Today in cops gone feral

To be clear, this looks like there was a struggle in a school rest room. The cop shot himself in the hip with his own gun. Initial reports were that the kid had a gun as well, but I'm seeing unconfirmed reports that he had no gun. If this is true, how, why and by whom was he shot? We're back around to the local police/DA refusing to release body cam footage, claiming that they cannot since a minor was involved. In other such cases this has been solved by blurring out the faces of any minors.

If the kid made a grab for the officer's weapon, that should show up on the body cam. If it does not, they've got big problems, both with his death and the lies being told afterward. No way in hell the DA is going to be able to refuse to release it for long.

Looks bad. I guess we'll see.

 

At the end of the day. The infrastructure of law enforcement is so rotten...Trevor Noah wisely said it is a rotten tree with a few good apples on it....and all involved know it's a rotten infrastructure, but they will continue to resist any opportunity to change and possibly improve it. And when they can get DAs in office that are basically cops in business suits they will.

We have to stop believing that cops are here to protect the people. They are in it to protect themselves with the power of weapons, firearms and legal resources and the people be damned

 

A big part of the problem is that urban law enforcement in this country exists in what chess folks might call a 'pin.' After the George Floyd riots, a significant portion of the Minneapolis Police Department reacted to demands that they fundamentally reform by walking away, either through a record number of retirements or by claiming disability. They've basically challenged political leaders in the city and state into an untenable position: allow us to have our way, or deal with this problem yourself. And as much as the activists believe that social workers and the like will cover many of the situations that police are badly botching, you simply can't maintain order in a major urban area like that, if for no other reason than by walking away, the police are basically inviting the trouble by pointing to their absence.

 

I'd be curious to find out how many officers serving today spent time in Afghanistan or Iraq. Granted, the military has a much more strict set of rules of engagement than the popo, but I also figure there weren't a bunch of Iraqis or Afghans with cell phones watching soldiers kicking in doors and interrogating people on the street.

 

Today in "fuck this shit."



One of our clerks is married to a Minnesota State Patrol officer and regularly jumps into newsroom email chains to apologize for law enforcement. It's a real treat.

 

Well that's the first amendment, now on to the second...

Honestly, maybe privatizing the police might actually be a way to go. Not talking RoboCop here, but agree to a contract with a provider with a base pay, and then "incentives" such as not shooting unarmed civilians, getting sued, etc. Always thought if a city's pension contribution was tied to legal settlements, the fewer cases the more in the kitty - some of this stuff would go away. The police have no incentive to change their ways.
If you want to change a department - you don't bring in a new police chief or change/update training and requirements for new recruits - you clear out the middle management, the shift sergeants and their superiors.

ADD - it needs to be noted that SOMEONE decided Chauvin should be a training officer. Odd that that person didn't take the stand in his defense.

 

The only comforting thought is we now have a DOJ that might actually look into cops violating the 1st amendment instead of encouraging it.

 

Media being targeted

 

Judge issues an order, law enforcement says fuck you judge and fuck your order

 

I'm sure it's just one bad apple, right?

 

We live in a country where this has to go to the courts