# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942 "2014-10-10T07:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 382
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7621 "2015-12-31T17:40:19Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Cooperate fully, like they _did_ do. That the girl got attacked by the dog is a tragic accident facilitated by a communication breakdown, Uh, no it’s not. The release of the dog was deliberate. The _timing_ of the release was also deliberate – before receiving a reply. And it appears from the story they already knew the guy was innocent. It looks like fear. Quivering, guts-to-liquid, damn-everyone-but-me _fear_ by the K-9 officer. In a situation where they had already established the danger was low. A lot of these episodes seem to be driven by, or distorted by, fear. Does fear make people want to be police officers, or does being a police officer (and repeated encounters with _potential_ danger) eventually break down one’s courage? ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7622 "2015-12-31T17:45:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Cooperate fully, like they _did_ do. That the girl got attacked by the dog is a tragic accident facilitated by a communication breakdown, one that could have been prevented by having more bilingual cops on the force or by not preemptively releasing the K9, but there isn’t anything else the suspect could have done that would have resulted in a better outcome for them. If he’d tried to run, he and his daughter might have wound up _dead_, or in the best case scenario he’d be serving a lengthy prison sentence. How the fuck do you accidentally do something preemptively? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7623 "2015-12-31T17:49:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > That the girl got attacked by the dog is a tragic accident… This was NOT an accident, you lying piece of scum. In the video, you can clearly hear the cops say that they are releasing a dog into the car. No-one says, “Oh, fuck, the dog accidentally got loose.” And they do all this after the guy clearly says that he has his baby with him. By your definition, everything that ever happens is a “tragic accident.” Run from the cops? Tragic accident. Run cops down in car? Tragic accident. Shoot cops dead? Tragic accident. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7624 "2015-12-31T17:51:55Z")
Feed the bad cop to the dog, then shoot the damn dog with the dead cop’s gun. Problem solved. That, and train police dogs to not attack infants under any circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7625 "2015-12-31T17:54:41Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > That, and train police dogs to not attack infants under any circumstance. Where’s the fun in that? What **Smapti** fails to recognize is that some of these cops are straight out bullies and get off on abusing their power. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7626 "2015-12-31T18:16:15Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > This was NOT an accident, you lying piece of scum. > > In the video, you can clearly hear the cops say that they are releasing a dog into the car. No-one says, “Oh, fuck, the dog accidentally got loose.” And they do all this after the guy clearly says that he has his baby with him. Are you this bad at reading comprehension or are you intentionally playing dumb? Releasing the dog wasn’t the accident - releasing it on a baby was. They couldn’t understand what the man was trying to tell them and jumped the gun, and that’s a real problem. But your ilk isn’t interested in fixing the real problems that exist - you’re interested in collecting the police by any means necessary. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7627 "2015-12-31T18:17:48Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > What **Smapti** fails to recognize is that some of these cops are straight out bullies and get off on abusing their power. What you fail to realize is that the overwhelming majority of these incidents would never happen if people obeyed the law and respected police power. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7628 "2015-12-31T18:21:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > What you fail to realize is that the overwhelming majority of these incidents would never happen if people obeyed the law and respected police power. Really? I guess this is why the thread is called _non-controversial_ encounters between law-enforcement and civilians. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7629 "2015-12-31T18:29:40Z")
And there’s absolutely nothing controversial about most of these stories except in the minds of those who want to propagate the idea that the police are evil bullies who can’t be trusted with power, so they can achieve their goal of neutering the police and rendering them unable to punish the petty crimes they want to commit consequence-free. If you’re not one of those people, then you’re being used by those people. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7630 "2015-12-31T18:36:49Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I gotta question… > > If the guy had been carrying and he had shot that dog in the midst of it attacking his baby, would the other officers been within their rights to shoot him? > > And I’m confused about the drawn weapons as well, **Typo**. Forget about shooting the dog. If he’d broke away them to instinctively protect his kid in the car, they probably would have seen that as proof of guilt and shot him. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7631 "2015-12-31T18:38:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And there’s absolutely nothing controversial about most of these stories except in the minds of those who want to propagate the idea that the police are evil bullies who can’t be trusted with power Some of us went to school with the people who grew up to be cops, so we have a pretty good idea of what kind of people become cops, you moron. