"Office of Investigations"
"Special Response Team"
"Homeland Security"
"Immigration and Customs Enforcement"
"Police"
"Rescue"
Posted on 11/06/2013 9:26:30 AM PST by Rusty0604
No longer is it unusual to hear about incidents in which police shoot unarmed individuals first and ask questions later. What is unusual is our lack of outrage, the relative disinterest of our elected representatives, the media’s abysmal failure to ask questions and demand answers, and our growing acceptance of the status quo in the United Police States of America—a status quo in which “we the people” are powerless in the face of the heavy-handed tactics employed by the government and its armed agents.
We have been silent about too many things for too long, not the least of which is the deadly tendency on the part of police to resort to lethal force. However, as Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”
Consider what happened in Cleveland, when two police officers mistook the sounds of a backfiring car for gunfire and immediately began pursuing the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu and its two occupants, a woman driver and a man in the passenger seat. Within 20 minutes, more than 60 police cars, some unmarked, and 115 officers had joined the pursuit, which ended in a full blown-out firefight in a middle school parking lot that saw 140 bullets fired in less than 30 seconds. Once the smoke cleared, it quickly became evident that not only had the officers been mistakenly firing at each other but the “suspects”—dead from countless bullet wounds—were unarmed.
If ever there were a time to de-militarize and de-weaponize local police forces, it’s now. The same goes for scaling back on the mindset adopted by cops that they are the law and should be revered, feared and obeyed. As for the idea that citizens must be compliant or risk being treated like lawbreakers, that’s nothing more than authoritarianism with a badge.
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
You want to demilitarize the police? End the WOD.
We have been silent about too many things for too long, not the least of which is the deadly tendency on the part of police to resort to lethal force. However, as Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”
John Whitehead PING
THIS is the crux of the problem! A perfect storm of fear of lawsuits causing police departments to be hostile against their communities and OVERPROTECTIVE OF THEMSELVES, PLUS our gubmint helping to militarize them, has created an adversarial animal that can no longer be trusted.
The labor unions have hijacked the mindsets of cops to be arrogant and selfish bullies. They've done the same thing to teachers!
and keep criminals in jail.
When did the line between SWAT teams and normal cops get blurred? Post 9/11 for sure. Earlier? I’m kind of fascinated by this and want to learn a bit more of the history. I noticed that cops were replacing the Remingtons and Mossbergs in their cruisers with AR15s (even campus police at WSU in Detroit)more so in recent years, something I didn’t see when I was growing up.
"Office of Investigations"
"Special Response Team"
"Homeland Security"
"Immigration and Customs Enforcement"
"Police"
"Rescue"
Yes, we need to end the police state. The criminal prosecution for traffic violations is beyond acceptable. If you have outstanding traffic tickets, they should not be able to arrest you and throw you in with the rest of the criminals in the jail. Simply deny registration for your vehicle, or license renewal, etc. If you do not pay and get caught driving, then vehicle confiscation. This BS of making money off of throwing people in jail for traffic violations is BS. Drugs or drinking and driving? that’s different. Stop making the US a police state.
Having worked with a labor union that represented public employees, I agree with you and want to add that most people don’t know the half of it.
And in some jails, the traffic offender is stripped searched.
A North Texas woman was handcuffed, stripped down and booked into jail – all because of an overdue traffic ticket.
It was just a ticket. Sarah Boaz was cited in August after an officer said she ran a stop sign.
Boaz lost the ticket, but said she knows it was wrong not to have paid it right away. Despite those missteps, she also says she never expected a late fee or penalty to land her in jail.
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/10/24/woman-endures-strip-search-jail-time-for-overdue-ticket/
Then it's time for the plaintifs lawyers to sue the Police Unions for the outlandish behavior of their members.
Look, why sue the city of Cleveland when it's the uLEO who can't police their own?
Hit THEM in the pocket book by suing the union pension plans, not the tax-paying citizens and perhaps we'll see a lot less of these outrageous murders of innocent citizens.
It occurred to me recently that cops might be receiving too much, or too much of the wrong kind of training today, training shapes guys and pumps them up, teaches them to come to see themselves as elite soldiers operating in a hostile world, surrounded by unpredictable, but deadly people and adversaries, while they can only trust and depend on their own, on their fellow uniforms.
Combat oriented training, always concentrating on attack and fight and tactical defense, and then giving them weapons that resemble what soldiers use, can create a culture of “enforcer”, of “a survivor”, rather than that of a kind but firm, fatherly, beat cop.
Soldiers that serve in elite units sometimes have to be brought down to earth with reminders to get their feet back on the ground and lay off the ego, macho stuff, because the high speed training can make one start feeling like a superman, as “special”, and soldiers aren’t patrolling your kids hamburger joint and stopping you on the way to Walmart like the local union cop is.
Shotguns have been replaced with rifles because of the increasing incidents of rifles being used in shooting incidents. They allow police to engage a person more accurately from greater distance. A shotgun and pistol are simply closer quarter tools. Also, with tap rounds, the penetration is lowered thus lowering injuries from stray rounds. Because of instances of active shooters are increasing, there is no time to wait for SWAT to assemble and respond...hence the individual officer IS the SWAT response...
This will not stop until these nazi bastards are hanging from lampposts all aroung their headquarters.
You want to stop this cr4p? Mandate that all “Law Enforcement Officers” from Police Chief to Sheriff to the lowliest meter maid must wear a pepto bismol pink uniform. No more black ninja suits, ever. Revolvers and Monadnock PR-24 batons only. No uber-cool assault rifles allowed. Finally, all police vehicles must have the department clearly identified on all sides of the vehicle. No more stealth cars.
I am an old guy. I went to a big high school and graduated in the mid 1950's. There were 945 in my graduating class. Not one word about drugs or drug use was heard while I was there. No onbe even said, I"I wish there was pot or heroin available. The punks (including the damned musicians and hollywood types)of the 60's popularized drug usage and today even elementry school kids are using.
I hate the manta of end the WOD. Those of you who allowed yourselves to follow those punks who popularized drug usage deserve the WOD.
Careful, you'll have the progressives foaming at the mouth.
waiting for the social(ist) conservatives to support this in..
3...2...1
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.