Today in cops gone feral

Good thing Columbus police didn’t just piss off the neighborhood a few days ago with a helicopter joyride. Oh wait.

 

meanwhile

 

At this point do you trust any law enforcement agency anywhere not to root out rogue cops, quit harassing minorities, stop shooting unarmed African Americans, etc. There needs to be oversight and governor's offices might be the place to do it -- except in Florida, where this governor is rooting for them.

 

I’ve written this here before: only way for police departments to root out the “bad apples” is to punish all cops for misdeeds. Some asshole makes racists comments and gets caught? All senior staff and his entire unit/division/shift gets a paycut for the year. Guarantee they will be policing themselves within 12 hours of the first incident.

 

Variation on that idea: Next time the union contract is up, tell them you are increasing the salary pool by the amount the city pays in policy liability premiums and the average cost of settlements over the last decade or so. But every time they have to pay out, that money comes out of the pot and everyone takes a proportionate hit.

 

It may have been mentioned upthread, but let’s remember that justice for George was not served today. He’s not here to see this. Justice for George would have likely resulted in a criminal conviction of some sort (passing a counterfeit bill, resisting arrest, drug offenses, etc), and quite possibly time in prison. But he would have been alive to face that justice.

Derek Chauvin faced justice today, justice he denied to George Floyd, despite his sworn duty to do so. It feels good to see him face that justice. I wish George Floyd had been afforded the same opportunity.

Will George Floyd’s name be remembered in the way Emmett Till’s name is remembered — a tragedy that serves as a catalyst for positive change? I sure hope so.

 

I'd haul them all out to the academy for six hours of training on their days off. Paid/unpaid it doesn't matter. It's the equivalent of keeping them afterschool. They would hate it and suddenly start weeding out the bad ones. Wasn't expecting a solid statement from national police union types, but was kind of hoping for a nice surprise.

 

The thing in Columbus was bad, but the picture just before she was shot shows her with a big honking knife trying to stab the other girl. If a cop sees that when he rolls up, it will get you shot, and I really can't fault them for it. All the rest of that bullshit, the cops taunting, that's another matter altogether. The girl in black actually called the police, but they had no way to know that.

 

What if the girl who got shot was protecting herself? What if cops roll up and shoot a homeowner aiming a gun at an intruder because instead of taking a moment, they just fucking shoot? Why not shoot the girl in the leg? I would think a cop HAS to spend so much time on the range that he can hit a target where he wants to.

 

Ohio just passed a Shoot First, Ask Questions Later bill, aka Stand Your Ground. Girl was just exercising her rights.