To all those who don't like the police.

[markw76]

Watch the video on youtube here. They are ordering a guy with an AR to put it down. Watch the video a time or two, then come back and scroll down:










If you missed it, pay attention to his right hand as he falls. In it is a handgun he was pulling out of a back pocket. Think the press was likely to point that out? Gets in the way of showing the police shooting a "compliant" suspect, doesn't it? If your attitude toward the police is shaped by what you see in the media, you might re-examine things. If it is shaped by personal experience, you might re-examine something else. I know they aren't perfect. They have to draw upon the same gene pool Chuckie Schumer comes from. Just sayin'.

[madjack]

I have nothing but the highest respect for the LEO who does their job in a fair and compassionate manner...it is a job I really couldn't or wouldn't want to do...unfortunately, my personal experience is we have too many jackbooted, half glove wearing thugs who have watched too much Top CopsTV and think the motto is "Harrass and Arrest" instead of "Protect and Serve"...I firmly believe, too many of these gize had their lunch money stolen most days at school and never had a real date...keep in mind as I say the above, that locally, an 18 yr old can goto "Police Academy" for 6 mos and become an officer...a job, they should not be allowed to have until they hit 25 orso........
madjack

[markw76]

Thanks, madjack. The quality of cops varies all over the place. I guess it comes down to what the voters are able to push their states to require.

18? They have to be 21 (by the time they graduate from the academy) here since they're required to carry a handgun.

I know many departments try real hard to get the cream of the applicants, and still get bad apples. The tougher it is to get and keep a job like that, the more respect I have for them.

[Zydeco76]

that was a training video. Officer holsters weapon instead of keeping a bead on BG and kicking weapons away from him. I don't trust any cop under the age of 30.

[abc38419]

We've got good cops around here! No complaints, except there are not enough and we are way out in the country.

[tri70]

It would be hard to tell if he was complying with orders and going to lay down with BOTH weapons or going to try and draw the pistol and fire. We have good cops were we live but I have heard of some bad ones, my brother is a cop and I give them all the respect.

[Dirty Harry]

We like our cops up here, I come across bike cops all the time when Im out, heck Ive seen em on those segways or whatever they're called.

[TNZ71]

Cops are a direct reflection of population pool they are drawn from and their leadership. Look at NYPD prior to and after Rudy. They are not perfect but lot better than just a little more than a decade before.

P.S. The rich and elite look down on them. The middle class seem bothered by them. The poor and ignorant (correlation?) feel harassed by them.

[Joe Garibaldi]

I see the right hand reaching (well, as much as that video allows for precise vision).

I have to say, though, that this seems like a training video, not one of a real situation. For two reaons:

1. The cop in the foreground doesn't really pause before re-holstering and then walking (way too comfortably) toward the downed but not necessarily out shootee.

2. The impact seems a bit fake and there's no blood.

That said, the suspect's/shootee's movements do demonstrate how difficult such a situation can be for police.

I think it's a training video, but think it's one probably based on experiences of police in the field, intended to prepare them for such horrible situations.

[markw76]

Originally Posted by Zydeco76

that was a training video. Officer holsters weapon instead of keeping a bead on BG and kicking weapons away from him. I don't trust any cop under the age of 30.

I suspect you're correct. Rookies always bear watching and an extra bit of leeway in case they react weird. In a quiet area, rookies may take several years to season, in busy ones a couple can do it.

[Zydeco76]

Since Katrina city county and state governaments have been in fiscal trouble here. It seems as though they have turned law enforcement into shakedown artists. The poor are harrassed by them this is not a "feeling". I live in a rural area. I have lived here for 13 years now. Suddenly we are having roadblocks out here a couple times per month. Law enforcement is generaly smiled on out here but that is changing fast. When you have low income single moms getting ticketed for $1000 on her way home from work because she cant afford insurance it sux.

[markw76]

Sounds like budget pressures trump discretion, if the concept is even practiced.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Zydeco76

Since Katrina city county and state governaments have been in fiscal trouble here. It seems as though they have turned law enforcement into shakedown artists. The poor are harrassed by them this is not a "feeling". I live in a rural area. I have lived here for 13 years now. Suddenly we are having roadblocks out here a couple times per month. Law enforcement is generaly smiled on out here but that is changing fast. When you have low income single moms getting ticketed for $1000 on her way home from work because she cant afford insurance it sux.

One thing that gives LEOs a bad reputation in the community is when their superiors start looking at parking tickets, speeding tickets, DUI arrests, etc. as profit centers to help supplement the budget. Bureaucrats don’t get paid for the amount of work they perform. They get paid by the number of people they supervise and the size of their budgets. And, politicians (e.g., mayors, town councils, etc.) get reelected by how many votes they can buy with our money.

When the bureaucratic mentality takes over from common sense the people in law enforcement seem to forget why we hire them and why they work for us. We pay them to do two things: protect private property and keep us from killing each other when we’re having fun. That’s it! Nothing else! We don’t hire them to harass us, our children or our neighbors.

I’ve spent a lot of time in a lot of different areas of this country, and at least from my experience, while there are always a few ‘bad apples’, most of the LEOs I have met and/or dealt with are basically great people. They just seem to be forced into taking the wrong attitude or being a—‘s by their management (and sometimes even their training). And, believe me, I understand. It’s very hard to fight, even when you know better.

[mustangdave]

If you want a DIFFERENT perspective of your town/city...and the PD has a ride along program, jump on the opportunity. Spend an 8 hour shift with the cop on patrol...if you're lucky you get to see the ins and outs of every day police work. I did it...it was educational.

[billdeserthills]

All I can tell ya is ever since I put up the $10,000 cash bond to free Patrick Haab from being illegally held in jail I have been harrassed, on at least a monthly basis by the police in my area. Tell me how fair and unbiased that is.

[markw76]

I don't know a whole lot about that to comment, but from the stuff on the web it looks like posting his bail was a very popular thing to do. Outside the Latino community at least. Around here if the police chose sides like that on a popular issue they'd be hearing about it bigtime.

[billdeserthills]

Apart from that Mark, after I posted his bail the attorney general decided to drop all charges, and soon after that Sheriff Joe began picking up illegal aliens and tossing them back into Mexico.

[Zydeco76]

If I need a locksmith I know who I am calling good work sir.

[billdeserthills]

Originally Posted by Zydeco76

If I need a locksmith I know who I am calling good work sir.

Thanks, nice of you to feel that way.