American Cops Doing What They Do Best

[Skizzo]

None of that excuses the behaviour in the video - we don't see the kids doing anything that could possibly make the cop's actions a justifiable reaction. The way he pulls out a gun when some of the boys run up to him to protect their friend is especially terrifying.

It's a volatile situation when suddenly two guys run up behind him when he's trying to restrain the female. That's asking for trouble and is a ridiculously stupid thing to do.

If you friend is being restrained by an officer, don't be a complete fool and try to run up on him to "help your friend".

 

[harshad]

Couldn't they have cuffed the suspect and then searched for a weapon on his person?

I mean, I can't think of any reason that would justify such mauling. But if there is a reasonable belief that the suspect has a weapon, wouldn't a search of his body, after he is brought to ground and restrained, help confirming the suspicion?

 

[Goalfather]

It's a volatile situation when suddenly two guys run up behind him when he's trying to restrain the female. That's asking for trouble and is a ridiculously stupid thing to do.

If you friend is being restrained by an officer, don't be a complete fool and try to run up on him to "help your friend".

That was not restraint that was assault and very hard to watch.

There was no need to take down the girl in that manner and the boys' attempt to help their friend is perfectly understandable because the police officer has crossed the line, that behavior is pure thuggery. What would you do if someone were to manhandle your daughter in that manner?

The sad part about it was that two young men could have either lost their lives or be seriously hurt for trying to help a friend because a police officer failed to manage the situation properly.

 

[Skizzo]

The sad part about it was that two young men could have either lost their lives or be seriously hurt for trying to help a friend because a police officer failed to manage the situation properly.

If you're running up on a police officer from behind, especially if you outnumber him, you're an idiot. You don't help your friend by doing that. It just escalates the situation even more.

Watch the video I posted above, or on the previous page. There's a snippet of an officer and a man standing side by side when the man casually takes a few steps back, pulls out a gun and executes the officer at point blank range.

No officer is going to let two males run up on his six, especially who you can't clearly see their hands, and not feel threatened.

 

[Goalfather]

If you're running up on a police officer from behind, especially if you outnumber him, you're an idiot. You don't help your friend by doing that. It just escalates the situation even more.

Watch the video I posted above, or on the previous page. There's a snippet of an officer and a man standing side by side when the man casually takes a few steps back, pulls out a gun and executes the officer at point blank range.

No officer is going to let two males run up on his six, especially who you can't clearly see their hands, and not feel threatened.

Perfectly understandable and I agree somewhat but what you fail to see is that the officer by his sheer incompetence/testesterone rush has created a situation where two relatively innocent lives could have been lost. His reaction was so OTT that his two colleagues tried to physically restrain him. Secondly he was dealing with a scantily clad minor of the opposite sex, the deciscion to engage her in that manner was just plain dumb.

 

[Skizzo]

Perfectly understandable and I agree somewhat but what you fail to see is that the officer by his sheer incompetence/testesterone rush has created a situation where two relatively innocent lives could have been lost. His reaction was so OTT that his two colleagues tried to physically restrain him. Secondly he was dealing with a scantily clad minor of the opposite sex, the deciscion to engage her in that manner was just plain dumb.

I don't think I ever said the officer handled the situation well. He has a history of excessive force. However, I have no such history...and I'd hesitate to say I wouldn't have a similar reaction if those guys came at me like that.

Again, I don't dispute his handling of things prior...but those two were incredibly idiotic to approach like that. They took their lives in their own hands at that point by approaching in a relatively aggressive fashion and trying to get behind the officer while outnumbering him. I'm glad nothing more serious did happen so that we don't have to have a huge debate (and disagreement) on whether or not it was justified based upon a reasonable belief of danger.

 

[Moby]

I've always given a fellow officer the benefit of the doubt

Interesting to hear the views from a fellow cop (i assume) and I agree with most of what you have said here. It's one thing arguing sitting in your room what the cop should do in such a situation and another thing being there and anticipating threats of all kinds. And most of the times the cops come out looking bad because they have to take all measures necessary to neutralize the situation which sometimes can make things look unreasonable, but at the scene I assume you are not really that fussed about landing a couple of extra blows if it means reducing the threat of any sort of a counter from the suspect. As you said the grey area is a tough one to resolve.

 

[Jerch]

Watchng the videos in this thread really shocked me. As far as i rembember there was not one case of police shooting for n reason at all in my country.

When i was 17-19 i had a 2 or 3 incidents when we were drunk and doing stupid things and police came but they usually were realy polite and talked to us to calm down, to go to sleep and stuff like that. One time my friend smashed a window and police saw it and they just took his informations in the case if the owner of the building would make a complain to the police. The worst thing i heard of was when one of my friend kicked police car and they thrown him in a van and beat him but not to seriously.

If i would live in USA in my younger years I would be probably dead by now. Most of this videos should resulted in a prison sentences.

 

[lem8sh]

Every newsworthy incident I've seen from America recently has made me think "what an absolute shithole"

 

[do.ob]

Jesus Christ, that was hard to watch. Are cops really that jumpy with absolutely everyone that if their hands happen to be in their pockets or whatever it's reason enough to assume they are reaching for a gun? And why the feck do they insist on handcuffing them after they have been shot and are clearly going to die? Even after the guy was dead he still left them on and just shakes him from time to time saying hang in there.

