When a member of the public is arrested for killing a police officer, their name is ALWAYS released despite the danger to themselves or their family. And then, of course, the suspect is handed over to the very people most likely to cause him or her harm - other officers. I do not disagree with the police refusing to release this officer's name but think that such prudence might be in order with citizen's too.
I see him doing a lot, (FBI and Holder). I'm willing to give him time to get the facts before condemnation and I did think he commented on the free press issue. I could have a false memory there. PZ Myers, Skeptic turned Social Justice Warrior, made the accusation (then doubled down when he got a slew of hate mail), that the coverage of Robin Williams' death was the media's excuse to not cover Brown's. Must be because I'm a news junkie but CNN had extensive coverage from day one including interviews with the witnesses in the neighborhood (all one sided at first until the police chief gave the officer's side in a statement). As for MSNBC, surely you know that Al Sharpton would be all over this one. Yeah, any cops that think they can hide from the cameras using police actions are idiots. They are going to have to figure that out, and people need to insist they do and that is a nationwide problem.
I lived in the area at the time, a lot of my friends live there what with being from London myself. It wasnt that bad for us on the street to be fair, and with the lack of guns on both sides it was a lot less bloody. Ofcourse it was 'heated' excuse the pun but not as bad as the media made out. Police for example wouldnt hassle us for walking down the street but would deny entry to certain areas and advise if needed. I a few police friends, ive worked with them extensively, i think they do a fantastic job. Cross the street without using a designated crossing i believe.
I could have, but I'm a lazy lazy man tonight. Interesting though, I imagine any police who were really stringent on that law would have a friggen heart attack if they ever came to Europe.
Re Pharyngula: Robin Williams brings joy to the hearts of journalists and politicians once again Even Atheists Have Sacred Cows
Yes but nobody killed him even though there was very much hate. I think that tells us that police most likely won't get killed even if we get to know his/hers name.
Consider the situation also, folk are less law abiding in riot times. Zim might not have been killed but in a riot? who knows.
Though a bit off topic, I believe the following event further illustrates the ever widening chasm between police and the citizenry they are sworn to defend. I had a situation on July 20th that I hope not to repeat. I'm mentioned here before that my health is not good. One of the diseases that I have is called myasthenia gravis. The short, oversimplified version of this particular disease is that my body does not produce what I'm going to refer to as 'muscle gas' - that which makes the muscles go. Any repetitive action of a muscle group exhausts it in short order. i.e., I can walk to the mailbox usually, but after those twenty steps, my legs are shot and I'm not going to make it back. Push it and the body will steal 'muscle gas' from any available source (re: another muscle). The problem is, the body makes no discrimination when it steals from other muscle groups. This time it might be my biceps - next time it might be my heart. This time it might be my abdomen - next time it might be my respiratory system. In those cases, my heart stops beating or I stop breathing. Pushing oneself is not a good idea with this particular disease. So... tutorial over: I'm at the pharmacy yesterday refilling my 4,298 prescriptions (okay, only fourteen but it feels like the aforementioned number) and my legs quit. Another symptom of this, btw, is when tired - the speech center stops working right and I start slurring my words. Keep pushing and things go downhill fast after that. I'm in the pharmacy, the truck is across the street and I have to go now before I fall. I can't wait for the prescriptions. So, here I am, trying to get across the street and staggering...and a cop flips a U-turn. A minute later: "Stop. Come here." I can't, and try to tell him so but my speech center is kaput at the moment and I'm slurring so badly that he can't understand me. The wife is trying to save time to get me home and so she went into Safeway while I was in the pharmacy across the street...I had been doing okay at the time. Anywho, she comes out a few minutes later to find me flat on my face and in handcuffs in myasthenic crisis. I've got a note in my back pocket for the ER staff in case of emergency or, I suppose, for situations like this, but I can't make my muscles get it - and frankly, it probably would have been dangerous to reach back behind me with all the jerky motions I was having and pull it out for the cop. The cop won't let her come to me - and keeps drowning out her attempts at an explanation telling her to be quiet and get back...did I mention she's on parole? She had the presence of mind to break out her cell phone and call 911 and loudly proclaim, "MY HUSBAND IS IN MYASTHENIC CRISIS. WE NEED AN AMBULANCE BEFORE THIS POLICE OFFICER WHO THINKS HE'S DRUNK KILLS HIM. HE IS IN HANDCUFFS AND FACE DOWN DROWNING IN HIS SALIVA." That got the cops attention. Anywho, he sits me up then, and I'm getting a speech from the cop on all the things I did wrong to make this happen until the ambulance arrives and takes me to the ER. All the time I'm thinking - "Officer, I'm a retired, professional drunk - there's no way I would have come out in public like this back before retirement cause I know better."
