US police plagued by WARRIOR SPIRIT of shoot more, talk less

[Lite Beer]

COMMENT
US police plagued by WARRIOR SPIRIT of shoot more, talk less
PAT REBER
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR
WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON: -- Social change has brought blacks into police forces around the country - but that hasn't solved the problem of excessive force being used against African-Amercian

A car backfires in the streets of Cleveland, Ohio. Nearby police think it's gunfire. Thus begins the November 2012 chase. Sixty police cruisers race at 160 kilometres per hour for more than 20 minutes until they corner the car. Police fire 137 rounds. One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams - unarmed African-Americans with police records. Both are killed.

No one knows for sure how many civilians are killed every year by US police or die in police custody. The website Killed by Police has logged 474 deaths so far this year, an average of three per day so far in 2015.

The Washington Post last month examined 385 deaths by police gunshot and found 80 per cent of the victims had been armed with lethal weapons. Half were white, half black. Sixteen per cent - or 62 of the dead - were unarmed people, two-thirds of them black or Hispanics.

Blacks make up only 13 per cent of the US population.

Nearly a year since the police killings of two unarmed black males - Eric Garner in New York City in July, and teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August - questions about excessive use of force by police and racial bias have provoked not only angry riots over Brown's and other killings but also soul-searching in the police community.

"Sometimes it seems like our young officers want to get into an athletic event with people they want to arrest," said Dallas, Texas, police chief David Brown, an African-American, at a recent symposium of police chiefs organised by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF).

'Don't retreat' mentality

"They have a 'don't retreat' mentality. They feel like they're warriors, and they can't back down when someone is running from them, no matter how minor the underlying crime is," he said.

Over decades, the US Supreme Court has reduced police authority.

Police must now inform suspects of their right to an attorney before questioning, and may not use deadly force in a chase unless the suspect threatens "death or serious physical injury to the officer or others".

These days, bystanders with cell phone cameras, the post-9/11expansion of security cameras and social media have created a new round of scrutiny on how police behave.

Last year in Canada, which also grapples with the issue, 22 cameras filmed the actions of a Toronto police officer as he used three shots to down a mentally disturbed, knife-wielding Syrian man - then fired another six shots into the prone body.

Police advocates worry that the high profile films, protests and riots after the killing of Brown, Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Garner and others have demonised police and threatened their lives.

Police being targeted

At least 54 officers have died in the course of duty this year so far, and at least five are believed to have been targeted killings.

Eugene O'Donnell, an ex-New York police officer and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, condemned the "great smearing" of police in his tribute to a New York officer recently felled by assault.

"Cops today find themselves challenged during routine calls, cameras thrust in their faces, accused of discriminatory treatment by many," he wrote.

But others in the police community are equally worried about the killings of suspects, and are calling for changes in the way police are prepared for duty.

"Yes, they might be shooting too many people, but that's a training issue more than a race issue ... We blame cops for things that aren't their fault - society's racism, or how they are trained," says Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer who teaches at the local John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

In fact, three of the six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray in April are black, challenging the notion that excessive force is just a white-on-black issue.

Experts say training needs to include preparation for how to disengage, de-escalate and step back, police chiefs and advocates say. Training needs to give permission to back off when circumstances allow, said Cassandra Deck-Brown, police chief in Raleigh, North Carolina and an African-American, at the PERF symposium.

The concept of community policing has pushed more police back to walking the beat, getting to know the people they are charged with protecting. For Moskos and others, the push has largely succeeded and cops are using less force now than they did 20 and 30 years ago, even if it seems otherwise in social media.

Nonetheless, police officers - whether black or white - tend to be conservative, and the people who are doing the firearms training "are often the most militaristic and conservative" of police trainers, Moskos said.

"It's the mentality side of those conservative trainers that then gets passed down to cops, and that's not necessarily good," he said.

"The public is rightfully upset."

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/US-police-plagued-by-WARRIOR-SPIRIT-of-shoot-more--30262705.html

-- The Nation 2015-06-20

[Seastallion]

Warrior spirit? Nice euphamism for gung-ho cowboy yeeeeee haa shoot-em-up I watched too many Rambo movies and played too much Call of Duty idiocy.

I mean, seriously, standing on the bonnet of a stationary car and pumping bullets into the unarmed occupants? Was one bullet each not enough? The car was stopped, it was no longer a deadly weapon. That's not "warrior spirit", that's verging on psycopathy.

