Pittsburgh police and community relations (Homewood 6/26/13)

[Moby Hick]

Charges were dropped.

Charges dropped against teacher arrested outside Homewood forum on police relations - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Aqua Teen Carl]

It's good that the charges were dropped but bad that Gromek still has a badge. But since police like Frank Rende still have jobs I don't see this guy getting fired even though they "work for us taxpayers" and are here to "serve and protect".

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by Dennis Henderson

"The relationship between police and the city does impact how our young people develop into citizens."

Read more: Charges dropped against teacher arrested outside Homewood forum on relations with Pittsburgh police - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Bingo.

In what way do we expect the minds of our youth to develop in a community where a teacher is bullied into cuffs by a thug cop simply for saying something the guy didn't like, or where an innocent teenager gets stomped by cops simply for...what, walking home after dark?

And at the end of the day, the story is "Mr. Henderson's charges are dropped," not "PPD issues public apology for renegade officer's indiscriminate abuse of authority." Garbage like this is what perpetuates and deepens entrenched hatred of the police in neighborhoods like Homewood.

[Q-tip motha]

Originally Posted by CaptainPittsburgh

Bingo.

In what way do we expect the minds of our youth to develop in a community where a teacher is bullied into cuffs by a thug cop simply for saying something the guy didn't like, or where an innocent teenager gets stomped by cops simply for...what, walking home after dark?

And at the end of the day, the story is "Mr. Henderson's charges are dropped," not "PPD issues public apology for renegade officer's indiscriminate abuse of authority." Garbage like this is what perpetuates and deepens entrenched hatred of the police in neighborhoods like Homewood.

Agreed. I will say that the hatred is completely deserved though. Do a quick search of youtube for police brutality and you'll see that there are a lot of examples of far worse occurring. Search the internet too. You can find some really ridiculous instances of police abuse. Everything from police shooting nonthreatening dogs, killing homeowners at the wrong address, and pepper spraying you and your family if you don't allow them to commandeer your home. Gromek's behavior isn't some rare occurrence, but the norm and the other officers do their best to protect and enable it. The charges are almost always dropped, and yet the officer is almost never reprimanded let alone charged for assaulting someone regardless of how blatantly illegal the act is.

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/07/%E2%...ut_of_control/