Tbh I don't know how I would've reacted in that situation. The guy keeps walking, he does not seem to respond to them and he reaches into his pockets when they approach him.
That they do almost nothing to help him while he bleeds out seems a lot more shocking to me than the shooting itself.

 

[Rado_N]

Every newsworthy incident I've seen from America recently has made me think "what an absolute shithole"

Judging a country the size of the US by the actions of a minority of asshole cops is pretty silly to be honest.

 

[adexkola]

Just another look at the flip side so people can see how quickly things go down.

Note the guy pulling the gun from his waistband and walking behind to execute an officer, and how many times someone is shot from a vehicle. Part of why officers are so "jumpy" or quick to react when someone reaches for a waistband or pocket.

Some graphic content in case anyone needs a warning.



and no, this isn't to excuse any officers who have gotten away with excessive force needlessly, before someone throws that out.

Police work is dangerous. You won't hear me making excuses for the guy in Boston who was shot after brandishing a knife and advancing at police. They have the right to take necessary precautions to ensure their safety, but this incident went beyond that. There was no excuse for brandishing a lethal weapon at 2 boys. What was he expecting, for a truckload of Crip members to appear out of nowhere?

I've always given a fellow officer the benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise. I've also been disappointed and disgusted at some officers and how they handle situations.

That's very fair. At the same time, given the police's tendency to cover up cases of abuse, that benefit of the doubt is becoming harder to find among members of the public.

It's a volatile situation when suddenly two guys run up behind him when he's trying to restrain the female. That's asking for trouble and is a ridiculously stupid thing to do.

If you friend is being restrained by an officer, don't be a complete fool and try to run up on him to "help your friend".

2 boys. Boys. If a civilian pulled a gun on 2 boys for "running up on him from behind" he would be in jail for assault with a deadly weapon, a felony in some jurisdictions.

I can admit in retrospect that it was a stupid thing to do by the 2 boys. I wish they just got their phones out and verbally rinsed the power drunk cop.

 

[adexkola]

For all the talk and emphasis on the millions of good cops out there, there is a very high probability that he will be rehired by another police force in no time. You'd like to see this horde of good cops coming out enmasse and condemning recent events in Texas, Ohio, elsewhere, but all you get is silence.

Apart from @Skizzo and @TheReligion, of course.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The cop at that party seemed to perceive a threat from a situation that in no way justified that perceived threat. Some children getting slightly rowdy at a pool party in a middle class suburb in the middle of the afternoon.

The only plausible explanation is that he assumes that any group of black kids is going to have a bunch of armed criminals amongst them. That's blatant racism, all the more so when you see how he made no effort to get the (white) cameraman to lie down. Being white, he apparently posed no threat at all.

Obviously, the worry here is that attitudes like that are endemic amongst police in the states.

 

[Dans]

Here's another take on it that came through on my facebook news feed.......courtesy of knowing people who live in that area:

As most of you probably know my city, McKinney, has made national headlines & is a top trending topic. Forgive this long post, but I feel most of my friends would like to know some actual facts involving this. For those of you still blindly trusting the media, let me tell you I have seen it with my own eyes how inaccurate & one sided it all is. I have truly lost all respect for the media & these so called "journalists" who sensationalized a story with a very one sided, inaccurate report. We moved to Craig Ranch in McKinney almost 5 years ago to get out of Dallas & put our kids in a great public school system. If you will recall McKinney was also recently named #1 best place to live in America. It really IS a great city & part of what makes it so great is our top notch first responders. I have several friends who are on the force, we have crime just like every other city, but what we don't have is a bunch of racist cops "assaulting innocent teenagers", "crashing a pool party" or using "police brutality" as this recent event is being portrayed.Let me share with you some facts which have conveniently been left out of the narrative going viral.

1. First & foremost, Craig Ranch in NOT an all white neighborhood. It is the most diverse place I have ever lived. The situation & issue was not racial at all. Many black families live in CR along with Asians, Caucasians, Hispanics, Indians & more. The claim that it is some elitist neighborhood with "white privilege" is beyond ridiculous.

2. This was not a little pool party at a residential home & neighbors didn't call the police because they saw too many black faces. That is absurd & absolutely laughable given the demographics of this neighborhood. The pool is a private community pool for residents only. They pay a large HOA fee each year for the benefit of having a private pool. Residents have to use an ID card for access & are allowed up to two guests/ID card. Security is in place to ensure that rules are followed & the area is safe - again, another expense paid for by homeowners.

3. In some news reports I have seen it reported in a way that implies this was a resident having a private pool party at their home. Now while some of the people there were in fact residents, the vast majority were not & they were trespassing in a private community pool. Why were they there? Because the party was being promoted by people on Twitter, including a DJ who sat up in a public place next to the community pool & begin playing very loud explicit music while parents were there trying to enjoy the day with their kids. Tickets were being sold. No one had the right to do that & no one had authorization from the HOA for a party.

