Ferguson

[b.c.]

Gotta say, on a site where penis size studies are debated until the cows come home it's actually funny how quite most are when studies are presented here. Ah who am i kidding i already know studies done to find reasons why race stuff happens is unimportant to some here. I wonder why that is...ha once again this i know

Cause even information on how to stop racism is...duh duh duhhhhhh unimportant.

Well, admittedly I waxed rather facetiously in the above, Temp, because in fact I am aware of somewhat similar incidences involving white victims of questionable actions on the part of police, some of which I posted here myself, including a recent incident right here in Louisiana involving a minor who died when members of "law enforcement" (black, I might add) opened fire on the pickup truck his father was driving.

The point being that too often these kinds of events seem to have a racial element about them whereby someone reports or identifies some minority, and often in a setting where someone assumes he/she doesn't belong, the combination of which seems QUITE enough to set off an over zealous response by law enforcement or wanna-be's like Zimmerman, and this is NOT to mention the many OTHER instances of such responses that may NOT have resulted in death, mentioned in numerous posts in this thread alone.

And as I've also said, this is further compounded not only by the kind of training cops get, and the mindset on the part of many that is basically adversarial and AGGRESSIVE in nature (where people are seen as combatants rather than citizens), but also the ADDED element (as cited in the study above) of that perception of black men.

Here are other takes on how and why this occurs:

Lethal Force as First Resort

For 55 officers involved in fatal shootings this year, it wasn’t their first time

 

[temptotalk]

Well, admittedly I waxed rather facetiously in the above, Temp, because in fact I am aware of somewhat similar incidences involving white victims of questionable actions on the part of police, some of which I posted here myself, including a recent incident right here in Louisiana involving a minor who died when members of "law enforcement" (black, I might add) opened fire on the pickup truck his father was driving.

The point being that too often these kinds of events seem to have a racial element about them whereby someone reports or identifies some minority, and often in a setting where someone assumes he/she doesn't belong, the combination of which seems QUITE enough to set off an over zealous response by law enforcement or wanna-be's like Zimmerman, and this is NOT to mention the many OTHER instances of such responses that may NOT have resulted in death, mentioned in numerous posts in this thread alone.

And as I've also said, this is further compounded not only by the kind of training cops get, and the mindset on the part of many that is basically adversarial and AGGRESSIVE in nature (where people are seen as combatants rather than citizens), but also the ADDED element (as cited in the study above) of that perception of black men.

Here are other takes on how and why this occurs:

Lethal Force as First Resort

For 55 officers involved in fatal shootings this year, it wasn’t their first time

Ah i see. I was just referring to the information/data/potential facts you presented earlier within the link from the American Psychological Association/ article titled The Real Reason Cops Thought Tamir Rice Was Older Than He Really Was
that stated...

In one experiment, a group of 60 police officers from a large urban police force were asked to assess the age of white, black and Latino children based on photographs. The officers were randomly assigned to be told that the children in the photographs were accused of either a misdemeanor or felony charge. The officers overestimate the age of black felony-suspected children by close to five years, but they actually underestimated the age of white felony-suspected children by nearly a year.

Particularly relevant to the Tamir Rice case: "Black 13-year-olds were miscategorized as adults by police officers (average age error 4.59 years)."

Which is funny because if true it leads directly to police action and answers more than a few questions on systemic racism/bigotry. Now i don't know how creditable this "the American Psychological Association" is but i'm pretty sure one very specific poster won't be looking at the information they may have found. Normally that would make me wonder. Why ignore potential information? I mean even before you've read it. So i got a little curious as i'm sure you have to. And i came up with...

Confirmation bias

In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias (or confirmatory bias) is a tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, leading to statistical errors.

I wonder if thats the reason that one very specific poster doesn't want read links and information an stuff. Or maybe he just doesn't trust the American Psychological Association for some reason. Ah well. I do agree though, it does happen with white people as well.

 

[b.c.]

Ah i see. I was just referring to the information/data/potential facts you presented earlier within the link from the American Psychological Association/ article titled The Real Reason Cops Thought Tamir Rice Was Older Than He Really Was
that stated...



Which is funny because if true it leads directly to police action and answers more than a few questions on systemic racism/bigotry. Now i don't know how creditable this "the American Psychological Association" is but i'm pretty sure one very specific poster won't be looking at the information they may have found. Normally that would make me wonder. Why ignore potential information? I mean even before you've read it. So i got a little curious as i'm sure you have to. And i came up with...

