move on here, mop the blood off the shirts of the other pallbearers and stop whining.

[JoeMorgue]

Woman Sues San Francisco Over Arrest Based on DNA From Her Rape Kit

NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/13/u...francisco.html

[crescent]

Clear Creek County deputies shoot and kill man who asked for help after car crash

The man seemed to be having a bit of a mental health crisis - his car was stuck in a ditch or a bush or something and he was convinced that it was a trap. He would not get out of his car. He seemed to just want help with getting his car unstuck. He was an amateur geologist with the tools of the trade in the car with him - a little hammer, a rubber mallet and a pair of little knives.

Quote:

“I have two knives and a hammer and a rubber mallet,” he said, in a slight accent, to the emergency dispatcher. “I’m not dangerous. I’ll keep my hands completely visible. I understand this is a dodgy situation.”

The dispatcher relayed that information to deputies.

“I’m not having any luck clearing this party and he’s not making much sense,” the dispatcher told the deputies.

When they arrived on the scene, Glass again offered to throw the tools and knives out the window.

Deputies said they didn’t want him to throw the weapons out of the car and instead demanded that he get out of the car.

Glass told officers with his hands up that he didn’t feel safe getting out of the car. He took the keys out of the ignition and put them on the dashboard and told them he was scared and wanted to stay in the car. He wasn’t suspected of any crime.

Quote:

A supervisor at the Colorado State Patrol, at one point, radioed in that Glass hadn’t committed any crimes.

“Can you ask Clear Creek what their plan is? If there is no crime and he’s not suicidal or homicidal or a great danger, then there’s no reason to contact him,” a CSP sergeant says over the radio. “Is there a medical issue we’re not aware of?”

“No,” a patrol trooper responded back.

But the increasing number of officers on the scene remained there, engaged for almost an hour and 20 minutes, attempting to get Glass to come out of the car. At one point, a deputy climbed on to the hood of the car and shined a flashlight into his eyes and remained there, eventually drawing his gun and pointing down into the car at Glass.

Quote:

It’s very possible that had Glass gotten his car stuck in another location, the entire incident would have ended differently.

In Denver and in Jefferson County, which borders Clear Creek County, law enforcement agencies have co-responder programs to help responding officers with people who could be suffering a mental health crisis.

The entirety of his offense seemed to just be his refusal to get out of the car, along with actually following the order to not throw the knives and hammer out the window.

[shemp]

Sounds like this guy had some serious mental health issues, and/or drugs might have been an issue.

People shouldn't get shot and killed for that. But the unfortunate reality is that if you've got a weapon, even just a small knife, in your hands and you wave it around and don't comply, you're going to get shot. If he did indeed try to stab an officer, then it's a certainty. I would like to see the results of a full investigation before I pass judgment.

[shemp]

I've read the article again.

1. Not to blame the victim, but calling 911 when your car is in a ditch and you're unhurt is the LAST thing you should do. Call a tow service, or AAA or other organization if you're a member. Do NOT involve the police.

2. When you call, do NOT tell them that you have weapons! Your weapons are not pertinent to the situation. You are only asking for trouble. If he had just stashed the knife under the seat, the cops probably would never have noticed it.

3. On the other hand, the police did nothing to tone down the situation. Their actions pushed a mentally ill man even further over the edge. Mental health professionals might have been able to defuse the situation. It certainly was worth a try, and he wasn't yet a clear and present danger to anyone.

4. But if you're going to wave a knife and scream things like “You can save yourself! You can still save yourself! Lord hear me. Lord hear me.”, you're gonna get shot. I absolutely can understand that, from a cop's POV, this looks and sounds like a threat and the guy's about to attack.

The way I see it, the police didn't have to let things go so far wrong. But once he reached step 4, what happened may very well end up being seen as justified.

This screams for an independent investigation.

[erlando]

Originally Posted by shemp

I've read the article again.

1. Not to blame the victim, but calling 911 when your car is in a ditch and you're unhurt is the LAST thing you should do. Call a tow service, or AAA or other organization if you're a member. Do NOT involve the police.

Calling 911 should not be a death sentence

Quote:

2. When you call, do NOT tell them that you have weapons! Your weapons are not pertinent to the situation. You are only asking for trouble. If he had just stashed the knife under the seat, the cops probably would never have noticed it.

Holding a small knife while locked in your car with officers safely out of range should not be a death sentence.

