Posted on 04/15/2017 4:55:16 AM PDT by Kaslin
Police: “You’re under arrest. Put your hands behind your back!”
Suspect: “Don’t touch me! I didn’t do anything!”
Police: “Oh, you didn’t? Sorry about that. My mistake. Off you go.”
That was a hypothetical conversation that has never occurred.
Do we really want to live in a society where individuals get to choose whether or not they feel like complying with the police at any given time?
In the mid-1960’s, The Bobby Fuller Four fought the law, and the law won. Several years later, John Cougar Mellencamp reminded us that when he fights authority, authority always wins. And the same is true for nearly every American who tried to fight the law before, after and in-between.
When authorities confront an individual, either to place them under arrest, ask them to vacate an area or, whatever the situation may be, and the individual refuses to comply, there can be only two possible outcomes. The authorities can either say, “Okay, you win. Sorry to bother you. Carry on and have a nice day”. Or, they can physically force the individual to comply. And the former never, ever happens.
By now, all of America is familiar with the story of David Dao, the United Airlines passenger who police officers dragged off a flight from Chicago to Louisville this past Sunday after he refused to surrender his seat to members of a flight crew.
After overbooking a flight, United asked for volunteers to give up their seats to make room for crew members in exchange for $1,000. When no one volunteered, United randomly selected several passengers to leave the plane, including Dao. When he refused, he was forcibly removed from the flight by officers working for the Chicago Department of Aviation. Video of the incident ignited a social media frenzy with an overwhelming majority lending their support to Mr. Dao and condemning the airline and police.
Whether United Airlines, the Chicago Aviation Police officers or David Dao handled the situation properly is open for debate. What is not open for debate is that once a person refuses to comply with police, physical altercation, perhaps resulting in bodily injury is inevitable.
Nearly every incident that sparks national outrage, accusations of police brutality, protests, riots and the creation of organized groups like Black Lives Matter has one thing in common - someone initially refused to comply with the orders of law enforcement.
Mr. Dao may have been completely justified in his outrage. The police response may have been completely inappropriate. But we do not have the luxury of deciding that we do not wish to comply with orders from law enforcement, even if we are completely in the right. And the police do not have the luxury of neglecting to enforce their own orders because someone emphatically expresses their desire to be left alone. Your innocence, mistreatment, inconvenience or potential police misconduct is something to be dealt with at a later time. The subsequent legal process can vindicate the victim and punish the wrongdoers. But during the initial confrontation, you must comply. And if you choose to go a different route, you will lose every single time, at least for the moment.
Sometimes, the aesthetics of a police encounter caught on video do not shine the best light on law enforcement. There is the perception that excessive, perhaps completely unwarranted force was deployed. The proper handling of any physical encounter involving the police is subjective. And video doesn’t always tell the whole story.
Protecting citizens from unwarranted abuses by the state is one of the cornerstones of a free society. It is critical that we hold law enforcement accountable for any misconduct and demand the most fair and humane treatment from the police and the justice system. But before we rush to condemn the police every time they use what some perceive to be excessive force, we must ask ourselves what alternatives did they have? If they ask you to do something and you refuse, they will then tell you to do it. If you still refuse, they must make you do it by force or we cease to be a nation of laws.
Mr. Dao has won in the court of public opinion regarding his experience with United Airlines. There is a good chance that he will win in a court of law. There is also a good chance that some of the officers involved will be the ultimate losers in this ordeal. But in the brief few moments following the request for him to vacate his seat on the airplane, there was a zero percent chance that David Dao would come out the victor.
I think he was the victor. There’s basically a zero percent chance he’s losing this one.
David Koresh shouldn't have shot back at those "search warrant" servers either.
ML/NJ
And yes, I get it that he “lost” in the moment.
He will be much richer and United will be be much poorer, cops loosing jobs. How did the Dr loose?
Since 3 suckers got up, that means ALL FOUR employees were indispensable at wherever they were going?
If he wins we all lose.
So if he was under arrest, how did he manage to get back on the plane?
Where were the arresting officers when he was stumbling around all dazed and bloody?
>>He will be much richer and United will be be much poorer, cops loosing jobs. How did the Dr loose?<<
Probably not as much as people think. UA and the cops will probably get together and offer a settlement just to make it go away but it won’t be massive.
If you break event this down to its constituent components the passenger was mostly at fault and many jurisdictions allow % fault to enter into monetary awards.
Would you address the issue of the cops letting him getting back on the plane?
Oh yes they most certainly do. They have the right to quit at any time they feel the order given to them is wrong or unconstitutional.
They do not have to go door to door collecting weapons if they were given the order to do so. Like wise they did not have to beat up someone who paid for their seat five months ago. The choice was always theirs to make.
The police are humans who have a free will and the ability to make decisions, if they do something they know is wrong, under the guise of "just following orders", they are still doing wrong. They do not have to, but they want to, perhaps for 30 pieces of silver, it makes no difference, cops are not robots.
>>Would you address the issue of the cops letting him getting back on the plane?<<
Frankly, that is really, really bizarre. I can’t for the life of me see a situation where that happens, but it happened.
It would be a minor factor in any lawsuit IMHO.
I don’t half to follow an unlawful order from the police. For example, if I’m in a public place and taking photos, they can’t order me to stop taking photos. (assuming I’m not hindering their operation)
This is a by product of laws not being enforced equally for all.
This dude figured he could choose not to follow the law in the form of police instructions to leave.
Now imo he’s going to be very rich due to this incident.
... Just wanted to say that about after-effects of selective law enforcement....
That they let him back on bloodied, dazed and confused requiring dental work and maybe some plastic surgery demonstrates they had no real imperative and maybe not the authority.
He may have screamed like a bitch but, pretty sure they get bitch slapped by him and are forced to eat a shit sandwich.
The CEO’s statements afterward and actions such as compensation for all who flew that flight that day Arndt gonna help anyone but, the man they tortured.
That’s a good point, but we should all keep in mind that making a determination about what constitutes a “lawful order” is never a good idea when you’re in someone else’s property.
If I had been on that flight and saw the old guy getting the business I would have given up my seat. That fact that NOBODY on that flight did that says a lot about how selfish our society has become.
The real story is how none of the other passenger would be willing to give up their seat for the old guy. Anyone of them could have made this painful situation stop at anytime. Nobody did. That is the real story.
So they bust his face up, drag him out of the plane, and then leave him dazed and bleeding to walk back on the plane.
Do you realize how screwed these cops are?
(Lose)
Well for one thing the whole world got to hear him screaming like a little bitch.
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