Police shooting of unarmed teen leads to protests and Riot

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by driveway

How's this.



or this



or this



or this

You posting a bunch of pictures of tactical squads from the St. Louis county PD doesn't change anything about how small ferguson pd is. I'm not sure what you're not understanding here.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

You posting a bunch of pictures of tactical squads from the St. Louis county PD doesn't change anything about how small ferguson pd is. I'm not sure what you're not understanding here.

The point is it's not just a "small suburban police force" dealing with the situation like you said it was.

[Canuck-Hater]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5676841.html

Unfortunately we don't get to see the rest of the video, but this is nuts, I would expect this sort of thing taking place in Russia. Last time I checked its legal to record Police in America.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/13/60...ord-the-police

[Azure]

The other problem is giving all this equipment to officers that simply aren't trained to use it properly.

Situations happen, and they react like this because when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

[Flash Walken]

The smaller the force, the likelier for abuse.

Less prying eyes, closer knit 'team' unit.

[Flash Walken]

I wonder how many of these guys are vets themselves?

Forget the hardware, what's the mental state behind the gun sight?

U.S. Veteran's Preference
Ten points for veteran's preference will be added to the scores of those who pass the written examination. You are eligible if you are honorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces. Spouses of disabled or deceased veterans may also be considered. Attach a legible copy of your DD-214, Member 4, to your application if you wish your eligibility to be reviewed.

Military personnel who are still on active duty and do not yet have their DD-214 are ineligible for the ten point benefit at this time. However, they may apply for the addition of the ten points to their raw score upon their honorable discharge.

http://www.phillypolice.com/careers/...ry-experience/

Georgia-based Hire Heroes USA (hireheroesusa.org) is a non-profit organization with a national reputation for helping veterans get employment in the civilian job market. Brian Stann, president and CEO of Hire Heroes USA, says the organization helps about 100 veterans each week.

Stann says Hire Heroes finds that about 20% of returning veterans are seeking civilian law enforcement jobs. Some actually go into the military with the long-term goal of being a civilian police officer.

Hire Heroes works with the military's own transition assistance programs to get the vets ready before they are discharged. One of the most important steps is helping the veteran see how his or her military training applies in the job market.

There are many different jobs in the military and it really depends on the individual and his or her work in the military how easily he or she will adapt to a civilian police job. Generally speaking though, the leadership and decision-making skills learned in the military may be exactly what a police agency is seeking.

A generation or so ago in policing, departments were giving preference to college graduates when looking for qualified officer candidates. Education still remains an important factor for police hiring, but many agencies have learned that the education gained in military service may have a greater value to a police officer than a formal college education.

Most agency recruiters want someone with sound decision-making skills on the streets as a police officer. But if you compare the decision-making responsibility that is required of a 19- to 20-year-old serving in Iraq or Afghan with the decisions being made by a college student, the contrast is extreme. The soldier has led a squad from point A to point B and had to decide the safest way to get there. The college student has had to complete a class assignment in time to attend a frat party on Friday night. Some departments have recognized this and taken a more global approach to the candidate's qualifications to be a police officer. This approach helps departments get the best candidates with the best experience, and can also help candidates get past the screening process.

http://www.policemag.com/channel/car...forcement.aspx

At Business Insider, Paul Szoldra, a former U.S. Marine, broke down some of the equipment he's seen law enforcement officials equipped with: short-barreled 5.56-mm rifles with high-powered scopes, six extra magazines, loaded with 30 rounds each, heavy body armor, military camouflage, and all of this riding around in armored trucks resembling mine-resistant vehicles used on the battlefield. Many combat veterans have since pointed out that the SWAT officers are more heavily armed and outfitted than they themselves were while patrolling the streets of Iraq or Afghanistan.

But while this police force may appear to be militarized, these same veterans have noted that the officers are not acting the way members of the military would. Pointing weapons at civilians, arresting people without reason and behaving generally like an occupying force on high alert are not effective tactics for crowd control or dispersing riots, the veterans say. Kelsey D. Atherton, a journalist for Popular Science, gathered a number of tweets on Storify for a project called "Veterans on Ferguson." His tagline says everything you need to know about how veterans view the mess the police force has made of this situation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5678407.html

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by codynw

The point is it's not just a "small suburban police force" dealing with the situation like you said it was.

I never said they were exclusively handling the situation. I guess I'm trying to get people to pump the brakes on this whole "**** da police" ideal in regards to the ferguson pd when it's clearly another police service staring down scopes at protestors. Each side demonizing the other is what contributed to this situation spiralling out of control. The internet seems to put it all on ferguson pd and that's not fair, and releasing officers names (even the idiot who killed brown) is wrong.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by DiracSpike

I never said they were exclusively handling the situation. I guess I'm trying to get people to pump the brakes on this whole "**** da police" ideal in regards to the ferguson pd when it's clearly another police service staring down scopes at protestors. Each side demonizing the other is what contributed to this situation spiralling out of control. The internet seems to put it all on ferguson pd and that's not fair, and releasing officers names (even the idiot who killed brown) is wrong.

the police release the names of fugitives, suspects and persons of interest all the time.

