Pittsburgh police and community relations (Homewood 6/26/13) (2013, home, neighborhood)

[Q-tip motha]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

We haven't heard from the 11 other police officers that were reportedly at the scene, so everyone hasn't been heard from yet.

LMFAO! You mean the one's who weren't there to see the initial incident?

I don't even know where to begin.

I remember the FOP marching in support of the 3 officers who beat the crap out of Jordan Miles. Do you?

[Pghuser]

guess the speeding cop wasn't in such a hurry to get wherever he was going since he had the time to get involved with this...

[Tirade]

Here's detailed blog post of what went down from someone who was at the meeting: How to get arrested? Stand there. - Homewood Nation

[gg]

Originally Posted by groar

the cop got the 2 guys handcuffed by himself, how scared could he have been of men who let him do that?

He handcuffed them out of fear instead of just talking to them. They let him handcuff themselves because they are smart.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Tirade

Here's detailed blog post of what went down from someone who was at the meeting: How to get arrested? Stand there. - Homewood Nation

One thing I do know, if you start talking back to a cop regardless of the color of your skin, they will abuse their authority and put you in jail. You will then lose the battle of wills, because they are off to the donut shop and you are behind bars. The only way to stop this is to video everything all the time. There are cyclists doing it and it is having a tiny impact. I know at least two people were ticketed because of a video from a cyclist that got buzzed. The proof is on the camera. We don't have what happened here on video. Wish they would have got the first part with the cop coming close at speed and turning around with the confrontation from the start. The cop will win this battle. There will be some outrage, but nothing will come of it. Still bad PR for the police, but I don't think they care about that much. From my perspective from being on the city streets, most police have an us against them attitude and them being all the non police. I feel there needs to be a huge change with the city police, but I don't think that will happen. Wish they were more like the police in my town. They are SUPER nice and treat people as they should. Ah well, city life is different.

[UKyank]

Is it surprising that you get higher scrutiny from police officers in an area with out of control criminal elements.

[that412]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

From my perspective from being on the city streets, most police have an us against them attitude and them being all the non police.

I will say that an unfortunate percentage of the population at large carries a "**** the police" mentality with them no matter what, which can often exacerbate situations that should be non-issues. Not that this was the case in this particular incident (all of the testimony so far seems to indicate that the cop was way out of line, IMO), but it does take two sides to foster a respectful and, most importantly, productive relationship between law enforcement and the citizenry.

[that412]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Is it surprising that you get higher scrutiny from police officers in an area with out of control criminal elements.

What happened the other night does not appear to have been mere "scrutiny."

[Aqua Teen Carl]

In my experience the best thing to do with Pittsburgh Police is to pretend they don't exist. When I see them I don't look at them and never make eye contact with them. Calling them on the phone for something is an absolute last resort and if I can avoid doing so I will. I have never had a good experience with them at any point in time and recently it seems that you are gambling with your future by merely speaking a word to them. That's pretty disgusting that this is the case (especially in the nation's "most livable and smartest city") but my past history has shown me that they are nothing but trouble. I shouldn't have as many personal stories about them as I do.

[Clint.]

I wouldn't call out the entire police department or anything. A lot of them go about doing their jobs and, one way or the other, don't get involved in this sort of thing. One could argue that by mostly staying quiet they are tacitly supporting some other elements, but I wouldn't hold too much against them, as long as they do the right thing when they are present during a questionable situation.

Rather than risk needlessly escalating a situation, I've called the Pittsburgh Police exactly one time - with a noise complaint on a Saturday night, and a car was there in about 15-20 minutes with officers knocking on the door of the house I reported. My guess is that things are definitely done differently depending on what area is being policed and the independent characteristics of the officers working in those areas.