Police Power and Racial Tensions in Ferguson, Missouri

[candrew]

The Ferguson cops are out of control - assaulting/arresting reporters sitting in a McDonalds.

https://gawker.com/washington-post-huffpo-reporters-arrested-in-ferguson-1621284034

Throwing tear gas on a camera crew and them dismantling their equipment.

https://www.vox.com/2014/8/13/60011...sts-teargassed-by-security-forces-in-ferguson

Lobbing tear gas on to some guy's property for no apparent reason.

https://www.slate.com/blogs/the_sla...apparently_unarmed_residents_face_attack.html

This press has turned completely against them and it's going to spring board into a national problem if someone doesn't get them under control.

 

[Stoked]

The Ferguson cops are out of control - assaulting/arresting reporters sitting in a McDonalds.

https://gawker.com/washington-post-huffpo-reporters-arrested-in-ferguson-1621284034

Throwing tear gas on a camera crew and them dismantling their equipment.

https://www.vox.com/2014/8/13/60011...sts-teargassed-by-security-forces-in-ferguson

Lobbing tear gas on to some guy's property for no apparent reason.

https://www.slate.com/blogs/the_sla...apparently_unarmed_residents_face_attack.html

This press has turned completely against them and it's going to spring board into a national problem if someone doesn't get them under control.

Yeah the arrest of those reporters was way over the line. All reports had them working at the McDonalds when they got busted.

As for the spring board. I only see it getting worse. To be honest I am surprised that a gun fight has not broken out. That a cop gets nervous and shoots or a rioter shoots from within the crowd and it all falls apart.

Then we have a headline about 4 cops and 25 protesters shot.

Edit: Since then there has been a police shooting in LA and SLC that I am surprised have not touched off more outrage since it was in the middle of this Ferguson nightmare.

 

[QuinSnydersHair]

 

[♪alt13]

In my 37 years on this earth I can't remember one time that I have needed assistance from the police and received it. I have however had my head spilt open by be being slammed into a brick wall by a cop at school because I mooned a classmate when I was 16 years old. And been harassed numerous times. And arrested for having a small amount of pot (luckily I was 17 at the time)

Wonder what it is I'm paying for.

I have called the cops when people were doing illegal fireworks near my house after midnight..... nothing was done.
My car gets broken into.... I call the cops. Didn't do any good.
My fence is always getting tagged and nothing we keep sending pictures I to the police but nothing is ever done. (We asked for a streetlight to be put on our corner, to no avail)

This is basically my experience with the police. Something gets tagged or stolen and they simply don't care. When I was 20 I had a guy break into my house in the middle of the night. I chased him out but was unable to pursue due to being in the nude. I called the police to report the man and they didn't even show up. I have been harassed by the police and I don't know anyone with a story of how the police had personally helped them.

I know that cops do some good and that there are decent reasonable officers out there but from my perspective it seems that the job is 5% service and 95% state sponsored harassment.

 

[QuinSnydersHair]

In my 37 years on this earth I can't remember one time that I have needed assistance from the police and received it. I have however had my head spilt open by be being slammed into a brick wall by a cop at school because I mooned a classmate when I was 16 years old. And been harassed numerous times. And arrested for having a small amount of pot (luckily I was 17 at the time)

Wonder what it is I'm paying for.

I have called the cops when people were doing illegal fireworks near my house after midnight..... nothing was done.
My car gets broken into.... I call the cops. Didn't do any good.
My fence is always getting tagged and nothing we keep sending pictures I to the police but nothing is ever done. (We asked for a streetlight to be put on our corner, to no avail)

Damn, that sucks. If they're always tagging the same part of your fence, could you install a video recorder or something? Maybe get them on camera, unmasked, hopefully.

 

[JAZZGASM]

One of the biggest problems is we trust mostly uneducated people to protect us. Generally, to become a cop all you need is a high school degree, yet we expect this people to make logical decisions in high pressure situations. Of course bad things will happen.

Not to say there are not many good, smart, hard-working officers out there, I just think most aren't.

 

[LogGrad98]

This is basically my experience with the police. Something gets tagged or stolen and they simply don't care. When I was 20 I had a guy break into my house in the middle of the night. I chased him out but was unable to pursue due to being in the nude. I called the police to report the man and they didn't even show up. I have been harassed by the police and I don't know anyone with a story of how the police had personally helped them.

I know that cops do some good and that there are decent reasonable officers out there but from my perspective it seems that the job is 5% service and 95% state sponsored harassment.

I had this problem once where I had $200 I didn't know what to do with, and the cops helped me figure out how to spend it by writing me a ticket for parking in the wrong direction in front of my own house, where I left the car running while I ran inside to get my laptop for work which I had forgotten that morning. They wrote the ticket, placed it on a running vehicle that was obviously only going to be there for a short time, and left faster than I could get back outside. Cost me $200. That was very nice of him, considering my neighbor owned about a dozen cars that he parked however the hell he felt like all the time all over the neighborhood taking everyone elses parking places on the street and never got a ticket for it.

 

[fishonjazz]

Damn, that sucks. If they're always tagging the same part of your fence, could you install a video recorder or something? Maybe get them on camera, unmasked, hopefully.

I have thought about this and may end up doing it..... expensive though and I suck at installing things like that.

 

[[size/HUGE] boobs [/size]]

Militarization of police in this country is a real problem. The killing of Mike Brown, and what transpired after in Ferguson will go down as a critical historical event - or if it passes by following another big news story than we're all ****ed.

What do you speak? American have highest crime rate in developed world. We need even more police state for protecting the women children and elderly.

 

[Hantlers]

It's the difference between the actions of civilians who have faced various aggressions and microaggressions on a continuing basis over years on the one hand, and professionals in a government uniform on the other.

So, these people face aggressions and micro aggressions on a continual basis for years, so it's ok and understandable for them to go loot people who did nothing to them to get back at the people that did do something to them?

That's not understandable. That's idiotic. Just as idiotic as spraying tear gas on innocent civilians. The PD in Ferguson clearly has some problems, serious problems, that need to be fixed…but that doesn't make looting rational or understanding. Both are wrong, end of story.


EDIT: I didn't realize you said the looting was wrong too. My bad. Just ignore me.

 

[Hantlers]

FWIW, we are entering (or have already entered) a police state as a country. This needs to be fixed. I personally think the standards for being a cop are far too low, and they are allowed to get away with far too much with zero or little repercussions.

 

[[size/HUGE] fixed [/size]]

FWIW, we are entering (or have already entered) a police state as a country. This needs to be fixed. I personally think the standards for being a cop are far too low, and they are allowed to get away with far too much with zero or little repercussions.

Perhaps the only way to fix that issue is to increase the salaries for the police force in order to get a better recruit. Would you agree?