by Tdarcos » Fri Jun 12, 2020 3:01 pm
AArdvark wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:21 pm
Sure, the police certainly could have acted in a less aggressive fashion, I get that. There was no need to push the guy, there could have been a peaceful outcome.
But let me put some spin on it. The old man didn't have to stay there. He could have seen the danger he was confronting and left before he was ever in pushing range.---
That's right, blame the victim. I guess when Brianna Taylor's boyfriend saw a bunch of armed men with no uniforms bust down their door like a home invasion, (rather than a no-knock warrant) he shouldn't have shot at them, then she wouldn't have been shot and killed (as opposed to maybe raped and killed if they
were home invaders). I mean, the couple should have known having narcotics was liable to cause police to come looking. Oh, wait, there were no narcotics found, the police fucked up? Oh, too bad.
AArdvark wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:21 pm
Think of it as a force of nature (it's not, but imagine that it is for a moment) You don't protest a hurricane for moving inland and wrecking everything. You get the hell out of there. Hurricanes are dangerous.
Yeah, but a hurricane is exactly that, a force of nature, sometimes referred to as an "act of God" or
"force majure". It's a mindless mass of energy. Police officers are
supposed to be trained professionals, who are
supposed to know that dealing with civilians can potentially get confrontational.
There is a video of a state trooper giving a driver an expensive ticket for something, and the man went completely ballistic, cursing, screaming and crying about the $150 ticket, and the trooper acted like the consummate professional we expect, he just stood there, as if this was just something he had to put up with, which it was. His only response was, when the man got mad, tore up his copy of the ticket, and threw pieces out his window, the Trooper stepped back (probably so the man oud open his door), and calmly said, "You need to pick these up, sir, or I'm going to have to cite you for littering." The man, clearly upset, got out, did so, then drove off. The trooper never raised his voice.
This is what we should expect, consummate professionalism.
AArdvark wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:21 pm
A gang of men are dangerous, no matter if it's Hell's Angels with sawed off billiard cues or police with badges and riot gear.
Hells angels are a bunh of untrained thugs. Police are supposed to be trained in dealing with people. If they don't know how, they have no business being on the street.
AArdvark wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:21 pm
The danger is there. No amount of words written on paper will protect you from a gang of men.
If the police are a mere "gang of men," then they xhould damn well be disbnaded and replaced by trained people. If they are thugs, they are no service to the commun8ity.
AArdvark wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:21 pm
It should not be like that except... men are men. A gang of men is halfway (or more) to jungle law. Recognising that before a confrontation happens will save you a lot of hurt.
'Vark, I understand your point. Except they were wearing uniforms identifying them as police officers. This means we are supposed to expect that they act in accordance with the requirements imposed on them. Police have special privileges including the ability to use deadly force if necessary, but they aren't supposed to just use it willy-nilly. Police have more leeway to use force (including deadly force) than civiliians, precisely because they
are trained in when they are, and are not, allowed to use it.
AArdvark wrote: Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:21 pm
The man didn't recognise the danger he was in, he thought the law of peaceful protest would protect him and he was wrong.
In a way, it did. The cop that shoved him is probably going to get fired for excessive force, and I wouldn't be surprised if the city has an expensive settlement with the guy. And maybe cleans up its riot control rules.
I mean, even in the movie
Soylent Green, when food ran out, and the cops knew there would be food riots, they at least announced over bullhorns that "the supply of Soylent Green has been exhausted" and if the people there didn't leave, protesters would be forcibly removed, by unceremoniously scooping them up and dumping them in the back of dump trucks, then released a little later. (They're not going to arrest or hold them, because then they'd have to feed them.)
Here, Buffalo Police just shoved people (or at least him) without warning. As noted, this was clearly misconduct. The public does not get mad at a hurricane, because it doesn't know any better. Police and Hells Angels are supposed to know better, but the difference is, police are
expected to be better than a lawless mob, and if they aren't, fire them all and get better trained people.
Trading the horror of civil unrest and potentially '"The Purge" for the horror of lawless men with guns and badges is not really much of an improvement. Or maybe it's exactly the same. I remember a line from the movie
Billy Jack: "When policemen break the law, then there isn't any law - just a fight for survival."
[quote=AArdvark post_id=110246 time=1591752076 user_id=20]
Sure, the police certainly could have acted in a less aggressive fashion, I get that. There was no need to push the guy, there could have been a peaceful outcome.
