Guys, i am from Greece and have never visited the U.S. but i have a quick question about a fact in the movie that shocked me. Is this police behaviour usual? Would they ever behave to people like that even after a fight has broken? Apart from the shot, the fact that they punched and held them there without even having witnessed what happened is absolutely beyond me.
sharethere are probably nice cops out there, but as a someone who doesn't commit any crimes every interaction Ive had with police tends to be me dealing with an *beep*
I say this and I live in the Bay Area (not all that far from where this took place but in a nicer spot than all that) and I can say that the police officers have a very hard job there is no doubt about that. However the ones Ive dealt with tend to be hard asses about everything and think everyone is a criminal. I say this as someone who has never been arrested and I haven't done anything to warrant any bad treatment.
I get treated like a criminal and I am white. I can only imagine what a black guy gets treated like, especially in the worse areas than where I live.
that said obviously I dont have interactions with good cops because good cops have no reason to interfere with a non criminal. But Ive ran into enough dick cops that do interfere with me and basically act like *beep* They end up letting me go when they realize I am white with no record, but they always ask if you have warrants and any weapons on you. I dont even look like a thug, also why the *beep* are you going to ask me that if you are just going to check anyway.
It gives all cops a bad reputation in my book and to be honest from what I have seen on crime they do more report taking than actual crime stopping. I can see where that would have them frustrated.
If you ever want to be disgusted and outraged then spend a night on youtube looking up police brutality and wrongful arrests in the US. It's really, really bad and only getting worse. The worst part is that there is an invisible shield over police officers who do really awful things. They can beat up a random person and usually the worst thing that happens to the officer is a suspension. The real problem is that the police have too much power. They're underpaid and usually overworked so why would you ever join the force? For the fringe benefits, like the power.
That said, I'm sure most police officers are normal people who just want to do their job well and go home at the end of the day. Stereotypes don't appear out of thin air, though.
police are *beep* up . just look at how many people enjoy killing them in Grand Theft Auto.
F CKshare
all I need is U !
I'm from Quebec, Canada and police brutality here isn't new either. There have been several cases, one in 2008 that provoked massive riots lasting all night. People in the US and Canada will get teargas just for marching down the street.
Of course, there are many police here who are just as good as there are bad, but what they show in the film is not an isolated incident.
Karina Licursi ~
I wish it wasn't true but I've spent sometime in several major cities and I can honestly say that the police here for the most part are on major power trips. Especially in New York. The police there literally harass minority men. There was a small push over the summer to try and get the men to start recording their encounters with NYPD officers. A lot of the videos are very disturbing.
shareJust put "Police Brutality" into youtube search, and you will get nearly half a million hits. And that's just what's caught on tape. It is not the exception, it is the norm. Anyone who tells you different is living in a fantasy land.
shareNew York City has a stop and frisk policy that allows police officers to stop anyone they want on the street and frisk them (unconstitutional, but whatevs) without just cause. In 2012, NYPD stopped and frisked more young black men (14-24 years old)....than there are black men in New York. (Young black men were stopped and frisked at a rate of 106% of the population.) There is a war on minorities in this country, and the police do play a part in it.
shareWhere are you getting your facts from?
From the NY Post, cops made 533,042 stop and frisks last year in 2012, with 55% of those being black (http://nypost.com/2013/02/09/major-decline-in-nypd-stop-frisks/). That's under 300,000 blacks total.
In response to the OP's question: Yes and No. Yes, police brutality is real. No, it's not as prevalent as some people claim it to be. You have a bunch of people in this thread talking about how they look up and watch Youtube videos of cops beating on people all night - of course you're going to get biased. Are you looking up news stories of the good work that cops are doing? No. It's called "confirmation bias".
Most cops, as the more level-heading people mentioned above, are honest working people. My cousin is a cop in NYC and is a good kid, additionally, I've had plenty of good experiences with cops (well, they weren't "good" experiences, but the police were definitely professional).
