Michael Bennett: Police singled me out, put a gun near my head

[QBME]

All of them??

[Brandon494]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=295&ebc=ANyPxKrzw9sPI8gVvod2gSyifdcnz4qJLC4iEBN1dXyxXdqN556gooMF4uNJ56abp3gOoS0scSstZGuL-1Yg1gsDnnbqLJfPrg&v=9YDpWSUG854

Can't wait to hear someone try to defend this

[Zool]

In most of the developed world, police rarely pull out guns. Feel free to take it to FYI.

Could you possibly give some statistics to back up this assessment? Please make sure to include comparable population density, poverty levels, and racial majority and minority of the areas sited.

[call_me_ishmael]

Could you possibly give some statistics to back up this assessment? Please make sure to include comparable population density, poverty levels, and racial majority and minority of the areas sited.

No, I'm talking out of my ass but I would bet my bottom dollar it's accurate.

[mraynrand]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_con...&v=9YDpWSUG854

Can't wait to hear someone try to defend this

WTF does this have to do with Bennett? Seems like you're opening a whole examination of police behavior. Maybe you should start a thread in FYI.

[mraynrand]

No, I'm talking out of my ass but I would bet my bottom dollar it's accurate.

Can't be intentionally ironic.

[call_me_ishmael]

Sorry I outright will admit I didn't do the research (no time) so no I don't have any links to provide proof right now. /shrug

[mraynrand]

Sorry I outright will admit I didn't do the research (no time) so no I don't have any links to provide proof right now. /shrug

not surprising

[Brandon494]

WTF does this have to do with Bennett? Seems like you're opening a whole examination of police behavior. Maybe you should start a thread in FYI.

WTF does it have to do with Bennett? Maybe it has something to do with how some cops judge blacks in this country which some of you cant seem to fucking wrap your head around. If they didn't release this tape (which they tried their hardest not to do until lawyers got involved) that old man would have been found guilty for simply using his golf club as a cane to get his morning paper.

[Brandon494]

Im done on this subject now, obviously being the only black guy on this board it hits home for me more but back to football talk only.

[mraynrand]

Im done on this subject now

So you rant and flee. Maybe have some stones and start a thread in FYI - or drop a line in an existing thread. We actually have kicked this around.

obviously being the only black guy on this board it hits home for me more ....

I wouldn't be so certain if I were you.

[mraynrand]

WTF does it have to do with Bennett? Maybe it has something to do with how some cops judge blacks in this country which some of you cant seem to fucking wrap your head around. If they didn't release this tape (which they tried their hardest not to do until lawyers got involved) that old man would have been found guilty for simply using his golf club as a cane to get his morning paper.

rant and flee. let's see if you have any courage to post in FYI. I would bet a lot you'll never do it. Probably all you'll do is wave your cane.

[bobblehead]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_con...&v=9YDpWSUG854

Can't wait to hear someone try to defend this

Ok, I am stupid. My speakers weren't on. Anyway, why didn't he just set it down? But I do agree that doesn't change the fact the cop was being the way cops can be when we don't submit to their every command. I have never disagreed with that. btw, thats not just a black thing. Cops are taught at the academy level that we civilians must obey and respect their authority (insert cartman voice).

See, the big difference between me and you is that in your world every slight you ever encounter is about race. We probably agree more than disagree, but when you see a black man shot by an hispanic idiot with a gun you think its racism. I think its an idiot with a gun meets an idiot that wants to punch said idiot with a gun.

I see this video you posted and I say that many people shouldn't be cops. They lack the ability to process confrontation properly. I can't tell you why the female officer approached the old man. I can't tell you why she lied about swinging the club. It might be inner hatred of blacks. It could be a lot of things. It could simply be thats what cops do when you don't obey their commands.

[bobblehead]

Im done on this subject now, obviously being the only black guy on this board it hits home for me more but back to football talk only.

I don't desire you to be done. I want to understand your perspective, but I want you to understand mine as well. We aren't all racist. If you and I are in a store and I stare at you think for just one second "shit, my fly is down, its NOT because I'm black"

For my part I have long ago accepted that many black youths are treated unfairly by cops. But I have been treated unfairly by cops. They are authoritarian douchebags in many cases...and in many cases they are good honest people doing great things. We should honestly do our best to weed out cops that show incredibly poor judgement, but we should not say that Michael Brown was a peaceful angel who never hurt a fly and some racist cop shot him for no reason other than being black. When we do that we get egg on our faces when black eyewitnesses say his hands weren't up and store video shows him stealing from an old man and pushing him to the ground minutes earlier.

My viewpoint is that blacks want punishment for 100 years of being treated badly. They want to punish the police because some snooty bitch at Macy's followed them through the store. Instead how about we try to find a middle ground where we get bad cops off the street and keep good ones on it.

[pbmax]

My concern with officers drawing weapons are the conditions that cause them to draw weapons. Like the results of police interactions in general, we have next to no data on when it happens and what happens as a result.

In Rand's case, it might have been a dicey neighborhood with a pattern of violent robberies. Maybe the building had been targeted before by folks who were armed and discharging shots.

Sometimes its a report of shots fired in or near a casino.

Maybe police are headed to Section 8 housing. Maybe that set of buildings has a history of criminal activity.

But its reports like Richard Sherman's this week that have me thinking there is something else going on: (Of course, I cannot find the quote I want now, but main points are the story are in this link) http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/s...ampaign=buffer

Incident #1, out for Jamaican food and you look like a suspect reported in the area? Matching hair, perhaps matching height, body type, etc.? OK, I get detaining him and checking him out.

But the other half of the story, where he and some teammates have been called to help an alumnus move furniture, is where my interest is piqued. The quote I saw elsewhere was that someone in the neighborhood called the police about people taking things out of the house or maybe vague suspicious activity and the police arrive with guns drawn at the front door.

I am just guessing about the neighborhood, but I assume its upscale if the homeowner is handing out $20-50 bucks for college kids to move furniture. I doubt the police, when they are called into that neighborhood for something non-violent normally have their guns drawn and eight cars for backup (Sherman said there were nine cars, whether this is exaggeration for effect or he actually counted I don't know). But they arrived in force. Was it because the call indicated it was a bunch of black dudes milling about the driveway? I have no way of knowing, no one does.

What I do know is that everyone who takes the side of cops know that police are generally not biased. And everyone who has one of Sherman's stories are convinced that the police react differently if they know a minority (or minority neighborhood) is involved.

And my bet is that there is something going on. Not overt, though that may exist, but implicit. And my suspicion is from that moment the entire interaction with the future suspects is affected. Further, I believe it leads to worse outcomes for all involved. Without reporting and numbers, I cannot gauge how severe or common. But I do think its important to take the reports seriously. And its high time to take the review and the reporting out of self-interested hands.