# I demand the police apologize for the actions of extremist cops **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2016, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360 "2016-07-08T05:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/21 "2016-07-08T15:30:18Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’d agree, completely. But electing to carry in this highly charged time was not a wise decision… So you don’t actually agree and are blaming the victim of a police murder for his own death because he committed legal acts. People who support the idea that you should be executed by the police for acting legally are part of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/22 "2016-07-08T15:31:06Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Maybe, just maybe, it’s not the time to insist on CC rights and the like, especially if you’re black. Well, if gun rights are as important as Second Amendment fans keep insisting, surely they’re important for everybody? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/23 "2016-07-08T15:31:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > … That guy deserved to die just for what he did to that shop owner. … You’ve posted some amazingly stupid shit on this board, but that pretty much tops the list. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/24 "2016-07-08T15:39:04Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I do think that in a lot of cases they expect unreasonable patience from cops, as if they aren’t human with families they want to go home to. To me, the Ferguson case is just BS. You assault a cop, you SHOULD get killed. That guy deserved to die just for what he did to that shop owner. Sometimes I just can’t give a shit about these types of people. The world is better off without people who use their size to bully little old shopowners and then attack a cop with impunity. And think of all the money we save on judicial costs alone! We could use that money to buy cops more military gear, too! I mean, who needs a judicial system at all when the cops can be judge, jury and executioner all in one convenient package. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/25 "2016-07-08T15:42:31Z")
I demand that John Stamos apologize for his retarded left ear. His left ear is so retarded…How retarded is it?..It is so retarded that retarded people walk up to it on the street and slap it in the face and say, “Damn retard, stop being so retarded. You’re giving us a bad name.” and then they shit on it. And the left ear is so retarded…How retarded is it?..It is so retarded that the left ear takes the shit home and freezes it and then when it is nice and frozen it tries ramming it up its ass all whilst dancing a jig to “Single Ladies” by The Chipettes. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/26 "2016-07-08T15:42:55Z")
I wasn’t suggesting that strongarm robbers should be executed, only that I’m not mourning people like that. He wasn’t some oppressed dude, he thought he was strong. He finally bullied the wrong person, a cop. Screw that guy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/27 "2016-07-08T15:54:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I wasn’t suggesting that strongarm robbers should be executed… Right, you didn’t suggest it. You said it explicitly: > [@adaher](#): > > You assault a cop, you SHOULD get killed. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/28 "2016-07-08T15:56:44Z")
> [@Lydia\_Phalfav](#): > > … You are a fucking idiot. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/29 "2016-07-08T15:57:20Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I wasn’t suggesting that strongarm robbers should be executed… You understand that we can read what you wrote, right? You realize that your post is still right here on the message board? “You assault a cop, you SHOULD get killed. That guy deserved to die just for what he did to that shop owner.” ---
**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:** [July 8, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/30 "2016-07-08T16:08:23Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Here’s an article by a black ex-cop that really should be read: > > [I'm a black ex-cop, and this is the real truth about race and policing | Vox](http://www.vox.com/2015/5/28/8661977/race-police-officer) > > It’s often comforting to say that it’s about a few bad apples, but things are usually not that easy. Bad apples can infect the whole bunch, and that seems to have happened to a large extent in many police departments. Great article – thank you. Not entirely ruined by your ridiculous plea for thieves to be summarily executed. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/31 "2016-07-08T16:17:08Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Right, you didn’t suggest it. You said it explicitly: That’s not strongarm robbery. You assault any armed person, you deserve what you’ve got coming. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/32 "2016-07-08T16:18:14Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Great article – thank you. Not entirely ruined by your ridiculous plea for thieves to be summarily executed. Let me clarify then: when you commit an assault, when you use violence against someone, that carries a very real risk of death. I do not feel sorry in the least for people who assault others and get killed because of it. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/33 "2016-07-08T16:35:40Z")
I have been avoiding FB this morning. I have friends on there that are police officers, and family of police officers, and my heart truly aches for them. However, a couple of those people have, in the past, demanded that BLM protesters “police their own.” If there is a protest, the peaceful marchers are supposed to make sure that no one vandalizes or tags or does anything outside of the peaceful march. Even, in one case, chanting was something that was supposed to be suppressed. And if those friends of mine today, in their pain, demand that peaceful protesters police their own members, I may not be able to bite my tongue hard enough. Because not one of them has ever acknowledged that sometimes police do bad shit. And they don’t dream of “policing their own” in that regard. Instead they ignore it, or insinuate that video was altered (even if the video was released by the police department in question - what department is going to doctor their own video to make themselves look worse?) My heart aches today. So I am trying to avoid situations that will make my own and others’ pain worse. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/34 "2016-07-08T16:46:38Z")
Great article [here](http://www.vox.com/2016/7/8/12128858/police-racism-officers-admit) about how some cops are pushed to police for revenue, rather than for public safety, leading to disproportionate effects on people of color and LGBT individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/35 "2016-07-08T16:47:34Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Let me clarify then: when you commit an assault, when you use violence against someone, that carries a very real risk of death. I do not feel sorry in the least for people who assault others and get killed because of it. I’m (kinda) with **adaher** on this. Mike Brown didn’t deserve to die for assaulting/robbing that shopkeeper. Not at all. But the guy was a bully. I’m not going to be crying salty tears into my morning coffee just because some fat bully got shot. > [@Amateur Barbarian](#): > > If you fuck around with a gun in public, you are courting death. It doesn’t matter that you’re 13 or have a CC permit or have only benign intentions. As this train of insanity rolls up to speed, you’re just as likely to be shot by another CC type as a cop. If Tamir Rice had been shot by a CC type that would be one thing, but cops are rightfully held to a much higher standard. They chose to deal with Rice in the worst way possible, and it’s hard to dismiss the notion that their actions were informed by overt or subconscious racism. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/36 "2016-07-08T18:34:26Z")
