# 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:** 74
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1461 "2015-04-04T20:17:16Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Believe it or not, it’s not particularly easy to leave an identifiable fingerprint on a metal surface, especially if the contact occurs during a scuffle. > > One party was a sworn law enforcement officer engaging in lawful pursuit of a suspect in a criminal murder. The other was sheltering that murderer. > > Well, since you’re apparently so preeminently qualified to judge what “normal human reactions” are, why don’t you just cut out the middle man and diagnose me with a condition recognized by the DSM-V yourself? Get help. ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1462 "2015-04-04T20:18:17Z")
> [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](#): > > Racist bullshit? From billfish678? Where? I missed it. Most likely because it didn’t happen, but I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. You are not worth giving a substantive response to. ---
**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 4, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1463 "2015-04-04T20:21:43Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > Get help. > [@get\_lives](#): > > You are not worth giving a substantive response to. From this point forward, I’m just going to mentally translate statements such as these as “I have no rational basis on which to defend anything I’ve actually said and am just going to dismiss any and all challenges by personally insulting the challenger.” OK? ---
**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 4, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1464 "2015-04-04T20:26:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If events occurred as the officer says they did, then he is blameless and there was no negligence on his part. Sorry, I am not seeing “blameless”. The officer entered what he should have considered a hostile environment. He allegedly lost control of his weapon. That, right there, is negligent. He was a trained SWAT member, he should not be placing his weapon at risk. There is no way I can look at this and not see him at fault. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1465 "2015-04-04T20:27:54Z")
> [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](#): > > Racist bullshit? From billfish678? Where? I missed it. Most likely because it didn’t happen, but I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Oh, I have no doubt there is stuff I’ve posted that could be construed as racist. But somebody getting butthurt because I called them out on the improper use of “cold blooded” is IMO a bit much. Call me racist if you like. But at least use something remotely racist as your actual data point. ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1466 "2015-04-04T20:54:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > From this point forward, I’m just going to mentally translate statements such as these as “I have no rational basis on which to defend anything I’ve actually said and am just going to dismiss any and all challenges by personally insulting the challenger.” > > OK? Which is further evidence that you need help. ---
**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 4, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1467 "2015-04-04T21:16:35Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > Which is further evidence that you need help. So, are you going to provide evidence of “cold-blooded murder” by a police officer, or not? ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1468 "2015-04-04T21:46:21Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So, are you going to provide evidence of “cold-blooded murder” by a police officer, or not? I can offer several. ---
**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 4, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1469 "2015-04-04T21:52:04Z")
> [@get\_lives](#): > > I can offer several. Well, by all means, proceed. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1470 "2015-04-04T21:59:49Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Well, by all means, proceed. What does it matter? You have an amazing superpower in rationalization. Anything posted will be poo- pooed by you. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1471 "2015-04-04T22:23:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So, are you going to provide evidence of “cold-blooded murder” by a police officer, or not? > [@get\_lives](#): > > I can offer several. > [@Smapti](#): > > Well, by all means, proceed. Why don’t you two get a room. ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1472 "2015-04-05T01:22:49Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Well, by all means, proceed. Get help. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1473 "2015-04-05T02:29:39Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > How can unintentionally shooting a sleeping child not in some way be negligent? Sleeping is a privelige, not a right!! The child’s parents should be charged for the bullet. /Smapti ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1474 "2015-04-05T15:49:29Z")
Cleveland cop employs the Reagan defense:[ > [@](#): > > His footprints were found on the hood of a beat-up Chevy Malibu that had been strafed by police gunfire, killing its two unarmed occupants after a high-speed chase over streets and freeways in and around Cleveland. > > Yet Officer Michael Brelo told investigators he couldn’t remember standing on the hood and firing the final 15 rounds of a 137-shot barrage down into the windshield — even though a rookie cop told those same investigators that Brelo talked about it days afterward. > > “It’s possible,” Brelo allowed when questioned by investigators two weeks after the November 2012 shooting, “because I was so terrified that I was going to get run over.” > > “But I don’t recall that, sir.” ]([http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8abf0ff97cc84add86bcd15415ddda3f/indicted-cop-cant-recall-shooting-suspects-hood-car](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8abf0ff97cc84add86bcd15415ddda3f/indicted-cop-cant-recall-shooting-suspects-hood-car)) ---
**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 7, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1475 "2015-04-07T22:22:20Z")
> [@](#): > > A white police officer has been charged with murder, the mayor of North Charleston, S.C., said Tuesday, after a video surfaced showing him shooting and killing an apparently unarmed black man in the back while he ran away. > > The officer, Michael T. Slager, had said he feared for his life because the man took his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man fled. The state charges were announced in a news conference Tuesday evening. > **[South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder of Walter Scott (Published 2015)](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html?_r=0)** > > The North Charleston officer, who is white, had said Mr. Scott, an apparently unarmed black man, took his stun gun. But a video shows the officer firing at him eight times. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1476 "2015-04-07T22:49:24Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html?\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html?_r=0) No biggie, he won’t go to prison. Within a month he’ll proably have enough to retire on as racist white people start contributing to this “hero”. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1477 "2015-04-07T23:48:40Z")
I am stating it right here: either he’ll walk or he’ll have a minimum sentence. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1478 "2015-04-08T00:20:10Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I am stating it right here: either he’ll walk or he’ll have a minimum sentence. Right. I refuse to have hope it’ll turn out the way it should this time. If I don’t have hope, I can’t be disappointed. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1479 "2015-04-08T01:04:17Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html?\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html?_r=0) From the article: > [@](#): > > Something — it is not clear whether it is the stun gun — is either tossed or knocked to the ground behind the two men and Officer Slager draws his gun, the video shows. When the officer fires, Mr. Scott appears to be 15 to 20 feet away and fleeing. He falls after the last of eight shots. > > The officer then runs back toward where the initial scuffle occurred and picks something off the ground. Moments later, he drops an object near Mr. Scott’s body, the video shows. So, not only did he shoot a fleeing man in the back, he apparently tampered with evidence at the scene, and then lied about the incident in a way that is supported by his tampering. Of course, given South Carolina’s sterling record on race relations, a walk in this case would not surprise me at all. ---
**Author:** ![get\_lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@get\_lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/get_lives)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1480 "2015-04-08T01:36:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > From the article:So, not only did he shoot a fleeing man in the back, he apparently tampered with evidence at the scene, and then lied about the incident in a way that is supported by his tampering. > > Of course, given South Carolina’s sterling record on race relations, a walk in this case would not surprise me at all. Well, I’m sure he’ll still get his dick sucked by Smapti, no matter what. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=73) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=75)