10 Comments

1. TJIC  •  Feb 28, 2012 @2:57 pm
   

   Cops are thugs. Maybe not 100% of them, but well over 90%.

   Every single cop I've met, including friends of the family, have been lawless thugs.

   I imagine that it's largely because thugs are drawn to power, and also largely because the power, and the mafia-like code of the Thin Blue Line protecting its own, turns the few decent cops into totalitarians.

2. doug  •  Feb 28, 2012 @5:01 pm
   

   my brother is a cop. he was once part of a drug team that executed search warrants. he ratted out the leader for taking little "trouphy" items for himself. the guy lost his job and was convicted. my brother was ostersized for some time and almost lost his job. they eat their own, too.

3. Vector  •  Feb 28, 2012 @5:34 pm
   

   I served on a jury about 10 years ago where a young woman had been given a ticket, then tried to complain at the station that the officer was following too closely and had scared her. At the station, they heard her complaint, told her she must be lying, then arrested her under a new Ohio law that made it against the law to not tell the truth about an officer of the law. She was booked and taken to the county jail. (At no time did she ever contest the ticket and she willingly paid the fine.) The prosecution told us that she had ruined the officers perfect reputation. We heard the case, and saw the video of the statement. She was never angry or even raised her voice, but the sergeant on duty concluded that her opinion of the officer's behavior must be a lie, therefore worthy of arrest. As a jury, we quickly decided that she did not tell a lie and found her not guilty. Most of us on the jury were rather angry about the whole thing. I still get a bit worried whenever I drive through that town.

4. Lambert  •  Feb 29, 2012 @11:15 am
   

   "I'm shocked, Rick I tell you. Shocked!"

   Mean-spirited, Anti-social, Self-Important, Aggressive, Unwilling to listen to reason, willing to inflict violence, willing to protect the herd. These are amongst the entrance qualifications that all police forces throughout the world require. The USA is most certainly no exception to that. Police make 'laws' up on the spur of the moment just to intimidate people, and the NYPD appears to operate a "shoot first, ask questions later" policy.

5. El Bombardero  •  Feb 29, 2012 @4:44 pm
   

   I'm happy to know that people like you are out there bringing this stuff to light. People used to believe that it was just a few bad apples when it came to bad cops. The internet and cell phone cameras are doing a good job of dispelling that myth.

6. Joe  •  Mar 3, 2012 @8:53 am
   

   Agreed there are way too many bad ones vs good ones. Doug, I know exactly what you mean – my brother is a police officer and had a similar experience in the first city police department he worked in. A person taken into custody was apparently beaten and my brother did not “go along with it”. After weeks of subtle and not so subtle retaliation and he left. Thankfully he is now in another city where they appreciate him and where they seem to hold to a higher set of standards. Being a good police officer takes incredible patience, an even temperament, and a true understanding of what it means to be of service the community and not their own self interest. Fortunately my brother is one of the few gifted with these traits. It’s too bad so many others are not.

7. GT  •  Mar 9, 2012 @4:27 pm
   

   And this Sgt Peter Schumanich fuckbag – he's still getting paid by taxpayers (and go home and whack off to re-runs of 'Cops')?

   I used that 'Goggle' kerjigger that all the kids are talking about, and found no reference to his bitch ass being fired, or any other form of well-deserved grievous bodily harm coming to him.

   What did Mencken famously say? "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats."

   Surely that can be outsourced these days.

8. Christoph  •  Mar 30, 2012 @10:11 pm
   

   Back in 2009 I wrote about the Miami TV station's undercover investigation of what would happen to you if you went to police stations asking for a form to fill out a complaint against a cop.

   A couple stories. One, I went to a police station once and asked for a form to complain about a cop. I didn't get one. The details escape me, but the counter-lady was obnoxious and bullying, as you might guess.

   Better story. So I was 18 years old, wearing a shirt and tie, carrying a leather portfolio with resumes, and was new to the big city. I was trying to find a particular address because I had a job interview shortly. So I went to the community police station … you know, for outreach to people. Feel good stuff, I thought.

   A blonde policewoman is outside of it, and I very respectfully asked her if she could point me in the direction of a certain street, because I was running late for a job interview there.

   She didn't tell me. Instead, she started to jack me up. She asked my name, then my full name, then for ID. She ran me through the police computer. And so on.

   Because I, an 18 year old in a short and tie, politely asked her for directions outside the community police station.

   I've met nice cops (not all of whom were competent: some were even too nice, but that's another story), but some of them are total assholes. It seems to be innate in them (those individuals, not all police officers).

   Not all cops are your friend. Not at all.

9. Christoph  •  Mar 30, 2012 @10:13 pm
   

   *shirt

10. Joe  •  Apr 25, 2012 @8:36 am
    

    Smoking marijuana may get you killed, but photographing police gets you thrown in jail.

    https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech-national-security/all-dressed-and-nothing-do-except-arrest-photographers