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Column defending cops in Ferguson sparks online fury
WXMI-TV / CNN ^ | August 20, 2014

Posted on 08/20/2014 2:35:47 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

In a single column, a veteran police officer has catapulted himself into the national debate over the death of unarmed teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

“I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me,” the Washington Post headline blares. The piece was written by Sunil Dutta, a 17-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“Even though it might sound harsh and impolitic, here is the bottom line: if you don’t want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you,” he wrote.

Dutta cautions against arguing, insulting, or screaming at officers, “and don’t even think of aggressively walking towards me. Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?”

If you believe an officer is violating your rights or bullying you, Dutta says, don’t challenge him then — save that for lodging a complaint later. “Do what the officer tells you to and it will end safely for both of you.”

It took no time for the anger over his message to explode.

“The outrageous thing is not that he says it. The outrageous thing is that we accept it,” writes Ken White of the blog Popehat, which tracks American legal issues.

“Do we have a justice system? By name, yes. Is it effective in deterring cops from abusing citizens or punishing them when they do? No… If you hope the cop will be charged criminally for misbehavior, you’re going to be waiting a very long time for no result.”(continued)

(Excerpt) Read more at fox17online.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: fascism; ferguson; lawenforcement; police
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To: Responsibility2nd
Dutta's full piece: I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me.
41 posted on 08/20/2014 3:19:07 PM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: eddie willers
Did I show respect? What do you think?

I'm glad that you've had satisfactory experiences. I'd feel better if you we free to speak your mind or defend your self if you were being mistreated.

Don't think it happens? Here's what Dutta says,

I am aware that corrupt and bully cops exist. When it comes to police misconduct, I side with the ACLU: Having worked as an internal affairs investigator, I know that some officers engage in unprofessional and arrogant behavior; sometimes they behave like criminals themselves.

42 posted on 08/20/2014 3:23:17 PM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: Half Vast Conspiracy

I guess Big Mike thought he was being mistreated and deserved more respect?


43 posted on 08/20/2014 3:27:54 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Jim Robinson
If you react violently to a police officer, you’re putting him and yourself both at risk.

No doubt. But Dutta's limit seems to be far below reacting violently. His position is that you dare not even "show your anger or resentment".

44 posted on 08/20/2014 3:28:04 PM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: JimRed

It is authority v power.

He asks your permission to search your car. You say no. He searches it anyway. Its a bad search and should get thrown out. But do not try to stop him from searching.

The only recourse against a cop exceeding his authority is in court not during the encounter.


45 posted on 08/20/2014 3:28:56 PM PDT by joshua c (Please dont feed the liberals)
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To: Half Vast Conspiracy

Seriously, folks, all you’ve got to do is ask yourself when is the last time you read a report claiming that a police officer tried to pull a suspect through his car window and onto his lap?

Bonus question: What would happen to Ferguson if the police just pull out and leave the lynch mob, er, protesters, in peace?


46 posted on 08/20/2014 3:30:55 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Jim Robinson
I guess Big Mike thought he was being mistreated and deserved more respect?

Who knows? However, if he had decided to sigh in frustration, he should be able to.

He should not be able to punch a cop.

47 posted on 08/20/2014 3:31:37 PM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: Half Vast Conspiracy

And he’s probably correct. I’ve seen the police use a lot of restraint in this case, but there is a limit. Yelling in anger is to be expected and they can ignore that, but this mob has a tendency to get violent. The riot squad was not there in the beginning and the looters and burners had a field day. There’s a good reason for them to be there. And the mob had best not react violently.


48 posted on 08/20/2014 3:35:11 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Half Vast Conspiracy

People express their resentment and anger by yelling at cops every damn day. Most don’t get violent.


49 posted on 08/20/2014 3:37:05 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: goat granny
Ghandi had it right and the early civil rights protests were peaceful and were effective. Excluding the violent protests, of course which there were a few.

The key component is the press. Without it, passive resistance is ineffective. And it is a double edged sword. A video or pictures can show a person being unfairly abused, or the protesters abusing someone else.

Vietnam is a perfect example (the 60s). At the time the press was pretty limited to newspapers. Now, everyone has a camera on their phones and we have the Internet. And almost instantaneous news. I think that this helps.

I'd like to think that showing the rioting and looting will give the peaceful protesters pause. To any reasonable thinking person, it doesn't look good. I think that they are embarrassed by it and realize that it doesn't help their cause. But the violence must be shown as a way to stop it.

50 posted on 08/20/2014 3:38:17 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: Jim Robinson
People express their resentment and anger by yelling at cops every damn day.

They do. But, according to Dutta's opinion, you better not even argue.

Merely challenging him might get you hurt.

Are you ok with that?

At the risk of getting a time out, I have to ask...did you read the article?

I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me.

