Racial Bias by police (and solutions)

We have protests going on in numerous cities across the nation right now

And the death of another black man by what looks like a racist cop while three others looked on

I dont have all the facts on this....No one does YET

He looks guilty as hell to me, as i am sure he does to the majority of you

I want to see the entirely of the body cams from the time of the stop, until the time he was loaded in the ambulance dead

And i want to know WHY they havent been released YET

But i do also want to point out that these protests seem "pointless" to me at this point

We have 3-4 of these incidents a year....that sounds like a lot....until you consider we have 800k cops roaming the streets of America

I dont know how to get rid of the racist cops faster...do you?

Really? Can you come up with a way that the mayors, city councils, and police chiefs can spot these guys any better that the current systems in place? I am sure they would love your input....

With the current battery of mental tests that city cops go through, i think they try to weed through most of the idiots

A few just get through...not sure how to improve the systems we have

gdgyva said:

We have protests going on in numerous cities across the nation right now

And the death of another black man by what looks like a racist cop while three others looked on

I dont have all the facts on this....No one does YET

He looks guilty as hell to me, as i am sure he does to the majority of you

I want to see the entirely of the body cams from the time of the stop, until the time he was loaded in the ambulance dead

And i want to know WHY they havent been released YET

But i do also want to point out that these protests seem "pointless" to me at this point

We have 3-4 of these incidents a year....that sounds like a lot....until you consider we have 800k cops roaming the streets of America

I dont know how to get rid of the racist cops faster...do you?

Really? Can you come up with a way that the mayors, city councils, and police chiefs can spot these guys any better that the current systems in place? I am sure they would love your input....

With the current battery of mental tests that city cops go through, i think they try to weed through most of the idiots

A few just get through...not sure how to improve the systems we have

Click to expand...

The main issue is not that it happens, but that it happens and the police are far to often not punished for it

We have armed white people pointing guns at law enforcement and nothing happens (Bundy protests)

We have a 12 year old black kid playing with a toy gun in a park with no one around. Cops rush in, get out of the car and kill the kid (Tamir Rice)

To make things better, when the cops do wrong, dont cover it up, and hide it. But investigate and punish. It it was police brutality fire and punish. That way when a police accident does occur, it will be accepted and not cause issues. Get ride of the bad apples when they appear, or they will spoil the entire bunch

gdgyva said:

We have protests going on in numerous cities across the nation right now

And the death of another black man by what looks like a racist cop while three others looked on

I dont have all the facts on this....No one does YET

He looks guilty as hell to me, as i am sure he does to the majority of you

I want to see the entirely of the body cams from the time of the stop, until the time he was loaded in the ambulance dead

And i want to know WHY they havent been released YET

But i do also want to point out that these protests seem "pointless" to me at this point

We have 3-4 of these incidents a year....that sounds like a lot....until you consider we have 800k cops roaming the streets of America

I dont know how to get rid of the racist cops faster...do you?

Really? Can you come up with a way that the mayors, city councils, and police chiefs can spot these guys any better that the current systems in place? I am sure they would love your input....

With the current battery of mental tests that city cops go through, i think they try to weed through most of the idiots

A few just get through...not sure how to improve the systems we have

Click to expand...

Several thoughts pop to mind. Firstly, it is more than "3-4 incidents a year". Black people are significantly more likely to end up hospitalized or dead if they have an encounter with the police(source is a 538 article I am too lazy to look up right now). Most do not get reported on, but black people have some real justification for being angry. Rioting is not however a good outlet for that anger, but that does not mean they do not have a good reason to be angry. The Aubrey Edwards situation, followed by George Floyd, and black people worry about their friends and family.

Secondly, I am not sure what exactly can be done about some level of racial bias. The one thing is I think police should, as part of their job, be required to do volunteer work in poor communities in their area(and be compensated for doing so). Getting out with communities of color, in a lower stress environment, where people are a whole lot more friendly and cheerful would do alot to get rid of that subconscious impression of blacks = criminals. I do not know that it would make alot of difference, but I think it would help.

Third, our police need better training across the board. So many situations with bad endings could be avoided with more and improved training. The police are not the enemy. They are out there, doing a difficult, stressful job, dealing with people at their worse. **** is going to happen, mistakes are going to be made. What we can do is train the police to be better prepared for those situations, and how to avoid those mistakes. I think that would do more good than anything else.

Racism in the police force is there, and it will continue to be there, but I also think it is pretty isolated. We should not let the handful of bad cops ruin out opinion of the rest. In return, the police have to stop unreasonably protecting their own as sometimes happens.

The problem is the blue wall of silence and police unions. Cops who make mistakes that cost lives are protected by their unions and their coworkers in the justice system as much as possible. This is the reason why it takes so long to arrest police who kill the innocent, and why they tend to get a slap on the wrist when they are "held accountable."

It should be FAR easier to permanently end the career of a police officer for misconduct. It should also be easier to hold other police officers with knowledge of misconduct who stay silent partially accountable for said misconduct. We don't need irresponsible justice. More funding for police department internal affairs departments and more civilian review boards can help with this.

lwf said:

The problem is the blue wall of silence and police unions. Cops who make mistakes that cost lives are protected by their unions and their coworkers in the justice system as much as possible. This is the reason why it takes so long to arrest police who kill the innocent, and why they tend to get a slap on the wrist when they are "held accountable."

It should be FAR easier to permanently end the career of a police officer for misconduct. It should also be easier to hold other police officers with knowledge of misconduct who stay silent partially accountable for said misconduct. We don't need irresponsible justice. More funding for police department internal affairs departments and more civilian review boards can help with this.

