Atlanta Shooting

[Bailey Guns]

Obviously the DA in Atlanta, Paul Howard, Jr, (a black man) is only filing charges against Rolfe because Rolfe is white... claimed no one.

I'm just gonna wonder to myself if the races of those two men were reversed and a white DA Howard filed those charges against a black officer Rolfe if the reaction would be the same.

[CS1983]

Maybe. One huge difference is an officer generally has no idea who he's dealing with...avg Joe Citizen or multi-time convicted, violent felon. Joe Citizen knows he's dealing with an officer and the chances of that officer being "bad" are exceedingly slim. Joe Citizen probably has an interaction with police once a year, if that. An officer potentially contacts multiple people per shift. So I don't think it's quite the same. Not to mention it's all the rage for the media now to WANT to make police look bad so that's all we hear about. We don't get to see the hundreds of thousands of police/citizen contacts every single day that don't result in something negative aside from maybe a traffic ticket.

I don't think your "why do you carry a gun" comment makes sense nor does it stand up under scrutiny for the very reasons I pointed out.

I do agree law enforcement has a PR problem. I also think a lot of that problem is exacerbated by a biased media that takes all sorts of false ideas (like "hands up, don't shoot") and gives them credibility where none should exist.

That's not to say there aren't a few bad apples. We all know there are and we've seen examples recently. But they're pretty few and far between. They're like planes...one crash and it's all over the news with no mention of the hundreds of thousands that took off and landed safely.

I think you are agreeing with my point, actually. I wasn't asking why cops carry guns. I know why. I support their carrying of firearms, as I support everyone's carrying of a firearm. I even support felons having firearms once they've done their time. I was asking why it's seen as sensible for regular joes to carry firearms based on a statistically unrealistic scenario but not understandable that another statistically unrealistic scenario (being killed or whatever by a cop) is seen as something to deride?

How many interactions are there a day between non-police citizens? An order of magnitude higher that police to non-police interactions, and probably less incidents of violence all considered. Ergo, why, then, do we carry? It's statistically unlikely any of us will ever *need* a firearm for self defense or protecting the well being of others. I've had exactly one situation in all my years. And it wasn't even for a person, but a pair of pit/rottweiler mixes that somehow got into our pasture in Oklahoma. Wasn't about to offer them snuggles and there was no way to escort them off the property without exposing myself to them and risking whatever aggression they might display, so they got shot.

But we carry for that *one* situation where we *might* need a firearm.

So, if that's acceptable and seen as OK, then why, when there are hundreds of videos of cops being dickheads, escalating situations, roughing people up, killing them over basically nothing but "the fear for their life" (and getting off of charges), is it unacceptable for the public to be weary of cops? Especially when they engage in tone deaf apologia for their department, themselves, etc. Great, good for them. They're either an example to follow, blind to reality (even if that reality is relegated to one or two in their dept), or lying.

Cops need to stop saying things like "a few bad apples". To certain segments of society, the main target for public relations improvement actually, it comes off as cheap and insincere. Rather, politicians and the people need to recognize that if they want a good police force which is respectable, dependable, and has the trust of the people, they need to do the things I said before (I think on another thread): increase pay, increase training, and bring down a hard hammer on anyone who violates the elevated position of trust and authority that police have.

For what cops are asked to do, and the increased dangers they face vs normal non-police interaction, they are simply not paid enough, aren't trained enough, and a lot of departments are too desperate to retain people that too much slides, in my opinion. The good ones leave, those with mental issues (narcissism, abusive, etc.) are all too often not weeded out as an ongoing process, and there is too much emphasis on actions which are really just local .gov money grabs. It sucks, cus the good ones do suffer without cause.

For example: https://coloradosprings.gov/police-d...alary-benefits
~86k at ~4 years. In my opinion, that's simply not enough.

EPSO is worse, and they're the ones running grow busts on cartel operations in eastern EPC, driving dangerous country roads, etc: https://www.epcsheriffsoffice.com/em...y-and-benefits
$80k as top.

If the police want to militarize, they should consider putting MRAPs and other doodads on the bottom of the list and learn from lessons overseas. Chiefly, don't be a dickhead without cause (and one's own ego is not sufficient). It tends to invite trouble which cascades in a fashion that results in dead people and a ruined relationship with those one is supposed to be protecting.

[Bailey Guns]

Now, as usual, conflicting information is starting to appear. Brosnan's attorney denies Brosnan has agreed to be a witness for the state. He also claims Brosnan suffered a concussion after Brooks shoved him to the ground. If that's true (the concussion claim) then that makes what the DA has done even more egregious in light of his claims Brooks was not a threat to the officer. It might also explain why Brosnan appeared so indecisive in the video.

I don't know why it's so hard in this day and age to get immediate, accurate information regarding an incident and report on it. Oh, wait...yes, I do. Because everyone wants to be first with the story. Let's release what we have and not give a flying fuck about whether or not it's accurate. We're the media...we don't care about the potential harm caused by releasing bad or incomplete information. That's a problem for someone else to sort out.

[BPTactical]

From that other site allegedly 4 out of 6 precincts officers walked off the job at shift change.


And they thought it burned when Sherman marched through.

[hollohas]

Now, as usual, conflicting information is starting to appear. Brosnan's attorney denies Brosnan has agreed to be a witness for the state. He also claims Brosnan suffered a concussion after Brooks shoved him to the ground. If that's true (the concussion claim) then that makes what the DA has done even more egregious in light of his claims Brooks was not a threat to the officer. It might also explain why Brosnan appeared so indecisive in the video.

That could explain it.

If the DA flat out LIED to the world like that...damn...there's a special place in hell for him if that's true.

[MrAK]

Reading a couple of responses has me wondering, if there’s only a few bad apples then why do cops need qualified immunity?

Other comments have me wondering why people think it’s ok for a cop to violate people’s Constitutional Rights in order to secure the cops safety. Growing up, I always thought that a big part of the respect we held for officers came from them purposely risking their lives in certain situations so as not to violate the Constitutional Rights of the citizens of this country.

[hollohas]

Other comments have me wondering why people think it?s ok for a cop to violate people?s Constitutional Rights in order to secure the cops safety.

Who said this^?

[Bailey Guns]

Nobody said it. As usual, he's making shit up again. That didn't take long after his return.

[Irving]

It doesn't really take much scrutiny to realize that all those tried and tried cop sayings are garbage.

Only a few bad apples
Cops don't know who they are dealing with, but people know see a uniform and know they're dealing with a good guy.
Cops just wanting to return home to their families each night.

It's all just bullshit rhetoric to justify being bad cops.

I think everyone I know has a "bad cop" story. Must not be as uncommon as we'd like to think.

[Bailey Guns]

Oh, FFS. Is there a phrase I could use that's not gonna hurt the feelings of you and mrak?

How much grovelling do those of us that support the very, very few good cops out there need to do in order not to offend you? What the fuck should they say in order to express an opinion that the number of bad officers is very few relevant to the number of good officers?

Please...let me know.