4. HOA rules for the pool also include that children must be at least 16 years of age to be there unsupervised. Teenagers were being dropped off by the carload. When the security guard at the pool asked to see ID & refused to let them in, these kids displayed an absolute blatant disregard for rules/authority & began jumping over the fence. Once inside their behavior was wild, loud, obnoxious, rude, with no regard for the families & small children there. Small children were knocked down in some of the ruckus. Cursing, sex, drug use & more. It was not good & certainly not what these families want to see when they are at the private pool they pay for with large HOA dues each year. And let's not forget these teens were trespassing. In addition to the above, there was a verbal altercation between one of the party goers & a mom who lives in the neighborhood. By all accounts things were being said on both sides that should not have been, BUT when the mother attempted leave with her children an actual physical fight broke out & the mom was assaulted while her children ran to the car terrified & crying. THAT is when the police were called. The same girl & others threw items including water bottles at the mom's vehicle as she was driving away.

5. This is not the first time these types of parties have taken place in local cities - the people posting about them on Twitter actually brag about taking over the neighborhood's pools. Craig Ranch is great neighborhood who takes care of their own & pulls together whether someone is sick, needs help jump starting their car, loses their home in a fire or just help fixing something around the house. Fund raisers have been held for a critically injured child & anti-bullying rally after a neighborhood teen tragically took his own life. These are for the most part GOOD people. When the Craig Ranch homeowners & security guards see destruction of property, an unsafe environment, rules & laws being broken by what some are estimating as at least 100 non-resident teens who are trespassing & being violent, yes they called the police. Wouldn't you? Let me be clear, the police were not called because there were black kids just hanging out at an innocent little pool party. Black kids are always there, as I said it's a very diverse neighborhood & seeing a black face in not unusual in the least. I can also guarantee that the police would have been called if it had been a crowd of all white teenagers behaving the same way. The difference would be the lack of race card being played.

6. The small portion of video that is circulating on the media outlets is a clip from a 7:20 minute video which also does not clearly portray the entire situation. There was mass chaos & a large crowd all around. When the responding officers got there they were massively unnumbered by a crowd of kids who were violent, refused to comply, began running & displayed a complete lack of respect for authority. What most people, who have been spoon fed garbage by the media, think is that a police officer used excessive force, drew his weapon unnecessarily & was a racist. Let's address racism first, it is a fact that most of the party goers were black. The people who were Tweeting the invites were black, a lot of their followers & people coming to the pool were black. So based upon the law of averages, yes black children are going to be detained. That's not racist, its just a fact, there were more black kids there. These officers were walking blindly into a hostile environment & their job was to protect people & restore order. Its very difficult to establish order when you have dozens of kids running around wildly, shouting, fighting & refusing to obey simple commands. When an officer asks you to leave, you leave. When he tells you to sit down, you sit. Once order has been established they will listen to you & sort things out. It's true, that is what they are trained to do. Just because they ask you to sit does not mean you are being arrested, but order had to be restored first. The police department had to call for additional units & back up assistance from the fire department because it was mass chaos & took at least 30 minutes to get things under control. This video & the brief clip being shown cannot possibly accurately capture the events that unfolded. The girl in the video was running her mouth & refused to leave the scene when directed to do so, several times. She was given every opportunity to comply, she didn't & when she continued
ranting the officer went to detain her. At that point she is breaking the law by resisting & the officer did what he had to do. Of course he took her down, she should have left when she had the chance & stopped running her mouth. She wanted to act tough & grown. Guess what? Act grown, get treated grown, she didn't like that much & called for her Momma. If Momma had taught her to respect authority, she would have never been in this situation. With regard to the amount of force, more force was needed because she was fighting him. He followed protocol by putting her down & restraining her with his knee until she calmed down & stopped fighting. Again, none of this would have happened if she had just left.

 

[Dans]

7. The issue of drawing his gun is being raised. He didn't just openly draw his gun & swing it around threatening "innocent" teens. While attempting to subdue the girl he was rushed by other teens including one who looks to be reaching behind him. The teen probably wasn't but remember this was all happening in real time with a very chaotic environment & the officer had a split second to make a decision. Those kids charging him could have overpowered him, mob mentality could have taken over, someone could have been hurt including those boys, the officer or innocent bystanders who were attempting to help. If I was being charged by two teenage boys in a large unruly crowd, you can bet your sweet a$$ I would have drawn my weapon too. There are two things to remember, 1. his finger was not even on the trigger he handled the gun safely & properly and 2. he reholstered it as soon as possible once the threat of immediate danger was gone. Please remember that these officers were trying to do their jobs without interference. I fully support the MPD & the actions taken on scene. Not for one minute do I think he used excessive force, nor was there police brutality. He did what he had to do in the moment to re-establish order & create a safe environment for everyone. They are there to protect & serve, their lives are put on the line every single day with situations most of us can only imagine.

8. Once things calmed down & got sorted out most of the teens were released to their parents and NOT arrested. Good, right? No, unfortunately most of the parents who showed up were more concerned about how their precious babies were treated vs. what they did wrong that actually led to all of this nonsense. Police are immediately blamed, accused of brutality, the neighborhood & police are accused of being racist. Threats of complaints to the department & making the story "go viral" were made. Guess what? They got their wish, local media decided to show a slanted one sided view & fan the flames on this one - rushing to the news desk without doing their due diligence regarding the actual facts.