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7632 "2015-12-31T18:45:04Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Forget about shooting the dog. If he’d broke away them to instinctively protect his kid in the car, they probably would have seen that as proof of guilt and shot him. Well, you know that innocent people never run from the police. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7633 "2015-12-31T18:48:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > They couldn’t understand what the man was trying to tell them and jumped the gun It’s almost as though you understand that police jumping the gun is a problem. You kinda get it when they’re setting dogs on infants, but you don’t quite get it when they’re gunning down unarmed children or old ladies. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7634 "2015-12-31T19:04:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And there’s absolutely nothing controversial about most of these stories except in the minds of those who want to propagate the idea that the police are evil bullies who can’t be trusted with power, so they can achieve their goal of neutering the police and **rendering them unable to punish** the petty crimes they want to commit consequence-free. > > If you’re not one of those people, then you’re being used by those people. Somebody help me out here. What, again, is the job that the police are supposed to to? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7635 "2015-12-31T19:05:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And there’s absolutely nothing controversial about most of these stories except in the minds of those who want to propagate the idea that the police are evil bullies who can’t be trusted with power, so they can achieve their goal of neutering the police and rendering them unable to punish the petty crimes they want to commit consequence-free. > > If you’re not one of those people, then you’re being used by those people. Oh noes!!! I’m being used to create anarchy in society and the collapse of civilization! ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7636 "2015-12-31T19:09:21Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > What bizarro world do you people live in where “Run from the cops” or “start shooting at the cops” ever possibly have “get away with no negative repercussions” as their end result? My guess is that if the child ran from the police before they set the dog on her, they would not have have set the dog on her. Now in Smaptiland that would lead to the child being justifiably being shot, but fortunately we don’t live in Smaptiland. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7637 "2015-12-31T19:15:07Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Somebody help me out here. What, again, is the job that the police are supposed to to? It’s up to the courts to decide punishment, but in **Smaptiland** , the cops can be executioners. Because…collapse of society…downfall of civilization… ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7638 "2015-12-31T19:26:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Are you this bad at reading comprehension or are you intentionally playing dumb? Releasing the dog wasn’t the accident - releasing it on a baby was. There’s definitely a comprehension problem here…but it ain’t “reading.” When they released the dog – _intentionally_ – without knowing who or what was in the vehicle – they intentionally made the decision that their goal (apparently, looking for a shoplifting suspect) was worth the risk of the dog attacking, even killing, a baby. Or several babies. Or Stephen Hawking. Or Pope Francis. Because when you direct violence into an area you can’t SEE, you are not sure what you’re going to affect, by definition. These cops are trained (although anyone can work that out for themselves, untrained) and decided to risk hitting innocents because their goal was worth it. Osama bin Laden? Hitler? Th e Cali cartel? Wait…a _shoplifter?_ Unfortunately for the officers, this time the innocent they blindly chose to inflict violence upon was photogenic. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7639 "2015-12-31T19:30:11Z")
I am confused about a thing in that video. It is very obviously raining. The guy gets out of his vehicle _and leaves the door standing open_? You cannot see the left side of the vehicle, so we cannot determine whether the officers opened the vehicle to let the dog into it. If they did, that is a serious offense on their part: illegal search, because it was already established that the guy was not the one they were looking for. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7640 "2015-12-31T19:44:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > _When_ does running work? The cops have his license plate number - that means they know who he is, where he lives, where he works, etc. Even if he somehow temporarily outruns them, they can and _will_ find him, and then he’ll be on the hook for felony evasion. It works quite well if you are a rich white person in a good neighborhood, if you are brown and/or poor it doesn’t work out as well. Cite: [ > [@](#): > > Fleeing from police is not, by itself, illegal in America, and the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that in safe neighborhoods, people not suspected of criminal activity can ignore a police officer who approaches them, even to the point of walking away. ]([https://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/8536578-Can-you-run-from-police-US-courts-apply-a-double-standard/](https://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/8536578-Can-you-run-from-police-US-courts-apply-a-double-standard/)) But feel free to claim that site is biased against police 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=381) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=383)