Forum Post: Police Brutality and a Suggestion for What to Do.
Posted 12 years ago on Aug. 7, 2012, 10:18 a.m. EST by N16mindMachine
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Police brutality is an increasingly immediate threat to the integrity of our civil rights, not to mention the safety of everyone in the community. While police officers in certain places can still be found helpful and polite; much of the nation's law-enforcement department has adopted an aggressive, bullying, intimidating presence.
And they will physically hurt you as they see fit.
Some days ago I posted a feed mentioning a "copwatch" branch of occupy and asking why it had gone. To my chagrin and embarrassment, it turned out that there had been no such thing in the first place- I had seen a lot of posters for a separate organization of the said name when protesting for Occupy events in the past, and associated the two.
My idea for what it would have been might be very useful, though- if it were to be recycled from this foolish error.
It would involve people from occupy going out each day to walk routes that coincide with commonly-seen police-patrol routes in their city or large town. Besides simply enjoying the weather/exercise/whatnot, there would be a specific objective: to be on-the-lookout for police enforcement activity. If such activity is found, it is to be filmed- with a cellphone brought along before heading out.
In a nutshell, it's the same deal as the normal film-the-police campaign, except rather than just doing so when it happens to come near you, there will be anonymous, hidden, impromptu patrol-networks formed by occupy specifically to seek these situations out and expose them.
Hope this post will be better than the one before.
Agreed, Film it! But don't put yourself in danger!!!! Try to stay unseen by the jackboots.
There was a good site that tracks police abuse: www.injusticeeverywhere.com, that I've followed for several years. The guy who was running it was unable to keep it up, so he turned it over to another organization. The old link still works, but it goes here: http://www.policemisconduct.net/ where you can submit events.
It's now run by CATO. I know there's alot of people who don't care for their organization, but they've done a good job keeping things going, so set your bias aside, and be glad somebody is doing this important work.
They've also produced some great videos in conjunction with the FlexYourRights.org, and it is MUST WATCH: 10 Rules for Dealing with Police - http://www.cato.org/events/100212screening.html
If CATO is against police brutality and does something real about it they have to be thanked if only for that.
If possible, bring better cameras along.........:)
Proof, is sometimes in the details.
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Maybe some are, but the fact of the matter is, Law enforcement has grown very sick:
LE has become militarized - LE or many in it have acquired all this military hardware, uniforms, etc, and they have become to take on the military mindset. The military uses tactics that are aggressive and highly violent, because that's how you succeed in combat. LE should be peace officers - diffuse situations, avoid arresting people, use minimum force necessary to keep the peace.
LE has no accountability. There are no watchers that watch the watchers, they are the same people, or are incentivized to cover things up. Result: rampant corruption, and illegal acts become endemic.
The fact is LE murders over 300 innocent people a year, maim and injure countless others. It's a cancer, and it's getting worse.
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You can thank the Anarchists, Blak Blocs, and other Agent Provocateurs who went crazy on camera, in Seattle, during the WTO protests, giving PDs across the nation, training videos. False perceptions.
Carry LOTS and LOTS of American Flags and be very very very POLITE!!!
Police have gone batshit crazy against political protests forever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPrHwmiUMH0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh121_KWanA
They don't need encouragement. Flags and manners!
Maybe the reason for police brutallity is because we live in a more violent society? Think that could be the problem?
Says the guy who would arm everyone.
MAD
Mutually
Assured
Destruction.
Welcome to Steve's insanity.
You must really hate Wyatt Earp.
Ever watch cops - that my freind is everyday police officers dealing with everyday people - No wonder they have been trained to have their hand on their pistol when they approache a vehicle for a traffic stop.
I don't watch TV much, and I've never seen cops.
I have however seen real cops do some nasty things to people for nothing.
Well, it's an enlightening program that shows you what our society is really about when it comes to police dealing with society.
Such shows are selectively edited, and not a representative cross section.
Do they help sell guns?
More than likely.
.
And of course the show is not at all biased. I am sure they show everything that normally goes down. Ummm scripted edited reality TV at best. Yes no doubt the police run into some real scumbags - but some police are real scumbags too.
I don't disagree with you about some police being scumbags. But the truth is we live in a violent society - if we didn't we wouldn't have to lock our doors.
Yeah lack of a living wage and employment will have a tendency to make for a desperate sick and violent society. Huh. Who woulda guessed?
Living wage has nothing to do with it - it's lack of morals, lack of education, lack of self respect and lack of respect towards others.
We've never had a living wage, so of course it has nothing to do with it.
We would have to try it to find out.