Confirmation bias

In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias (or confirmatory bias) is a tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, leading to statistical errors.

I wonder if thats the reason that one very specific poster doesn't want read links and information an stuff. Or maybe he just doesn't trust the American Psychological Association for some reason. Ah well. I do agree though, it does happen with white people as well.

Truth is, Temp, there are several here who refuse to read links or supporting information when provided, and each have offered their own variation of reasoning as to why - ALL, rather pitiful excuses for abject refusal to see the flip side of the argument.

File under: "I don't WANT to know"... "I don't care"... "You can lead a horse to water..." and similar phenomena.

 

[temptotalk]

Truth is, Temp, there are several here who refuse to read links or supporting information when provided, and each have offered their own variation of reasoning as to why - ALL, rather pitiful excuses for abject refusal to see the flip side of the argument.

File under: "I don't WANT to know"... "I don't care"... "You can lead a horse to water..." and similar phenomena.

I agree and it makes me wonder why they're so afraid of said information. What are they afraid the information will change? And what would change in their personal lives? Ah well seems i don't fully understand the idea of ignorance as intelligence. Theres a few bricks in the area, maybe if i slammed my head against them i could then begin to understand why information isn't as valuable to them as normal people?

 

[phonehome]

Another "irony" is in the case in LA where the two officers were black and the victim white they got charged with as I recall MURDER in like 2 or 3 days just charged by the local DA as if it was any other murder case. No "invesitigating" forever and a day. No fucking around with "so I can blame some else" Grand Juries and then sabotaging the process by acting more like a defense attorney trying to get the guy off than a Jack McCoy who actually wanted to and thought it was his job AND ONLY JOB to prosecute people, cops included.

 

[b.c.]

Another "irony" is in the case in LA where the two officers were black and the victim white they got charged with as I recall MURDER in like 2 or 3 days just charged by the local DA as if it was any other murder case. No "invesitigating" forever and a day. No fucking around with "so I can blame some else" Grand Juries and then sabotaging the process by acting more like a defense attorney trying to get the guy off than a Jack McCoy who actually wanted to and thought it was his job AND ONLY JOB to prosecute people, cops included.

You make a quite valid point. NOR, one might add, the need for people to take to the streets in protests just to GET some attention to the matter.

 

[b.c.]

Six Cleveland Cops Fired Over Deadly 2012 Chase and Shooting - NBC News

 

[b.c.]

And this, as posted earlier in the "Police Misconduct" thread (courtesy of Sargon... thnx):

Black Drivers in Florida Face Far Stricter Seatbelt Enforcement, Report Says

 

[b.c.]

Like a number of other American cities (including my own) whose police departments had been found (by the DOJ) to be engaged in discriminatory practices, the Ferguson police dept. is slated to begin operating under a "consent decree" agreement aimed at "instituting significant reforms".

Among the reforms are (reportedly) guidelines for training, the required use of body cameras, an overhaul of the municipal court system, and the establishment of an independent monitor:

www.slate.com: City of Ferguson Agrees to Policing Reforms in Proposed Deal With Department of Justice

And from the article below, a revelation about Chicago cops that possibly explains what happened Oct. 20, 2014, when Officer Jason Van Dyke shot and killed Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke's (who has been released on bond) camera "malfunctioned" as did also other police dash cams on the scene.

According to the report, Van Dyke had intentionally made his camera not work. He (reportedly) took the camera to maintenance in June 2014, three months after reporting it broken, and it was repaired. The next day, the camera was suddenly broken again (the article states).

And on Oct. 8th (twelve days before he killed McDonald) maintenance had fixed it a second time, citing "intentional damage" as the reason for its malfunction.

news.yahoo.com: Chicago Police Have Been Sabotaging Their Own Dashboard Cameras on Purpose

 

[b.c.]

Leading Black Lives Matter activist will run for mayor in Baltimore - CNNPolitics.com


www.theguardian.com: Black Lives Matter activist Deray McKesson runs to be Baltimore mayor

 

[b.c.]

Now...

www.statesman.com: Police: Naked man shot, killed by officer in Northeast Austin

and then...

www.statesman.com: Police: Naked man led officials on car chase through North Austin

 

[b.c.]