Quote:

3. On the other hand, the police did nothing to tone down the situation. Their actions pushed a mentally ill man even further over the edge. Mental health professionals might have been able to defuse the situation. It certainly was worth a try, and he wasn't yet a clear and present danger to anyone.

Yet they bombarded his car with bean bags, tazed him and ultimately executed him.

Quote:

4. But if you're going to wave a knife and scream things like “You can save yourself! You can still save yourself! Lord hear me. Lord hear me.”, you're gonna get shot. I absolutely can understand that, from a cop's POV, this looks and sounds like a threat and the guy's about to attack.

The way I see it, the police didn't have to let things go so far wrong. But once he reached step 4, what happened may very well end up being seen as justified.

Again, holding a small knife while locked in your car with officers safely out of range should not be a death sentence. What is he going to do? Magically teleport out of the vehicle? This is not a scenario where he can just run up and stab someone.

Quote:

This screams for an independent investigation.

Nothing will come of this. The thugs will all go free.

[bruto]

It does seem that the person in question was mentally unstable, but on the other hand, his statement that he was afraid would certainly seem to have been borne out.

What's the cops' excuse here? He was afraid we'd kill him if he came out, so we had to prove him wrong by killing him inside?

[shemp]

Originally Posted by erlando

Calling 911 should not be a death sentence



Holding a small knife while locked in your car with officers safely out of range should not be a death sentence.



Yet they bombarded his car with bean bags, tazed him and ultimately executed him.



Again, holding a small knife while locked in your car with officers safely out of range should not be a death sentence. What is he going to do? Magically teleport out of the vehicle? This is not a scenario where he can just run up and stab someone.



Nothing will come of this. The thugs will all go free.

If you think I'm defending the cops, you're wrong. There are things this guy did that are mistakes. I never said he deserved to die for them.

Then the cops turned it into a ******. But if you're holding a weapon and you make statements that can easily be construed to mean that you are threatening them, one or more of them, whether it's justified or not, probably will shoot you. This shouldn't have happened, and while I agree that it's likely that nobody will be brought to account for this, it still needs a full and independent investigation.

[crescent]

Originally Posted by shemp

If you think I'm defending the cops, you're wrong. There are things this guy did that are mistakes. I never said he deserved to die for them.

Then the cops turned it into a ******. But if you're holding a weapon and you make statements that can easily be construed to mean that you are threatening them, one or more of them, whether it's justified or not, probably will shoot you. This shouldn't have happened, and while I agree that it's likely that nobody will be brought to account for this, it still needs a full and independent investigation.

This seems to be the "cops are wild animals who will act on animal instinct" line of defense. I prefer human cops with rational thought.

[Random]

The cops were the problem. Specifically, the entire “Comply or Die” mindset where the police demand compliance from people, and then reflexively become more hostile when compliance is not immediately given. This is troublesome in and of itself, but when combined with someone who cannot comply due to mental or physical impairment it becomes needlessly lethal.

If the police say “Get out of the car”, and the person in the car replies “Rutabaga bicycle sunbeam squirrel”, shouting “Get out of the car!” louder isn’t going to work.

[pgwenthold]

Think back to that old episode of South Park where Cartman does his "respect my authoritah!" bit.

It's supposed to be funny because it's over the top and extreme, but it's like the police embraced that identity.

[shemp]

Originally Posted by Random

The cops were the problem. Specifically, the entire “Comply or Die” mindset where the police demand compliance from people, and then reflexively become more hostile when compliance is not immediately given. This is troublesome in and of itself, but when combined with someone who cannot comply due to mental or physical impairment it becomes needlessly lethal.

If the police say “Get out of the car”, and the person in the car replies “Rutabaga bicycle sunbeam squirrel”, shouting “Get out of the car!” louder isn’t going to work.

Which is when you bring in mental health professionals, which they didn't.

[shemp]

Originally Posted by crescent

This seems to be the "cops are wild animals who will act on animal instinct" line of defense. I prefer human cops with rational thought.

So do I. We rarely see this. It needs to change.

[Darat]

Before I started having an interest in USA policing I would have been at a total loss to understand how this could have happened but now it can seem almost inevitable given how the police are trained and the attitude they have that this type of cold blooded murder happens.

[JoeMorgue]

Washington State Police Officer suspended for one shift after making Tiktok video while in uniform, sitting in patrol car, telling people that she's allowed to drive any speed she wants and if you don't get out of her way she's "find a reason" to pull you over.

