# 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:** 94
**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 20, 2015, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1861 "2015-04-20T05:35:27Z")
[Woman struggles with police after taking a US Flag from protesters](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/04/19/white-lady-fights-cops-while-stealing-black-peoples-american-flag-no-arrest-video/); she said she was rescuing it from abuse, as the protesters had been walking all over it. The woman was white, the protesters were black, there was no arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1862 "2015-04-20T06:57:22Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > [Woman struggles with police after taking a US Flag from protesters](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/04/19/white-lady-fights-cops-while-stealing-black-peoples-american-flag-no-arrest-video/); she said she was rescuing it from abuse, as the protesters had been walking all over it. > > The woman was white, the protesters were black, there was no arrest. Actually the woman was arrested, she resisted arrest, and no charges were filed. > **[Michelle Manhart: Female Air Force Vet Arrested For Trying To Stop American...](https://www.inquisitr.com/michelle-manhart-female-air-force-vet-arrested-for-trying-to-stop-american-flag-protest)** > > Air Force veteran Michelle Manhart was arrested yesterday when she tried to prevent protesters at a Georgia college from trampling on the American flag. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1863 "2015-04-20T12:55:51Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I lived in Britain for a year when Thatcher’s government was pushing the police bill. **Measure for Measure**. Nothing changes. There are Bills going through right now (and there have been other recent Bills) aimed at allowing the police to deal with the Islamic Terrorist threat. The UK police either had, have or are moving towards having quite draconian powers. If the police suspect (or simply say they suspect) an individual is involved in terrorism then without needing to provide much in the way of justification they can stop and search the person, their home, their phone records… Suspects can be detained for weeks without charge, stopped from leaving the UK or stopped from entering the UK. They can be sequestered away hundreds of miles from their normal home or put under house arrest without being found guilty of anything. After each terrorist outrage (such as an off duty soldier killed and attempts made to behead his body, in the middle of London, in the middle of the day) these powers gain quite some popular support. But during lulls in terrorist outrages concerns are raised about the UK becoming a police state. Particularly because when there is some formal court proceeding (whether it is to justify a continuing detention or an actual trial on a specific charge) the trials are often held in secret and even inside the court virtually all details (names and such like) are kept secret. To protect identities and the safety of individuals, to protect on-going investigations and maintain secrecy regarding investigative techniques. Inevitably, since the most direct terrorist threat is perceived as Islamic and, further, since the majority of UK muslims are perceived as being of either of Middle Eastern or African ethnicity these police powers are used most commonly against non-whites leaving the door open to charges of racism and general Islamiphobia. Then there are the worries that, Pandora’s Box-like, if the police are given these powers they will use them more and more widely sticking “anti-terrorist” on as an excuse. Hence “Police State” concerns. Meanwhile - Part 1. The anti-terror powers I refer to include the ability to stop people leaving the UK. But applying these powers is seen as racist against people of Middle Eastern ethnicity. Meanwhile - Part 2. There are UK Nationals who are choosing to leave the UK to join the Islamic State to support the cause. Recently three young girls of Central Asian ethnicity (15, 15 and 16 years old) left the UK to become “Jihadi brides” to any random IS fighters who wanted them and there has been some condemnation the police didn’t do MORE to stop them leaving. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1864 "2015-04-20T14:36:52Z")
Parma, Missouri is a town of about 700, located in the southeastern corner of the state. On April 14, a black woman named Tyrus Byrd won election as mayor. Shortly thereafter, five of the town’s six cops abruptly resigned, citing “safety concerns”. The city’s attorney, the clerk, and the waste water treatment plant supervisor also resigned. [http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/2015/04/19/police-resign-new-mayor-parma-missouri/26036927/](http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/2015/04/19/police-resign-new-mayor-parma-missouri/26036927/) > **[5 Police Officers Resign As First Black Female Mayor Takes Office In Mo. Town](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/black-mayor-cops-resign-missouri)** > > As the first black female mayor of Parma, Mo., took office last week, five of the town’s six police officers resigned, Missouri television station KFVS reported. The new mayor, Tyrus Byrd (pictured… > [@TPM](#): > > Byrd was not aware why the five police officers resigned, according to KFVS. When she took office, Byrd said she could not find the resignation letters and that the city computers had been cleared. She told KFVS that she needs more information before addressing the resignations publicly. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1865 "2015-04-20T14:47:55Z")