[ezzra]

"The Washington Post last month examined 385 deaths by police gunshot and found 80 per cent of the victims had been armed with lethal weapons. Half were white, half black. Sixteen per cent - or 62 of the dead - were unarmed people, two-thirds of them black or Hispanics."

The above quote says it all, if I were a policeman on the beat in any of the trouble prone cities,

I would watch my back, and when you have people like Al Sharpton, De Blasio and Eric

holder, giving the offending population a tail wind support, I'd too be quick to draw...

In an earlier post of the same topic, I have posted a comment defending the police action,

so after I got a private message berating and accusing me of being a US cop of a sort,

[noikrit]

The Police ...... what about the politcians.....

[cumgranosalum]

In most democracies the Army and police are 2 totally separate entities and there is good reason for this......the police are there to "protect and serve" the people and the army is to protect the country for outside threats (Thailand take note).

unfortunately in the US, the police over the years have been allowed to become increasingly militarised, regarding themselves as "at war" with the communities they should be protecting.....the entire culture within the police needs ripping dow and rebuilding and the all pervasive culture of "Fortress police" needs to be destroyed.

[cumgranosalum]

"The Washington Post last month examined 385 deaths by police gunshot and found 80 per cent of the victims had been armed with lethal weapons. Half were white, half black. Sixteen per cent - or 62 of the dead - were unarmed people, two-thirds of them black or Hispanics."

The above quote says it all, if I were a policeman on the beat in any of the trouble prone cities,

I would watch my back, and when you have people like Al Sharpton, De Blasio and Eric

holder, giving the offending population a tail wind support, I'd too be quick to draw...

In an earlier post of the same topic, I have posted a comment defending the police action,

so after I got a private message berating and accusing me of being a US cop of a sort,

"Half were white, half black" - According to your figures above - the problem I have with that is that only about 14% of the US population is actually black, so to me that seems to represent an over representation of black people killed by the police.

I also think that you are displaying the classic "fortress police" attitude that sees the force as in a situation of "war" with the citizens of the US.

[mania]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

[Seastallion]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

Does it matter? 17 times, 49, or 100 shots.....way over-kill.

If I recall, he fired his weapon 49 times during the chase and the subsequent bonnet-leaping. 15 of those shots were fired while he was on the bonnet.

[Soutpeel]

Warrior spirit? Nice euphamism for gung-ho cowboy yeeeeee haa shoot-em-up I watched too many Rambo movies and played too much Call of Duty idiocy.

I mean, seriously, standing on the bonnet of a stationary car and pumping bullets into the unarmed occupants? Was one bullet each not enough? The car was stopped, it was no longer a deadly weapon. That's not "warrior spirit", that's verging on psycopathy.

Being someone who carried a firearm for many years in one country, and then subsequently went to live and work in the US for a couple of years, got to agree, too many nut jobs running around there and living some Hollywood movie in their heads and its not just the "civilians" either

[Jai Dee]

An off-topic post and subsequent replies have been removed from this thread.

[Chao Lao Beach]

All these spirits, can a Thai ghost fix it for them ?

[Shot]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

It's piss poor reporting.

[HeijoshinCool]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

.

Yep, it's true. He had to reload twice, just to be sure and kill two unarmed people who had done zero wrong. The cops chased the victims down because their car backfired.

He was acquitted at trial just last month, and a few days later arrested again for beating the living crap out of his twin brother, Mark. The arresting cops found him wandering the neighborhood, dressed only in his underwear.

Cleveland's finest.

[papa al]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

Does it matter? 17 times, 49, or 100 shots.....way over-kill.

If I recall, he fired his weapon 49 times during the chase and the subsequent bonnet-leaping. 15 of those shots were fired while he was on the bonnet.

Must have had a bee in his bonnet.

I've never killed anyone, but have been told by some who have that it is a real rush.

[arjunadawn]

In most democracies the Army and police are 2 totally separate entities and there is good reason for this......the police are there to "protect and serve" the people and the army is to protect the country for outside threats (Thailand take note).

unfortunately in the US, the police over the years have been allowed to become increasingly militarised, regarding themselves as "at war" with the communities they should be protecting.....the entire culture within the police needs ripping dow and rebuilding and the all pervasive culture of "Fortress police" needs to be destroyed.

I wonder why this is coming to pass?

[arjunadawn]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

It's piss poor reporting.

Glock pistol reload takes about 1-3 sec., nearly the space in the natural pause in shooting.

