No idea what to actually title this, so feel free to suggest a change to moderators,
Here is the article.
The Real Numbers Of “Police Brutality” in America That You Need To See
Yep, law enforcement today, so completely biased...right? But are the numbers wrong that are being presented? Anyone can slant numbers one way or another, but if these numbers are not wrong, is there another way to slant that article?
If the numbers ARE wrong....then the whole article fails....correct?
Should have known when I saw the quotes around "police brutality".
There is a continuum involved in poor communities. Nobody likes being pulled over or stopped by police on the street. It's inconvenient, annoying, can cost a bunch of money, etc. So a certain amount of irritability should be expected by cops.
As I have aged from a long haired punk to a union member with nice things I have seen that continuum change. I can roll my eyes at a cop now and get away with it. I certainly wouldn't have with long hair and whatever my current regalia was. So I'm certain it doesn't fly for anybody else who is obviously poor and without resources. At least as a white kid it's possible that I have rich parent and I'm rebelling.
I saw how well this worked as a criminal, when I pit expensive college stickers on my Lancia. Cops assumed it was expensive, and I was at a UC school. So they greater me differently than they did when I was a pedestrian or in some hoopty.
And I didn't notice how many of those 26k complaints resulted in any satisfaction for those who filed them. It very rarely does, if you can get the complaint form in the first place without getting hassled like you did something wrong yourself.
Cops lie. I have seen it. I have seen them go door to door in the Latino neighborhood where they brutalized a female friend of mine. A rookie dislocated her shoulder pulling her arm up her back and when she flailed around as a result she hit two cops with her skates. (New skater, skating in the street, which was how it started.) They told everybodon the street who could have seen it that if they knew what was good for them they would keep their mouths shut. Then proceeded to testify in court that she karate kicked them in the face. In roller skates. She could barely skate. Two felonies for the rest of her life. For assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.
I know anecdotes are worth very little here. But this kind of thing is ubiquitous. And too many poor families have experienced it first hand.
These are the elements in question. The things that need to be addressed in police culture. Your narrative is just that: a narrative. A story concocted to give the impression it's author wants people to have.