9. But the fun doesn't stop there, no, there is more! These kids decided to host another party in the neighborhood the next night at private residence. Again, said party was publicized on social media. Party goers roamed the neighborhood, vandalized it, were beating on people's doors at all hours of the night, stole a vehicle, crashed into parked cars & other petty nonsense. Threats have been made on social media against one of the residents & his family. This man was there & stepped in to assist both the police who were establishing order & the kid who got hurt while running from police. People have also publicized the police officer's name & address with threats against his life. This is not ok!!! Yes,‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ but so do everyone else's including the police officers on scene. The residents of Craig Ranch, regardless of race, should all be able to safely & peacefully enjoy their neighborhood without fear of violence or retaliation. At this point while most everyone in the Craig Ranch Family stands united in a non-racist attitude with support & gratefulness towards the MPD, many of them are afraid to go on camera or even on record to give a statement regarding the actual events. The journalists are taking their intel from minors who were committing crimes.

10. The media frenzy surrounding all of this is ridiculous. At the end of the day an officer who was doing his job has been labeled a racist, received death threats & placed on administrative leave. That is procedure in a case like this & doesn't mean he will be found guilty of any wrong doing, but the court of public opinion has already tried & convicted him without all the facts. Now a man's career could be on the line, his reputation has been tarnished by irresponsible reporting. The media keeps race baiting & fanning the flames of racism. I urge you all to do some research on this & other news stories before blindly accepting the crap the media feeds us for ratings. Information is out there, I will also be adding links & screenshots in the comments below.

Are there cases of excessive force used by officers? Yes, of course there are, it's wrong & should not happen but this was not one of those cases. Does racism exist? Yes, we should not be naive enough to believe it doesn't. Sadly racism is all too real, but it goes both ways - being black (or any other color for that matter) does not entitle you to automatic exemption from obeying the law & following a police officer's commands. Nor does being caucasian mean we all have "white privilege" & hate black people - that stereotype is wrong & just another form of discrimination. It's offensive just like all forms of racism.

Sorry for the super long "book length" post. If you took the time to read it, thank you. There is so much misinformation out there, bits & pieces here & there and a complete lack of integrity by the media/journalists to give the full story. Their soundbites are causing passionate reactions & people are hopping on the racism train without the benefit of having all the facts. The media is playing a shameless role in dividing this nation's people & they need to be held accountable for this. Do not blindly trust everything reported - they are there for ratings not the benefit of the public & certainly not for those they choose to villainize. Do you think they care for one minute that a police officer's career could be over because of their irresponsible reporting? No, he is just collateral damage. And truth be told, they don't care whether those teens were in the right or wrong, it was a story & in a couple of days the news cycle will change and someone else will be thrown into the fire... If you found this post helpful at all, feel free to like or share. Even if it didn't change your opinion, that's ok, everyone is entitled to their own, but before anyone jumps to conclusions more people need to realize how slanted & one sided this "viral" story is.

Bottom line: I know & love McKinney, Texas - Unique by Nature, I know the McKinney Police Department & McKinney Police Association and I fully support the MPD & the officer's actions, and I know Craig Ranch which is full of many wonderful & caring people and friends. The Craig Ranch Family is not a racist one, it is one that will pull together & get thru this and then continue to enjoy living in the #1 best place in America.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

That reads like someone who's worried about their property prices being affected by this - "the #1 best place in America", apparently.

Nothing in there to justify the actions of the cop and that whole section of the rant (points 6-8) makes whoever wrote it sound like a bit of an asshole tbh. Plus, it's always best to ignore the opinion of anyone who bleats about racism "going both ways".

 

[Rado_N]

That reads like someone who's worried about their property prices being affected by this - "the #1 best place in America", apparently.

Nothing in there to justify the actions of the cop and that whole section of the rant (points 6-8) makes whoever wrote it sound like a bit of an asshole tbh. Plus, it's always best to ignore the opinion of anyone who bleats about racism "going both ways".

I saw the size of the post(s) and thought 'I'm not reading that' - glad I didn't bother.

 

[Brwned]

I find it genuinely offensive that any police offer that enters this thread always defends cops doing disgusting things. Then again I guess these incidents wouldn't happen as often as they do without this prevalent attitude. Just goes to show the strength of brotherhood. It'd be a bit like me defending sodomy in the Catholic church because i'm Catholic and know there are innocent priests.

 

[VeevaVee]

While there may be more than meets the eye, the whole thing is still ridiculous.

This was my favourite bit of that - "If I was being charged by two teenage boys in a large unruly crowd, you can bet your sweet a$$ I would have drawn my weapon too. " It's almost hilarious.

 

[Grinner]

It was rambo cop who made that crowd unruly. He was charging around, yelling and swearing. He seemed upset that the girl didn't respect his authoritah.

 

[bpet15]

There was no need to take down the girl in that manner and the boys' attempt to help their friend is perfectly understandable because the police officer has crossed the line

There are many of us on different sides of the foundation of this argument - but none of us excuse the actions of SOME of these officers.

However the statement above is by far the worst statement in 25 pages of this topic and it goes to the thought process that for me is the core issue with what we are seeing in these incidents. There was a time when very few people would disobey a police officer - know we teach our kids to question authority and therefore have lost all respect of authority.

If her friends wanted to help her - they should have told her to shut her mouth, quit resisting and then we will work it out. Instead they come behind the officers like they want to fight him...absolute stupidity.