[ [QUOTE=talkingpointsmemo.com] …the city computers had been cleared… [/QUOTE] ](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/black-mayor-cops-resign-missouri)That’s pretty damning. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1866 "2015-04-20T14:52:08Z")
What does this mean? > **[HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News](https://www.huffpost.com/)** > > Read the latest headlines, news stories, and opinion from Politics, Entertainment, Life, Perspectives, and more. > [@](#): > > Ramsey has served as mayor of Parma for 37 years under two terms. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1867 "2015-04-20T14:56:25Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > [URL=“[5 Police Officers Resign As First Black Female Mayor Takes Office In Mo. Town - TPM – Talking Points Memo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/black-mayor-cops-resign-missouri)”]That’s pretty damning. Can someone retrieve that “cleared” information, I wonder? Even if these cops resigned for no nefarious reason, it is very troubling that government records can just disappear into the thin air. Especially police records. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1868 "2015-04-20T15:05:50Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Can someone retrieve that “cleared” information, I wonder? Even if these cops resigned for no nefarious reason, it is very troubling that government records can just disappear into the thin air. Especially police records. Depends on what kind of records they were and how they were “cleared”. If they were a bunch of Word documents and things like that, and someone just hit the “Delete” key and emptied the trash, they could potentially be recovered. If they were records in some kind of database, and the records were deleted, it depends on what kind of DB it was, what kind of transaction logging was turned on, what kind of backups were in place, etc. A little town of 700 people, though, might lack the resources to hire forensic analysts to dig into it. If all their records are electronic and not well administered (which would be likely in a small town) then there is a very good chance they could vanish without much of a trace. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1869 "2015-04-20T16:07:06Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Even if these cops resigned for no nefarious reason, it is very troubling that government records can just disappear into the thin air. No it isn’t. There was nothing there that anyone needs to see. Just take their word for it. That’s how it works. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1870 "2015-04-20T16:11:05Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No it isn’t. There was nothing there that anyone needs to see. Just take their word for it. That’s how it works. > > Regards, > Shodan But they’re not Hillary. #FantasyWorldDemocrats ---
**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 20, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1871 "2015-04-20T16:32:05Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > What does this mean? > > [Police, Officials Resign After Small Missouri Town Elects First Black Female Mayor | HuffPost Voices](Http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/19/parma-police-resign-black-female-mayor_n_7097110.html) (url fixed) They are using “terms” to mean the period between being first sworn in and stepping down from office, not terms in the sense of election cycles. In other words, Ramsey held office for 37 years in sum, but there was an interval in the middle where he was not mayor. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1872 "2015-04-20T17:37:21Z")
Isn’t this what people want to happen? Minorities (who are actually majorities in the particular areas) getting positions of power, the presumably bad police leaving, and the new mayor being in a position to appoint better ones? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1873 "2015-04-20T18:36:38Z")
Yeah, good riddance, but it’d be nice if they didn’t destroy government files on their way out. I assume they deleted a whole bunch of racists emails. ETA: It’s kind of like the Stasi burning their files while the Berlin wall fell. They realized that their time was up. ---
**Author:** ![OwnRules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@OwnRules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OwnRules)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1874 "2015-04-20T19:52:00Z")
Another day, another black man down: [**Black suspect dies after Baltimore cops break his spine in ‘brutal’ police arrest**](http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/black-suspect-dies-after-baltimore-cops-break-his-spine-in-brutal-police-beating/) ---