Oh i dunno about that, it's obviously not always the case but a lot of my old mates looted just to well...get free stuff. No other reason, fun + free stuff.
I don't think this really makes much of a difference -- it's still a town of about 21,000, even though it's in suburban St. Louis. The city of St. Louis itself has plenty of high crime areas, but the suburbs are still the suburbs. I went to college in St. Louis -- on the western edge of the city, straddling a couple of suburbs. I understand that the St. Louis police force would need more options at their disposal than a smaller town would need, but as far as large cities go, St. Louis is not all that large. But I still believe that the incredible militarization we've seen is, at best, only questionably justifiable by any stretch, even for the largest cities. Watts is, I believe, a part of the City of Los Angeles. Ferguson is not a part of the City of St. Louis.
He did vaguely "comment" on the free press issue, but it wasn't an outcry. Fundamental, constitutional, human rights are being violated in a widespread manner. Simply commenting that we have or should have these freedoms just isn't enough. All he needed to do was tell the American people and Congress that they should be concerned with the abuse of power in Ferguson. Or clearly acknowledge wrongdoing. Ahh, I had faintly heard that idea. It's basically the idea of Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent. Gossip, celebrities, television, and sports are used to distract a large percent of the population, with the media playing a willing role. While I think this is possible on a general scale, I don't think it's selectively happening in this circumstance. If that were true the United States might be too far gone to save. CNN on cable? That might be the difference. I get most of my news online. I've check CNN.com and seen scattered stories but didn't start checking CNN on cable until last night (where there seemed to be okay coverage). They're idiots but they can sometimes still get away with it. In the Ferguson case there was no camera in the squad car. I thought that was standard practice! One police department equipped their officers with personal body cameras, causing complaints against police officers to drop 88% and police offer's use of force to fall by 60%. This is clearly good for everyone. Not only should all police cars have a dashboard camera, but all police officers should have a personal body camera. I also read and article or two talking about creating "Mike Brown's Law" to establish "strict national standards for police conduct and misbehavior in the U.S." Hopefully it will develop and take off. Imaging a law drawing a line on use, type, and level of force used by police officers, outlining which tactics are illegal against protestors (most/all hopefully), specifying what information must be publicly released, creating an independent civilian organization for accountability and transparency, and maybe even develop reprimand standards for minor misconduct and mandatory minimum sentencing for police brutality, violation of rights, and other serious crimes. I believe a crime perpetuated by those who claim to protect us and enforce laws is a much greater crime. @yagr, your wife is awesome. She handled that perfectly. She may have saved your life. Thanks for sharing your story. It's not the first experience I've heard of police mistakenly treating individuals in need of medical attention as criminals. I'm glad your okay.
This is true, it's a neighborhood, but had he used Compton or some other city in LA County the point would have still been valid. @yagr: That is really a bummer. Wow. As a medical provider, I have huge issues with the way police mishandle people with medical problems. It one of their poorest skills on a regular basis. Everyone's a criminal first and a patient in distress only after the dust settles.
Actually, apparently now Compton uses the LAPD. But even so, I don't see it as comparable to Ferguson, which is not adjacent to St. Louis.
It is in St Louis County. St Louis County has its own police force: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_County_Police_Department. Again, It's not like the government gave Andy Griffith a tank. There is a police force with jurisdiction for the entire metropolitan area; they even joined forces with the sheriff's department.
Hahaha. Touche. The gun violence currently going on in Chicago is a whole other story. This one is primarily wrapped up in race and in an out of control police force, arresting reporters, preventing pictures and reporting, and in an official capacity, shooting individuals who have done nothing wrong.