"If we’re driving on the freeway in our police car, get the (censored) out of the way,” Office Breanna Straus says in the video “I can go 90 miles an hour, you can’t. You can’t do that. So get the (censored) out of the way. If us officers stay behind you long enough, we can find a reason to pull you over.”

https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/f...-tiktok-video/

[bruto]

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

Washington State Police Officer suspended for one shift after making Tiktok video while in uniform, sitting in patrol car, telling people that she's allowed to drive any speed she wants and if you don't get out of her way she's "find a reason" to pull you over.

"If we’re driving on the freeway in our police car, get the (censored) out of the way,” Office Breanna Straus says in the video “I can go 90 miles an hour, you can’t. You can’t do that. So get the (censored) out of the way. If us officers stay behind you long enough, we can find a reason to pull you over.”

https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/f...-tiktok-video/

What a dope. I mean, cops speed plenty, and it's expected, and of course if they're actually running siren and lights, drivers are obligated to pull over, so how stupid do you have to be to make a video about how you abuse your position, and actually essentially publicize the fact that you'll make false arrests?

[jimbob]

Originally Posted by pgwenthold

Think back to that old episode of South Park where Cartman does his "respect my authoritah!" bit.

It's supposed to be funny because it's over the top and extreme, but it's like the police embraced that identity.

I said it upthread, but a few weeks ago I watched Robocop with my son, and I observed that that seems to be a rose-tinted portrait of US policing rather than a biting satire.

The cops were putting their lives on the line in order to protect the public. The corporation was corrupt, but that's a different matter.

[JoeMorgue]

Originally Posted by bruto

What a dope. I mean, cops speed plenty, and it's expected, and of course if they're actually running siren and lights, drivers are obligated to pull over, so how stupid do you have to be to make a video about how you abuse your position, and actually essentially publicize the fact that you'll make false arrests?

I mean she got suspended for one shift. She basically got an afternoon off. Nothing actually happened to her. I can't imagine she's "learned a lesson" or anything remotely like that in this case.

[bruto]

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

I mean she got suspended for one shift. She basically got an afternoon off. Nothing actually happened to her. I can't imagine she's "learned a lesson" or anything remotely like that in this case.

Well, cops is cops. On the other hand, if I were a motorist and I got a ticket from this person I'd make sure I had that video in my defense.

[Blue Mountain]

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

I mean she got suspended for one shift. She basically got an afternoon off. Nothing actually happened to her. I can't imagine she's "learned a lesson" or anything remotely like that in this case.

I was, however, noticed by her employer. It may affect her future in the department, such as taking longer to get promotions.

[crescent]

Originally Posted by crescent

Clear Creek County deputies shoot and kill man who asked for help after car crash

The man seemed to be having a bit of a mental health crisis - his car was stuck in a ditch or a bush or something and he was convinced that it was a trap. He would not get out of his car. He seemed to just want help with getting his car unstuck. He was an amateur geologist with the tools of the trade in the car with him - a little hammer, a rubber mallet and a pair of little knives.




The entirety of his offense seemed to just be his refusal to get out of the car, along with actually following the order to not throw the knives and hammer out the window.

Here's a bodycam video. Video cuts out just before shots are fired, audio goes on for a few more seconds.

YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.

I AGREE

For a fair bit of the time the poor fellow is just staring at the cops - not a hostile stare, but more of a befuddled look. Other times he just stares off into the middle distance. There is discussion between him and a female cop of him unlocking the door, he seems to think he is unable to do that. She seems to be trying to work with him to get the car unstuck.

A particularly aggressive cop insists on standing on the hood with his gun drawn, as if poor Glass is going to stab someone through the windshield or closed door.

So they break the passenger side window. Everything was pretty calm until then - other than the hyper-escalatory idiot standing on the hood. But once they pop that window Glass freaks out in a big way, clutching the knife and screaming. He appears to be in a complete panic and incoherent. Just looking straight forward, knife in hand next to his face with the blade not pointed at himself nor anyone else and just screaming in panic.

So they use the bean bag gun and then tase him and then shoot him.

It is clear to me that he was utterly and completely unable to follow instructions and that the police utterly and unnecessarily escalated the hell out of the situation.

[Checkmite]

Police excuses used to justify rapid escalation up to lethal force have always been largely baloney, but there used to be some sort of grotesque logic to them at least. You know, that "gotcha" rules-lawyering ticking-the-boxes-in-bad-faith-but-still logic.

