The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[grumbler]

Can we have a hearing of some kind on that one without it angering everybody for being nefariously motivated? That would be great.

Let's include why they cuffed Kinsey even though he was clearly the victim, and why they didn't cuff the perp (whose shot they all witnessed).  I mean, fuck, when you witness a shooting firsthand but let the perp walk (without even disarming him!), you are endangering both the public and yourself.

[merithyn]

Can we have a hearing of some kind on that one without it angering everybody for being nefariously motivated? That would be great.

Let's include why they cuffed Kinsey even though he was clearly the victim, and why they didn't cuff the perp (whose shot they all witnessed).  I mean, fuck, when you witness a shooting firsthand but let the perp walk (without even disarming him!), you are endangering both the public and yourself.

In this case, I think that would have been the wiser move than leaving Kinsey to bleed out on the road for 20 minutes before the ambulance arrived, instead.

Kinsey asked the cop why he shot him, and the cop said, "I don't know." When another officer asked him why he shot at all, the cop said, "I don't know!"

How did he walk away from that incident with his gun still on him?

[garbon]

Can we have a hearing of some kind on that one without it angering everybody for being nefariously motivated? That would be great.

Let's include why they cuffed Kinsey even though he was clearly the victim, and why they didn't cuff the perp (whose shot they all witnessed).  I mean, fuck, when you witness a shooting firsthand but let the perp walk (without even disarming him!), you are endangering both the public and yourself.

In this case, I think that would have been the wiser move than leaving Kinsey to bleed out on the road for 20 minutes before the ambulance arrived, instead.

Kinsey asked the cop why he shot him, and the cop said, "I don't know." When another officer asked him why he shot at all, the cop said, "I don't know!"

How did he walk away from that incident with his gun still on him?

I don't know.

[fromtia]

Can we have a hearing of some kind on that one without it angering everybody for being nefariously motivated? That would be great.

I just assumed I was reading the onion when this one popped up in the old facebook feed. Had to re read it several times as I was convinced it was some kind of parody.

[merithyn]

Can we have a hearing of some kind on that one without it angering everybody for being nefariously motivated? That would be great.

I just assumed I was reading the onion when this one popped up in the old facebook feed. Had to re read it several times as I was convinced it was some kind of parody.

I have a feeling the black men walking the streets of America aren't so amused at the thought of a parody of this in any fashion.

I don't condone the cop killings in Dallas and Baton Rouge, but I sure as hell understand it.

[Lettow77]

It is unfortunate that law enforcement throughout the South is at least to some degree a pillar of the white community used to protect whites from blacks. It has lead to a knee-jerk support for the lamentable actions of white police officers, and a ready dismissal of any outrages provided they were inflicted upon black citizenry.

I would like to see black neighborhoods policed by black police from the area to the fullest extent possible. This, along with a separate, more lenient standard of laws within black neighborhoods, and a direct economic subsidy from white southerners to black southerners, would be a good start at healing the reprehensible violence that grips Dixie so perniciously.

[Valmy]

I don't condone the cop killings in Dallas and Baton Rouge, but I sure as hell understand it.

I could understand it if the cops who were killed had been ones who had done shootings. Absent that it is just murdering innocent people for no reason. But both the men who did them were mentally unbalanced.

[merithyn]

I don't condone the cop killings in Dallas and Baton Rouge, but I sure as hell understand it.

I could understand it if the cops who were killed had been ones who had done shootings. Absent that it is just murdering innocent people for no reason. But both the men who did them were mentally unbalanced.

From the perspective of those on the other side of this (ie black men in particular), no police officer is safe for them. Yes, it was just murdering innocent people, but not for no reason. It's out of fear for their lives.

I just read a Facebook message from a white woman who works at a police department. An older black man - in his 50s - walked into the police department with his hands up. He said, "I'm just lost. I just need directions. I don't want any trouble. Can you just tell me where..."

Hands up into a police department to ask for directions. And as we've seen in North Miami, that's not even enough.

I'm angry for them. I'm furious on their behalf. What are the police doing to combat this image? What are police doing to help bridge this gap? How are they reaching out, helping, being part of the solution? By denying that it even exists.

[LaCroix]

I think the recent cop killers have murdered out of anger due to misconceived notions of what's happening in america, not out of fear.

[merithyn]

I think the recent cop killers have murdered out of anger due to misconceived notions of what's happening in america, not out of fear.

The recent cop killers have murdered because they were mentally unstable.

[merithyn]

And as I said, I don't condone it. I don't want it happening. I don't want anyone else to die.

But I understand the anger, fear, and hatred that can cause someone to go that route.

[LaCroix]

The recent cop killers have murdered because they were mentally unstable.

how are we defining "mentally unstable"? anyone who kills people they don't know for some cause can qualify under a broad definition. I'm unaware of evidence that shows all recent cop killers suffered from unmedicated bipolar, schizophrenia, etc.

seems like these guys knew what they were doing

[grumbler]

I'm angry for them. I'm furious on their behalf. What are the police doing to combat this image? What are police doing to help bridge this gap? How are they reaching out, helping, being part of the solution? By denying that it even exists.

Why does every white Democratic woman engage in hysterical rhetoric that lumps all police together?

[Admiral Yi]

And as I said, I don't condone it. I don't want it happening. I don't want anyone else to die.

But I understand the anger, fear, and hatred that can cause someone to go that route.

Do you understand the anger, fear, and hatred that can cause some cops to go the route they have?

[Valmy]

From the perspective of those on the other side of this (ie black men in particular), no police officer is safe for them. Yes, it was just murdering innocent people, but not for no reason. It's out of fear for their lives.

Ok so it is for a reason. Just not a very good reason. I guess I could see why a Frenchman might think there is a reason to storm into a Mosque just start mowing down Muslims out of fear, but there is not going to be much sympathy from me on that.

I just read a Facebook message from a white woman who works at a police department. An older black man - in his 50s - walked into the police department with his hands up. He said, "I'm just lost. I just need directions. I don't want any trouble. Can you just tell me where..."

Well that is pretty much how I respond in interactions with the police. I have been reading about police shootings for 20 years. One rule I have always preached and been told 'keep your hands where they can see them'

Hands up into a police department to ask for directions. And as we've seen in North Miami, that's not even enough.

Well we have to have police. We cannot clear them all off the streets, so starting to shoot them all is probably not going to accomplish anything but lead to even more Miamis. Sort of like how mowing down a Mosque is probably not going to increase the safety of Frenchmen.

I'm angry for them. I'm furious on their behalf. What are the police doing to combat this image? What are police doing to help bridge this gap? How are they reaching out, helping, being part of the solution? By denying that it even exists.

I am glad you are angry about this. I have been wanting people to be angry about this for decades. Welcome to the party.

There ARE cops reaching out. There ARE very good departments out there. And they are constantly posting goodwill shit all over social media in a desperate attempt to combat this dangerous image.  But there is no national cop organization, they are local. And in any case that is not going to do any good.

The problem is decades of counter-productive policies, training, and incentives typically as a result of the war on drugs that have gotten us to where we are (or rather where we have been for awhile). Those policies need to be reversed and very public and conscientious investigations of all shootings needs to occur. A shooting, no matter how justified, cannot be an internal matter. It is too socially destabilizing to not do that.