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fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
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Nov 12, 2014 - 06:08pm PT
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Yep, we live in interesting times. There's still time to put a stop to it but it would require the majority of sheep to wake up. Historically that doesn't happen. But maybe...
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crankster
Trad climber
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Nov 12, 2014 - 07:19pm PT
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Davis, CA is returning their armored vehicle. Hope others follow.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Nov 12, 2014 - 08:05pm PT
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Clarence King writes:
"...adoration of liberty...is the only sure foundation of modern representative government."
It's not made clear the text is from a letter, a pamphlet, or what in my source, his bio, and he was writing on US-Spanish-Cuban relations in the 1890s, but even so, it still can apply to police guys beating on peace guys or their families.
Remember the Alamo? Remember the Maine? Will we remember Ferguson?
I doubt this will cause much of a ripple, but it needs to be aired out and talked out before it's buried under the next headline avalanche.
We have our SWAT guys, just like you have yours. This stupid paranoia has struck deeply into our police forces. It seems that they get pretty much whatever they ask for nowadays, within reason. Heaters for a traffic cop's motorcycle is not the equivalent of the latest fifty or twenty mm twin.
We limited the city police, of course. Kevin drives the unit, since it's his car. He owns Binary Systems Computers or BS Computers. He volunteers, of course. He thinks he may get free advertising on TV out of it when the unit needs to respond and the media is in back of the floodlights, filming away. He closed the shop and drove in the parade, right behind the sheriff's swank SWAT vehicle. The sheriff gets pretty much what he needs here--more ammo for target shooting so they don't have too much problem with stray rounds because of the practice, that's a biggie. We just last week elected a new sheriff, so this is a suspenseful time here.
Seriously, we ARE in PS right now, and it's everywhere there is a badge. It's the uniformity of the training. Much the same as in the military. Who's teaching these courses? Ex-military.
Not seriously (for the unobservant), the cannon atop the smaller vehicle above is a broomstick, I guess; turret, probably cardboard; hatch, a plastic garbage can cut down to size.
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fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
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Nov 12, 2014 - 08:05pm PT
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I had two local "woods cops" literally jump me one night whilst I was riding my bicycle across a paved road atop a local dam after dark (like 7pm). They had been hiding behind a concrete barrier. I had a bright headlamp and my back was festooned with blinking lights as to not get killed on the normal roads. Both of these thugs had guns drawn and were shaking like leaves... One had her (yes her) finger tightly wrapped around the trigger. I'd lived there 10 years and made the same trip at least 1000 times. This was in a rural crime-free area frequented by baby strollers, dog walkers, and people from the neighborhood all the time.
After some panicked screaming and yelling when I blinded them completely with my much brighter HID headlamp... they informed me this road was closed after dark. That's when I saw the finger on the trigger... I can still see it.
When everyone had calmed down I asked the big dumb one if they had some kind of recent problem that caused them to react horribly to a lone bicyclist in shorts and a white t-shirt with lethal force. She looked at me with those big retarded TSA eyes and said "Nine-eleven buddy.. Nine-eleven....."
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Nov 12, 2014 - 08:16pm PT
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I suppose there are more over-policed states than Utah, but I recall a 1990's article in the "somewhat-liberal" Salt Lake Tribune titled: "Don't Question Authority."
It described the out of control Salt Lake City & Country Police offences against respectable citizens, who happened to piss off a cop.
The story featured graphic descriptions of folks like the 80 year old returning to a public garage after a Jazz basketball game, who questioned the folks shining flashlights in his eyes, if they were police. He was stomped, beaten, and ended up in a hospital in critical condition.
I also remember the woman who offended an off-duty cop while driving to work. He forced her car to the edge of the road, jumped out and screamed at her to get the fuk out of her car. When she asked who he was, he pulled her out of her car by the hair and stomped her.
Of course, both those folks and many others ended up in jail and /or the hospital.
The local police union fights any lawsuits, like anyone who questions authority is Satan.
I’m sure it is worse for those that aren’t white, or who don’t look respectable.
I travel Utah a fair amount on business and have my own stories, and those of friends. It is a “police-state,” especially in rural areas.
Utah! The don’t question authority state.
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Nov 12, 2014 - 08:27pm PT
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Support brave free citizens like these -
http://peacefulstreets.com/
Make no mistake, the citizens of this country are viewed as being nothing more than Uncaught Perps by our Police forces. In my lifetime, I have gone from being taught to trust and respect the friendly Neighborhood Beat Cop in Blue to outright fear and hatred of their increasing militarization conducted under the guise of protecting me from Cartel Boogeymen or Al Quaeda Terrorists.
I have yet to be attacked by Cartels or bombed by Arabs but have four times been subjected to assaults on myself and my property by the so called Protectors.
As a child traveling to the sands of Myrtle Beach in our stuffed 1964 Chevy BelAir wagon I can recall my Dad being routinely being stopped and shaken down for cash for "traffic violations".
