old.sparkles

Dallas shooting: Up to ten police officers shot, three dead after 'snipers' open fire at police brutality protest in Dallas, Texas

Beaverstate

Yeah, this will be a big help bringing the two sides together..
I wonder how long before some officers refuse to respond to calls in black neighborhoods. Trouble shaping up all around.

old.sparkles

I did have a look for a thread on the other shootings this week but only one I saw was in the Maple Leaf - definitely not a good week this week, and statistics would say there never is a good week

Boomhauer

Some Black people don't call the police because the police have a history of brutalising Blacks so the police are not seen as help.

Beaverstate

I am well aware of that, that is however some blacks just like some officers.
Hopefully it doesn't go that way.

dc koop

Houston police now operating in two man teams. Also no response to calls until back up arrives

jeepster

This is a much better explanation of crime in the Black community:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_a..._United_States

Lion in Winter

Maybe killing cops will move the gun control debate forward?

Other than that, we appear to be developing an all-out war of cops vs the general population. No wonder others envy our freedoms here.

SultanOfSwing

Probably not.

Getting the obvious out of the way, that this was in no way an appropriate response to the two deaths during the week. That's pretty plain.

However, these five deaths aren't any more tragic, or any more important than any of the innocent civilians (of any race, before anyone decides to start that up) needlessly killed by police every year; or the wrongly convicted people who have been executed by the state.

How do we fix it? Pretty simple, stop ****ing killing people. Stop blindly worshiping and unquestioningly following all authority figures like the police as if they are infallible and perfect. Bridge the gap between citizens and the police by making it at least look like the police are there to protect and serve, rather than enforce and intimidate. America, for all its talk about freedom, and for all the greatness it does have, really has a problem with letting its authority figures run around like the own the place.

Then on the other side, stop locking people up for minor offenses in overcrowded, for-profit prisons where rehabilitation is far down the list, to cram them in with hardened criminals where the end result will do nothing but create re-offenders who start the cycle over again.

Stop generating highly population dense, woefully disadvantaged and poverty ridden areas where people have little choice but to turn to crime, since to them society has all but turned its back on them.

Seriously, the entire rest of the ****ing world can get this right, why can't America?

MsElui

i am gutted by this. I know 2 DPD officers personally and they are good people. Dallas PD has a good reputation and is seen as one of the better city police depts in the country.

the whole local community is sad and distressed and trying to figure out what we can do to help.

Hiro11

I think part of the problem is the exact opposite: people mouthing off to police, not listening to police orders, not treating the police with respect. Talk to a cop that works in a rough area some time. Note: this was NOT the case with the recent murders (and they were murders), of course.

Again, I believe the exact opposite is true. One driver of the record low violent crime rates in this country is effective incarceration. You need to keep perspective here: things aren't great but they're far, far better in the US than they were 25 years ago. A trip to NYC circa 1988 would have convinced you.

I agree with the gist of your point, but this is easier said than done. We're talking about fixing many decades of marginalization, societal breakdown, idiotic government housing policies and terrible policing. What do you specifically suggest since it's "so obvious"?

Yeah, no problems anywhere else in the world. Again, I think you need some perspective here.

SultanOfSwing

Even then, being 'rude' does not warrant being shot, though. There is a sycophancy towards the police and other authority figures in this country that's bordering on sickening, though.

There's 'being respectful' and having respect though. I don't respect the police, don't trust them and never will, but I'm a good enough actor so I can deal with them and get away as quickly as possible whenever I have to. They're there to do a job, not to be bowed down to.

I wasn't talking about violent crime tough, I was talking about minor offenses. Drugs, petty theft, things like that, people get locked away for stupid amounts of time for minor offenses. Especially for a black guy who finds himself in front of the wrong judge. There's no sense in pretending things like that don't happen either, because they do.

Prisons are the place for violent criminals and habitual reoffenders who show no intention of rehabilitating. That part you're right about.

The only thing I said was obvious was that this was not an appropriate response to the two men who were murdered during the week.

The problems may be obvious but if the solutions were, one hopes that something would have been done by now. I don't know what they are, otherwise I'd have said, but in the parlance of our times; shit's ****ed up, yo.

No need to be defensive, I'm not trying to put America down but even the most hardened patriot has to exist that these kinds of things do tend to happen more here than that do in Germany or Japan, for example.

They're all great countries, but we have a stupidly militarized police 'force' here that probably is in need of some reform to make it more of the 'service' it should be.

Pulaski

I agree with this (and the rest of your post).

My thoughts on the Minnesota traffic stop were the same as most traffic stops that go bad - when a police officer approaches your car, keep your hands clearly visible on the wheel, and don't make any sudden moves. Ideally have the window already open, and your wallet/license visible on the dash before the officer approaches your car - if your wallet/license aren't already out as the officer approaches your car, stop digging for them and put your hands on the wheel. What ever movement you want to make, (i) tell the officer what you're doing, (ii) do it slowly, and (iii) avoid as far as possible doing anything that the officer can't see clearly.

It doesn't make any difference if you're back, white, or green with blue spots, it only makes sense to make your interactions with a police offer as low stress as absolutely possible.

Pulaski

The likely up-shot of these shootings is that more of the good, honest, respectable cops will quit. I know one personally, who has a family, and after a spate of shootings locally (non of which he was involved with), he decided he'd had enough and turned in his badge.

DebzinUS

True. My son is rookie Police Officer. His Dept has 30 officer positions open. My son and the other officers work five 12 hours shifts each week to cover those vacancies.