Life in these United States...

wegs said:
I think it’s ridiculous that this cop started all this commotion over a defective brake light. These situations always turn into “resisting arrest.” If he’s a fugitive, if there’s a warrant out for his arrest, okay. But…based on this scenario, it’s excessive. And then the cops go on about how they thought the guy was going to swing at them.

The guy is upset - who knows what kind of day he’s having? I get that there’s a protocol to follow when cops pull people over but this was excessive and unnecessary. I do think police have a tough job but it’s alwayyyys their word against whomever they’re stopping and in this case, it seems excessive.
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I disagree. The cop stopped him for a broken brake light. Find out the car wasn't register and found pot. This was his 3 ticket for not registering the car.

The guy overreacted. Once that happened, the cop, IMO, has little choice regarding what to do.
 
James R said:
Excuse me?

Did you just accuse me of being a bigot?

I need you to be clear on this. If, in fact, you are accusing me of that, please explain why you are making that accusation.

Thanks.
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I'm not accusing you of being a bigot anymore than you are accusing me of being "a common bigot".
 
Seattle said:
I disagree. The cop stopped him for a broken brake light. Find out the car wasn't register and found pot. This was his 3 ticket for not registering the car.

The guy overreacted. Once that happened, the cop, IMO, has little choice regarding what to do.
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But, it wasn’t technically a traffic stop. He drove to Walgreen’s and started walking into the store, and the cop told him he needed to stop. That initial encounter should have been handled differently. It’s a different story if the cop stopped the driver on the street for a defective brake light. I guess you could say the cop had his lights on (prior to entering Walgreen’s parking lot) but I didn’t get the impression that the driver was purposely ignoring him or “fleeing.”

In my opinion, in non-violent situations like this, the police should work to de-escalate the situation. Two things can be true at the same time - I think cops have a tough/dangerous job but they didn’t handle this situation as well as they could have.
 
I understand that different people see things differently. In my case, when a cop comes up behind you with lights on, you pull over. This guys was followed with lights on and just stopped his car by the front door of the store and walked away. No parking space. The cop told him to stop and he said no, I'm going for a Red Bull.

I can't imagine any different outcome on the part of the cop. This was his 3rd time driving an unregistered car. He aggressively turned on the cop once in the store. He had pot in the car.

After the other cops came in and he was handcuffed, when a store employee walked by he yelled out "please don't kill me". Seriously? Then my shoulder, I can't breathe, screaming, ER visit, no broken bones?

I'm all for de-escalating but I don't see this as that kind of situation. Calming the situation down would be, let's stop for a minute and you can catch your breath. Are you feeling better?

If the guy then screams, talks about his shoulder, says he isn't stupid, he went to law school and then screams again, how much de-escalating is reasonable for a cop to do?

It's not just about the brake light. They use any excuse to stop someone if something doesn't look right. If you are cool and they don't see a gun in your car and if when they call in your license nothing comes back, they said, "I'm just going to give you are warning this time, have a nice day".

If you do this you end up shot, in jail, or whatever depending on how you to react to the cop. If you act like you might hit him/her, bad things are going to happen.

Personally, I don't think it's reasonable to expect a cop to be more polite than this guy was under these circumstances. They had to worry about a guy pulling a knife, gun, attacking them and you certainly wouldn't be without those concerns with the way this guy is acting.
 
I don’t disagree that if you’re being pulled over, you should comply but at the same time, are cops always in the right? They can pull someone over without explaining why and expect total obedience? Why?
 
wegs said:
I don’t disagree that if you’re being pulled over, you should comply but at the same time, are cops always in the right? They can pull someone over without explaining why and expect total obedience? Why?
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No, they aren't always right but yes, you do need to obey them. They represent the authority of the state, and they have the guns. You do what they say in the field and you file a complain or see an attorney once you aren't in the field.

We set up the authority structure so that we don't have vigilante justice with everyone taking those decisions into their own hands. It's also why we have a military instead of each citizen trying to determine military policy.

It doesn't work in the field if there isn't respect or at least compliance. These videos show that. Look at the drunk lady, the cop says you are under arrest and she says "no I'm not under arrest".

If there is one thing that is clear from these videos...that guy doesn't need a Red Bull:)

Think about a little kid and their mom. The little kids says I'm going to leave and the mom says stop and the little kid just keeps walking out the door. Are you going to argue, "hey you'd better stop, I'm your mom, I mean it" and the kid just keeps walking? No, you stop the kid from walking because you can't parent the kid if he has no respect for your authority.