Presumably "Shoot More..." means to kill more? I can recall no instance where that is how the "Warrior Spirit" is defined, in any culture or religious imagery. Warrior Spirit in this

use should offend any man or woman who has ever gone to war or seen innocents killed. Its a broad swipe and an apparently despised aspect of our culture, the military. Hardly possible

to conceal it in this author's drivel.

This article may have facts here and there or may even reach a valid inference, but it is nothing other than poorly concealed political indictment, not objective issue reporting,

nor really even issue supporting; the point of this article is to couch indictment of an opposing political point of view and smear them broadly with the problem- conservatives, the right, etc.

That gun problems in America are substantially caused by liberal polices is never addressed, only pejorative and innuendo, such as the conclusion...

"It's the mentality side of those conservative trainers that then gets passed down to cops, and that's not necessarily good,"

The assertion being trainers with conservative views would have instructed them in such behaviors because it is not possible to be accountable for your own actions in the US any longer,

there must always be a stalking horse toward political agenda behind every single event and facet of American life. Thus America is actually coming apart at the seams as the last minute

race begins to cram as much social engineering pre positioning down the American throat before there is total meltdown.

Debate the rampant use of drugs by pharmacy to numb the population. Describe the total breakdown in society courtesy of policies that are not conservative.

Locking down guns, like dumping kitchen knives to prevent another widespread cause of violence, will only bring about more and greater violence, and more

and darker government.

Edited June 20, 2015 by arjunadawn

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

"The Washington Post last month examined 385 deaths by police gunshot and found 80 per cent of the victims had been armed with lethal weapons. Half were white, half black. Sixteen per cent - or 62 of the dead - were unarmed people, two-thirds of them black or Hispanics."

The above quote says it all, if I were a policeman on the beat in any of the trouble prone cities,

I would watch my back, and when you have people like Al Sharpton, De Blasio and Eric

holder, giving the offending population a tail wind support, I'd too be quick to draw...

In an earlier post of the same topic, I have posted a comment defending the police action,

so after I got a private message berating and accusing me of being a US cop of a sort,

Here is a couple of articles for you to show you the problem:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-08/us-police-kill-more-civilians-march-uk-police-killed-100-years

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-19/black-people-are-12-times-more-likely-die-america-other-developed-countries

Sorry there is another article I cant trackdown now but it shows how out of preportion compared to the rest of the world its become. If I remember correctly the facts was that Iceland with +- 320 000 people had one police killing in the last 50 years compare to a town in the US that had 3 police killings in March this year. The police killings in March this year in the US was +- the same as total in Australia between 1994 and 2011.

There is problem in the US, its either the police have become too violent or the population have become too violent which force the police to act more violent.

[Just1Voice]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

Does it matter? 17 times, 49, or 100 shots.....way over-kill.

If I recall, he fired his weapon 49 times during the chase and the subsequent bonnet-leaping. 15 of those shots were fired while he was on the bonnet.

Must have had a bee in his bonnet.

I've never killed anyone, but have been told by some who have that it is a real rush.

I have killed, more times than I care to think about, during 20 year in the Marines, and I got a news flash for you. There is no "rush" involved. You do what the circumstances dictate at the time, and when it's over, you are quietly thankful that you're still alive. Yeah, I've seen the guys who think they are Rambo, and it's a big kick for them, but trust me, they are a serious minority overall.

[MaxYakov]

In most democracies the Army and police are 2 totally separate entities and there is good reason for this......the police are there to "protect and serve" the people and the army is to protect the country for outside threats (Thailand take note).

unfortunately in the US, the police over the years have been allowed to become increasingly militarised, regarding themselves as "at war" with the communities they should be protecting.....the entire culture within the police needs ripping dow and rebuilding and the all pervasive culture of "Fortress police" needs to be destroyed.

I wonder why this is coming to pass?

Is it? His lips are moving!

[MaeJoMTB]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

He only carried 2 spare clips!

Most clips are problematic if you try and load the factory max.

I always used to load one or two less, much easier then.

[Publicus]

In most democracies the Army and police are 2 totally separate entities and there is good reason for this......the police are there to "protect and serve" the people and the army is to protect the country for outside threats (Thailand take note).

unfortunately in the US, the police over the years have been allowed to become increasingly militarised, regarding themselves as "at war" with the communities they should be protecting.....the entire culture within the police needs ripping dow and rebuilding and the all pervasive culture of "Fortress police" needs to be destroyed.