I don't know - I am starting to see the other side of things a little more regarding these situations. However, the one thing every one of these instances have in common is the fact that the so called "victim" does not comply with the officers commands. Many of these instances would have never happened if they would have simply laid down with their hands in plain sight. I am not going to get involved in the argument of whether or not police officers have the right to demand someone to lay down for no reason - that is a different topic - but I can tell you we would have many fewer instances like these if people would just listen.

 

[Brwned]

There are many of us on different sides of the foundation of this argument - but none of us excuse the actions of SOME of these officers.

However the statement above is by far the worst statement in 25 pages of this topic and it goes to the thought process that for me is the core issue with what we are seeing in these incidents. There was a time when very few people would disobey a police officer - know we teach our kids to question authority and therefore have lost all respect of authority.

If her friends wanted to help her - they should have told her to shut her mouth, quit resisting and then we will work it out. Instead they come behind the officers like they want to fight him...absolute stupidity.

I don't know - I am starting to see the other side of things a little more regarding these situations. However, the one thing every one of these instances have in common is the fact that the so called "victim" does not comply with the officers commands. Many of these instances would have never happened if they would have simply laid down with their hands in plain sight. I am not going to get involved in the argument of whether or not police officers have the right to demand someone to lay down for no reason - that is a different topic - but I can tell you we would have many fewer instances like these if people would just listen.

Why stop there? Let's just go fully totalitarian. Fahrenheit 451 all the way.

 

[Bury Red]

There are many of us on different sides of the foundation of this argument - but none of us excuse the actions of SOME of these officers.

However the statement above is by far the worst statement in 25 pages of this topic and it goes to the thought process that for me is the core issue with what we are seeing in these incidents. There was a time when very few people would disobey a police officer - know we teach our kids to question authority and therefore have lost all respect of authority.

If her friends wanted to help her - they should have told her to shut her mouth, quit resisting and then we will work it out. Instead they come behind the officers like they want to fight him...absolute stupidity.

I don't know - I am starting to see the other side of things a little more regarding these situations. However, the one thing every one of these instances have in common is the fact that the so called "victim" does not comply with the officers commands. Many of these instances would have never happened if they would have simply laid down with their hands in plain sight. I am not going to get involved in the argument of whether or not police officers have the right to demand someone to lay down for no reason - that is a different topic - but I can tell you we would have many fewer instances like these if people would just listen.

And there would be far less need for officers to insist people lie down in the street if every Tom, Dick and ******* wasn't packing heat in accordance with their constitutional rights yet we're wrong for pointing out that blatantly obvious causation.

The simple fact is that all of these videos, to the outside world, show consistently poor self control, blatant racism and often brutality from a police force drunk on power and scared of the very people they are employed to protect and serve. In one of these situations, I would not be daft enough to appear threatening to a police officer but there's no fecking way I'd be lying face down in the street because some power drunk yahoo is screaming in my face due to his own fear and if by standing my ground and insisting on the basic human right of respect and dignity I got myself shot I'm sure you'd all be justified in pointing out to my widow how I was in the wrong.

 

[bpet15]

Why stop there? Let's just go fully totalitarian. Fahrenheit 451 all the way.

To be fair - you took quite a leap from what I said to "let's just go fully totalitarian."

 

[Brwned]

To be fair - you took quite a leap from what I said to "let's just go fully totalitarian."

"If people just listen" to authority and "lay down" on the ground regardless of whether they feel its right or just...well, that's a very slippery slope that opens you up to all kinds of abuse of control/power. Choosing not to question authority is a very, very dangerous thing to do.

 

[Silva]

The authorities aren't doing much to earn our respect.

 

[Skizzo]

I find it genuinely offensive that any police offer that enters this thread always defends cops doing disgusting things. Then again I guess these incidents wouldn't happen as often as they do without this prevalent attitude. Just goes to show the strength of brotherhood. It'd be a bit like me defending sodomy in the Catholic church because i'm Catholic and know there are innocent priests.

I don't think I've always defended every officers actions in here at all. In fact my post farther up this page even says I find some of their actions disgusting and way beyond what the situation requires.

I find your generalization genuinely offensive, but carry on by all means. Don't let me get in the way of your narrative of this evil brotherhood.

 

[Gambit]

"If people just listen" to authority and "lay down" on the ground regardless of whether they feel its right or just...well, that's a very slippery slope that opens you up to all kinds of abuse of control/power. Choosing not to question authority is a very, very dangerous thing to do.

Funny, as that's exactly the same thing the pro gun groups in the USA say.

 

[Shamwow]

Funny, as that's exactly the same thing the pro gun groups in the USA say.

Ah yes, the pro gun groups which are constantly getting harassed by police.

 

[adexkola]

Ah yes, the pro gun groups which are constantly getting harassed by police.

I mean, these guys don't look harassed...

 

[langster]

That reads like someone who's worried about their property prices being affected by this - "the #1 best place in America", apparently.

Nothing in there to justify the actions of the cop and that whole section of the rant (points 6-8) makes whoever wrote it sound like a bit of an asshole tbh. Plus, it's always best to ignore the opinion of anyone who bleats about racism "going both ways".

I read it all and thought the exact same thing, that it was written by a complete arsehole, or someone who lives in a bubble. I also spent the entire time whilst reading it thinking "what if this happened in the UK?" and then I realised, it does, all the time, and incidents like this are avoided because our Police officers don't carry guns.

