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This is Why Even Innocence and Compliance is No Guarantee of Your Safety During a Police Stop

Posted by Zenphamy 9 years, 9 months ago to Philosophy
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I was reading this while watching Schindler's List. The similarities and progressions were frightening.

"Handcuffed and Helpless
There’s a naive idea floating around that an innocent person should never be afraid of cops

What you are about to read is not a philosophical argument. It’s a personal testimony. The aim of telling this story is neither to make a political statement, nor to score points for a particular ideology. For almost three years, I’ve mostly held it in. But it’s become clear to me that it’s time to give a more detailed account to a broader audience."

And: "Without asking to see my license or registration, the officer on my side told me to get out of the car. I immediately and respectfully complied without raising a single question or objection. And in case you’re wondering, I wasn’t dressed in gang colors, nor was I wearing a hoodie.

When I exited the car, he turned me around, handcuffed me, threw me against the side of my car, and did a complete body search on me. As he groped me, he said, “This is how we do it in LA.”"

Then: "Imagine what goes on inside of a man’s head when he’s handcuffed and helpless as he watches two men with guns get in his wife’s face. Imagine the complex blend of confusion, fear, irrational optimism, and rage that festers inside one’s soul as he watches one cop take his wife’s purse and pour all the contents out, while the other officer literally crawls around inside our car for several minutes."

Finally: "As I slowly walked back to our car, I said to one of the officers, “Sir, I’m not trying to be antagonistic or disrespectful, but is there a reason for why I was pulled over?”

“We just had to check you out.”"

Is it time that we all asked questions or is it already too late? How compliant do you have to be to end up in a Police State?

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Note: Since the author is a philosopher, I've categorized this post such.


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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Please provide references to those statistics or any others you might know of. The DoJ and FBI tell a different story.

    The cities you refer to have some pretty bad Police public reputations so far for at least last year and this year from the articles I read in Reason, The Guardian, The Washington Post and a number of others.
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  • Posted by term2 9 years, 9 months ago
    I am white, almost 70, have a disabled placard, but I just don't feel comfortable when police are around. I cannot rely on them for personal safety, and when driving I have to be concerned they will give me tickets for all sorts of victimless crimes and cost me hundreds of dollars.
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    Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I wonder how they would have reacted to a nursing badge, my electrical engineering license, my wife's bar card, a school teacher's badge, a plumber's license, or an ID from American Family insurance or Epic software. You can't tell who are the good guys from an ID. Most people are the good guys, and we need police who are also the good guys and understand that most citizens are on their side in fighting crime (i.e. theft, aggravated battery, rape, and murder).
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  • Posted by AmericanGreatness 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You need to fact check. Violent crime and murder rates in Chicago, Milwaukee, Baltimore, New York City, St. Louis, and other major cities is up high double digits and in some cases triple digits.
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  • Posted by Esceptico 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    That would be a good system even in case of an accident. I have 2 direction + GPS and if there is an impact, it identifies the direction it came from. What company do you refer to?
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I like all parts of AS, but Ayn Rand really captured the statist mentality with that Floyd Ferris quote. It is my favorite part of the whole book. The cashing in on guilt is central to the Rearden story.
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  • Posted by strugatsky 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    This is a very common excuse - "a few bad apples." The problem is that when an organization, and for that matter, a society, is so rotten that "a few bad apples" are not stopped, but accepted, is an indication of exactly that - rot of the entire system. Just like it is not just a matter of "a few" rapists in the Catholic Church - the fact that the Church was and is hiding them, is a clear sign of the rot. No doubt there were many good Germans in the Wehrmacht, and in Germany in general, but they did nothing - and the results are what they are. We are marching in the same direction.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You're thinking like I am. Quite a shame isn't it. I wonder when the auto manufacturers will pick up on this trend.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Absolutely. There's a company that sells a complete video/audio hidden system (all 4 directions plus interior) + GPS, covering speed, turn signals, etc. When stopped, you press a button and the system immediately begins sending the previous 5 Minutes and live recordings from that point to 'The Cloud' and continues to do that until you stop it. I've often thought of getting one and placing stickers around the car that say, Smile, You're On Youtube.

    The sticker might not be such a good idea.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The solution is to eliminate 'sovereign immunity' for cops, reduce a cop's pay based on citizen complaints, and to provide protection for the 'good' cops to report the abuses of 'bad' cops. Get rid of 'Immigration Stops' any further than at the border-- not 100 miles, eliminate the TSA, eliminate the DEA, eliminate 'One ID' driver license's, make violations of the 4th and 5th Amendments a felony crime, get rid of all laws other than tort against an individual or his property.

    As to areas like Detroit, etc, shut down Urban Project Housing, go back to 'Welfare to Work' programs, give anyone on welfare transportation to a job anywhere in the country.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    There is NO sky rocketing violent crime. All evidence released by any reliable source, DoJ, FBI, etc. indicates just the opposite. The only increases I've run across is citizen abuse and death by cops. See the website, 'The Counted'

    Please provide your source of such a statement.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I just don't buy the racial component other than training and even experience biases them to expect to be able to find some type of violation with certain people in certain areas. And I think often they feel that its more acceptable to act that way with certain people.

    I think that in every serious study that's been performed, blacks, mexicans, indians, oil field workers, construction workers, etc have more interactions with police, initiated by the police "To just check them out" than a large number of us. But with the excuses of the 'War on Terror', it's moving into our lives as well. Listen to all the nonsense that vets and constitutionalists are now considered potential domestic terrorists.
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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 9 years, 9 months ago
    When I was a young man in FL, we needed a jump start. We saw a police officer at a 7-11, and asked for one. He said "Nope, we don't do that anymore. Too many blown up batteries."

    Police state? We are already in one.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I'm at a loss to understand the strange attitude of the cops. But txs for reading the article. I thought it very well written.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    In my younger years I had some very good interactions with police, but in the last few years I've had exactly opposite experiences. My biggest problem isn't just the cop that does good, it's those that are basically good that witness the bad ones abusing people and not saying anything and the organization that won't get rid of the bad apples.
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  • Posted by 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Well, you're a lot luckier than some. During the hunt for the rogue ex-cop in LA a year or two ago that was killing other cops, cops pulled up behind a small pickup with two female occupants, that they later explained they thought resembled a vehicle the suspect was in and immediately started blasting away. Later turned out that the suspects vehicle bore no resemblance to the ladies vehicle and no such description had been released.
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