I wonder why this is coming to pass?

The armed to the teeth far out extreme right are not arming themselves to protect themselves against an attack by the government.

The right is arming itself with multiple guns per individual to secede in numerous localities throughout the country, counties primarily, and it's only a matter of the timing. It's the right's mangled interpretation of the Posse Comitatus law which authorizes a county police sheriff to declare sovereign control over the county in an emergency of federal authority.

The tea party right wingnuts elected recently to the US House have been talking openly about it the past couple of years.

A new intelligence assessment, circulated by the Department of Homeland Security this month and reviewed by CNN, focuses on the domestic terror threat from right-wing sovereign citizen extremists and comes as the Obama administration holds a White House conference to focus efforts to fight violent extremism.

Some federal and local law enforcement groups view the domestic terror threat from sovereign citizen groups as equal to — and in some cases greater than — the threat from foreign Islamic terror groups, such as ISIS, that garner more public attention.”

….

The government says these are extremists who believe that they can ignore laws and that their individual rights are under attack in routine daily instances such as a traffic stop or being required to obey a court order

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/02/20/homeland-security-warns-wing-extremists-equal-greater-threat-isis.html

This is typical of the extreme wingnut far out right wing of recent times.....

DoD Plans Exercises in Civilian Areas in Western US => May Violate Posse Comitatus Act

Jim Hoft Mar 19th, 2015 3:41 pm

Another day, another law broken?

Map Infowars

The Department of Defense is planning upcoming military exercises to take place in several Western states, including: California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The military exercises are going to take place in civilian areas, not on military bases.

The upcoming exercises may be in direct conflict with the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which limits the powers of the federal government in using its military personnel to enforce the state laws.

The law states:

Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

The exception to the law allows the president to order troops to an area pursuant to the Insurrection Act, as was the case during the 1992 Los Angeles riots… Obviously, this would not fit any current situation.

A classified action by US Army Special Operations Command exposed the plan.

Read more: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/03/dod-plans-exercises-in-civilian-areas-in-western-us-may-violate-posse-comitatus-act/#ixzz3daekRd4Y

[727Sky]

With the advent of the video camera's it has become harder to get away with some of the crap the police used to do.

In America the attitude has gone from police can do no wrong to, they falsify reports, lie, and CYA when caught red handed by some unknown (to them) video of the event in question. The pendulum will sooner or later self center but right now the police are under a microscope. What is sickening is the majority are good hard working guys, but they are being tainted by the roid heads who just want to go out and stir some crap up.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/officer-caught-brutalizing-man-camera-blames-imaginary-threat-officers-due-whats-happening-nation/

A Pheonix cop is claiming he kicked a teen in the face knocking out several of his teeth because "he had a heightened sense of awareness of violence towards police because of what’s happening across the nation,”

The teen was stopped and had some weed so he ran and end up in a convenience store where he called his father, the cop comes in the store gun drawn and orders him to the ground. The kid has his hands up and is clearly following direction and going to the ground when the cop stomps his face in to the floor.

The cop was fired but not charged (go figure) and is now appealing to try and get his job back blaming his actions on the nationwide threat to police.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/08/former-south-carolina-officer-indicted-for-murder-in-shooting-black-man/

A former North Charleston police officer was indicted on a murder charge Monday in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man who was running away from the officer after a traffic stop.

The shooting April 4 was captured on video by a bystander and showed officer Michael Slager firing eight times as 50-year-old Walter Scott ran away.

Slager was charged with murder by state law enforcement agents almost immediately after the video surfaced. Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson announced the indictment...

NO VIDEO and his story would have stood. http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/top-best-most/killer-jobs--no--really-160410257.html

occupation death rates:

13 of every 100,000 full-time employees in a bar or drinking establishment die each year.
15 of every 100,000 full-time landscapers do (the same number as police officers).
25 of every 100,000 full-time truck drivers die on the job.

finance.yahoo.com...
#5: Pilot
#4: Fisherman
#3: Logger
#2: Astronaut
#1: Underwater Welder

Unfortunately these incidents are the type of stories that make the national news... Not the thousands of interactions daily between police and the public that go as they should... happy endings and all....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/?hpid=z8

is an article which should be of interest to anyone traveling to the states and carrying money.