**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 20, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1875 "2015-04-20T20:14:41Z")
So are police just plain not allowed to arrest anyone anymore unless they’re white? ---
**Author:** ![OwnRules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@OwnRules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OwnRules)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1876 "2015-04-20T20:18:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So are police just plain not allowed to arrest anyone anymore unless they’re white? _Slight_ difference between arresting someone and breaking their spine, wouldn’t you say? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1877 "2015-04-20T20:18:49Z")
Nnnnnnno, the suggestion is, and always has been, that non-white suspects are treated much more brutally than white suspects under similar/identical circumstances. I think you knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1878 "2015-04-20T20:20:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So are police just plain not allowed to arrest anyone anymore unless they’re white? What part of broken spine, injured voice box and dead a day later do you not understand, you stupid fuck? Oh, let me guess, you stopped reading at “Black man”, right? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1879 "2015-04-20T20:26:12Z")
Tampa Bay’s finest, meting out justice on an even keel: > **[How riding your bike can land you in trouble with the cops — if you’re black](https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/how-riding-your-bike-can-land-you-in-trouble-with-the-cops---if-youre-black/2225966/)** > > If the tickets are any indication, Tampa residents must be the lousiest bicyclists in Florida. > [@](#): > > In the past three years, Tampa police have written 2,504 bike tickets — more than Jacksonville, Miami, St. Petersburg and Orlando combined. > > Police say they are gung ho about bike safety and focused on stopping a plague of bike thefts. > > But here’s something they don’t mention about the people they ticket: > > Eight out of 10 are black. > > A Tampa Bay Times investigation has found that Tampa police are targeting poor, black neighborhoods with obscure subsections of a Florida statute that outlaws things most people have tried on a bike, like riding with no light or carrying a friend on the handlebars. > > Officers use these minor violations as an excuse to stop, question and search almost anyone on wheels. The department doesn’t just condone these stops, it encourages them, pushing officers who patrol high-crime neighborhoods to do as many as possible. > > There was the 54-year-old man whose bike was confiscated because he couldn’t produce a receipt to prove it was his. > > Police are targeting certain high-crime neighborhoods and nitpicking cyclists as a way to curb crime. They hope they will catch someone with a stolen bike or with drugs or that they will scare thieves away. > > But most bike stops that led to a ticket turned up no illegal activity; only 20 percent of adults ticketed last year were arrested. > > When police did arrest someone, it was almost always for a small amount of drugs or a misdemeanor like trespassing. > > On Davis Islands, where Mayor Bob Buckhorn lives near baseball star Derek Jeter, police could issue multiple tickets. But they don’t. One recent night, the Times observed a couple leaving an ice cream shop on unlit beach cruisers and a cyclist riding along the dark coastline, visible only because of the reflectors on his pedals. > > Only one ticket was written last year on Davis Islands. It went to a black man. > > The same goes for Bayshore Boulevard, another of the city’s main biking destinations. Only one person got a ticket there last year. He, too, is black. > … > > In another file, a supervisor told a new officer he should learn rarely used traffic statutes. The fact that he wasn’t familiar with them was noted as a “significant weakness” in his 2012 performance review. The next year, the new officer impressed his bosses with his “dramatic increase” in “self-initiated activity.” > > He wrote 111 bike tickets, the most in the department. All but four of the cyclists were black. > > Children as young as 11 have been ticketed and reported to collection agencies, the Times found. Only CRIMINALS don’t carry around their bike receipts! ---
**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:** [April 20, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1880 "2015-04-20T20:37:11Z")
> [@](#): > > A court document obtained Monday morning by The Baltimore Sun says that Gray “was arrested without force or incident.” He “fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence,” and officers later found the knife in his right pants pocket, according to the authorities. Since it’s been shown that they lied about the first part, what are the odds they lied about the second? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=93) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=95)