As a teen I remember the Sheriff down the street drunkenly recounting his seizures of then rare color TVs as "evidence" which later appeared either in his living room or for sale in his garage.
As a young man working a B shift job while going to college during the day being stopped night after night driving home from my job because it was suspicious that I was out at 1:00 am. I can't tell you how many times my last 20 bucks for the week turned up missing from my wallet after the license check.
As a responsible home owner and middle manager who happened to let my cancer stricken kid brother grow a single weed plant in my backyard having my house stormed by over 17 SWAT guys who literally destroyed the interior while killing time until I got home from work. I still recall the pain of explaining to my wife why over half of her jewelry was somehow missing after this attack.
I have neither respect nor sympathy for these thugs. I know it is not right to paint all LEOs with such a broad brush but I feel it is much more prudent and personally safer to see each as a threat and proceed accordingly.
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Jingy
climber
Somewhere out there
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Nov 12, 2014 - 08:30pm PT
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let republicans have their way and that is exactly what you'll get
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thebravecowboy
climber
walking, resin-stained, towards the goal
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Nov 12, 2014 - 08:31pm PT
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I've never seen a problem so bad that the police could not make it worse.
While I like most of the solutions that the Balko fellow has to offer, I think that bodycams need fulltime mandate for all cops, not just on raids.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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nah000
climber
canuckistan
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Nov 12, 2014 - 09:17pm PT
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She looked at me with those big retarded TSA eyes and said "Nine-eleven buddy.. Nine-eleven.....
didn't know whether to laugh or cry... 'cause it wasn't me, i laughed.
thanks, fear.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Nov 12, 2014 - 10:39pm PT
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It's always somewhat amusing when leftwing and 'libertarian' (aka patriot) hysteria intersect in such profoundly romantic ways..
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clinker
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
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Nov 13, 2014 - 06:59am PT
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No thanks, would rather have education and a society that polices itself and it's police.
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clinker
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
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Nov 13, 2014 - 07:49am PT
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Which one is the Chief?
Too many gangsters at loose, on the streets and in highrises.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Nov 13, 2014 - 07:53am PT
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In a way, you can't blame the police for treating each situation like an armed encounter. Remember the North Hollywood bank shootout?
Is it possible that the NRA backed proliferation of high-powered weaponry has caused a reaction form the police?
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WBraun
climber
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Nov 13, 2014 - 08:47am PT
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LOL ........
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 13, 2014 - 08:49am PT
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The map leads directly to Ferguson, Missouri.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Nov 13, 2014 - 08:57am PT
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They’ve been prepared to work in commercial fire, house fire and car fire. Within the next few weeks, firefighting crews in Fairfield, Calif., can add a new category to that list — gunfire.
In what Fairfield Fire Department officials say is a response to recent events across the country, firefighters in the Northern California city will soon begin wearing bulletproof vests on certain types of calls in which first responders are at risk of being harmed through physical violence, such as active shooter situations.
After the Los Angeles riots in 1992, several cities including Monrovia, Downey and Santa Ana purchased vests for their firefighters. L.A. city firefighters also have access to bulletproof vests.
Fairfield crews are expected to begin wearing the vests in the field within the next four weeks, as soon as a department policy is in place for their use, said Battalion Chief Matt Luckenbach.
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thebravecowboy
climber
walking, resin-stained, towards the goal
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Nov 13, 2014 - 09:07am PT
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/03/us/police-targeted-media-with-no-fly-zone-over-ferguson-tapes-show.html?_r=0
Police Targeted Media With No-Fly Zone Over Ferguson, Tapes Show
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NOV. 2, 2014
WASHINGTON — The federal government agreed in August to a request by the police to restrict about 37 square miles of airspace over Ferguson, Mo., for 12 days for what they said were safety concerns, but audio recordings show that the local authorities privately acknowledged that the purpose was to keep away news helicopters during violent street protests.
On Aug. 12, the morning after the Federal Aviation Administration imposed the first flight restriction, the agency’s air traffic managers struggled to redefine the flight ban to allow commercial flights to operate at nearby Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and for police helicopters to fly through the area — while still prohibiting flights.
“They finally admitted it really was to keep the media out,” one administration manager said about the St. Louis County Police Department in a series of recorded telephone conversations obtained by The Associated Press. “But they were a little concerned of, obviously, anything else that could be going on.”
Continue reading the main story
Graphic: Q. and A.: What Happened in Ferguson?
At another point, referring to the temporary flight restriction, a manager at the administration’s center in Kansas City, Mo., said the police “did not care if you ran commercial traffic through this T.F.R. all day long. They didn’t want media in there.”
The manager said there was “no option for a T.F.R. that says, you know, ‘OK, everybody but the media is OK.’ ” The managers then developed wording that they felt would keep news helicopters out of the controlled zone but not impede other air traffic.