 

[bpet15]

"If people just listen" to authority and "lay down" on the ground regardless of whether they feel its right or just...well, that's a very slippery slope that opens you up to all kinds of abuse of control/power. Choosing not to question authority is a very, very dangerous thing to do.

Choosing to question authority has proved an even more dangerous thing to do for many of these individuals that have lost their lives in these type of scenarios. I get it though, you are talking about a different type of danger - and to be honest I probably agree with you on the social danger of not questioning authority...when appropriate.

The bottom line is that most of us all live in a society where police officers are given the authority to question and arrest people for various things. This isn't an inherent authority, it is an authority given to them within the structure of our societies. The court system typically takes it from there - but that is entirely a different conversation. There is no question in my mind that there are asshole cops that question people for no reason and are overly aggressive. I will even agree that there are people that are stopped and questioned for no reason at all - although I would guess that this is an extremely small percentage.

I am a pretty simple minded person that doesn't live much in grey areas - so I form my opinions a little different than others. I think the lack of respect for authority amongst people today (mainly youths) contributes heavily to the issues we are having. They don't respect police - we have tons of problems, they don't respect teachers - our schools are a mess and good teachers no longer want to teach, they don't respect the law - we have too much crime, they don't respect their elders - we end up with a society that lives by the "I don't have to listen to nobody" creed. For those of you that don't believe in respecting authority, I challenge you to tell your boss to "feck themselves" next time they tell you to do something. Your boss doesn't have an inherent authority over you, but he/she does within the confines of your company...it is the same way in civilized society with police, teachers and any other authority figure. You have the choice - and your choice dictates what happens next.

I am a big believer in change and would promote any change that makes all of us better - but it has to be done the correct way. Blatant disrespect and disobedience of authority is not the correct way to handle this. If you are harassed by police, teachers or anyone in an authoritative position - go through the channels and report it. If a specific police officer has been reported multiple times for instances, change should be made...if it isn't then we use community leaders and advocates to bring the issues up in an environment that isn't violent and doesn't drive a wedge between those that have authority and everyday civilians.

I will give you an example - that goes back many years - a time where our youth were taught to respect authority...much different than today.

Two young black teenagers driving in a terrible area of town (before cell phones and GPS) trying to find our way to a friends house to pick him up for summer league basketball practice. Driving in circles not able to find the street we need to get to - after a few circles we get pulled over by two white police officers. In our minds we did nothing wrong, in their minds it was quite suspicious that we were driving aimlessly in this neighborhood. Police officers ask us to get out of the car with our hands up (area is known for gangs, drugs and violent crimes) - we comply - they move us to the front of our car and ask what is going on. We show them the respect we were taught to show - yes sir - no sir - they then offer to let us follow them to the street we needed to get to and pick up our friend.

Now much older, I often think back to that and have come to realize that it wasn't the police that were in control of that situation - we were in were in control. Our actions and how we treated the officers dictated whether or not the situation was cordial or combative. If we would have stormed out of the car yelling "why are you pulling us over - it must be because we are black" it would have turned out to be totally different.

The fact remains that most of us live in a societal structures that provide authority to people within their job functions - I don't see that changing anytime soon. In the meantime we all have a choice as to how we interact with those who are given this authority. We can make the choice to work with them and respect the job they have to do or we can work against them and suffer the consequences - none of which I ever hope end the way we have seen lately.

 

[Nobby style]

7. The issue of drawing his gun is being raised. He didn't just openly draw his gun & swing it around threatening "innocent" teens. While attempting to subdue the girl he was rushed by other teens including one who looks to be reaching behind him. The teen probably wasn't but remember this was all happening in real time with a very chaotic environment & the officer had a split second to make a decision. Those kids charging him could have overpowered him, mob mentality could have taken over, someone could have been hurt including those boys, the officer or innocent bystanders who were attempting to help. If I was being charged by two teenage boys in a large unruly crowd, you can bet your sweet a$$ I would have drawn my weapon too. There are two things to remember, 1. his finger was not even on the trigger he handled the gun safely & properly and 2. he reholstered it as soon as possible once the threat of immediate danger was gone. Please remember that these officers were trying to do their jobs without interference. I fully support the MPD & the actions taken on scene. Not for one minute do I think he used excessive force, nor was there police brutality. He did what he had to do in the moment to re-establish order & create a safe environment for everyone. They are there to protect & serve, their lives are put on the line every single day with situations most of us can only imagine.

8. Once things calmed down & got sorted out most of the teens were released to their parents and NOT arrested. Good, right? No, unfortunately most of the parents who showed up were more concerned about how their precious babies were treated vs. what they did wrong that actually led to all of this nonsense. Police are immediately blamed, accused of brutality, the neighborhood & police are accused of being racist. Threats of complaints to the department & making the story "go viral" were made. Guess what? They got their wish, local media decided to show a slanted one sided view & fan the flames on this one - rushing to the news desk without doing their due diligence regarding the actual facts.