•There have been 61,998 cash seizures made on highways and elsewhere since 9/11 without search warrants or indictments through the Equitable Sharing Program, totaling more than $2.5 billion. State and local authorities kept more than $1.7 billion of that while Justice, Homeland Security and other federal agencies received $800 million. Half of the seizures were below $8,800.

Sounds like going to a Third-World country. American police are targeting their northern neighbors, according to a travel warning from the Canadian government. State and federal law enforcement officers are reportedly shaking down Canadians visiting the US, illegally confiscating legally carried cash. Over 61,000 of these incidents have occurred since 9/11, resulting in $2.5 billion being seized, according to The Washington Post.

The seizures stuff started as part of the drug war but has turned into a cash cow for some departments.. Just use a search engine and there are hundreds of stories.

So like I said, the pendulum is starting to swing the other way and before it completes it' arc there will be the good, the bad, and the out right corrupt all caught under the spot light..

I have three friends retire from different police departments... They are not happy with some of the newly recruited Roided up Rambo type officers... http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/02/14/65377.htm is a sick story about a deaf man

[ICECOOL]

Warrior spirit? Nice euphamism for gung-ho cowboy yeeeeee haa shoot-em-up I watched too many Rambo movies and played too much Call of Duty idiocy.

I mean, seriously, standing on the bonnet of a stationary car and pumping bullets into the unarmed occupants? Was one bullet each not enough? The car was stopped, it was no longer a deadly weapon. That's not "warrior spirit", that's verging on psycopathy.

Being someone who carried a firearm for many years in one country, and then subsequently went to live and work in the US for a couple of years, got to agree, too many nut jobs running around there and living some Hollywood movie in their heads and its not just the "civilians" either

In the US a percentage of Police are ex military. My reading indicates that number has risen in recent years. So your taking someone from a combat background where possibly they served in Iraq etc and then ask them to serve civilians where previously they were possibly enemy. Recipe for disaster.

[Publicus]

Warrior spirit? Nice euphamism for gung-ho cowboy yeeeeee haa shoot-em-up I watched too many Rambo movies and played too much Call of Duty idiocy.

I mean, seriously, standing on the bonnet of a stationary car and pumping bullets into the unarmed occupants? Was one bullet each not enough? The car was stopped, it was no longer a deadly weapon. That's not "warrior spirit", that's verging on psycopathy.

Being someone who carried a firearm for many years in one country, and then subsequently went to live and work in the US for a couple of years, got to agree, too many nut jobs running around there and living some Hollywood movie in their heads and its not just the "civilians" either

In the US a percentage of Police are ex military. My reading indicates that number has risen in recent years. So your taking someone from a combat background where possibly they served in Iraq etc and then ask them to serve civilians where previously they were possibly enemy. Recipe for disaster.

The majority of police in the USA are conservative Republican, a hard core are right wing extremists.

The 100 year old Fraternal Order of Police, which is the largest police union in the US, endorses Republicans for elective office, president in particular since Richard Nixon.

From the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s on up to the present, the police have come down on black Americans and often with brutality to include dogs. The first organized municipal police departments in the US, from 1705 onward were formed from among the voluntary Slave Patrols that hunted down escaped slaves.

The history of policing since the Civil Rights movement has resulted in an irreversible harm and damage to policing in the US from which the police will never recover. It long ago became an act of legitimate civil disobedience in certain black communities to resist police in almost all situations and circumstances.

As the police sow, so do they reap.

[Soutpeel]

Warrior spirit? Nice euphamism for gung-ho cowboy yeeeeee haa shoot-em-up I watched too many Rambo movies and played too much Call of Duty idiocy.

I mean, seriously, standing on the bonnet of a stationary car and pumping bullets into the unarmed occupants? Was one bullet each not enough? The car was stopped, it was no longer a deadly weapon. That's not "warrior spirit", that's verging on psycopathy.

Being someone who carried a firearm for many years in one country, and then subsequently went to live and work in the US for a couple of years, got to agree, too many nut jobs running around there and living some Hollywood movie in their heads and its not just the "civilians" either

In the US a percentage of Police are ex military. My reading indicates that number has risen in recent years. So your taking someone from a combat background where possibly they served in Iraq etc and then ask them to serve civilians where previously they were possibly enemy. Recipe for disaster.

So what's the percentage then ?.....I would suggest that you have your reading the wrong way round, ex-military who have seen combat, would have less of a tenancy to behave like "Rambo" given their experiences and training, some how cant see an ex-soldier, of sound mind, who is now a cop discharging 49 rounds into someone given their typical training.