“The residents of Ferguson have suffered the deprivation of their constitutional rights – the rights guaranteed to all Americans – for decades. They have waited decades for justice. They should not be forced to wait any longer.” (U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch)

www.theguardian.com: Department of Justice sues city of Ferguson to force criminal justice reforms

"A pattern of serious problems was detailed in a scathing report published last year after an inquiry by Justice Department investigators. It concluded that residents routinely had their constitutional rights violated through unjustified arrests, traffic stops and other actions. “These violations were not only egregious, they were routine,” Lynch said on Wednesday."

 

[b.c.]

Seems now that the DOJ has sued the municipality of Ferguson for failure to comply with a (reportedly) previously agreed upon consent decree, the town's mayor is saying they can't AFFORD the costs involved in complying with the agreement. Now it seems he wants the input of the residents.

news.yahoo.com: Ferguson mayor: City told DOJ agreement no sure thing

Meanwhile the residents are reportedly caught in the middle of it all.

Caught Between Costly Alternatives, Ferguson Residents Worry About Its Fate

 

[b.c.]

More delays in the quest for justice, for Freddie Gray:

news.yahoo.com: Court of appeals delays officer's trial in Freddie Gray case

 

[temptotalk]

How soon people forget. Wanna be black? How bout we twlight zone this shit and make you a black person who was already killed by a cop.

 

[b.c.]

www.bloomberg.com: Jesse Jackson to S.C. Churchgoers: ‘If You Voted Yesterday, You Need a Real Prayer’

www.washingtonpost.com: Black Law Students at Georgetown: We are shaken and angry at conservatives’ response to Scalia’s death

 

[b.c.]

www.bloomberg.com: Jesse Jackson to S.C. Churchgoers: ‘If You Voted Yesterday, You Need a Real Prayer’

www.washingtonpost.com: Black Law Students at Georgetown: We are shaken and angry at conservatives’ response to Scalia’s death

I might add that Rev. jackson was SPOT on in his assessment of what this presidential race is all about and what's at STAKE this election.

Of course, in the minds of racists, bigots, people like jz, et al, Jackson and Sharpton are virtual pariahs, characterized as race peddlers and race baiters because they bring attention to discrimination and race/class based disparities within our society -

exactly the kind of stuff bigots, racists, etc. DON'T want to talk about.

That's why they blame Obama for "being divisive" because he engages in dialogue and discourse about the race based, class based DIVIDE in our society, because he has the AUDACITY to speak to these issues rather than IGNORING them like those before him did.

As if to say all of this shit came about, all of sudden-like, under Obama's watch, and all they need do is put someone in office who can "make America great AGAIN." (TRANSLATION: Go back to ignoring and rubber stamping institutionalized racism and warfare against the poor and middle class).

This election is about MORE than just liberal vs. conservative ideology. It's about whether BIGOTRY, HATE, and EXCLUSION becomes the law of the land.

 

[b.c.]

Remembering Trayvon Martin, four years after his MURDER:

www.huffingtonpost.com: Remembering Trayvon: A Death That Brought A Movement To Life
news.yahoo.com: How Trayvon Martin's Shooting Death Sparked a New Wave of Activism
thinkprogress.org: Trayvon Martin Was Killed 4 Years Ago. Here’s What Our Next President Said About Him.

 

[rbkwp]

no better place, or is there ..

OFFICER INVOLVED

US Prosecutors Didn't Charge Police Officers in 96 Percent of Alleged Civil Rights Violations in the Past 20 Years

Federal prosecutors in the United States declined to bring charges against cops facing allegations of civil rights violations in 96 percent of cases between 1995 and 2015, according to an investigation by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The newspaper sifted through almost three million records from the US Department of Justice, and found that prosecutors did not pursue 12,703 potential civil rights violations out of 13,233 cases.

The same couldn't be said for other kinds of cases against non-police defendants. The investigation found that federal prosecutors declined to bring charges in only 23 percent of other types of criminal cases.

The stunning findings provide the hard, nationwide data to back up one of the fundamental claims driving the Black Lives Matter movement – that police officers are rarely held accountable when faced with allegations of brutality or misconduct, and whose victims, more often than not, are black and hispanic.

US Prosecutors Didn't Charge Police Officers in 96 Percent of Alleged Civil Rights Violations in the Past 20 Years | VICE News

 

[b.c.]

^ Thanks for the contribution and the linked reference, RB. I'll save it with my many others. I'll add, that these statistics come as NO surprise. They are yet ADDITIONAL evidence of what some seem determined to deny or dismiss. And those statistics don't even include the number of instances where charges WERE made, but dismissals or acquittals followed.