9. But the fun doesn't stop there, no, there is more! These kids decided to host another party in the neighborhood the next night at private residence. Again, said party was publicized on social media. Party goers roamed the neighborhood, vandalized it, were beating on people's doors at all hours of the night, stole a vehicle, crashed into parked cars & other petty nonsense. Threats have been made on social media against one of the residents & his family. This man was there & stepped in to assist both the police who were establishing order & the kid who got hurt while running from police. People have also publicized the police officer's name & address with threats against his life. This is not ok!!! Yes,‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ but so do everyone else's including the police officers on scene. The residents of Craig Ranch, regardless of race, should all be able to safely & peacefully enjoy their neighborhood without fear of violence or retaliation. At this point while most everyone in the Craig Ranch Family stands united in a non-racist attitude with support & gratefulness towards the MPD, many of them are afraid to go on camera or even on record to give a statement regarding the actual events. The journalists are taking their intel from minors who were committing crimes.

10. The media frenzy surrounding all of this is ridiculous. At the end of the day an officer who was doing his job has been labeled a racist, received death threats & placed on administrative leave. That is procedure in a case like this & doesn't mean he will be found guilty of any wrong doing, but the court of public opinion has already tried & convicted him without all the facts. Now a man's career could be on the line, his reputation has been tarnished by irresponsible reporting. The media keeps race baiting & fanning the flames of racism. I urge you all to do some research on this & other news stories before blindly accepting the crap the media feeds us for ratings. Information is out there, I will also be adding links & screenshots in the comments below.

Are there cases of excessive force used by officers? Yes, of course there are, it's wrong & should not happen but this was not one of those cases. Does racism exist? Yes, we should not be naive enough to believe it doesn't. Sadly racism is all too real, but it goes both ways - being black (or any other color for that matter) does not entitle you to automatic exemption from obeying the law & following a police officer's commands. Nor does being caucasian mean we all have "white privilege" & hate black people - that stereotype is wrong & just another form of discrimination. It's offensive just like all forms of racism.

Sorry for the super long "book length" post. If you took the time to read it, thank you. There is so much misinformation out there, bits & pieces here & there and a complete lack of integrity by the media/journalists to give the full story. Their soundbites are causing passionate reactions & people are hopping on the racism train without the benefit of having all the facts. The media is playing a shameless role in dividing this nation's people & they need to be held accountable for this. Do not blindly trust everything reported - they are there for ratings not the benefit of the public & certainly not for those they choose to villainize. Do you think they care for one minute that a police officer's career could be over because of their irresponsible reporting? No, he is just collateral damage. And truth be told, they don't care whether those teens were in the right or wrong, it was a story & in a couple of days the news cycle will change and someone else will be thrown into the fire... If you found this post helpful at all, feel free to like or share. Even if it didn't change your opinion, that's ok, everyone is entitled to their own, but before anyone jumps to conclusions more people need to realize how slanted & one sided this "viral" story is.

Bottom line: I know & love McKinney, Texas - Unique by Nature, I know the McKinney Police Department & McKinney Police Association and I fully support the MPD & the officer's actions, and I know Craig Ranch which is full of many wonderful & caring people and friends. The Craig Ranch Family is not a racist one, it is one that will pull together & get thru this and then continue to enjoy living in the #1 best place in America.

Here´s the actual kid who was there at the party, witnessed it all, shot the video, had the cojones to put his face on video for the whole world to see and tell his story in a very calm, adult way; as opposed to nameless and faceless Facebook texts passed around to carry the water for the cops and the usual white victims.

You gotta admit, that Facebook post sounds like one of the chain e-mails or messages passed between those of a certain skin color and political/social belief.

 

[Grinner]

Interesting press conference from pool cop's attorney going on right now.

 

[langster]

Here´s the actual kid who was there at the party, witnessed it all, shot the video, had the cojones to put his face on video for the whole world to see and tell his story in a very calm, adult way; as opposed to nameless and faceless Facebook texts passed around to carry the water for the cops and the usual white victims.

You gotta admit, that Facebook post sounds like one of the chain e-mails or messages passed between those of a certain skin color and political/social belief.

Wow he looks wasted. That aside, I believe his account, he seems very genuine and sincere, doesn't stutter or pause to think what he is saying or correct himself, he looks straight at the guy who is asking him the questions and he appears very calm throughout the interview. I'd like to see the person who wrote the essay above on Facebook give a similar interview, I bet it wouldn't be so composed.

 

[Dans]

Here´s the actual kid who was there at the party, witnessed it all, shot the video, had the cojones to put his face on video for the whole world to see and tell his story in a very calm, adult way; as opposed to nameless and faceless Facebook texts passed around to carry the water for the cops and the usual white victims.

You gotta admit, that Facebook post sounds like one of the chain e-mails or messages passed between those of a certain skin color and political/social belief.

The actual kid says (3m18secs approx) in response to the interviewers question about whether the cops went after black kids only that yeah they did, I was one of the only white kids there and they went past me.

Hello?

 

[Grinner]

Cop's attorney said he was having a bad day because he'd responded to two suicides earlier in the day. I can sympathise with that but he's a ten-year veteran and trained to deal with stress...not an excuse IMO.

 

[adexkola]

Choosing to question authority has proved an even more dangerous thing to do for many of these individuals that have lost their lives in these type of scenarios. I get it though, you are talking about a different type of danger - and to be honest I probably agree with you on the social danger of not questioning authority...when appropriate.

