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23rd September 2017, 04:24 AM | #1 |
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The behaviour of US police officers
That someone is posting on a thread, asking for advice on how not to get shot by the police during a routine traffic stop, is evidence that the behaviour of the police in the USA is not what should be expected of a police officer.
I hate referring to those people in uniform as cops or police because that is not how they work. To me a police officer is someone who has signed up to take risks to themselves so as to preserve the lives of others. Their duty is to detect and arrest suspect criminals so that they should be taken to court and justice served. They are there to calm situations down and preserve the peace. They are there to make good people feel safe and bad people worry they will be caught and convicted. In the UK those duties are enshrined in the law and form the basis of how they are trained. It has been made abundantly clear by many that in the USA, the police have no duty to protect the public (I believe that may even be backed by law). They are not expected to take risks. It is fine for them to shoot to kill and not arrest. The will inflame situations, make them much worse and think there is no place for patient talking down of violent incidents. They make good people feel scared. They make bad people react with extreme violence back at them because they do not realise the tough guy act causes others to act tough back. The makes many US police no different from vigilante thugs dishing out summary justice. Why do so many on this forum keep on defending the behaviour of their police and how they are policed? |
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23rd September 2017, 05:39 AM | #2 |
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British policing is founded on the principles laid down by Sir Robert Peel. I don't know what American policing is based on (I note the USA is not one of the countries listed on that page).
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23rd September 2017, 05:49 AM | #3 |
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*some US police officers.
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23rd September 2017, 06:04 AM | #4 |
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23rd September 2017, 06:05 AM | #5 |
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It could be far less than people think as well. There are a million police officers in the United States roughly and there were about a thousand fatal shootings in 2016.
Or 1% |
23rd September 2017, 06:20 AM | #6 |
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My (very few) encounters with US LEOs were friendly, polite and professional.
Then again, I am a white male speaking English fluently, so... |
23rd September 2017, 06:21 AM | #7 |
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What we need are real statistics to see how these things are trending over the years. Unfortunately, they do not exist. This is born of weak state politicians who don't wanna know (they'd be the ones collecting the data for each state, not the feds.)
What stats there are was laboriously assembled by journalists pouring over old newspaper records literally looking for news stories, and those have about as much confidence as that a prison will contain Lex Luthor. |
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23rd September 2017, 06:23 AM | #8 |
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Other important figures would be;
- how many have discharged their gun in that year? - how many shots have they fired? - how many hits and misses? - how many wounded? But we will not officially get those figures as there is clearly a massive cover-up to hide the problem. I do not meant a CT, I mean that each police force is not held to account and is not interested in tackling what they do not see as an issue. |
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23rd September 2017, 06:24 AM | #9 |
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23rd September 2017, 08:53 AM | #10 |
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First, its news because it's news. That is, it's at least somewhat unusual. As the press here say, "If it bleeds, it leads."
Second, do you really, I mean really, believe that 200 million adult Americans, most of whom are armed (and better-armed than the police, in many cases - Google North Hollywood Fight) are so cowed by a few thousand cops, that they would tolerate the situation you describe? Having said that, unjustified shootings occur much too often; just once would be much too often. What are the causes? I'm in no position to analyse, but it does appear that unconscious racism is a strong element, probably accompanied by insufficient training. No cop starts his shift with the intention of killing a citizen. And I can tell you, based on my experience with the police, that the vast majority of American cops are more bothered by these shootings than is the average citizen. Not only are they just as shocked as the average person but, as a (Black) state police sergeant said to me, "It hurts; it's an actual physical pain." This signature is intended to irritate people. |
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23rd September 2017, 09:05 AM | #11 |
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Locally, the rate of unjustified police shootings is approx .025%, iirc.
Horsehocky. See below Don't forget to separate justified shootings from unjustified.
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23rd September 2017, 09:12 AM | #12 |
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Yes, 200 million Americans do tolerate the killings. It is not because they are cowed of the cops. It is because Americans are very tolerant of people shooting each other, period. It is the norm. It is also getting worse, as cops kill more and more people;
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...olice-killings In 2016, it was 1093. http://www.newsweek.com/how-many-ame...ch-year-480712 "a comparison of just these 28 “complete” states should give us a true indication of the frequency of police killings over time, in at least half the country. What it shows is alarming and incredible: a steep and steady increase from 359 police killings in 2000 to 739 in 2015" |
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23rd September 2017, 09:14 AM | #13 |
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23rd September 2017, 09:16 AM | #14 |
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23rd September 2017, 09:17 AM | #15 |
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In Bmore, the standard police encounter consists of one-two cops walking up to some black guy minding his own business, flinging him around, cursing and possibly spewing racial slurs, possibly digging into their pockets or down their pants, and then leaving without so much as a "sorry."
