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Politics : BuSab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/16/2011 11:41:46 AM
From: Jorj X Mckie2 Recommendations  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23934
 
Shootie,
more and more I am becoming fearful of our law enforcement. The idea of "To protect and to serve" has lost all meaning.

My Mom told me a story yesterday that just happened this past weekend. A Mother called the police because her two sons were fighting. When the police got there, one of the sons had got a knife and was threatening the other son. The cops shot and killed him. The son was not threatening the cops.

Now, obviously the kid shouldn't be using a deadly weapon. He was pretty obviously not the most civic minded tool in the shed. But here's the thing....we call the cops so that nobody gets killed in a situation like that. Hell, this would have probably resolved itself with some bruises and pissed off family members. Even in the worst case scenario, one of them get's killed by the other. What value did the cops add to the situation? They didn't prevent shit. They made it worse. And now the Mother gets to know that it was her call to 911 that killed her son.

More and more it is becoming obvious that it is a mistake to call the cops. And more and more we know we can't trust the cops. And as a law abiding citizen and someone who wants to respect law enforcement, it makes me sick to say that.

I'm glad that your daughter's situation worked out. Though obviously at a great price to her and to your family.



To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/16/2011 1:22:30 PM
From: SmoothSail  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23934
 
Wow! That is some story.

Sorry you've had to go through this. Have they returned your car yet?



To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/16/2011 1:30:35 PM
From: Ish  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23934
 
I hope your daughter learned two lessons. 1. There is a reason they call it dope. 2. Always cover your ass.



To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/16/2011 2:38:06 PM
From: KLP1 Recommendation  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23934
 
Shootie, I'm so very sorry you and your family had to experience all of that! it's a nightmare horror story that would have been even worse, if you hadn't done all the investigative work. Will you write a book about the entire mess? Losing money is one thing, but the possibility of losing your family is just unimaginable....Take good care of you now....I've found that our bodies tend to get sick after a major stress in our lives if we aren't very careful to try to de-stress ourselves at least once a week.... Read "Death and Dying" by Elizabeth Kubler Ross... It isn't just physical death that causes us the trouble.....

Sending you and yours a giant cyber Hug!
Karen



To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/16/2011 4:11:27 PM
From: Neeka  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23934
 
I sent your post on to my sons. What happened to you and your family is outrageous, but unfortunately, probably all too common. It takes a special kind of person to do what you did, and it also takes assets. The poor schlep with no money or support just goes to jail.

Disgusting!

Next step, I have to hold a news conference so that the truth gets to GOOGLE where all the nasty shit is.

I would really like to see that.



To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/17/2011 7:34:15 AM
From: arno  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23934
 
Aw Jeez...Shootie

what an ordeal to have to deal with.

I look forward to hearing the rest.

"Piss me off, Pay the consequences"

yes...I can see that.



To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/17/2011 9:19:43 AM
From: jlallen  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23934
 
Wow!

Sounds like a great screenplay....!!!!

Bury those bastards!!



To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/17/2011 6:42:52 PM
From: Alan Smithee  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23934
 
Wow. All I can say is Wow.

You done good Mr. Shooter.



To: Shoot1st who wrote (8779)7/21/2011 5:17:31 PM
From: TimF5 Recommendations  Respond to of 23934
 
Watch the Watchmen
Give Me a Break! | John Stossel
July/August 2011 • Volume: 61 • Issue: 6

I believe in the right to privacy.

Yet I can think of someone who deserves very little privacy—a policeman making an arrest. Unfortunately it’s a crime in some states to make a video of a policeman doing just that. People recording police have been threatened, detained, or arrested. Some were jailed overnight.

That’s wrong. Police work for the public, they’re paid with tax money, and most importantly, they have tremendous power. They’ve got the legal right to pull guns, detain us, lock us up and, in some cases, shoot us. The potential for abuse is great. So it’s a good thing that modern video cameras are now so commonplace. Any abuse of police power in a public place is likely to be recorded. Why should that be a crime in some states?

I asked Radley Balko, an editor at Reason magazine who keeps an eye on issues like this: What’s happened to the people who were arrested for videotaping cops at work?

“In most of these cases, the people aren’t actually prosecuted,” Balko said. “The charges tend to get dropped before these cases get to trial—I think because the people prosecuting these cases and the people who make the laws don’t want the laws to actually get challenged. But it’s a night in jail.”

On what charge?

“In states that have these two-party consent laws, they rely on the old wiretapping laws. The claim is that police officers have a right to privacy while they’re on the job in public exercising some pretty powerful responsibilities that we give them. I think that claim is ridiculous.”

He says some authorities now claim that people who record the police while being arrested are “interfering with arrest or . . . refusing to obey a lawful order, if they tell you to turn the camera off and you don’t.”

How does it interfere with the arrest?

“It’s a ridiculous argument. But here’s the thing: You may not go to jail for these charges. But they’re going to take your camera, going to arrest you, you’re going to be handcuffed, put in the back of a squad car. And nothing is going to happen to the police officers who illegally arrest you—usually.”

Occasionally a cop caught abusing his power is arrested or fired. But that’s rare.

In Maryland, motorcyclist Tony Graber got in trouble for recording a cop who pulled him over for speeding. Graber didn’t know it was a cop. He was just a guy in plain clothes with a gun. The cop eventually identified himself.

“Graber didn’t get arrested until he posted that video on YouTube,” Balko explained. “Once he posted it . . . the state police raided his home—came into his home early in the morning, guns drawn—confiscated a bunch of computer equipment, held him and his parents at gunpoint, arrested him. He spent several nights in jail. He had felony charges hanging over his head until the case finally got to court.”

Fortunately, a state judge threw out the charges and wrote a strong opinion:

“Those of us who are public officials and are entrusted with the power of the state should not expect our actions to be shielded from public observation.”

He ended by asking, “Who watches the watchmen?”—a question Plato raised in The Republic. Good for the judge. But Balko points out that no one punished the authorities who abused their power.

“The prosecutor who charged him, the cops who raided him and arrested him—they were all wrong about the law and did real harm to him, and none of them are going to suffer any consequences.”

thefreemanonline.org