I would readily admit that the justice system is too lenient on the police. And corruption exists. But corruption exists within all types of jobs and people. Every 1 incident of police brutality outshines 1,000 instances of good police work. It's just the nature of it.
tl;dr: Yes, this behavior happens, but is definitely NOT a representation of the vast majority of police officers in the U.S.
A_Psycho, you're spot on, I totally agree.
The people won't help the police because they've been trained from generations down that the police are not to be trusted. And they're constantly being proven right.
People wont help because they've been trained from generations down that criminals imbued fear in them with the "no snitch" code and thats definitely proven right and you know that.
lol @ no snitch code...
THEY SHOOTIN'! ah, i made you look.
lol @ no snitch code...
Lets be real, you know about that, right? Thats how it is when you live in the hood.
lol @ you not even knowing what snitching is...which you obviously don't if you think it's a serious hindrance on police work of a neighborhood.
but carry on.
THEY SHOOTIN'! ah, i made you look.
I know what's the "no snitch" code thats spread in the streets and Im sure you do too. Nobody talks nor helps cops because they know they'll get threatened/hurt/killed..
shareyou have general mistrust of cops confused with snitching.
snitching refers to people who are involved in a crime & snitch to reduce their sentence. it has nothing to do with policing the neighborhood. but keep passing off things you heard & read about "the streets" as fact...
THEY SHOOTIN'! ah, i made you look.
snitching refers to people who are involved in a crime & snitch to reduce their sentence.
Uh yes, I know, thats another form of way calling it snitch but I wasnt referring to that one. Im talking about witnesses who give cops information on who, what, when, how..Thats the form of snitch the neighborhood doesnt tolerate..
but keep passing off things you heard & read about "the streets" as fact...
Fact is that you misunderstood me and people who talk are always tormented being called snitch/blabermouth/nosey.
dude...you're either snitching or you're not. not talking to cops when you're not involved in a crime is not snitching.
do you have facts to prove that this 'code' actually exists and that it hinders police from doing their jobs? i'd post mine but i'd like to know what type of debate we're engaging in first.
i'll say this though, when poor minorities are disproportionately arrested and imprisoned, your argument about cops having such a hard time doing their job is not a strong one...
THEY SHOOTIN'! ah, i made you look.
do you have facts to prove that this 'code' actually exists and that it hinders police from doing their jobs? i'd post mine but i'd like to know what type of debate we're engaging in first.
Dude, im talking about reality, when you tell on cops who did the crime you're as good as dead because you snitched, tattle taled, rat, blabbed, whatever you wanna call it. You dont have to be an accomplice to a crime, anyone can snitch.
i'll say this though, when poor minorities are disproportionately arrested and imprisoned, your argument about cops having such a hard time doing their job is not a strong one...
Double edged sword dude. Cops always have a hard time doing their job..
Dude, im talking about reality, when you tell on cops who did the crime you're as good as dead because you snitched, tattle taled, rat, blabbed, whatever you wanna call it. You dont have to be an accomplice to a crime, anyone can snitch.
Double edged sword dude. Cops always have a hard time doing their job..
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/10/481589/nypd-stop-and-frisk-young-black-men/
"Perhaps most staggeringly, the the Wall Street Journal highlighted that the number of stops of black men between the ages of 14 and 24 (168,126 ) exceeded the total city population of black men in that age range (158,406)."
it's funny...every time the topic of police misconduct or brutality comes up, there's always like 10 responses that preface with "aw c'mon guys there are good AND bad cops"...we know this. it should go without saying.
no, not all cops should be judged & held to the standard of those who were recorded doing horrific things to people. but if you're a poor minority, chances are you've been judged & held to the standard of those who have done horrible things as well.
when you're in a position of authority, you have 10x more of the responsibility to not act on your prejudices & to treat people fairly. you are held to a higher standard than the rest of us. so when we see cops being corrupt, carrying out unjust actions, & overall acting like rabid dogs at every level then, yes, it casts a bad shadow on all of them because the perception is that they don't even police themselves. so it should be no surprise a lot of the public doesn't trust them.
THEY SHOOTIN'! ah, i made you look.