It looks like someone just has to start a Pit thread each and every time the police harass, threaten, Tase, pepper spray, or shoot an innocent black person lately. It’s gotten to the point that it’s difficult navigating the pit.
Would a tag like [POLICE STATE] help? Or maybe a sub Forum?
I thought that’s what the Righteous Outrage tag was for?
But you’re getting Rape outrage on my Racist Cop outrage.
I have to learn to stay out of those threads.
Just don’t read the “Confirmation Bias” thread in GD too soon after you read one of the "Police in LA Tazer’ed a drunk and in NYPD sprained somebody’s wrist cuffing them! The police are racist!!!’ threads or your Irony Meter will spray sparks all over the Internet.
Regards,
Shodan
I think as long as the thread title is properly descriptive, no tags should be needed.
Chill. You’re one of the good ones. A friend of mine who is the biggest complainer about police actions is an 18 year veteran of policing who feels more and more an outsider on his own force.
I believe Recreational Outrage is more appropriate.
I thought parody threads belong in the Pit? 
Og damn, this is one fine suggestion.
Dex, are you on this yet?
I remember a short story in which some children, playing hide and seek, had a terrible realization: there was death in the world. Once they saw a dead possum, suddenly they started seeing death everywhere, and were horrified at how common it was, these reminders of their own mortality. THe story had a growing sense of dread, and ended with the children finding a solution to their problem: they put clothespins on their nose and resumed their game.
Not sure why I’m suddenly remembering this story, but instead of [police state], maybe a tag like [clothespin] would be more helpful to folks?
[RO] has a better ring than [dead possum], IMO.
Regards,
Shodan
[Attica!] [Attica!]
(Somebody had to say it.)
Thanks I try. Unfortunately to some even completely proper police procedure and tactics are wrong. That anything that looks violent on the part of the police has to be wrong. Hell, I’ve seen 105lbs Kate Beckett grab a guy, flip him around and cuff him all in one motion! Why do all those cops need to jump on that guy? Are they not properly trained? Why didn’t they shot that guy in the leg? How come they didn’t taze that guy advancing with a knife?
Some actions by police are obviously indefensible. But I’ve given up trying to explain those cases in which there may be valid reason for their actions. It’s just not worth trying to push through the noise. I really wish I could drop some people in the middle of a confrontation and see how they would react.
Dammit, it’s usually me.
They would whip out their phones and begin Googling Supreme Court precedents to see if they had probable cause to detain.
Regards,
Shodan
I think that’s an exaggeration.
As Revtim says, if the title is descriptive, things are pretty clear. If it isn’t, then you click, read, and hit the back button. These things come in waves; give it a few months and it’ll smooth out. We might end up with an omnibus thread a la SRIOTD, or not, but in the meantime I can’t see how this is a big deal.
[The Straight Dope Message Boards dutifully wishes to inform you that the following thread may contain subject matter that could just so happen to contain something in the general vein of Police, Policing, Law Enforcement, Law Officer Activity, Criminal Activity Investigation or Gendarmery. We realize some will not wish to read such threads and have trouble filtering them out by their descriptive thread titles. So if it just so happens that these threads are of no interest to you then be gratified knowing you can skip opening this one.] NC: Cops pepper spray black foster son of white family
Wait, should that have been in all caps?
I think you’re taking the suggestion too seriously. He’s just poking fun at the recent [GAME] tag debate while also making the point that we don’t need a new thread for every fucking police incident that pops up in the news.
I’m not going back to look but did we have a thread each time there was a shark attack in 2001? There weren’t any more than usual but the media started making a big deal about the “Summer of the Shark.” I realize they’re not directly comparable because this involves a lot more recreational outrage of course - but it still feels the same. Right now we all care about police violence and in a few months it’ll be something else and then something else, etc etc forever.
The idea that the solution to rampant racist police abuse is to tag news threads about the abuse so that folks can continue to enjoy the privilege of not having to think about the racist police abuse seems contrary to the board’s mission.
I don’t think fomenting hysteria is the boards’ mission.
Regards,
Shodan