Ferguson Shooting (Is my thinking on this all wrong.......)

by out4good3 229 Replies latest social current

• 

  Simon

  In this day and age with the equipment available I'd expect more evidence of these outrageous claims. Everything gets recorded but strangely very few incidents of bad behaviour by the police.

  I'm not saying there aren't some bad cops who do bad things but I think the claims are overblown and suit a narrative that the evidence often doesn't.

  Would that Django actress have been another example of police discrimination I wonder if it wasn't shown that it was nothing of the sort?

  A rabble threatening to riot if they don't get their way should not affect the decision and doesn't represent justice.

  And no, it's not all the word of the cop - there is forensic evidence and hopefully impartial witnesses who are not subject to threats and intimidation ... which is why a mob demanding non-justice is not a good thing.
• 

  talesin

  DOC - To be a cop here, all you need is 2 years at the Community College that holds the course. Like American cops, we have the same thuggish mentality in a majority of cops. The 'Thin Blue Line' is too, a reality in Canada - cops protect their own. Cops here in my city, have been found guilty of killing a (known to the police) mentally ill man by throwing him head-first into the back of the paddy wagon, getting prostitutes to perform oral sex on them in their cars to avoid being arrested, and the usual racial profiling. In fact, I have a friend (who is now a sergeant) who is black, and sued the Department because of the racism displayed by her fellow officers! She is not one to 'play the race card' - and happy to say she won her case.

  I agree with what you say - just think this is not a good example for the arseholes, specifically wet noodle Jesse Jackson and attention-whore Al Sharpton to be sitirring up violence over.

  The rich are laughing all the way to the bank --- ahaha, we got the poor fighting over race again, so they won't feel it when we slip the knife in their backs once again. Why aren't Condy Rice and Colin Powell speaking up> Well, day-yum! They are part of the elitist power structure, can't you see that?

  I've said it before, and I'll say it again - divide and conquer - keep the poor and middle classes up-in-arms over race, terrorism, or whatever, while the good little wage-slaves keep on trusting the government and shelling out tax dollars. I think we are headed for a bloody revolution, and for about 40 years now, it has already begun in the inner cities of the West. Cops do not respond when you call from a 'downtown' location - but they sure as hell are there lightning-quick when you live in a rich negihbourhood! etc. etc... Same old BS, time after time, and NOTHING changes.

  tal
• 

  Simon

  I think the reality is that cops do a dangerous job and have to deal with the dregs of society on a daily basis. I bet showing a sensitive weak side is like suicide in some places.

  I'm glad someone is doing the job and I've never had any problem with the police and don't know anyone who has ... maybe being law abiding helps?

  Seems like the same complaints when some idiot has been shooting at the police and gets shot in return so sorry, I don't find many of them credible because of that. People shouldn't cry wolf.
• 

  Simon

  But I agree the real divide is more wealthy + power vs poor & unconnected than race ... except some seem determined to make everything about race at every opportunity.
• 

  talesin

  My expeirences have been more by knowing 2 police officers growing up, havng a friend who live with a cop for years and then married him, dating a guy whose son is now a cop, etc. etc. Also, as a pawnbroker for about a decade, I met some really nice cops, both in Major Crime (detectives) and beat cops. Having lived in the downtown core, and now in a more 'posh' neighbourhood, I can vouch for the difference in police response time and presence. I was physically assaulted, in broad daylight, in the 'hood' when walking to the food bank. The police wouldn't even come to the scene - too busy. As I said, having a friend who is a cop, too - she's a good one and they are a certain percentage. However, the position of police officer requires little education, and holds a lot of power - just like the priesthood attracts pedos ,,, law enforcement attracts bullies (imo).
  
  LOL, also proof that law enforcement attracts bullies? My brother is now a Sheriff!

  ;)

  tal
• 

  AlphaMan

  If the cop is not indicted, I suspect they'll burn down Ferguson and much of St Louis. And they should. Non-violent protesting has never accomplished a damn thing.

  .

  And they should riot and burn things down? So you think that mobs of black people and white liberals should protest, riot and burn down the city over an incident involving a big black thug who minutes earlier strong armed a store clerk and whould have done bodily harm if the clerk would not have backed off, then mouthed off to a cop that mearly ordered him to get his big ass out of the middle of the road, then when the officer gets the radio call about the robbery Michael Brown strikes the officer and tries to go after his gun. Forensic evidence and eye witnesses back up the officer. This whole thing is a farce and you back up them getting violent? You are sick and probably a stupid racist liberal.
• 

  Simon

  Non violent protest accomplished everything ... laws were changed, rights were earned ... and then it was all thrown away.

