Cite that “99.99% of those arrests are done professionally with minimum danger to the cop and the citizen”?
Don’t be ridiculous. If I know that one fork was dropped on the floor, but I don’t know which one, should I wash them all, wash none of them, or wash 1 at random and hope it was the dirty fork? :dubious:
That’s been the problem. The press has mentioned there aren’t any national statistics on police abuse or shootings. There should be and that’s something that needs to be fixed.
Common sense tells us it must be pretty rare. I haven’t seen any mass graves being dug behind any police depts. I haven’t seen a parade of beaten up citizens holding their medical reports. A lot of people get arrested and jailed in this country. Over 2 million were in US prisons in 2011. We hear about relatively few police shootings or abuse. Certainly there is some abuse but its been blown way out of proportion in the recent news frenzy.
In the history of bad arguments that’s probably the worst. You’re not even trying.
I’ve seen enough posts about “The Talk” to conclude that this isn’t so much throwing under the bus as common sense and pretty much ubiquitous for people of colour.
To steal from someone smarter than me: “When are they going to start making phones, wallets, and black people’s hands that don’t look so much like guns?”
Al Sharpton condemned the murder of the 2 police officers.
I think the OP is reading the letter as being solely about violence by the police against blacks. That is not how I read it. To me it is more of a letter about the relationship between blacks and the police.
The way the justice system treats black offenders vs whites is not equal. This doesn’t have to be intentional on the part of any single individual. It is complicated and involves many factors.
The classic example of this is the disparity in sentences for crack vs powdered cocaine.
A more recent news story would be the disparity for marijuana arrests between whites and blacks. We have pretty good data showing that usage rates are pretty similar, but notice the difference in arrests for such crimes:
The more often blacks are stopped - the more likely it is that something is going to go wrong.
And while crime rates did go down in New York - and it often is attributed to factors such as getting tough on crime and “broken window” policing - this is pretty much NOT accepted by the academic community - or anyone who can look at a graph:
http://www.motherjones.com/files/blog_violent_crime_six_large_cities_2.jpg
Crime rates followed more or less the same curve nationwide. And while it can be argued that New York was more successful than other areas - to suggest that this had something to do with Bernard Goetz - much less “culminated” with - is not supported by any data.
The factors the led to the decrease in crime have been debated - and the guys that wrote Freakonomics made a fairly good case relating it to the legalization of abortion - and others have tied it to decreases in environmental lead.
Of course those cops shouldn’t have been shot - I don’t think any sane person would want that.
But to suggest that the Mayor is somehow throwing the police under the bus or preventing them from doing their job - and sending New York back into an era of rampant crime is pretty silly.
The Mayor, President, and everyone running for office likes to claim they can do all this stuff to solve the crime problem - but they matter very little in the grand scheme of things.
If the police unions want to get all upset about this - they can. They wanted the NFL to penalize players who made a protest on the field. I think most people can see through this.
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the two policemen he killed weren’t white?
One was Latino, the other was Chinese-American.
Incidentally, to their credit, the family of Michael Brown issued an immediate condemnation of the killing without any sort of prompting.
Also, without meaning to sound ghoulish, am I the only one reminded of opening to Fort Apache, The Bronx.
I get the impression that the anger is directed towards the police and doesn’t have a racial element. All police are seen as the enemy.
Given the way the police occasionally (though admittedly rarely) act as no more than the biggest and most powerful gang on the street, this is not necessarily an unfounded attitude in all cases.
Were these two cops rookies?
Aye, this isn’t white vs. black, this is cop vs. black at the very least (to the BGF, for instance) and cop vs. non-cop to some, I’m sure. The skin color of the officers was irrelevant.
Some information has been released about the two officers. The families of these men are shattered only days before Christmas.
Just under 200 miles. Incredible? Maybe he had other business in the city. Wut?
CNN said a NYPD live news conference is scheduled in about an hour. Should learn more. I’ve wondered why this guy shot his gf. Was she trying to talk him out of this? Or planning to notify the police? Also, whether there’s any indication of direct involvement by the BGF.
I’d assume the Baltimore Police Gang units has been busy pulling the BGF off the streets for interviews. Their various criminal activities are more than enough for at least a 24 hour hold. I really hope they weren’t directly involved. This is a big gang with organizations in at least two states, and paramilitary. The drug money they take in gives them access to a lot of weapons and other resources.
I heard it was an ex-girlfriend, but that’s irrelevant, the guy was obviously messed up in the head.
Now since he was from Baltimore could you explain in what way De Blasio had anything to with this incident?
I never accused De Blasio, Sharpton or any demonstrators of direct involvement. Not even indirect. They had absolutely nothing to do with this tragedy.
I did say the NYPD feels like they were thrown under the bus. I’m sure you’ve seen yesterdays video of the cops turning their backs to De Blasio at the hospital? It’s on every news channel. For better or worse he is their commander in chief. The top dog and he didn’t have their backs. Any boss should have his employee’s back. He may chew their ass out in private for a fuck up. But in public a boss is supposed to have his employee’s back. I’ve been there and really appreciated it when my boss stuck up for me after a mistake. I caught hell later, but he stood up for me. That relationship between De Blasio and the NYPD will take quite awhile to mend.
But, that’s all separate from this tragedy.
The perpetrator being from Baltimore in no way proves De Blasio had nothing to do with this incident. It’s not as if big city Mayors are only broadcast within their own city. I have no idea if De Blasio’s comments exacerbated the situation. However, the killer being from Baltimore does not exonerate the Mayor.
News conference is just about over. A few points covered…
Suspect had no gang tats on his body. They’ve found no links to the BGF so far.
He had broken up with his gf but let himself into her apartment with a key. Argument ensued and he shot her. Called her mom later to apologize and said he hoped she pulled through.
He bounced around living with relatives in Ohio, Georgia, Baltimore and had arrests in those areas. Numerous jail sentences. Nothing very long. mostly a few months at a time.
Couple suicide attempts.
Given his previous suicide attempts. I’d speculate that after shooting his gf he knew serious prison time was in his future. He decided suicide was better than serving extended prison time. He wanted to take out a couple cops before he went. Which is what he did. Went out with a bang, and got his name in the newspapers.
Two questions: first, why do you find three NFL players holding up their hands while walking on the field unacceptable, but police turning their back on their “commander in chief” acceptable?
Second, was your boss an elected representative of millions of people, a good percentage of which believed you (in your professional capacity) were doing racist things to them?