But it's starting to not even make THAT little bit of sense anymore. Beanbag shotguns are a riot control weapon, you shoot them at violent mobs who are advancing toward the police, in order to drive them away. What is the point, at all, even theoretically, of breaking a car window and shooting a beanbag point-blank at a person who is sitting, contained, in a seat inside a vehicle? Someone please explain to me what the intended consequence of that action is.

[bruto]

The police response to the man stuck in the car seems like a grownup version of "if you don't stop crying I'll give you something to cry about." Basically, he's afraid the cops will shoot him, so to prove him wrong they smash into the car and shoot him.

[Darat]

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2...ntability-ends

Highlight and bold by me

Quote:

...snip...
In the spring of 2016, the city of Cleveland agreed to pay $6 million to the family of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a city police officer in late 2014. ...... After the payout was announced, the Rice family said they hoped the settlement would “stimulate a movement for genuine change in our society and our nation’s policing.”.

But five years later, Cleveland has paid more money in police misconduct settlements than in the five years before Rice was killed. In 2017, according to public records obtained by FiveThirtyEight and The Marshall Project, the city paid $7.9 million (including $3 million for half of the payment to the Rice family). In 2019, it paid $6 million. That’s more than the city spent on police misconduct in the entire five-year period between 2010 and 2014. ...snip....

But police settlements are their own bramble of contradictions. Including Cleveland, we obtained public records from 31 of the 50 cities with the highest police-to-civilian ratios in the country. Our analysis shows the cities have spent more than $3 billion to settle misconduct lawsuits over the past 10 years. 3 (You can access all of the data in our Observable notebook.)But as with Cleveland, the data mostly left us with more questions than answers. Shoddy, confusing, or incomplete record-keeping combined with a host of other local factors to make it nearly impossible for us to conclude if anything was changing in any given city—much less whether those shifts were for better or worse. Those problems, in turn, mean that it’s very difficult to know which cities are more successfully reducing police misconduct than others, and how the burden on taxpayers is shifting as a result. ...snip...

Really interesting article/report - plenty of data citations.

[shemp]

Guilty of sitting in your own truck while black:

Black Man in Oakland Handcuffed After Being Accused of Stealing His Own Truck

Quote:

A Black man in Oakland was wrongfully accused on Tuesday of stealing a truck that belonged to him. Nicole Hirsch, the wife of the victim, says that he was seated in his truck at 11:30 am at 35th and MLK when he was approached by a couple.

“He described it like they were looking in his truck bed and he rolled down his window and said to them ‘Can I help you with something?’ and they said to him something to the effect of ‘Our truck was stolen,’” Hirsch told local ABC 7 reporters.

Nicole’s husband, who works as a landscaper, had his tools in the bed of the truck, easily visible to the couple who stood firm in their stance despite the obvious. The victim even went as far as to show the couple a picture taken of himself and the same truck four years ago, and yet, they remained unconvinced. Minutes later, the Oakland police surrounded the area, and the man ended up in handcuffs.

“He put his hands up is my understanding and followed their orders,” Hirsch said. “He told me that it’s embarrassing to be in handcuffs on the street with many cop cars around. It’s humiliating. It’s infuriating.”

Hirsch told ABC 7 that her husband spent a great deal of time explaining that the truck in question was actually his.

“They put him in handcuffs before he was even asked for his license or registration,” she said. She further expressed that she believes beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was treated this way because he’s Black.

“I definitely do,” she said. “Just like this couple that is claiming this is our truck. He is also a person and why is his voice and his opinion not given the same weight and credence that the couple was given.”

In a statement made by the OPD, the stolen vehicle was later reported as found.

Thank goodness he didn't make any moves that could have gotten him shot dead by trigger-happy pigs.

[bruto]

Originally Posted by shemp

Guilty of sitting in your own truck while black:

Black Man in Oakland Handcuffed After Being Accused of Stealing His Own Truck



Thank goodness he didn't make any moves that could have gotten him shot dead by trigger-happy pigs.

It ought, I think, to be obvious here that the police were doing their job wrong. Every vehicle these days has a VIN visible through the windshield, and any cop can look it up via radio. If there's a similar truck stolen (quite possibly given how many are out there) it should be a simple matter of asking the driver for the registration and cross checking it.

Although not quite such a black and white matter, the couple whose truck was stole ought also to have had the VIN handy, and have been able to look and see that it was not theirs.

At the very least it's poor procedure, and that's being unnecessarily generous.