Suddenly it's a cop though, woah buddy.

[Senator Clay Davis]

They've also released the names of many of the looters and rioters they've arrested. Not releasing the cops name is a precaution for when inevitably nothing happens to the officer (i.e. no one takes revenge or tries anything). But Anonymous will release the name eventually, so why don't the cops get out in front and release it since it'll come out anyways?

[AcGold]

The positive thing here, despite the looting and general lunacy of the event, is that there is a significant amount of people protesting the killing of an unarmed civilian. Despite your philosophical and moral stance people standing up to the police in such a way has to be better than doing nothing and turning a blind eye. It lets everyone in the country know that you can stand up to the police and that abuse of power is unacceptable, whether you agree with their methodologies or not.

[chemgear]

http://www.salon.com/2014/08/14/repo...from_ferguson/



According to reports on Twitter, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon will announce the removal of the St. Louis County police from their duties regarding ongoing demonstrations in Ferguson, a nearby suburb. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., reportedly said, “The governor just called me and he’s on his way to St. Louis now to announce he’s taking St. Louis County police out of the situation.” The removal of the local police paves the way for state police or federal authorities to step in.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by chemgear

The removal of the local police paves the way for state police or federal authorities to step in.

Good move. This is the only way to get what is really needed to quell these protests. Mortars and heavy artillery.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

the police release the names of fugitives, suspects and persons of interest all the time.

Suddenly it's a cop though, woah buddy.

They have now officially come out and said they will not release the officers name unless he is prosecuted.

Which is complete BS.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

They have now officially come out and said they will not release the officers name unless he is prosecuted.

Which is complete BS.

If true, they're dumb because now Anonymous is going to release his name anyways. Better if they do it themselves.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Anonymous has had their Twitter account suspended, as if that's going to accomplish much.

[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

The smaller the force, the likelier for abuse.

Less prying eyes, closer knit 'team' unit.

Good old boys taking care of good old boys. Without dash cams to show the true story, it's all too easy for police to fudge the story enough to get out of any real punishment, regardless of how awful their actions were.

This is why small towns terrify me. When everyone knows everyone else, they're usually more than happy to take care of their own.

Originally Posted by AcGold

The positive thing here, despite the looting and general lunacy of the event, is that there is a significant amount of people protesting the killing of an unarmed civilian. Despite your philosophical and moral stance people standing up to the police in such a way has to be better than doing nothing and turning a blind eye. It lets everyone in the country know that you can stand up to the police and that abuse of power is unacceptable, whether you agree with their methodologies or not.

The sad thing is that the looting got a ton of attention--but looting only happened on Sunday night, a small number of people/stores involved, but that's what's drawn so much attention. The last few nights have been unarmed, peaceful demonstrations, and the police have responded with heavily excessive force.

There wasn't this much reaction for the Bundy ranch standoff, and those psychos were actually pointing loaded firearms at the the officers responding.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by wittynickname

Good old boys taking care of good old boys. Without dash cams to show the true story, it's all too easy for police to fudge the story enough to get out of any real punishment, regardless of how awful their actions were.

This is why small towns terrify me. When everyone knows everyone else, they're usually more than happy to take care of their own.

Well we certainly wouldn't want to stereotype every single small town police force in the United States based the actions of one.

Cops protect their own no matter where they are.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Anonymous has had their Twitter account suspended, as if that's going to accomplish much.

Yup. If they can take out the Pentagon servers twitter does not have a chance.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Azure

Well we certainly wouldn't want to stereotype every single small town police force in the United States based the actions of one.

Cops protect their own no matter where they are.

So we don't need to stereotype all small towns in the US, just stereotype every single municipality?

[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by Azure

Well we certainly wouldn't want to stereotype every single small town police force in the United States based the actions of one.

Cops protect their own no matter where they are.

I work in a small town, my mom's entire family is from small towns through the mid/deep south--they've all been scary places. I feel safer in a big city than a small town every single time. Avoid the shady areas in a big city and you're generally fine. Small towns--you never know just what you're going to deal with. At least in a bigger city, if something happens to me, I know that there's a chance of justice being served. If something happens in a small town--no one might ever find out.

Let's be honest here: if Anonymous hadn't been involved, the Steubenville rapists never would've gone to trial. I know someone whose son has been accused of rape 3 times by 3 separate girls, in a small town outside of Pittsburgh--never charged with anything, never even spent a night in jail over it. Questioned twice and released. Big cities aren't perfect, but you're more likely to get away with a crime in a small town. Generally in a bigger city, there are more checks and balances in place than in a small town.