> [@Tithonus](#): > > If Tamir Rice had been shot by a CC type that would be one thing, but cops are rightfully held to a much higher standard. They chose to deal with Rice in the worst way possible, and it’s hard to dismiss the notion that their actions were informed by overt or subconscious racism. I don’t know if it’s necessarily racism that causes cops to shoot people so much as it’s a certain… paranoia(?) on the part of cops, and a certain vicious circle of perception, in that every time the cops arrest a black person, it reinforces their perceptions of blacks as criminals or violent or whatever, so that the next time they go into a situation, they’re coming into it with preconceived notions about the people based on the color of their skin. Over time, this has become institutionalized, I suspect, so that even cops who aren’t necessarily consciously racist absorb a lot of those attitudes merely by working for that institution. And cops are paranoid; something like 130 per year get killed, and yet they treat EVERY situation like it might be a potential shooting. I mean, I’ve been stopped for traffic violations and had them come up, hand on gun to my car as if I, a 43 year old fat white guy from the suburbs is going to do anything but give them my license and registration and “yes sir”, “no sir”. The combination of those two attitudes primes them to be especially hair-trigger when it comes to black people, and more specifically black men. I agree that the Tamir Rice situation was terrible, but it can also be explained by particularly paranoid cops with that paranoia reinforced by their experiences and the institutional attitudes. I mean, if a cop is going to come to my pickup truck hand on gun, you’d better believe that they’ll be that much more paranoid if they’re confronting a young black man holding something that looks like a gun. I don’t necessarily buy into the idea that cops deliberately target black/LGBT people to increase revenue. If I had to guess, it’s more centered around the sort of crimes that are perpetrated in poorer black neighborhoods vs. wealthier white ones, and which ones are the low hanging fruit if you have to hand out tickets / make arrests. For example, I don’t doubt that people break the law in my neighborhood, but it’s pretty much behind closed doors- drug use, spousal abuse, etc… But there aren’t dice games or hustlers selling shit near the local retail establishments. There aren’t drug deals out in the open, nor are there generally robberies of those establishments. But there are all those things in spades over in and around the low-income, predominantly black apartment complexes not too far away. So if you’re a cop, and you’re actively looking to write some tickets, where are you going to go? Doesn’t mean you’re racist if you go to the apartments, it probably means you’re lazier than anything else. I don’t know how to defuse the police paranoia; in my opinion, that’s probably the best place to start, as that paranoia causes a lot of problems- an “us vs. them” mentality, a willingness to use force in general, as they feel threatened in situations that aren’t even threatening. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/37 "2016-07-08T18:34:45Z")
I just heard the president of some national police organization being interviewed on NPR. The host brought up the Tamir Rice case. The guest said that he looked into many things related to that case and one of the things he found was this: After the basic academy officers in Ohio (or maybe just Cleveland) are required to get only two hours of training a year. Not two hundred, two. The politicians refuse to come up with more money for increased training despite pleas for the police departments. Now, you send someone with woefully inadequate training into situations that cops face everyday and expect them to perform perfectly every time. And when they don’t the pols jump on the bad cop bandwagon because its politically expedient to do so. In what world does that make any sense? I am a police trainer and I can tell you, without reservation, that when budgets get tight one of the first things to go is training. I submit that there are few jobs more difficult than that of a police officer and even fewer with more dire consequences when things don’t go perfectly. Training - pay me now or we will all pay later. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/38 "2016-07-08T18:49:38Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > I just heard the president of some national police organization being interviewed on NPR. The host brought up the Tamir Rice case. The guest said that he looked into many things related to that case and one of the things he found was this: After the basic academy officers in Ohio (or maybe just Cleveland) are required to get only two hours of training a year. Not two hundred, two. The politicians refuse to come up with more money for increased training despite pleas for the police departments. Now, you send someone with woefully inadequate training into situations that cops face everyday and expect them to perform perfectly every time. And when they don’t the pols jump on the bad cop bandwagon because its politically expedient to do so. In what world does that make any sense? I am a police trainer and I can tell you, without reservation, that when budgets get tight one of the first things to go is training. I submit that there are few jobs more difficult than that of a police officer and even fewer with more dire consequences when things don’t go perfectly. Training - pay me now or we will all pay later. I respectfully disagree in some ways here … if a community is limited on the funds they pony up for police training … then you train _less_ people … better than putting on the street people who are less trained. I don’t know … is St Paul, MN such a tranquil and peaceful place that all these police officers have nothing better to do than pull cars over with a broke tail light? Maybe they have to many under-trained police officers … ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/39 "2016-07-08T19:14:14Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I don’t know if it’s necessarily racism that causes cops to shoot people so much as it’s a certain… paranoia(?) on the part of cops, and a certain vicious circle of perception, in that every time the cops arrest a black person, it reinforces their perceptions of blacks as criminals or violent or whatever, so that the next time they go into a situation, they’re coming into it with preconceived notions about the people based on the color of their skin. :: post snipped :: And, to add to the quoted piece, if minorities believe that the cops are unjustly targeting them, then the attitude they have to the police will most likely be negative. So we end up with two sets of people who instantly distrust the other in situations that are inherently confrontational and can lead to violence. The unjustified police shootings are disturbing as hell. However, it seems we are at a point where every police shooting is being used a proof that the police racist by one side, even if the shooting was justified. The other side, of course, considers every shooting justified even if it wasn’t. And that just drives the two side further apart and creates more distrust and paranoia. Slee ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360/40 "2016-07-08T19:21:28Z")
NM. Didn’t mean to post this here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-demand-the-police-apologize-for-the-actions-of-extremist-cops/759360.md?page=3)