[pgwenthold]

Originally Posted by bruto

It ought, I think, to be obvious here that the police were doing their job wrong. Every vehicle these days has a VIN visible through the windshield, and any cop can look it up via radio. If there's a similar truck stolen (quite possibly given how many are out there) it should be a simple matter of asking the driver for the registration and cross checking it.

Although not quite such a black and white matter, the couple whose truck was stole ought also to have had the VIN handy, and have been able to look and see that it was not theirs.

At the very least it's poor procedure, and that's being unnecessarily generous.

Also, all vehicles have license plates with numbers on them. If you search the license plate number, it will tell you the make and model of the vehicle and the owner and the VIN.

Oh sure, they can go with the "True, the license plates don't match those of the stolen vehicle, but they could have just switched the license plates out," but then you'd have to say, "by taking the license plates off another black Ford F150." Until you get to the VIN, and find out that the license plate matches the VIN, and then there is nothing left.

How racist do you have to be to presume that the person in the car switched the license plates on the stolen vehicle with another set of license plates for the same make and model vehicle? Presumed guilty....

[bruto]

Originally Posted by pgwenthold

Also, all vehicles have license plates with numbers on them. If you search the license plate number, it will tell you the make and model of the vehicle and the owner and the VIN.

Oh sure, they can go with the "True, the license plates don't match those of the stolen vehicle, but they could have just switched the license plates out," but then you'd have to say, "by taking the license plates off another black Ford F150." Until you get to the VIN, and find out that the license plate matches the VIN, and then there is nothing left.

How racist do you have to be to presume that the person in the car switched the license plates on the stolen vehicle with another set of license plates for the same make and model vehicle? Presumed guilty....

That is of course also true, but it's still routine and unquestionably more foolproof than license plate checking to look at the VIN, which is why, for ***** sake, it is required to be visible through the ******* windshield!

[shemp]

This one is just plain dumbassery.

Woman seriously hurt after Platteville police car she was placed in is hit by train

Quote:

A 20-year-old road rage suspect was seriously injured when the parked police patrol vehicle she was detained in was struck by a freight train in northern Colorado.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation says multiple law enforcement agencies responded to a report of a road rage incident involving a firearm in Fort Lupton on Friday evening. A Platteville police officer stopped the woman’s car just past a set of railroad tracks and parked the patrol vehicle on the crossing.

The Greeley woman was placed in the back of the police vehicle, which was hit by the train as officers were searching her car. The suspect name and details of her injuries have not been released.

The Fort Lupton Police Department is investigating the road rage report, while the Colorado State Patrol is investigating the crash. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is looking into the woman’s injury while she was in police custody.

[bruto]

Originally Posted by shemp

This one is just plain dumbassery.

Woman seriously hurt after Platteville police car she was placed in is hit by train

I just recently noticed a rail crossing with a sign warning people not to stop on the tracks. Next up, "Restaurant puts up sign telling customers not to put beans up their nose."

[bonzombiekitty]

Originally Posted by bruto

I just recently noticed a rail crossing with a sign warning people not to stop on the tracks. Next up, "Restaurant puts up sign telling customers not to put beans up their nose."

People are exceptionally dumb when it comes to level crossings. My old commute to work had a level crossing for a commuter rail line (so trains coming about every 20 minutes each direction). There's a stop light not far beyond the crossing. It's a very busy road so when that light is red, cars back up to the crossing.

There's been a lot of times where I approached the crossing and it was clear that there wasn't enough room for my car to clear the tracks and I stopped short of the tracks. Ya know, in case a train comes. The amount of times that's been met with honking from the car behind me is disturbing. And it's not like they can't see what's in front of me. The amount of times I've seen cars just stop on the tracks when there wasn't enough room to clear them is also disturbing. I'm honestly shocked there's not a monthly collision with the train.

[crescent]

Originally Posted by shemp

This one is just plain dumbassery.

Woman seriously hurt after Platteville police car she was placed in is hit by train

That makes for two incidents from Colorado on one page of the thread. My state is punching above its weight.

That line through Platteville is all freight - mostly running coal from Wyoming down to the powerplants in Denver and beyond. Even by train standards, those trains are going to take a long time to stop.

[Armitage72]

Originally Posted by shemp

Guilty of sitting in your own truck while black:

Black Man in Oakland Handcuffed After Being Accused of Stealing His Own Truck

It reminds me of the scene in "Driving Miss Daisy" in which two racist cops assumed that Morgan Freeman's character had stolen the car that he drove as a chauffeur.
"Hey boy, what do you think you're doing with this car?"
The more things change, the more they stay the same.