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 ...
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.
I guess Big Mike thought he was being mistreated and deserved more respect?
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".
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.
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?
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.
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.
People express their resentment and anger by yelling at cops every damn day. Most don’t get violent.
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.
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.
Yup. Big Mike “challenged” the officer all right. Came at him like a bull meaning to kill.
last word
I'm not ok with that statement.
I'm NOT ok with folks attacking police and busting their face.
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.
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.”
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.
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)
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.
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.
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