Cops often have to walk among a tough crowd and if people think that they can just disregard what the cop says, he can't do his job. It's also dangerous. People have to know that the cop is going to enforce whatever they said or others will come to back them up or someone is going to get shot or whatever.

It's not just about a brake light. Personally, I don't think there is a person on this forum that would behave like that guy did and for good reason. No one is that stupid.
 
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I didnt see the videos in this thred but from some of the stuff i herd about 'em its the sme old story... black guy brakes the law... run stoop sign or light or swirvin on the road (usualy drugs/alcohol etc. involved)... an then the guilty person gets Shtty wit the cop for no good reason... an then starts gettin physical wit the cops an then gets beat up... handcuffed an off to jail.!!!

What i dont get is... why dont sombody tell black people (sometimes white people also) to simple DO WHAT THE COPS SAY... an then just wind up wit a ticket an mayb a short time in jail dependin on the crime.!!!
I mean... these people have to know whats gonna happen... are they jus that ignerent... just dont care... what is it that makes 'em act so stoopid.???

In my lifetime... twice ive had cop guns ponted at me... an i follered ther orders both times an nuthin bad hapened... an after answrin ther questons i was free to go... no harm done... they was just doin ther jobs of checkin out supecious activity... duh.!!!

An i know its perty much common sinse for white people... but the botom line is... guilty or not DO WHAT THE COPS SAY AN DONT GIVE 'EM LIP.!!!
 
Did you read post #36, cluelusshusbund? It might help you start to understand why, sometimes, people of colour don't just do whatever the white cops say they should do.
 
James R said:
Did you read post #36, cluelusshusbund? It might help you start to understand why, sometimes, people of colour don't just do whatever the white cops say they should do.
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Yeah i just read it... over all a good post...

I have no reason to assume that, had the man being white, things would have gone any differently in this particular case, all else being equal.
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I thank in any case... the safer bet woud be the black guy is most likely to make horrible decisions.!!!
 
cluelusshusbund said:
I thank in any case... the safer bet woud be the black guy is most likely to make horrible decisions.!!!
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That sounds like a racist assumption. Is that what you meant to say: that you think in general black people are more likely to made bad decisions than white people?
 
James R said:
That sounds like a racist assumption. Is that what you meant to say: that you think in general black people are more likely to made bad decisions than white people?
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Well i was talkin about people havin an incounter with cops in traffic scenarios... an it sure seems like its a much higher percentage of blacks than whites makin those horrible decisions.!!!

Plus the ratio of blacks to whites in prisons seems to pont to blacks more likely to make horrible decisions.!!!
 
billvon said:
Because sometimes they get murdered by the cop anyway. I can see that having a . . . negative effect on the desire to cooperate.
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Whatever... do what the cops say for a beter outcome.!!!

Blacks seem slower than whites to understand that.!!!
 
billvon said:
Sorry to hear about your bigotry.

So if you believed someone was about to kill you, you'd obey every word they said, and not raise a finger to protect yourself? Sounds like you might be an easy mark.
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My “beliefs” are based on reality.!!!
When cops pointed guns at me the notion of bein killed crossed my mind… which encoruaged me to make the corect decision to stay calm an foller commands.!!!
The prollem is… how to make blacks understand bein calm is most likely to keep ‘em alive.!!!

Edit:::
Besides... sayin an doin whatever you can to pizz cops off if you thank they have killin you on ther mind is NOT the way for a sane/intellegent person to go.!!!
 
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cluelusshusbund said:
Plus the ratio of blacks to whites in prisons seems to pont to blacks more likely to make horrible decisions.!!!
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Not necessarily.

It could be that:
  • police target people of colour for attention more often than they target white people, which means that more people of colour end up getting arrested even if the proportion of criminals is the same in both populations.
  • courts tend to hand out more custodial sentences to people of colour than they do to white people, which might mean that people of colour are disproportionately imprisoned even if the crime rates are the same in both populations.
Is this the first time you have encountered these ideas?
 
wegs said:
I don’t disagree that if you’re being pulled over, you should comply but at the same time, are cops always in the right? They can pull someone over without explaining why and expect total obedience? Why?
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I was pulled in the 80s, stop and search on the street. It was a rough area, pretty routine. If you gave the police any trouble you could get a slap.
I'm not saying that was right but the rules were really simple. Just do as they say and you are on your way.
 
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