They don't like their cops very much. Luckily I live in a suburb, so I generally never see a cop, much to my relief. |
23rd September 2017, 09:19 AM | #16 |
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23rd September 2017, 09:20 AM | #17 |
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This is a pretty terrible post as far as I, a New Yorker, am concerned. Police and firefighters who lived in my county rushed into the World Trade Center and died there. Police are people who confront unknown situations every day, some of which may be violent. They have no idea when or how a situation might turn deadly. It's true that police generally overestimate danger. And it's true that some may judge that danger based on the race, sex or religion of the person they stop. I am all in favor of increased training and standardized procedures for law enforcement. But there's a difference between wanting the police to get better and saying they are indefensible. |
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23rd September 2017, 09:24 AM | #18 |
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23rd September 2017, 09:31 AM | #19 |
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23rd September 2017, 09:32 AM | #20 |
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23rd September 2017, 09:36 AM | #21 | ||
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A very relevant study to the topic
https://theconversation.com/why-do-a...ean-cops-49696 It puts the higher instance of shootings in the USA compared to Europe down to; More guns and aggression. Racism. Type of training, or lack of. Lower level of threat where deadly force is accepted by the courts. https://theconversation.imgix.net/fi...=format&w=1000
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23rd September 2017, 09:42 AM | #22 |
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23rd September 2017, 09:44 AM | #23 |
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tempest...teapot
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23rd September 2017, 09:45 AM | #24 |
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Oh for crying out loud.
You appear to be stating that Americans are apparently horrified by any kind of death except that inflicted by gunfire. Where I am reluctant to claim the ability or knowledge to analyse or assign cause, you seem to have no such qualms. Your claims that Americans shooting each other is the norm and is tolerated, are demonstrably wrong.
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"My rule of thumb with numbers that look unbelievable*is generally “don’t believe them,” at least without corroboration. There are a few reasons to be skeptical of this trend." And the article's final paragraph: "The federal data is mostly useless, the private data is better but still incomplete, and there’s a bunch of recent data points and a couple possible (but not definitive) trends that seem suggestive. Like a puzzle missing most of the pieces, the data so far are interesting, but not illuminating." I have no intention of either excusing or denying the facts. They are what they are. OTOH, it is not helpful to misrepresent the data or to base analyses of the data on personal prejudice (and I detect more than a whiff of "Yankeephobia" in your remarks and cherry-picked quotations. This signature is intended to irritate people. |
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23rd September 2017, 09:53 AM | #25 |
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I strongly suggest that everybody contact their local and state police to inquire about attending a Civilian Police Academy. This is a voluntary program conducted by many police departments, to familiarise citizens with the police. It does not grant you any extra legal rights, such as carrying a weapon, nor does it qualify you for any kind of law enforcement position. It's sole purpose is to demonstrate the how and why of the police.
This signature is intended to irritate people. |
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23rd September 2017, 10:03 AM | #26 |
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Gun control threads are usually peppered with comments on deaths in car crashes and swimming pools. They have both dropped as people have reacted making both safer. That has not happened with guns.
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There is no Yankee phobia. My interest in the topic is based on working as a security guard in Boston in 1986, seeing the police in action and subsequent career in the police in Scotland, which included firearms licensing. That gives me a particular insight when it comes to comparing and contrasting the use of guns and policing USA vs UK. Any appearance of Yankee phobia is down to my utter amazement that a country like the USA, well resourced, well educated, full of decent people is getting it so horribly wrong. |
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23rd September 2017, 10:15 AM | #27 |
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I would love that! I looked up an example and found Woodbury NY.
http://www.woodburypolice.com/civili...e-academy.html In the examples of what is shown are; - Sgt. Phillips and PO Burbage presenting on TRU Team Tactics and general SWAT principles. - PO Burbage prepares crowd for flash bang deployment. - TRU Team Members demonstrate a vehicle assault for Civilian Academy participants. The town itself is rated as follows for crime; https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ny/woodbury/crime Safer than 65% of US cities Chances of being a victim of violent crime 1/1292 (In NY state it is 1/263) Why is the Woodbury police force so geared up towards dealing with violence in a pretty non violent place? Here, the Woodbury TRU appear to be preparing for war; |
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23rd September 2017, 10:36 AM | #28 |
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Don't know, but I'd bet that they have at least a few officers that think it's fun (and won't admit it, 'cause "this is SERIOUS ******!!") and don't have enough else to do. As long as they don't get carried away with their fantasies, I say it's at least a little better than hassling the citizen. YMMV.