A lot of people have died at the hands of police, irrespective of whether authority was challenged or not. "Challenging authority" is not the main issue here.

The bottom line is that most of us all live in a society where police officers are given the authority to question and arrest people for various things. This isn't an inherent authority, it is an authority given to them within the structure of our societies. The court system typically takes it from there - but that is entirely a different conversation. There is no question in my mind that there are asshole cops that question people for no reason and are overly aggressive. I will even agree that there are people that are stopped and questioned for no reason at all - although I would guess that this is an extremely small percentage.

Where do you live? In New York City, Stop and Frisk was a program targeted at black and hispanic communities, that resulted in the illegal search and arrests of thousands of urban folk. This was not done by an extremely small, negligible, insignificant, infinitesimal (whatever adjective you want to put here that describes an irrelevant amount) proportion of the police force. In fact, a huge proportion of police were engaged in this exercise. Extrapolate that fact nationwide, and you see that no, it is not an extremely small percentage.

I am a pretty simple minded person that doesn't live much in grey areas - so I form my opinions a little different than others. I think the lack of respect for authority amongst people today (mainly youths) contributes heavily to the issues we are having. They don't respect police - we have tons of problems, they don't respect teachers - our schools are a mess and good teachers no longer want to teach, they don't respect the law - we have too much crime, they don't respect their elders - we end up with a society that lives by the "I don't have to listen to nobody" creed. For those of you that don't believe in respecting authority, I challenge you to tell your boss to "feck themselves" next time they tell you to do something. Your boss doesn't have an inherent authority over you, but he/she does within the confines of your company...it is the same way in civilized society with police, teachers and any other authority figure. You have the choice - and your choice dictates what happens next.

Your train of thought derailed at this point.

What world do you live in, that will be better if folks just learn to respect police? Like, what the feck? What gives you the impression that the police will act within the confines of their power if everyone just says "sir yes sir" and "ma'am yes ma'am"?

I am a big believer in change and would promote any change that makes all of us better - but it has to be done the correct way. Blatant disrespect and disobedience of authority is not the correct way to handle this. If you are harassed by police, teachers or anyone in an authoritative position - go through the channels and report it. If a specific police officer has been reported multiple times for instances, change should be made...if it isn't then we use community leaders and advocates to bring the issues up in an environment that isn't violent and doesn't drive a wedge between those that have authority and everyday civilians.

You're mixing two things here. Protests against police brutality have been mostly peaceful yet forceful in demand. The latest issue involved rowdy youth who were throwing loud parties. That was a situation that could have been resolved in a thousand ways without ending up shoving a young girl in the ground and brandishing a lethal weapon at 2 boys.

Lord knows this police officer would have remained in his post if the video which bypassed official channels was released. Says a lot about these "official channels" you place in high regard.

Two young black teenagers driving in a terrible area of town (before cell phones and GPS) trying to find our way to a friends house to pick him up for summer league basketball practice. Driving in circles not able to find the street we need to get to - after a few circles we get pulled over by two white police officers. In our minds we did nothing wrong, in their minds it was quite suspicious that we were driving aimlessly in this neighborhood. Police officers ask us to get out of the car with our hands up (area is known for gangs, drugs and violent crimes) - we comply - they move us to the front of our car and ask what is going on. We show them the respect we were taught to show - yes sir - no sir - they then offer to let us follow them to the street we needed to get to and pick up our friend.

I have been in many situations like this, and yes, you're supposed to act with respect, obey all lawful requests from policemen, etc... That being said...

Now much older, I often think back to that and have come to realize that it wasn't the police that were in control of that situation - we were in were in control. Our actions and how we treated the officers dictated whether or not the situation was cordial or combative. If we would have stormed out of the car yelling "why are you pulling us over - it must be because we are black" it would have turned out to be totally different.

You were not in control. I was not in control. The bloke who was killed while placed at the back of a police van was not in control. The guy with the gun is in control, at all times, and he will act as he pleases, whether you suck up to him or not. I have seen many examples of people throwing a fit at the cops; Reese Witherspoon a few year ago ranted at a Georgia cop, screaming, "DO YOU KNOW WHO THE feck I AM?", interfering with an interrogation of her partner. Was she manhandled? Was she assaulted? Was she killed? No, she got put in jail, and charged accordingly, for interfering with a police officer. Meanwhile, we cut to a man (black by the way) in North Carolina. Gets pulled over. Asked for identification. Reaches for it, and subsequently gets shot by a police officer. Miraculously he wasn't killed. And miraculously the police dash cam was running. Control? With all due respect, you control jack shit.

The fact remains that most of us live in a societal structures that provide authority to people within their job functions - I don't see that changing anytime soon. In the meantime we all have a choice as to how we interact with those who are given this authority. We can make the choice to work with them and respect the job they have to do or we can work against them and suffer the consequences - none of which I ever hope end the way we have seen lately.

No. The onus is on them to use their power in the right way. You have the right to walk down the street without being profiled. And if you're profiled, you can choose to lay down and take it so you can get on with your day. And you can also choose to bitch about it, and give the police an earful. Either way he better act right. If not hopefully someone is filming.

 

[psychdelicblues]

Here's another take on it that came through on my facebook news feed.......courtesy of knowing people who live in that area and Fox news.

Fixed for accuracy.