The sad fact is there are nut jobs running around in both military and police who have joined these services for the sole reason of being allowed to carry a firearm and are "legally sanctioned" to kill people if the situation warrants it and they are just twitching for the opportunity to "exercise this right"

Edited June 20, 2015 by Soutpeel

[connda]

Warrior spirit? Nice euphamism for gung-ho cowboy yeeeeee haa shoot-em-up I watched too many Rambo movies and played too much Call of Duty idiocy.

I mean, seriously, standing on the bonnet of a stationary car and pumping bullets into the unarmed occupants? Was one bullet each not enough? The car was stopped, it was no longer a deadly weapon. That's not "warrior spirit", that's verging on psycopathy.

The cop must have been a Texan.

[Publicus]

Police departments throughout the country provide readjustment programs for police officers who have been called to active military duty since 9/11 and have returned to their departments after active duty deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan (or elsewhere). This includes PTS assistance.

Police departments nationally do actively recruit former military personnel who have retired before 20 years of military service, to include giving retirement credit to each officer for the military service.

The berserk cop in McKinney Texas who resigned got retirement of something like 22 years, counting his 12 years as a police officer in Texas and his ten years before that in the USN.

Raw numbers or percentages of national data are hard to come by however. Police departments like hiring veterans because the vets like action, comraderie, a structured and disciplined work environment, guns.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Justice Department and Klein Associates work jointly to recruit or provide adjustment assistance to veterans, police, from active duty to police work.

https://www.bja.gov/Publications/IACPEmployingReturningVets.pdf

[Suradit69]

Warrior spirit? Nice euphamism for gung-ho cowboy yeeeeee haa shoot-em-up I watched too many Rambo movies and played too much Call of Duty idiocy.

I mean, seriously, standing on the bonnet of a stationary car and pumping bullets into the unarmed occupants? Was one bullet each not enough? The car was stopped, it was no longer a deadly weapon. That's not "warrior spirit", that's verging on psycopathy.

"...watched too many Rambo movies and played too much Call of Duty idiocy."

Unfortunately that sort of mentality is what draws in a majority of those who apply to be police, especially in urban areas. The sheriff in a small town might legitimately want to "serve and protect" his small community, but the motivation to become a policeman in LA or New York or places where there are often "us versus them" tensions between races or other factions has got to have something to do a power trip and the perceived authority to bash some heads together or to use lethal force like they do in the movies or video games.

It's one of the occupations, like being a proctologist or an embalmer, where you really have to wonder why would someone want to do that?

[ggt]

Police corruption, cover ups, planting evidence and giving false testimony is legendary...the police culture in America has evolved to protect your own police at all costs...

What has changed is that citizens with cell phones have captured their heinous acts of aggravated assault and outright murder of unarmed civilians...these cops have lied under oath until presented with the video evidence that disproves their false testimony...

Police forces with a measure of integrity have provided all their officers with car and personal cameras...this will both exonerate cops who have been falsely accused and condemn a cop who has acted with excessive force...

Many police depts do not want the camera...it would upset the cover up culture which permeates most police departments today...

Edited June 20, 2015 by ggt

[mania]

One white officer, Michael Brelo, jumps on the hood and fires his Glock 17 pistol 49 times at driver Timothy Russell and passenger Malissa Williams

Are they sure about this??? Sounds pretty crazy considering a Glock 17 holds 17 rounds

Does it matter? 17 times, 49, or 100 shots.....way over-kill.

If I recall, he fired his weapon 49 times during the chase and the subsequent bonnet-leaping. 15 of those shots were fired while he was on the bonnet.

Well yes it does matter..........

The quote I used was a direct lift from the OP & it is unlikely to be factual/correct.

Do not misunderstand me....I see a problem in the US yes of course

But sensationalized *journalism*?? is not any way to deal with it either.

All it will do is widen the "we & them" gap/mentality that is ever growing.

Yes obviously in recent years reports have shown police have been caught out on more than one occasion....That did not just bloom overnight.

On the other side less reported/noticed is a rise in crime rates/racial tension/assaults on police so all of these things will have an effect that feed each other

The answer going forward I have no idea but I do know sensationalized reporting that only ever grows the gap & flames hate on both sides is certainly

not the way forward.

Good luck to them & I would not want to be the one trying to fix it.

I also hope the better peace keepers do not just opt out at some point going forward

Edited June 20, 2015 by mania