US Election

You are right, they seem to have no clue in de-escalating a situation, it's whatever has to be done, has to be done there and then, even if it costs a life. I'm starting to wonder if they need to start recruting fitter younger cops, if they are so insecure, that they have to keep reaching for a gun.

 

The thing is, you can be as bad as the character played by Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards, get sacked, and just move to another state and get hired again (sometimes even another county in the same state), and the authorities can/will reemploy you. I'm sure the former police commissioner on CNN who was talking about this also said that in many cases, the police unions have rules that you can't take previous police employment records into account if they're not criminal ones.

So you can literally be sacked for beating the crap out of a black person and racially abusing them, but if it doesn't result in a criminal conviction, you can move to the next state and be reemployed. There's stronger rules and background checks, apparently, on getting bar work in the US than joining the police.

 

Enjoyed that little exchange between Tobes and Bope

 

I m not gonna defend these actions. But

We all understand he was a wrong un? Not condoning the killing, but let's not get carried away.

Just read his history....

 

There's obviously also a complete absence of leadership from the senior echelons. Don't they know they're being watched by the whole world ffs? You'd think the Police in every City and State would be under strict instructions to at least try and avoid shooting unarmed black men in full daylight, while being filmed.

 

Part of the problem is, the people they are policing have guns. No one wants to be a cop in the US because the pay is ****, most departments are woefully underfunded, and the risks to life and limb are huge.

 

Most criminals have history, that's what happens when you come from a background of poverty and where non whites are treated less favourably. In regards to Floyd, what gave the Cop the right to put his knee on his neck, was he reciting his past misdemeanours as he did it, how many times did Floyd have to say, I can't breath. If that's getting carried away, then you and me have different ideas of what's right and what's wrong.

 

There are three aspects of the criminal justice system in most western countries

1. Law Enforcement - investigate, gather information, arrest
2. Justice - Make judgements based on evidence and law
3. Correction - Application of penalty, separation from society and rehabilitation

The police in the US seem to be taking on all three aspects all by themselves in 10 seconds flat

 

They all think they're Judge Dredd.

 

Indeed. As was discussed last night, he ain’t sticking 7 pieces of lead into a white bloke in the same circumstances.
So the fact that he did to a black man, shows that he has apportioned a lesser value to the man’s life. Which is exactly what BLM was all about.

 

Actually, when I was in New York 4 years ago, the police put 7 bullets into a young man who turned out to have mental health issues, at 8.00am in Times Square. Didn’t make the evening news. The kid was white.

 

Hold the fck on. I thought it was two!

[video]

 

I don't disagree with this and yes, with guns being legal, it creates a massive difference, in comparison to the UK and the type of policing we are used to.

Now I've tried to look at figures, at a very brief and general browse online, I'm going to say about 150 cops a year are killed in the US, policing 300 million people... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...lled_in_the_line_of_duty_in_the_United_States

Whereas in the UK, what are we now 70 million, and you probably will only see one cop death a year, while on duty and 3 citizens taken out. Obviously I'm not being precise on these figures. Yet, what I did find, is that American cops are killing over 1,000 people per year. Someone might be able to observe these figures better than me, per country... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_firearm_use_by_country

 

And those kids will grow up fearing the police, and completely unable to trust the forces of law and order.

 

Oh yeah, they’re extremely trigger happy, no doubt. They obviously need better training at the very least. But the scale of gun violence in the US casts a shadow over everything, including the police.

If you get a chance, watch the series Flint, a fly on the wall documentary about police in Flint Michigan. Flint was the HQ of General Motors, the industry moved out and crime and poverty moved in. The documentary followed a young policewoman who went out on patrol at night; there were 4 squad cars covering the whole city, and not enough officers to double up. This woman was getting called out to domestic incidents in some real dodgy areas, and going into situations blind and alone. Meanwhile, shootings were occurring across the city, every single night. I would understand cops in that sort of environment being very jumpy indeed.

 

Yes the gun situation is just nuts .
Just how much is it worth ?
What power do the NRA have ?
Is it an election decider ?

 

The NRA spends millions every year on donations to individual Senators. I think they contributed $40million to Donald Trump’s election campaign in 2016, completely legally. The whole system is rotten.