  I think advocating rioting diminishes your argument. How does victimising other people's businesses, possibly assault and murder bring justice - or is that just a word to throw around but not believe in?
• 

  Simon

  Oh, and police response rates are based on number of patrols per capita, the road speeds / distances and most importantly the rate of crime / callouts.

  It's quite likely that an inner city area consumes a lot more police resources and so takes longer to respond to than a lower crime neighborhood. That may not be the police's fault or mean more is spent on the latter.

  In fact it looks like inner cities have way more police assigned that suburbs going off a cursory glance of some Google stats. So are high crime rates in those areas the cause or a symptom?
• 

  TheSilence

  If the cop is not indicted, I suspect they'll burn down Ferguson and much of St Louis. And they should.

  As someone who lives 6 miles from the Ferguson protests I would just like to say how offensive and short-sighted this is. Burning down Ferguson will not change the facts. What it will do is destroy the community that those doing the burning are claiming to stand up for. Already the QT that was burned to the ground has said it will not rebuild. And why would another business come in to replace it? Less business in the area means less tax revenue for the area, fewer jobs in the area which means longer commutes to jobs creating more commuting costs for the community and less time spent with family. Property values have also dropped which means these families now have less equity in their homes. It is speculated that insurance rates will be increasing for the area so not only are their homes worth less but they will cost more to insure along with any other items of value they own.

  The media coverage locally vs. nationally is astounding in its difference to me. The national media I've seen has been largely one-sided whereas locally it has seemed to show more of both sides. I work overnight at a casino where there are television screens everywhere you look. The night of the first riot I was at work and I watched the entire thing go down, not just clips that were sensationalised and therefore chosen as snippets for a story. The police did not start this mess. They were reacting to a good community being torn apart. Were there mistakes made? I'm sure. Let me ask, in the same situation, even with training, watching people you have sworn to protect and serve have their community burned and looted, never having had to deal with anything of that level, can you say you and your team would have handled the situation 100% perfectly? I can't even say with any degree of certainty there is a 100% perfect way to handle a situation like that let alone that I would have the presense of mind to do so.

  The vast majority of those looting and rioting are not even from Ferguson, or even the St. Louis area. People taking advantage of a situation have come in from out of down... even as far as Dallas and New York City. Those from Ferguson who feel a need to protest are generally doing so peacefully. And not everyone feels the same. Especially as more facts come out you see more division. Of those I know and deal with who live in Ferguson I would say originally it was about 50/50 of those who supported Brown/Wilson. As more facts have come out I have seen that swing more towards support for Officer Wilson. So please don't paint all of Ferguson with this same brush of feeling that racial tensions abound between themselves and police in their community just because those are the only ones the media shows you. Some feel that way, some do not. I would imagine the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

  As someone who has lived near Ferguson, shopped there, walked down the streets, visited friends and family who live there... it's a good community. There is a push right now to support Ferguson by stopping to support the local businesses there, to try to help bring back some of the business they've lost over this whole debacle. Rather than crying "burn it to the ground if Wilson goes free" I find this to be a much more helpful and forward moving act of support for the community overall and what they are having to deal with right now.

  I am a generally tolerant person. Whatever you decide to think of Ferguson is, of course, your right and I will support your right. My tolerance does not go so far as to think it is okay for you to support the burning to the ground of a good community that is close to home, where I have friends and family, where my employees live and try to raise their families. It is not the impoverished community the national media has painted where racism and crime abound. It is a beautiful community where normal people live normal lives with all the love and pain that goes with that. And I would far sooner prefer to see someone who supported the burning down of not just a community but of the lives of those who live there indicted than an officer who killed a criminal in the course of his job.

  Are there racial tensions? Yes, everywhere to some degree. Stand up against that peacefully without using a criminal as your poster boy and I am behind your movement. Your words, sir, I will never be behind.

  Best,

  Jackie
• 

  tootired2care

  The irony of this whole affair is off the charts. How many black youths are gunned down in the inner cities by other blacks? We never seem to hear of Obama and his political hack cronies inserting themselves in those cases do we? First it was the Duke affair, then the Cambridge Gates beer summit, then Trayvon Martin, now Ferguson, I'm so tired of crap like this. Why do black people continue to tolerate this shit, and support the race baiting liberal hypocrites and political hacks who claim to represent them? These hypocrites don't care about the real issues facing black communities, they only care about political stunts like these (which always backfire) to elevate their own status.

  Surely they are better than this.