# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread #2 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531 "2020-06-23T20:29:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 166
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3308 "2023-02-24T13:42:27Z")
Purple Heart? WTF? What’s next? Three-gun salutes? Burial at Arlington? And this is one of the reasons why policing in the U.S. is so horrible: **militarization**. Members of law enforcement like to pretend they’re in the military: - They give each other titles like captain, sergeant, lieutenant, etc. - They dress up like commandos. I’ve even seen instances where they will apply camo face paint. - They purchase (or are gifted) weapons used by the military. Many of which are more applicable for offensive use vs. defense use. - Ever talk to a cop? Even during a consensual encounter? If so, you probably noticed how their speech was not “normal.” I am not sure what the speech style is called. Let’s call it “official authoritarian,” and it’s very off-putting. - They refer to you as a “civilian.” It’s bullshit, because this term should only be used by the military. Factually speaking, the cop is _also_ a civilian. (And if you tell him that, his head will explode.) Every military has an enemy. Cops think they’re in the military, which means they need an enemy. Guess who the enemy is? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3309 "2023-02-24T13:48:22Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > San Bernardino County jails Riverside County. They’ve been problematic for decades. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3310 "2023-02-24T14:35:10Z")
In a larger sense, Americans are indoctrinated into holding both the police and the military in some sort of esteem reserved, in the past, for royals and the aristocracy. Do people in other countries sport bumper stickers or fly flags that say “Support the Blue” or display the Thin Blue Line graphic? It’s disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3311 "2023-02-24T14:56:33Z")
Good question. And I want to add to my previous post: the militarization of the police in the U.S. is so common & systemic that people are conditioned to see it as normal. But it’s not normal. It shouldn’t be normal. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3312 "2023-02-24T14:58:08Z")
Yeah no shit. I watch a lot of foreign YouTube content where they talk about things about America that are confusing or off-putting. This playing the national anthem before sporting events, replete with men and women in military gear holding the flag on the field, and F-16s flying overhead – it’s like America is puking on its audience. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3313 "2023-02-24T18:04:17Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Do people in other countries sport bumper stickers or fly flags that say “Support the Blue” or display the Thin Blue Line graphic? [![](https://rebelnationok.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/products-IMG_1357-scaled.jpg) ](https://rebelnationok.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/products-IMG_1357-scaled.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3314 "2023-02-24T18:11:18Z")
That’s off-putting on so many levels. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3315 "2023-02-24T22:57:55Z")
> [@from Joey\_P's link](#): > > “Deputy McWhorter had an injury to his face at the bridge of his nose, his right forefinger, his lower back, his right knee, and he reaggravated a previous injury to the middle of his neck,” the report states. He wouldn’t have gotten those injuries if he hadn’t escalated the situation to the point of murdering the guy. I’ve seen the body cam footage of the entire encounter. The cop continually antagonized the guy until he needed an anti-anxiety med. When he put the pill in his mouth, the cop yanked him out of the car, threw him on the ground, yelled “stop resisting” and shot him three times. Absolutely murder. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3316 "2023-02-25T18:08:07Z")
Another “Wait, there’s a video? um, well, we can offer you a one time courtesy payment and drop the charges” > **[Charges dropped against detainee beaten inside Georgia jail](https://www.yahoo.com/news/charges-dropped-against-detainee-beaten-185252216.html)** > > Prosecutors have dropped charges of assault, obstruction and other counts against a Georgia jail detainee after video from security cameras showed him being beaten by sheriff's deputies who rushed into his cell. The decision to dismiss charges... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3317 "2023-02-25T18:26:17Z")
Hey, at least they’re not desecrating the American flag, like they usually do. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3318 "2023-02-25T18:56:07Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > the cop yanked him out of the car, threw him on the ground, yelled “stop resisting” and shot him three times. And the resistance is the normal reaction to someone being dragged out of a car and shoved face first into the ground. Trying to orient oneself, to protect the head and face, and the fact that joints don’t bend the way the cops are bending them all seem to be forms of “resistance” that cops will use an excuse for further escalating a situation. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3319 "2023-02-25T19:09:31Z")
I was pondering, Officer: Where you headed? Me: Huh? Officer: Where are you going to? Me: Oh, uh, sorry, not feeling conversational. Would that likely end up getting me shot? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3320 "2023-02-25T19:10:33Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Would that likely end up getting me shot? What color’s your skin? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3321 "2023-02-25T19:12:52Z")
Remember-If he asks the question over and over again (usually increasing the volume and intensity) and you calmly repeat your answer, _you_ are escalating the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3322 "2023-02-26T02:32:02Z")
Lisa Edwards flew from Rhode Island to Tennessee. Once she got there, she started feeling ill, so she went to a Knoxville hospital. They discharged her after brief treatment. But she still wasn’t feeling well, so she went to another hospital, which discharged her quickly, too. But this time, she said she wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to leave the hospital. So the hospital called the cops, who arrested her and took her off in a cop car, where she suffered a stroke. The cops took her back to the hospital, where she died. Surprisingly, she was white. > **[Attorney for police officers reacts to Lisa Edwards' death, body camera...](https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/attorney-reacts-to-body-cam-footage-of-lisa-edwards-death/51-de13c3f8-9e82-44bf-95f9-9c41839b488e)** > > Dennis Francis is an attorney who represents police officers and said these cases raise a lot of questions and that these types of scenarios are not unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3323 "2023-02-26T02:49:31Z")
That one sounds more like a hospital problem than a police problem. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3324 "2023-02-26T02:52:17Z")
Or maybe an insurance-related issue. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3325 "2023-02-26T04:10:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That one sounds more like a hospital problem than a police problem. > [@eschereal](#): > > Or maybe an insurance-related issue. Why not both? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3326 "2023-02-26T05:40:43Z")
I think I lost count of how many different ways that particular image is offensive. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2023, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/3327 "2023-02-26T07:01:44Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > ems perfectly reasonable to me that a cop would want to write the most accurate report possible (ideally, anyway) New here? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531.md?page=165) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531.md?page=167)