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Fixing the Law Enforcement System - Part B Updated: June 13, 2010

Why are the police so blantantly brutal when they know full well they are being watched?
Because they can!

04/18/2010

Paper By: Howard Taylor

In part B of this series we will discuss police brutality and it's effects on society's view of the police and just as important how it affects police departments and police officers and the way they carry out their duties.

Let me re-state the problems as I see them:

1. Laws designed to protect us from government are incomplete and that is by design.
2. The police have become brutal and are getting worse.
3. Civil Rights have taken a serious step backward.
4. Management, at all levels of the legal system, has a narrow focus designed to protect “the system.”
5. The law is interpreted differently depending on whether one is a civilian or whether one is some how tied to law enforcement.
6. All levels of law enforcement ignore the law when it is convenient.
7. The hiring process for the typical police department is a tragic comedy of errors.

These problems span a wide range of necessary actions in order to begin the process of healing the justice system in this country.

Video is everywhere these days. Even some of the most inexpensive cell phones can capture video and some of the best video evidence comes from the police themselves. With this in mind one would think the police would be on their best behavior and extra careful when dealing with people yet they seem to be getting more violent than ever before. It seems that as time goes by and more and more incidences are recorded and made public the frequency and level of brutality is escalating. The reason this is happening is because even though they are caught red handed committing crimes of brutality and violence against citizens nothing is done about it. This starts a cycle that feeds an attitude that there is nothing that can be done or will be done so the police just keep taking that extra step going a little further with each incident thinking they are bullet proof. This is the heart of the problem - management will not discipline field officers. In addition the blue wall of silence kicks in and officers who know a crime has been committed will not report it to their superiors.

(1) Watch as the Birmingham police brutaly beat an already unconscious man.

(2) Minneapolis police beat a man who is offering no resistance and is already subdued.

In the first video above the suspect has indeed committed aggregious acts. He has eluded police and very nearly hits a pedestrian police officer. When the suspect finally crashes it is obvious to the viewers the man is totally incapacitated and was obvious to the platoon of cops who swarmed on him and brutally beat him anyway. The man lies absolutely motionless for a significant period before the first office reaches him. Five of these police officers were fired but this is an extreme case. Most of the time when brutal acts are captured on video they are adjudicated as appropriate and we as citizens have no recourse and just have to take it.

In the second video a man is pulled over for speeding. The officer reports the man was told to stay in his car - the man does not. Even though the man makes no threatening move what so ever the officer immediately starts a classic beat down. The officer soon gains control of the man who does not resist in the least but when other officers arrive they start a beat down of their own with one officer kicking the man in the head several times. It is doubtful that any disciplinary actions will be taken against any of these officers.

What sparks this kind of rage in police officers? To be sure we are genetically programmed to react to threats with counter threats and force with force. In our daily travels many of us find ourselves on occassion faced with a person who is unreasonable, offensive or even threatening. The typical reaction is to move away and resist the confrontation. It is out of a sense of civility more than anything else that governs our behavior in these moments. It is our personal built-in level of self control and restraint that allows most of us to avoid escalted altercations under these circumstances. Police officers are suppossed to be highly trained to react to stressful situations with calm and calculated decisions based on their training and experience in the field and most of the time they do. So why do things like we see in these videos happen with such regularity?

(3) South Carolina Trooper threatens a woman with his weapon then arrests her. He is later fired and she gets a six figure settlement.

(4) Two Seattle Police officers beat a 90 lb. 16 year old girl mercilously in full view of jail video cameras with no restraint or regret.

I would suggest to you that the police, over time, have developed a sense of self importance and that perception of themselves eclipses our rights and the law in their minds. Watch video no. 3. A woman is being pulled over but continues on because she was not sure if the man was a real cop as she later explains (we can assume this is an unmarked car). When she finally stops the officer is in such a frenzied state of mind that he loses all control. His voice command is totally out of balance with the circumstances he is faced with. He has lost control of the situation because he has petrified the subject with his irrational behavior. I would suggest to the reader that what is really going on in this officer's mind is the insult he feels because he is not being obeyed. It has less to do with the fact that she didn't pull over as the law requires but rather HE was disrespected. This kind of attitude can be seen more and more these days by what is becoming one of the most common reasons for arresting people on the street: disorderly conduct. Our right to freedom of speech is being trampled on in cases where citizens say things that offend officers. In many of these cases the police arrest the citizen and make a claim of disorderly conduct. People are being arrested for simply stating their feelings about a given situation involving the police. People are being arrested for nothing more than words and this illustrates the anger the police have inside themselves. They are so on edge about what they "think" they are in this world they cannot take criticism. They actually see themselves on a different plane than the rest of us. A higher plane. It is them against us.

The police have developed a hive mentality that is one for all and all for one and that the ONE is more important than any and all other considerations. The ONE is more important than you and I and more important than the law. The indiscretions committed out of this hive mentality are less and less frequently disciplined and it is this lack of leadership from the top that fuels this 'monster.' The reason the police do the horrible things they do in full view of the cameras is BECAUSE THEY CAN. Our civil rights have taken a back seat to the immature and childish needs of the hive.

Videos like we see here have lead to the dismissal of police officers and law suits. The police are now fighting back by arresting people for making videos under the guise of privacy laws. Some states have laws on the books known as 'two party consent laws.' These laws are designed to protect people from clandestine video/audio recordings without their consent. The exception to these laws is that people have no right to privacy under at least two circumstances: 1) while in public places and 2) while committing crimes or conducting themselevs in a dishonest manner.

It stands to reason that one of the most fundamental rights/duties of a citizen in a democracy is the ability to monitor and report the activities of the government and it's agencies. The right to critisize must exist and be protected otherwise we might as well live in China. Police agencies see public monitoring as a nuisance. The police see video monitoring for what it is: the primary evidence used against them when they break the law. Rather than responding by following the law the police have resorted to violating our constitutional rights and bastardizing the law by arresting people under the guise of violating wire tap laws and unfortunately the criminals who run the courts are doing everything they can to support this criminal behavior although to date regardless of the many arrests no convictions have been successfully secured. None the less the police did obtain their goal at the time and that was to stop people from recording their activities and this has the effect of intimidating people into submitting to their illegal orders. The glow of winning in court usually falls far short of the costs involved.

A good web site to visit that documents this 'war on video' is CarlosMiller.com. He some times covers other subjects but there are many articles documenting the unconstitutional activities of a growing number of police agencies and courts willing to violate the law and arrest people for taking pictures and recording videos in public places. This alarming attitude by the police and courts illustrates where we are going in this country: the police are going to beat us into submission and do as they damn well please and the courts are going to help them do it.

Those of you who are parents know the look a child gives you when you tell them time and time again to be quiet and go to sleep yet they do not and when you enter their bedroom to administer a well deserved swat they have the nerve to look at you like a deer in the headlights. They have that look of suprise - that look of disbelief that you are actually following up on your promise to punish. I assure you the cops and courts will do the same thing the day we finally say enough is enough and take our country back by force and hang those who have subjugated us to their brutal behavior - guaranteed.

If history tells us anything it is that the people of this country have a breaking point. I suggest to you that we are approaching that breaking point sooner than later. 60% of the poeple in this country approve of the death penalty. I have yet to read a single documented instance in history where one single person stood out in a crowd and attempted to stop the public lynching of a criminal the likes of which we are seeing these days with the cops and courts. I think it would be a serious mistake to think that will change should We the People be pushed to the point of having to exercise our muscle again against our own government. Jesus ... that sounds a lot like the revolutionary war - which the people won in a decisive and very bloody manner.

Part C follows soon.