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23rd September 2017, 10:43 AM | #29 |
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There appears to be a lot of officers who think its fun......
https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal...militarization "War Comes Home The Excessive Militarization of American Policing All across the country, heavily armed SWAT teams are raiding people’s homes in the middle of the night, often just to search for drugs. It should enrage us that people have needlessly died during these raids, that pets have been shot, and that homes have been ravaged. Our neighborhoods are not warzones, and police officers should not be treating us like wartime enemies. Any yet, every year, billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment flows from the federal government to state and local police departments. Departments use these wartime weapons in everyday policing, especially to fight the wasteful and failed drug war, which has unfairly targeted people of color. As our new report makes clear, it’s time for American police to remember that they are supposed to protect and serve our communities, not wage war on the people who live in them." |
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23rd September 2017, 10:45 AM | #30 |
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Why bother? |
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23rd September 2017, 10:52 AM | #31 |
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23rd September 2017, 11:05 AM | #32 |
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It seems to me that there are people saying that shootings by US police are clearly not a cause for concern and that therefore we have no need to discuss it. I presume they're not saying that there are no shootings by US police, as that is absurd, or that all shootings by US police are fully justified, as there is unimpeachable evidence that completely unnecessary shootings of people who presented no significant threat have occurred. They must therefore be saying that the current rate of unjustified shootings is acceptable. I would ask therefore what they would consider the maximum acceptable number of shootings per year of unarmed people in situations where there is no clear threat to the police officer. Numbers, anyone?
Dave |
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23rd September 2017, 11:10 AM | #33 |
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23rd September 2017, 11:12 AM | #34 |
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First, you carefully neglect to mention that you are quoting photograph captions. Photographs that don't depict either scenery or action are singularly boring, and showing a series of photographs that don't depict scenery or action, even with captions, would be pointless. Apparently you agree because:
There is a fourth photo (actually the third in the series) that shows the attendees in a classroom setting. You not only skipped over this photo, you seem to want to hide it's existence. You also fail to quote or mention this paragraph: "The students attend a 3 hour*course once a week for a period* over at least 10 weeks of instruction. During each course, the students experience a*hands-on learning approach to gain insight concerning the practices of modern*law enforcement agencies." Is it your contention that attendees are presented with approximately 30 hours of nothing but SWAT, assault and similar presentations? In fact, such presentations occupy less than 10% of such courses. Once again your post is entirely cherry picking and misrepresentation. Have you no shame? No, I suspect you would not "love" to attend an academy, since it would not agree with your agenda. This signature is intended to irritate people. |
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23rd September 2017, 11:18 AM | #35 |
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American chiming in. We have a violent culture here. Some of those violent types are attracted to law enforcement, so you get the outlier stories that make the news.
Anecdotally, I have met more thug-type cops than protect-and-serve types, but that may have to do more with luck-of-the-draw or user input. Have not been shot but have come ridiculously close. Far closer than I should have (gun shoved behind ear once, which i am reeeeeeally certain is not SOP). |
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23rd September 2017, 11:24 AM | #36 |
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Once again you, and the article in this case, are ignoring something. "All across the country, heavily armed SWAT teams are raiding people’s homes in the middle of the night, often just to search for drugs."
What you are ignoring is that it takes a warrant to authorize a raid, and it's not "often just to search for drugs." The warrant will only be granted if the police can show probable cause, that is, a reasonable suspicion that drugs will be found. They cannot just bust in and make a cold search. I'm not going to get into the merits of the war on drugs, since that's primarily a legislative matter, and the issue of police militarization is a conversation that's just beginning. I do know, however, that cops themselves are divided on the issue, and you don't have to look far to see how they are often outgunned. BTW, I'm a member of the ACLU, and the cited article strikes me as needlessly hyperbolic. This signature is intended to irritate people. |
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23rd September 2017, 11:29 AM | #37 |
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This was a big part of the problem in Ferguson. The cops there basically had the armored vehicles and riot gear (Oh, and police dogs. Because, you know, there are absolutely no unfortunate images of Police confronting nonviolent black marchers with police dogs) and were confronting residents in their own neighborhoods, before any protests had begun. This is probably what led to the riots to begin with - rule #1 is that you let people march and rally without acting like it's a war, and then people won't act like they're in a warzone.
This sort of large military equipment (I can see, say, sidearms or armor) should be left to the National Guard garrisons, to be called out for serious emergencies like the Boston Marathon Bombers, rather than some angry local residents chanting "No Justice, No Peace!" and the like. |
23rd September 2017, 11:30 AM | #38 |
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23rd September 2017, 11:31 AM | #39 |
Now. Do it now.
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23rd September 2017, 11:34 AM | #40 |
Now. Do it now.
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From the other thread:
US police kill their populace at 70 times the rate that British police kill theirs, and 28 times the rate German police kill theirs. Even 7 times the rate Canadian police kill theirs. If there's critical thinking to be done on the subject, commenting on those amazing statistics would be a good place to start. |
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"The Conservatives want to keep wogs out and march boldly back to the 1950s when Britain still had an Empire and blacks, women, poofs and Irish knew their place." The Don That's what we've sunk to here. |
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