Stupid Is As Stupid Does

[CrossLOPER]

He got fired? Is America out of Medals?

[Fragony]

Is the world out of other problems?

[drone]

I heard about this a few weeks ago. The kid has his car wired up for audio/video, and seems to be expecting to be harassed. I don't know if he started this after his first encounter with the drunk off-duty cop, but he seems to think that they have his number (and apparently, they do). Even paranoids have enemies.

This whole series of events doesn't really surprise me. He got a cop in trouble (the drunk one), and the mentality seems to be to get him back. The fact that they keep giving him problems and keep getting busted for it leads me to believe they are both vindictive and fairly incompetent. The kid knows his rights, and resists the police when they try to infringe on those rights, which just pisses them off. Kudos to him for trying, but I have a feeling this will end badly. He should be buying Christmas presents for the local press guys, they are his best chance of survival.

[Crazed Rabbit]

At the risk of having lots of angry Americans jumping on me, could this be due to the american psyche seeing uniformed people like firemen, policemen and army members, basically people who serve their country, as semi-heroes?

A-HAhahahaha!

No insult to any police board members, but the public generally does not see police in the same light as firemen and soldiers who are usually always deeply respected. Police are not. Probably because they don't often save your life; they fine you and a lot of them do stuff like this.

CR

[Louis VI the Fat]

What outrageous behaviour from the police.

This sort of police brutality stories seem to pop up rather regularly lately. Bah, few things tick me off as much as abuse of power and authority by men in uniforms.

Are these isolated incidents or is it endemic? Is abuse of power by the police widespread in America? Anybody got any links or numbers?

[Whacker]

This sort of police brutality stories seem to pop up rather regularly lately. Bah, few things tick me off as much as abuse of power and authority by men in uniforms.

We're of the exact same mind. Nothing gets my blood boiling quite like abuse of power or authority. The other thing that ranks right up there is when law enforcement refuses to admit that they were very much in the wrong, or crossed certain lines when a video goes public. There's always some bullcrap "extenuating circumstances" or we "don't have the full picture". I call complete bull here. This, coupled with the American government's fearmongering and general increasing of police and state powers recently does nothing to help this.

Are these isolated incidents or is it endemic? Is abuse of power by the police widespread in America? Anybody got any links or numbers?

I can't provide any numbers of facts, only opinions. It is my personal perception that cops in general tend to be scum, enjoying throwing their weight around, and only have their own and fellow officer's best interests in mind. I've seen it both personally and one only has to look through youtube for examples. In conversations with my family members and friends, it would appear that they largely share this view. As a side note, I (we) are almost all middle class caucasians who dress, look, and act "normally", whatever normal means. I can only say this anecdotally also, but beyond my family and friends, others I've talked to in passing on this seem to share the same opinion. Ironically whenever a cop dies in the line of duty, the media always makes a huge deal out of it, when it's my impression that most of us could care less.

/shrug

[Sasaki Kojiro]

All the cops I've met have been good people.

[Husar]

A-HAhahahaha!

No insult to any police board members, but the public generally does not see police in the same light as firemen and soldiers who are usually always deeply respected. Police are not. Probably because they don't often save your life; they fine you and a lot of them do stuff like this.

CR

Thanks for the explanation, almost thought so but then I really wasn't sure.

[Csargo]

Are these isolated incidents or is it endemic? Is abuse of power by the police widespread in America? Anybody got any links or numbers?

Most of the time it can't be proven, even if there was wrong doing it's the policeman's word over the citizen's and the police will always win that fight. This is a special case because the man had a dash cam and recorded the whole event, but most people don't do that.

Power goes to peoples heads that's the best way to describe it. When it's almost impossible for them to get caught in the act they'll do as they please.

[Xiahou]

Most of the time it can't be proven, even if there was wrong doing it's the policeman's word over the citizen's and the police will always win that fight. This is a special case because the man had a dash cam and recorded the whole event, but most people don't do that.

Good point. Imagine how this would've gone down without cameras present. The kid probably would have been brought in pepper-sprayed and charged with resisting arrest and every other charge on down the line.

Clearly, these people give cops a bad name. I don't think they're representative of all or even most police officers- but nonetheless, there are far too many like this.