That said, it seems like "a few" falls quite a bit short of reality.
So the truth sounds something like: What the fuck is wrong with all these fuckin' cops?
When the whole world is watching us to see what we're doing to stem the tide of authoritarianism, how do we go stumbling on with these mixed signals?
WaPo: (pay wall)
One by one, Minneapolis police leadership and veterans took the stand in former officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial to view the video footage of him pushing his knee into George Floyd’s neck.
“Pulling him down to the ground, face down and putting your knee on the neck for that amount of time is just uncalled for,” the department’s longest-serving officer testified.
“That’s not what we train,” said an inspector who used to lead the department’s training.
“Not part of our training and is certainly not part of our ethics or values,” the Minneapolis police chief said.
The testimonies offered by these and other high-ranking police officials, punctuated by a chief appearing in uniform, marked an unprecedented courtroom condemnation of an officer by so many of his own department’s leadership, according to law enforcement veterans and legal experts.
They also underscored how policing remains at the heart of a crucial debate that could decide the trial’s outcome. Prosecutors say Chauvin “betrayed this badge,” describing his actions as beyond the pale for police, while the defense argues the ex-officer was using necessary force and “did exactly what he had been trained to do.”
"...exactly what he had been trained to do" is a stunning indictment - and not just in its "I was only following orders" dumbfuckery. Chauvin's attempt to use the Nuremberg Nazi defense has to show normal people what a sorry fucked up state of affairs we're dealing with here.
The cops are being trained to kill us? And the cops are sure we're going to understand all this and let them off the hook, cuz hey - that's what we're paying them to do?
Meanwhile, also via WaPo:
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Sunday he is directing Virginia State Police to investigate a traffic stop during which two police officers held an Army second lieutenant at gunpoint months ago in the southeast part of the state. Town officials said later that night that one officer was fired.
Northam (D) said the incident — in which body-camera footage shows police pepper-spraying, striking and handcuffing Caron Nazario — “is disturbing and angered me.” Nazario, 27, who is Black and Latino, filed a lawsuit this month against Windsor officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker that alleges excessive force due to racial profiling.
And just in case things aren't already FUBAR...
Police fatally shoot man, 20, in suburban Minneapolis, sparking protests
Police fatally shot a man after a traffic stop on Sunday in suburban Minneapolis, sparking clashes between hundreds of protesters and officers in an area where tensions are already high during the ongoing trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin.
The victim’s family identified him as 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Hours after the shooting, hundreds of protesters surrounded the police headquarters and clashed with officers in riot gear, who fired flash bangs and tear gas. The Minnesota National Guard, which is deployed to the Twin Cities for the Chauvin trial, later arrived to assist police as numerous businesses in the area were broken into.
Police said the shooting happened just before 2 p.m., when an officer stopped a car on a traffic violation and found the driver had an outstanding warrant. As police tried to arrest him, he got back into the car and an officer fired at him, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said in a news release.
- snip -
Aubrey Wright identified the victim as his son, Daunte, who is Black. He said police pulled him over because an air freshener was allegedly blocking his rearview mirror — a claim Aubrey Wright questioned because the car had tinted windows.
- snip -
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota called for an “immediate, transparent and independent investigation by an outside agency.” It also demanded the quick release of any body-camera footage, as well as all the names of the officers and agencies involved.
“We have concerns that police appear to have used dangling air fresheners as an excuse for making a pretextual stop, something police do too often to target Black people,” tweeted the ACLU of Minnesota.
At the risk of being just too darned repetitive: What the fuck is wrong with these fuckin' cops?
Northam (D) said the incident — in which body-camera footage shows police pepper-spraying, striking and handcuffing Caron Nazario — “is disturbing and angered me.” Nazario, 27, who is Black and Latino, filed a lawsuit this month against Windsor officers Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker that alleges excessive force due to racial profiling.
And just in case things aren't already FUBAR...
WaPo - one more time:
Police fatally shoot man, 20, in suburban Minneapolis, sparking protests
Police fatally shot a man after a traffic stop on Sunday in suburban Minneapolis, sparking clashes between hundreds of protesters and officers in an area where tensions are already high during the ongoing trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin.
The victim’s family identified him as 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Hours after the shooting, hundreds of protesters surrounded the police headquarters and clashed with officers in riot gear, who fired flash bangs and tear gas. The Minnesota National Guard, which is deployed to the Twin Cities for the Chauvin trial, later arrived to assist police as numerous businesses in the area were broken into.
Police said the shooting happened just before 2 p.m., when an officer stopped a car on a traffic violation and found the driver had an outstanding warrant. As police tried to arrest him, he got back into the car and an officer fired at him, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said in a news release.
- snip -
Aubrey Wright identified the victim as his son, Daunte, who is Black. He said police pulled him over because an air freshener was allegedly blocking his rearview mirror — a claim Aubrey Wright questioned because the car had tinted windows.
- snip -
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota called for an “immediate, transparent and independent investigation by an outside agency.” It also demanded the quick release of any body-camera footage, as well as all the names of the officers and agencies involved.
“We have concerns that police appear to have used dangling air fresheners as an excuse for making a pretextual stop, something police do too often to target Black people,” tweeted the ACLU of Minnesota.
From a "thinking brain": "The whole good cop/bad cop question can be disposed of much more decisively. We need not enumerate what proportion of cops appears to be good or listen to someone's anecdote about his Uncle Charlie, an allegedly good cop. We need only consider the following: (1) a cop's job is to enforce the laws, all of them; (2) many of the laws are manifestly unjust, and some are even cruel and wicked; (3) therefore every cop has agreed to act as an enforcer for laws that are manifestly unjust or even cruel and wicked. There are no good cops." ~Robert Higgs
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective. I think it's a little cynical, but only in the assumption that every cop administers every the law in the same way.
DeleteCops have a lot of leeway - they can interpret, and choose to enforce either by the letter or by the spirit of the law.
That said, I certainly go along with the premise that there's a shitload of bad laws, which, if enforced at all, make bad cops out of any who choose to enforce them.
Thanks for contributing.