But let me put some spin on it. The old man didn't have to stay there. He could have seen the danger he was confronting and left before he was ever in pushing range.---[/quote]
That's right, blame the victim. I guess when Brianna Taylor's boyfriend saw a bunch of armed men with no uniforms bust down their door like a home invasion, (rather than a no-knock warrant) he shouldn't have shot at them, then she wouldn't have been shot and killed (as opposed to maybe raped and killed if they [i]were[/i] home invaders). I mean, the couple should have known having narcotics was liable to cause police to come looking. Oh, wait, there were no narcotics found, the police fucked up? Oh, too bad.
[quote=AArdvark post_id=110246 time=1591752076 user_id=20]
Think of it as a force of nature (it's not, but imagine that it is for a moment) You don't protest a hurricane for moving inland and wrecking everything. You get the hell out of there. Hurricanes are dangerous.[/quote]
Yeah, but a hurricane is exactly that, a force of nature, sometimes referred to as an "act of God" or [i]"force majure"[/i]. It's a mindless mass of energy. Police officers are [i]supposed to be[/i] trained professionals, who are [i]supposed to know[/i] that dealing with civilians can potentially get confrontational.
There is a video of a state trooper giving a driver an expensive ticket for something, and the man went completely ballistic, cursing, screaming and crying about the $150 ticket, and the trooper acted like the consummate professional we expect, he just stood there, as if this was just something he had to put up with, which it was. His only response was, when the man got mad, tore up his copy of the ticket, and threw pieces out his window, the Trooper stepped back (probably so the man oud open his door), and calmly said, "You need to pick these up, sir, or I'm going to have to cite you for littering." The man, clearly upset, got out, did so, then drove off. The trooper never raised his voice.
This is what we should expect, consummate professionalism.
[quote=AArdvark post_id=110246 time=1591752076 user_id=20]
A gang of men are dangerous, no matter if it's Hell's Angels with sawed off billiard cues or police with badges and riot gear.[/quote]
Hells angels are a bunh of untrained thugs. Police are supposed to be trained in dealing with people. If they don't know how, they have no business being on the street.
[quote=AArdvark post_id=110246 time=1591752076 user_id=20]
The danger is there. No amount of words written on paper will protect you from a gang of men. [/quote]
If the police are a mere "gang of men," then they xhould damn well be disbnaded and replaced by trained people. If they are thugs, they are no service to the commun8ity.
[quote=AArdvark post_id=110246 time=1591752076 user_id=20]
It should not be like that except... men are men. A gang of men is halfway (or more) to jungle law. Recognising that before a confrontation happens will save you a lot of hurt.[/quote]
'Vark, I understand your point. Except they were wearing uniforms identifying them as police officers. This means we are supposed to expect that they act in accordance with the requirements imposed on them. Police have special privileges including the ability to use deadly force if necessary, but they aren't supposed to just use it willy-nilly. Police have more leeway to use force (including deadly force) than civiliians, precisely because they [i]are[/i] trained in when they are, and are not, allowed to use it.
[quote=AArdvark post_id=110246 time=1591752076 user_id=20]
The man didn't recognise the danger he was in, he thought the law of peaceful protest would protect him and he was wrong.
[/quote]
In a way, it did. The cop that shoved him is probably going to get fired for excessive force, and I wouldn't be surprised if the city has an expensive settlement with the guy. And maybe cleans up its riot control rules.
I mean, even in the movie [i]Soylent Green[/i], when food ran out, and the cops knew there would be food riots, they at least announced over bullhorns that "the supply of Soylent Green has been exhausted" and if the people there didn't leave, protesters would be forcibly removed, by unceremoniously scooping them up and dumping them in the back of dump trucks, then released a little later. (They're not going to arrest or hold them, because then they'd have to feed them.)
Here, Buffalo Police just shoved people (or at least him) without warning. As noted, this was clearly misconduct. The public does not get mad at a hurricane, because it doesn't know any better. Police and Hells Angels are supposed to know better, but the difference is, police are [i]expected[/i] to be better than a lawless mob, and if they aren't, fire them all and get better trained people.
Trading the horror of civil unrest and potentially '"The Purge" for the horror of lawless men with guns and badges is not really much of an improvement. Or maybe it's exactly the same. I remember a line from the movie [i]Billy Jack[/i]: "When policemen break the law, then there isn't any law - just a fight for survival."