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.
When situations escalate, which they have a nasty way of doing when you bait and provoke cops, **** happens; just do what you're told, and they won't... Or is that too "demeaning" in this political climate?
Why do police departments across the country hire these morons (ex-military)? How about increasing the salaries and hiring people with college degrees? The cops we have right now are pretty much bottom of the barrel losers without any tact or problem-solving skills.
The officer in question HAS a college degree in and was with another department before he moved to the UC campus police department.
I am not saying anyone, Black or White, should be killed because he or she disobeys a police officer, but should he have just let the driver go? That's what I'm hearing from the DA. "Just let him go." If someone is breaking the law and doesn't want to cooperate, just let that person go so the situation doesn't escalate. I guess that's why records show he had been stopped over a dozen times in the past for driving without a license and just spits on the law.
The question you need to ask is if the choice is between letting someone go for a traffic violation or using deadly force which do you think is the proper action?
Quote:
The video was edited so viewers can't see the actual shooting, but was that the only part edited? Everyone always says that videos help, but they can be manipulated.
There are plenty of unedited copies on YouTube.
Quote:
What I see here is a history of disobeying the law (75 offenses according to court records) and being let go time and time again to the point that being stopped is simply an inconvenience, an annoyance.
People need to sleep, meaning that they have somewhere to lay their head where they can be arrested with minimal threat to themselves and others.
Quote:
I am always afraid to discuss something like this on City-Data, because someone will call me a racist.
I see nothing racist in your comments and for the most part I agree. The only point of disagreement that I would have is that deadly force is not the remedy for traffic violations.
Is wearing pink pajamas a capital offense?
Is wearing a pink hat a capital offense?
Is having an open bottle of gin in a car a capital offense?
Is failing to produce a driver's license a capital offense?
Is rummaging around a glove box a capital offense?
Is fleeing from a traffic stop a capital offense?
Is arguing a capital offense?
Is being disrespectful a capital offense?
Is not doing what you're told at a traffic stop a capital offense?
BTW, there is a dispute over whether or not that was gin in the bottle - gin is a clear liquid and that bottle had yellow liquid in it. I think he said it was an air freshener of some sort (which can be made out of gin, btw, google it).
Of course, none of this was a capital offense anyway. If it had been gin and the bottle had been open though there might have been a cause for asking him to step out to check his sobriety, but the officer never said anything about that possibility and the bottle was pretty full and likely not open.
Now I hear on the news that the man shouldn't have been stopped in the first place because he wasn't committing a serious enough crime.
...
I am not saying anyone, Black or White, should be killed because he or she disobeys a police officer, but should he have just let the driver go? That's what I'm hearing from the DA. "Just let him go." If someone is breaking the law and doesn't want to cooperate, just let that person go so the situation doesn't escalate. I guess that's why records show he had been stopped over a dozen times in the past for driving without a license and just spits on the law.
If the officer shot the driver in the head simply for not cooperating, he is guilty. I am NOT justifying a murder. After all, the man was not a threat and was unarmed. If the officer was dragged, as he claims, then it's a different story. The video was edited so viewers can't see the actual shooting, but was that the only part edited? Everyone always says that videos help, but they can be manipulated.
In any case, if you are stopped by a cop and asked to show your license and registration, you need to cooperate or expect to be arrested. Period. What I see here is a history of disobeying the law (75 offenses according to court records) and being let go time and time again to the point that being stopped is simply an inconvenience, an annoyance.
I am always afraid to discuss something like this on City-Data, because someone will call me a racist. I am in no way, shape or form a bigot. I will say exactly what I just wrote above to my Black friends. If the officer was wrong, he needs to be punished, but don't turn the victim into a saint.
I don't think -- based on this post -- that you're a bigot.
I have to admit that I would like to see a news report that said he shouldn't have been stopped "in the first place because he wasn't committing a serious enough crime". Who said that? The newscaster? A city official? Or a man on the street. That makes a big difference to your comment about that aspect of the case.
In what context was the "Just let him go" comment made by the DA. Was it in the context of "Just let him go" because it's not important? Or in the context of "Just let him go" and get an arrest warrant? Very different scenarios there.
I read elsewhere in this thread that virtually all of the previous offenses were traffic violations. If that is true, why does he still have a license? Or doesn't he?
I did learn the other day that this routine about "my Black friend(s)" in the United States is rather bogus for many people. Now I can't find the reference, but if I'm recalling correctly, they did a study and found that 40% of the White people in the United States who use the "my Black friend" routine, actually don't. Or that the Black friend is someone who just happens to work in their office, etc. I'm not saying that you; just that it doesn't work very well nowadays in discussions, when most Americans don't have real friends outside their race.
At his arraignment the cop entered a not guilty plea and said he "feared for his life." This is the mantra of these bad cops. Now can a citizen adopt the same? I bet they are a lot of people in this country who are afraid of cops. Whenever I see one, negative images pop up in my mind of all the bad things a cop can do... and later get away with it, video or no video.
Stop with the "capital offense" already; obviously he didn't set out with willful intent to shoot anyone in the head when he made a traffic stop. Unless you subscribe to the conspiracy theory de jour, which you just might.
Stop with the "capital offense" already; obviously he didn't set out with willful intent to shoot anyone in the head when he made a traffic stop. Unless you subscribe to the conspiracy theory de jour, which you just might.
homicide does not have to be premeditated, you should get a refund for your law school tuition
What ever happened to sending a ticket through the mail?
Assuming this 'cop' got the license plate number.
I can't believe he entered a not guilty plea.
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.
