# 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:** 212
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4228 "2025-03-28T03:02:55Z")
No, African-Americans are not “predisposed” to criminal activity. But it’s a simple fact that in the USA African-American men are far more likely to have been previously caught up in the criminal justice system. To claim otherwise would be to deny the ongoing discrimination they face. And in the face of traffic stops that is literally “discrimination”: if you’re a police officer, is it worth the effort to stop someone for a trivial moving violation? For a little old white lady driving to church on Sunday, probably not. For an African-American male in his 20s driving through a section of the city with an elevated rate of crime, hitting the “jackpot” of an i.d. check revealing an outstanding warrant is a better bet. Police are judged by their arrest statistics, and they’re going to pursue leads with a better chance of improving those. It’s unfair to African-Americans but it’s also the result of a morally blind automatic process. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2025, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4229 "2025-03-28T03:07:15Z")
Then I apologize for failing to properly interpret your posting history. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4230 "2025-03-28T03:19:09Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > it’s also the result of a morally blind automatic process. Racial profiling to boost arrest statistics by selective traffic stops is neither; moral, blind, or automatic. It’s also, pretty certainly, [unconstitutional](https://www.google.com/search?q=stop+and+frisk+unconstitutional&newwindow=1&sca_esv=a111e1ab0b7a99be&source=hp&ei=exTmZ9jOKeaGw8cP9_uHkAg&iflsig=ACkRmUkAAAAAZ-Yii2mZovUv9hKF7rISC2zRP9nQQVvS&oq=stop+and+fr&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgtzdG9wIGFuZCBmcioCCAYyCBAAGIAEGLEDMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAESME_UNgEWMsscAF4AJABAJgB-gGgAYQKqgEFNi40LjG4AQHIAQD4AQGYAgygAtUNqAIKwgIKEAAYAxjqAhiPAcICERAuGIAEGLEDGIMBGNQCGIoFwgIREC4YgAQYsQMY0QMYgwEYxwHCAgsQLhiABBjRAxjHAcICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIFEC4YgATCAg4QLhiABBixAxjRAxjHAcICCxAuGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMYgwEYigXCAhEQLhiABBixAxjRAxjHARiKBcICCBAAGIAEGMkDwgILEAAYgAQYkgMYigXCAg4QLhiABBjHARiOBRivAZgDjQPxBZ3vNZn_lLtNkgcHNi40LjEuMaAHxnGyBwU2LjQuMbgHyAo&sclient=gws-wiz). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4231 "2025-03-28T03:27:28Z")
I’m confused, the first result of your linked search is that such stops were ruled constitutional. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4232 "2025-03-28T03:30:08Z")
My first link, [NYPD’s Infamous Stop-and-Frisk Policy Found Unconstitutional](https://civilrights.org/edfund/resource/nypds-infamous-stop-and-frisk-policy-found-unconstitutional/#:~:text=The%20controversial%20policy%20allowed%20police,of%20unreasonable%20searches%20and%20seizures). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4233 "2025-03-28T03:33:23Z")
That’s a different issue, motor vehicle stops are always for some clear infraction even if its a trivial traffic or vehicle code violation. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4234 "2025-03-28T03:35:23Z")
Hence, > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > pretty certainly ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4235 "2025-03-28T03:39:18Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > motor vehicle stops are always for some clear infraction even if its a trivial traffic or vehicle code violation. And if you selectively enforce those laws as a pretext to fishing for ‘wants and warrants’ how long before the courts are forced to strike down those laws because they’re being selectively enforced? ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4236 "2025-03-28T04:26:32Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > motor vehicle stops are always for some clear infraction even if its a trivial traffic or vehicle code violation. Yet another glowingly ignorant view of policing in the US. There’s a whole host of reasons given by an officer pulling someone over that don’t involve the driver breaking the law in any fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4237 "2025-03-28T12:30:10Z")
Including driving at the speed limit and impeding traffic on a 30 mph local road. Waiting too long at a stop sign and impeding traffic. These are two I’ve been stopped for after I moved into two formerly lily white towns, one in Georgia and the other in New England. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4238 "2025-04-03T02:13:20Z")
Reminds me of the airport security agents who told judges that the following were suspicious and deserving of further investigation: 1. Leaving the plane first, 2. Leaving the plane last, 3. Leaving the plane in the middle of the crowd ---
**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:** [April 9, 2025, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4239 "2025-04-09T19:47:59Z")
Police in Groves Texas (Port Arthur) [write a](https://atlantablackstar.com/2025/04/08/black-texas-woman-is-detained-for-walking-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road-while-her-white-husband-remained-unbothered-by-officers-viral-video-shows/) traffic ticket on a woman who was “walking on the wrong side of the street”. In a residential neighborhood (i.e., not on a thoroughfare). Her husband (who was not cited) recorded the encounter. All the expected elements are present here. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4240 "2025-04-09T21:49:38Z")
> The shooting Saturday in Pocatello outraged the boy’s family and neighbors as well as viewers online who questioned why the officers opened fire within about 12 seconds of exiting their patrol cars while making no apparent effort to de-escalate the situation or use less lethal weapons. > **[Outrage builds as video shows Idaho police shooting a knife-wielding autistic...](https://apnews.com/article/idaho-police-autism-shooting-teen-d9eef615233c7e95d4fa3ee8a627f7d2)** > > A teenage boy described by his family as autistic, nonverbal and intellectually disabled remains in critical condition after being shot in his backyard by Idaho police last weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4241 "2025-04-10T22:15:39Z")
Yesterday the LAPD were pursuing three men who fled the scene of a hit-and-run when one of them ran onto the property of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, whose wife Jillian was armed to defend herself from the dangerous criminals as per her Constitutional right. The cops shot her instead and are now charging her with attempted murder. > **[Wife of Weezer bassist shot by LAPD during hit-and-run manhunt, accused of...](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-09/weezer-bassist-wife-shot-by-lapd-accused-of-attempted-murder)** > > Jillian Shriner, the wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, was shot by the LAPD in her Eagle Rock backyard. She was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4242 "2025-04-11T13:15:14Z")
I hope they didn’t destroy her sweater! ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4243 "2025-04-11T13:21:18Z")
Is it really controversial when the police shoot back? This feels more like a stupid gun news story than a cops are trigger happy story. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4244 "2025-04-11T13:25:54Z")
Shooting back? Is there any reason to believe she shot at the police? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4245 "2025-04-11T13:29:32Z")
If only the article posted had said something about that, > Police officers were directed to the back of a residence in the 5300 block of Waldo Place, the street where Lauren lives and where one of the suspects was seen running. There, officers saw Lauren standing in the backyard of her neighboring property with a handgun drawn, police said. > > Police said she pointed the gun at officers, and they exchanged gunfire. Lauren was wounded and fled inside her home. Pointing a firearm at the fucking POLICE tends to get a reaction. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2025, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4246 "2025-04-11T13:31:08Z")
Say it ain’t so! ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/4247 "2025-04-11T13:38:58Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Pointing a firearm at the fucking POLICE tends to get a reaction. “Police officers said” means nothing. What does the camera show? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531.md?page=211) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531.md?page=213)