The Policeman Is Not Your Friend, v. 304
Wow, David Kramer finds another one. In a lot of the examples of bully cops, there is something that the person did to “ask for it.” For example, the guy who got detained for hours crossing the US/Canadian border: Sure, that shouldn’t have happened, but he didn’t need to get sarcastic with the border agent.
In contrast, check out this short video. There is a woman with cerebral palsy walking down the street in broad daylight, and a cop just shoves her to the ground. What is amazing about this is that the sidewalk is chock full of people. It would be inconceivable to me to see, say, a Starbucks employee doing something like this in uniform in front of dozens of witnesses. Not because Starbucks employees are inherently angels, but because they would know they would get instantly fired for doing something like this with witnesses.
Assuming “the policeman” is shorthand for “the average policeman,” these anecdotal horror stories tell us nothing about him.
Thanks PSH; I almost thought this type of thuggish behavior typified the policeman, but then people like you come out and tell me such behavior is isolated and almost never happens. We also just happen to catch these rare glimpses of lone-bullies on camera, and still they’re almost never charged with a crime or even fired. Of course, in more private situations that are less likely to be documented, the police tend to show the utmost respect to private citizens. Whenever I’m on the verge of thinking the police system is corrupt, I’m thankful for the apologists who remind me everything is ok.
Well, my own opinion is quite different from that of these (unspecified) “people like [me].” I don’t claim that this kind of behavior is “isolated and almost never happens.” I’m simply pointing out that anecdotal accounts don’t establish anything.
You seem to be assuming that out of all of the police conduct caught on camera, the majority of it—or, in any case, a large percentage—has been misbehavior. But these anecdotes provide no warrant for that assumption.
Under investigation….
Yeah yeah we’ve heard that before…
Whoa, my friend is a policeman.
🙂
Makes me think of Le Fevre. Replace “government” with “police”, which is a logical extension of the former anyway.
“If men are good, you don’t need government; if men are evil or ambivalent, you don’t dare have one.”
This is what accountability looks like.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-10723274
Where is the outrage?
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