51 posted on 08/20/2014 3:44:53 PM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: Half Vast Conspiracy

Yup. Big Mike “challenged” the officer all right. Came at him like a bull meaning to kill.


52 posted on 08/20/2014 3:47:35 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: trisham

last word


53 posted on 08/20/2014 3:50:19 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (We have met the enemy and he is us.)
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To: Jim Robinson
Even though it might sound harsh and impolitic, here is the bottom line: if you don’t want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you. Don’t argue with me, don’t call me names, don’t tell me that I can’t stop you, don’t say I’m a racist pig, don’t threaten that you’ll sue me and take away my badge. Don’t scream at me that you pay my salary, and don’t even think of aggressively walking towards me. Most field stops are complete in minutes. How difficult is it to cooperate for that long?

I'm not ok with that statement.

I'm NOT ok with folks attacking police and busting their face.

54 posted on 08/20/2014 3:51:09 PM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy (Settled science.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I was in a car and my passenger decided to mouth off to a cop when we got pulled over (without cause, I might add, as I knew the downhill section of the road was a speed trap).

Believe me, his mouthing off didn’t help things much.


55 posted on 08/20/2014 3:52:16 PM PDT by BobL
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To: cripplecreek; All

The MO Lt Gov is also calling for the Gov to retract his statement (made last night, via video release). I heard this Lt Gov on Hannity’s show, this afternoon. He (Lt Gov Peter Kinder) was really ripping in to the Gov.

I haven’t been able to find a transcript or vid of Hannity’s interview with him, but here’s pretty much what he said (From a FNC interview, today)...

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R-MO) slammed Gov. Jay Nixon (D-MO) for his lack of communication with other officials regarding the situation in Ferguson.

“If you wanted to support this governor as a fellow constitutional officer of state government, you would be uncertain how to do that for several reasons. First of all, no communication at all. And secondly, the policy appears to be changing about every 12 hours in a herky-jerky, on again/off again, uncertain, tentative manner...the other five constitutional officers of state government [are] in the dark. we are not included,” Kinder reported on Wednesday’s “The Real Story” on the Fox News Channel. And that the state’s constitutional officers had a phone briefing with the governor, but that the line went dead and they haven’t heard from the governor since.

He added that the mayor of Ferguson hasn’t heard from the governor either, saying, “The mayor there...has told reporters, and I don’t know if anyone has reported this, but he has told reporters he’s not had one phone call from the governor.”

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/08/20/Lt-Gov-Missouri-Governor-Stonewalling-State-Local-Officials


56 posted on 08/20/2014 4:05:39 PM PDT by Jane Long ("And when thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek")
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To: Half Vast Conspiracy

Well, this is all in regards to Big Mike viciously attacking an officer followed by the lynch mob and rioting in Ferguson and the left trying to justify it. Helps to keep it in perspective.


57 posted on 08/20/2014 4:09:18 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Jane Long

I just saw the prosecutor on Van Sustren’s show and He says the Governor needs to remove him or not.

Rather than simply removing the prosecutor, Nixon prefers to swing him as a weapon. Meanwhile the prosecutor’s assistants are the ones handling the case (one of them is black)


58 posted on 08/20/2014 4:26:02 PM PDT by cripplecreek ("Moderates" are lying manipulative bottom feeding scum.)
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To: JimRed

What he’s saying is common sense. If the cop really is bullying you, trying to stand up to him is going to backfire. Things will escalate. That doesn’t mean he’s condoning cops bullying people, it’s just common sense advice.

I love how these bloggers have to try to “restate” what he actually wrote in the most hyperbolic terms, “In other words he is saying...”, followed by something he isn’t saying at all.


59 posted on 08/20/2014 4:26:20 PM PDT by Hugin ("Do yourself a favor--first thing, get a firearm!")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Right or wrong, the thing to keep in mind is that a policeman must always be alert to the possibility of being attacked, wounded or killed in every encounter.

Every time a policeman leaves his home and tells his loved ones goodbye he knows it may be the last time.

Everyone they meet is a potential threat and they have no immediate way of telling who is and who is not ready to physially assault them or shoot them.

A LEO cannot just assume you are a nice guy who is ignoring his order and approaching him just to have a conversation.

The Michael Brown incident is a good example.

When the LEO stopped him he had no idea that Brown would go berserk and try to kill him.

We hear endless wailing about the “unarmed teen getting ready to go to college”, but Brown was armed with his size and weight and surprised the officer by attacking him while the officer was at a disadvantage sitting behind the steering wheel.

For a few minutes he held the officer’s life in his hands.

Brown wasn’t trying to wrest the gun from the officer to go target shooting at the indoor range next Saturday.


60 posted on 08/20/2014 4:26:58 PM PDT by Iron Munro (Why Obama's sons are like sperm: Only one in a million work.)
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