Ferguson Missouri

[attackfish]

I am too sickened to say much about the pseudo-military police occupation in Ferguson Missouri, except that I would love to know who the police think they are serving and protecting with their tear gas, assault rifles, and armored vehicles.  The only thing I can see being protected is their own power, and their own supposed "right" to murder young black men by shooting them in the back.

Comments

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

I know that in Albuquerque, the recruitment posters emphasized that you got to carry a badge and act tough, and then they were surprised when they had one of the worst police shooting records ever. The FBI finished an investigation earlier this summer after a string of protests of police shodtings, and concluded that yes, it really was that bad. They also had a policy of recruiting cops who were about to be expelled from other departments for things like excessive force. Meanwhile, UNM had a world class criminology department, and as a sociology minor, I knew a lot of future cops from all over the country, many of whom broke down crying during their internships at APD or switched majors. It was acclimate or leave, at least there. I should note that APD didn't have a reputation for higher than usual racial bias, but they were absolutely famous for going after the mentally ill, so there were a lot of dead white and Latin@ faces on the news. You bet the afore mentioned immediate family member and I got the Police Talk, over and over again. We knew we should be scared, and we were.

APD also didn't need raids to shoot dogs. All over town were people who would tell you the department didn't account for bullets, so there were plenty of cops who would shoot into people's yards and kill their dogs. I knew someone who lost a dog that way. Our dogs were always inside or out only with us because of it. Police departments are often scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to recruits, and doing so by saying if you join, you get to be a bully with a gun and a badge. It isn't surprising when bullies answer the call. I say bullies as much as racists, because in my experience, there are a lot of biased cops, but there are also a lot of cops who aren't necessarily biased themselves, but have figured out if they stick to abusing black people, or mentally ill people, or the people their coworkers and bosses see as subhuman, they will get away with it. The biased atmosphere gives them the social license to operate.

[ljlee.livejournal.com]

Well, at least they're equal-opportunity assholes... unless one is mentally disabled, that is. That's just awful! How does accountability go so wrong in a (maybe partial, definitely imperfect, but still) democracy?