The conversations contradict claims by the St. Louis County Police Department, which has said the restriction was solely for safety and had nothing to do with preventing news media from witnessing the violence or police response to demonstrations after the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
The police said at the time, and again as recently as Friday, that they had requested the flight restriction in response to shots fired at a police helicopter.
But police officials confirmed that there was no damage to their helicopter and were unable to provide an incident report on the shooting. On the tapes, an F.A.A. manager described the helicopter shooting as unconfirmed “rumors.”
The A.P. obtained the recordings under a Freedom of Information Act request.
“Any evidence that a no-fly zone was put in place as a pretext to exclude the media from covering events in Ferguson is extraordinarily troubling and a blatant violation of the press’s First Amendment rights,” said Lee Rowland, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer specializing in First Amendment issues.
The F.A.A. administrator, Michael Huerta, said in a statement Sunday that his agency would always err on the side of safety. “F.A.A. cannot and will never exclusively ban media from covering an event of national significance, and media was never banned from covering the ongoing events in Ferguson in this case,” he said.
Mr. Huerta also said that, to the best of the agency’s knowledge, “no media outlets objected to any of the restrictions” while they were in effect.
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story
In the recordings, an F.A.A. manager urged modifying the flight restriction so that airport-bound planes could enter the airspace over Ferguson.
Continue reading the main story
Interactive Graphic: Reactions to the Shooting in Ferguson, Mo., Have Sharp Racial Divides
The agency manager in Kansas City then asked a St. Louis County police official if the restrictions could be lessened so nearby commercial flights would not be affected. The new order allows “aircraft on final there at St. Louis. It will still keep news people out. The only way people will get in there is if they give them permission in there anyway,” so with the lesser restriction, “it still keeps all of them out.”
“Yeah,” the police official replied. “I have no problem with that whatsoever.”
Brian Thouvenot, the news director at KMOV-TV in St. Louis, told The A.P. that his station had been prepared at first to legally challenge the flight restrictions, but was later advised that its pilot could fly over the area as long as the helicopter stayed above 3,000 feet. That kept the helicopter and its mounted camera outside the restricted zone, although filming from such a distance, he said, was “less than ideal.”
None of the St. Louis stations were advised that news helicopters could enter the airspace even under the lesser restrictions, which under federal rules should not have applied to aircraft “carrying properly accredited news representatives.” The F.A.A.’s no-fly notice indicated the area was closed to all aircraft except the police and planes using the airport.
“Only relief aircraft operations under direction of St. Louis County Police Department are authorized in the airspace,” the notice said. Aircraft using Lambert-St. Louis Airport were exempt.
The day that notice was issued, Sgt. Brian Schellman, a county police spokesman, denied that the no-fly zone was to prevent news helicopters from covering the events. “We understand that that’s the perception that’s out there, but it truly is for the safety of pilots,” he told NBC News.
The Ferguson police were widely criticized for their response after the death of Mr. Brown, a black man who was shot by a white city police officer, Darren Wilson, on Aug. 9. Later, under county police command, several reporters were arrested, a TV news crew was tear gassed and some demonstrators were told they were not allowed to film officers. In early October, a federal judge said the police had violated demonstrators’ and news crews’ constitutional rights.
“Here in the United States of America, police should not be bullying and arresting reporters who are just doing their jobs,” President Obama said on Aug. 14, two days after the police confided to federal officials that the flight ban was secretly intended to keep the news media out. “The local authorities, including police, have a responsibility to be transparent and open.”
The restricted flight zone initially encompassed airspace in a 3.4-mile radius around Ferguson and up to 5,000 feet in altitude, but the police agreed to reduce it to 3,000 feet after the F.A.A.’s command center in Warrenton, Va., complained to managers in Kansas City that it was impeding traffic into St. Louis.
The flight restrictions remained in place until Aug. 22, federal records show. A police captain wanted it extended when officials were set to identify Mr. Wilson by name as the officer who had shot Mr. Brown and because Mr. Brown’s funeral would “bring out the emotions,” according to the recordings.
“We just don’t know what to expect,” the captain told the F.A.A. “We’re monitoring that. So, last night we shot a lot of tear gas, we had a lot of shots fired into the air again.
“It did quiet down after midnight,” the captain added, but “we don’t know when that’s going to erupt.”
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Nov 13, 2014 - 09:24am PT
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Colt.45 is a Fresno thing.
L.A. had Brew 102.
I always thought it was funny that Brew 102 was right next to The 101.
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fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
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Nov 13, 2014 - 01:35pm PT
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In a way, you can't blame the police for treating each situation like an armed encounter. Remember the North Hollywood bank shootout?
Is it possible that the NRA backed proliferation of high-powered weaponry has caused a reaction form the police?
Actually I can blame them, and we should. In the vast majority of rural America police are never in firefights of any kind.
"High-powered" weaponry is a nonsense term right up there with "Assault Weapon". Unfortunately a lot of people only know what they are misled with on MSM outlets...
Visit Iraq or Syria for real "High-powered" weaponry... The kind our government dumps and sells to our enemy by the shipload!
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