Click to expand...

hate to say it, but unions are a BIG part of the problem

they protect each other

and not just here...but other places also (think schools and bad teachers)

i dont know how to "speed up" the process though

officers are entitled to the same justice system we all are....they cant be held to a HIGHER standard than the general public

but they can be held to the SAME standard....if they harm someone, and it wasnt warranted, they need to pay just as if some citizen would pay

we still have the "secrets" though that we have to overcome....take this episode...why havent the bodycams all been released yet?

talk about how to clear up whether or not the four of them need to be behind bars....those tapes will help clear that up

why keep them secret?

gdgyva said:

hate to say it, but unions are a BIG part of the problem

they protect each other

and not just here...but other places also (think schools and bad teachers)

i dont know how to "speed up" the process though

officers are entitled to the same justice system we all are....they cant be held to a HIGHER standard than the general public

but they can be held to the SAME standard....if they harm someone, and it wasnt warranted, they need to pay just as if some citizen would pay

we still have the "secrets" though that we have to overcome....take this episode...why havent the bodycams all been released yet?

talk about how to clear up whether or not the four of them need to be behind bars....those tapes will help clear that up

why keep them secret?

Click to expand...

Unions are like protesters. They can effect change for the better, but they undermine their own power and value when they protect bad members.

Protecting a guilty police officer or terrible teacher should not be the the job of the union.

As for the body cams, they are likely secret because of the blue wall of silence, but they won't change anything. It doesn't matter what Floyd did. Kneeling on his neck until he's dead after he was cuffed and in custody is murder no matter what behavior prompted those officers to take him into custody.

lwf said:

Unions are like protesters. They can effect change for the better, but they undermine their own power and value when they protect bad members.

Protecting a guilty police officer or terrible teacher should not be the the job of the union.

As for the body cams, they are likely secret because of the blue wall of silence, but they won't change anything. It doesn't matter what Floyd did. Kneeling on his neck until he's dead after he was cuffed and in custody is murder no matter what behavior prompted those officers to take him into custody.

Click to expand...

Unions are like lawyers. There job is to represent people, good or bad.

1. Get rid of qualified immunity
2. Get rid of police unions
3. Hold our public officials to a HIGHER standard of conduct than normal citizens, not lower

Now, none of those things are going to happen. So what can people do at the grassroots level to implement change?

1. Know your rights
2. Exercise your rights
3. Video the hell out of the police

Each of those seem to be small and easy things, but they aren’t. They are difficult. You need to understand when you can respectfully tell a cop to get stuffed, and when you have to cooperate. You need the fortitude to go against the cops even when they pull their intimidation tactics. You need to be calm and respectful and not let your emotions dictate your actions, even in the face of an unreasonable situation you’ve been put in.

Lord Tammerlain said:

The main issue is not that it happens, but that it happens and the police are far to often not punished for it

We have armed white people pointing guns at law enforcement and nothing happens (Bundy protests)

We have a 12 year old black kid playing with a toy gun in a park with no one around. Cops rush in, get out of the car and kill the kid (Tamir Rice)

To make things better, when the cops do wrong, dont cover it up, and hide it. But investigate and punish. It it was police brutality fire and punish. That way when a police accident does occur, it will be accepted and not cause issues. Get ride of the bad apples when they appear, or they will spoil the entire bunch

Click to expand...

Serious question: Is it racist when the police in question include black, latino and asian officers?

gdgyva said:

We have protests going on in numerous cities across the nation right now

And the death of another black man by what looks like a racist cop while three others looked on

I dont have all the facts on this....No one does YET

He looks guilty as hell to me, as i am sure he does to the majority of you

I want to see the entirely of the body cams from the time of the stop, until the time he was loaded in the ambulance dead

And i want to know WHY they havent been released YET

But i do also want to point out that these protests seem "pointless" to me at this point

We have 3-4 of these incidents a year....that sounds like a lot....until you consider we have 800k cops roaming the streets of America

I dont know how to get rid of the racist cops faster...do you?

Really? Can you come up with a way that the mayors, city councils, and police chiefs can spot these guys any better that the current systems in place? I am sure they would love your input....

With the current battery of mental tests that city cops go through, i think they try to weed through most of the idiots

A few just get through...not sure how to improve the systems we have

Click to expand...

Whites make up the majority of police shootings, despite being a minority of violent criminals. If there's racial bias on the part of police, it's the opposite of what the media says.

holbritter said:

Serious question: Is it racist when the police in question include black, latino and asian officers?

Click to expand...

It can

AmNat said:

Whites make up the majority of police shootings, despite being a minority of violent criminals. If there's racial bias on the part of police, it's the opposite of what the media says.

Click to expand...

What does VIOLENT crime have to do with it? Was George Floyd a VIOLENT criminal? Was Eric Garner? How about Tamir Rice? Etc...

Redress said:

Unions are like lawyers. There job is to represent people, good or bad.

Click to expand...

Represent? Yes. Protect from justice or the consequences of bad actions? No.

Drowning Man said:

What does VIOLENT crime have to do with it?

Click to expand...

Are you saying the police should be shooting more nonviolent criminals? If not, the answer to your question is self-evident.

AmNat said:

Are you saying the police should be shooting more nonviolent criminals? If not, the answer to your question is self-evident.

Click to expand...

No, I'm saying that it doesn't matter if there is a violent crime or not... The police are killing people, regardless.

Drowning Man said:

No, I'm saying that it doesn't matter if there is a violent crime or not... The police are killing people, regardless.

Click to expand...

I'm getting the impression that you are not capable of thinking about this subject in a logical manner.

AmNat said:

I'm getting the impression that you are not capable of thinking about this subject in a logical manner.

Click to expand...

I'm getting the impression that you are looking to blame the victim, no matter what.