Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sorry to start another police thread, but since I work from home, I am currently watching the House Forum on Police/Community Relations live on TV right now.
I feel like the NYPD is constantly slammed in the media. Is it really that bad? From someone who moved here about a year ago, it would seem like the NYPD is full of raciest, rouge, irresponsible officers.
They are suggesting some serious restrictions on the NYPD, one being that the Feds strictly regulate the NYPD and oversee everything.
They are also suggesting that minority neighborhoods are scared of the police.
If you are not a criminal, and you are a minority in NYC do you fear the NYPD?
I am not a minority, so I have a hard time understanding fearing a policeman. It is hard to tell if there are serious problems w/ the NYPD or if the media is exaggerating things.
Sorry to start another police thread, but since I work from home, I am currently watching the House Forum on Police/Community Relations live on TV right now.
I feel like the NYPD is constantly slammed in the media. Is it really that bad? From someone who moved here about a year ago, it would seem like the NYPD is full of raciest, rouge, irresponsible officers.
They are suggesting some serious restrictions on the NYPD, one being that the Feds strictly regulate the NYPD and oversee everything.
They are also suggesting that minority neighborhoods are scared of the police.
If you are not a criminal, and you are a minority in NYC do you fear the NYPD?
when you have almost 40k people in an org. you will find all types, some good some bad, some lazy, some work too hard. the only time problems in the cop shops will affect you is if you need to interact with them. if you're a bad guy then I'd expect to hear a low opinion to the cops if you're an honest everyday schmo, you probably will not have any dealings with the cops and have no opinion one way or the other. The media has to sell newspapers or get ratings so they tend to sensationalize minor things, filter the crap that the media puts out there and you'll be closer to reality
I am not a minority, so I have a hard time understanding fearing a policeman. It is hard to tell if there are serious problems w/ the NYPD or if the media is exaggerating things.
The problem is that NYC is America's largest city and contains lots of poor people living in large swaths of neighborhoods with lots of crime.
The cops deal with criminals day in and day out. You lose empathy very quickly when you deal every day with bs on the street and bureaucracy from within. Working in that unnatural environment, it is typical for a normal human being's brain to overload, give up, and begin to stereotype and see and treat every minority as a potential criminal.
The cops are under SIEGE because they can't tell who's a criminal and who's not. The large number of law abiding civilians are under SIEGE because they are the victims of criminals around them and also feel unfairly picked on by the cops.
Imagine having your door kicked in and having guns pointed at your family. It doesn't matter that they're cops and made a mistake while looking for a criminal. You'll hate them. And then your attitude will be "F- the police!", and then police will feel like the community doesn't give a damn, so they stop caring about civilians. Multiply many such "small" incidents across the community. Downward spiral. Everyone forgets the REAL problem is the criminals.
It's not unlike Iraq. The longer someone is there, the more likely they are unable to tell the difference between civilians and enemy combatants. They become less discriminating and the civilian population begins to resent them.
Growing up, I was taught to respect police officers, firemen, teachers, and elders. I still respect police men, and feel they have a tough job combating crime in NYC (and the 5 boro's). I don't think any race (black, white, Latin, Chinese, etc) fears the police if they are decent law abiding citizens. It's the people who are up to no good that have no respect for life, people, property, and of course police officers. Right away, the NYPD gets a bad rep when using force against a thug who just beat or killed someone. What has the world come to where criminals are now looked up to, and the NYPD is the bad guy?
I'm a white woman in my early 20s, born and raised here, and yeah, the NYPD is filled with mostly poorly trained meat-heads who get off on the thrill of the arrest. The Sean Bell/Amadou Diallo/Abner Louima cases really aren't such aberrations, I believe the NYPD are the fleet of trigger-happy blowhards that everyone thinks they are. I say this because I got arrested for simply driving in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time.
(FYI, if you're driving in Ridgewood and don't look brown enough to typically be seen on Cypress ave during broad daylight, be prepared to have an undercover narcotics squad rush your vehicle like a SWAT team on steroids for mistakenly assuming you were there to buy heroin!)
So yeah, they really are that bad. Don't swig from a brown paper bag, take up two seats on the subway, jump a turnstyle, smoke a joint on the street, or be drunk in public unless you want to spend 24 hours in jail. Central booking is really not a fun place.
I believe the NYPD are the fleet of trigger-happy blowhards that everyone thinks they are.
So exactly how many police involved shootings are there everyday in NYC? With 30,000 so-called trigger-happy cops, you would think there would be at least 50-100 a day, minimum.
The truth is that study after study shows the NYPD to be the most restrained PD in the nation. 30,000 cops, 8 million citizens, and a handful of police involved shootings every year. Those are the facts.
Was Abner Louima shot and I forgot to hear about it (not like what happened to him wasn't bad enough, but let's please state some fact here)?
You got arrested for just driving through a neighborhood? Wow. You mean you were just driving and they surrounded you, slapped some cuffs on and dragged you into the station?
And, so b/c you were arrested just b/c the cops happened to be bored that day (and, according to you, not brown enough) and you happened to be driving by, that therefore means that NYPD is trigger happy? Hmm. Very interesting theory. Yeah, the NYPD...THEY'RE the meatheads. Gotcha!
Last edited by iluvmycuties; 05-12-2008 at 03:57 PM..
Reason: Accidentally deleted a sentence 1st posting
No, Louima not shot, just figured I'd throw him into the umbrella category of those done wrong by the NYPD.
Yeah. I was stopped at a light on Cypress Ave minding my own business in a Toyota Camry. I'm a young white woman, maybe some would label me as a "hipster", so I guess to the undercover narcotics squad I look like a junkie. Anyway, I'm about to proceed when two plainclothes cops (one of whom did not look a day over 17, go figure) approached my car with aggression that rivaled SWAT intensity. They were banging on my windows and yelling at me to get out of the car. My first instinct was that I was getting carjacked. Considering that one cop looked like a wayward youth in a black sweatshirt and ski cap, I didn't think for one second that they were the "real deal." I called 911 immediately and reported what I believed to be police impersonators. I pulled over to this gas station on Cypress (across from the cemetery) and thats when they proceeded to pull me out of my car, throw me to the ground, cuff me, etc. I spent 20 hours in jail and $2500 on a private attorney (thanks legal aid!) after the case neglected to get dismissed at my first hearing. (Keeping in mind that once the cops realized that I wasn't there to buy drugs, that I was just a white girl in a bad neighborhood, they apologized profusely and swore to me that the DA would dismiss the case -- they didn't)
The cops mis-targeted me, yes. It was their mistake. But the way they treated me throughout the ordeal before realizing that I was 100% innocent was rough and traumatizing. I guess you could say I knew what its like to be black, that day. I knew exactly how it must feel for all those who are arrested for WALKING WHILE BLACK. Yes, that really does happen.
So sorry if my anti-NYPD sentiment offended you, I guess you could say I'm a bit biased.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iluvmycuties
Was Abner Louima shot and I forgot to hear about it (not like what happened to him wasn't bad enough, but let's please state some fact here)?
You got arrested for just driving through a neighborhood? Wow. You mean you were just driving and they surrounded you, slapped some cuffs on and dragged you into the station?
And, so b/c you were arrested just b/c the cops happened to be bored that day (and, according to you, not brown enough) and you happened to be driving by, that therefore means that NYPD is trigger happy? Hmm. Very interesting theory. Yeah, the NYPD...THEY'RE the meatheads. Gotcha!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
yes, they really are
No need to get testy...
