What's new
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

Status
Not open for further replies.
An article I saw said the Ferguson area is 65% black, 35% white. Don't know if that's true or not, but if so, somewhat mutes his argument that blacks are twice as likely as whites to be stopped or arrested.

Here's the report. Read for yourself, then decide.
http://ago.mo.gov/VehicleStops/2013/reports/161.pdf
 
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Protesters peacefully marching escorted by police 4 everyone's safety. Was that so freaking hard? <a href="http://t.co/hx3Bi1VAex">pic.twitter.com/hx3Bi1VAex</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/vj44">@vj44</a> TY@gregpinelo</p>— Nancy Mitchell (@NancyWonderful) <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWonderful/statuses/500050725326827521">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>"Thank you so much for coming out here tonight," woman says to Johnson, almost in tears <a href="http://t.co/bgaMJz3ihS">pic.twitter.com/bgaMJz3ihS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/vj44">@vj44</a></p>— Nancy Mitchell (@NancyWonderful) <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWonderful/statuses/500054328812765184">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Hundreds of protestors are marching down W Florissant in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ferguson?src=hash">#Ferguson</a>, escorted by state troopers & county police. <a href="http://t.co/gbwcobDvQD">pic.twitter.com/gbwcobDvQD</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/vj44">@vj44</a></p>— Nancy Mitchell (@NancyWonderful) <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWonderful/statuses/500053999719284738">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Last edited:
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ferguson?src=hash">#Ferguson</a> last night versus tonight. <a href="http://t.co/5yyOp4A34Z">pic.twitter.com/5yyOp4A34Z</a></p>— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/statuses/500058743875579904">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

When I first arrived in Houston, HPD was a rogue department: throw down guns*, gays shot in the back of the head** and one young officer who had shot and killed 4 young black men. The arrival of Lee Brown as chief helped to turn that department around. I mention this only because in analyzing the performance of the Ferguson PD we should look to compare it to comparable jurisdictions. I'm not certain any 50-some odd officer police department could effectively handle what's been going on there this week. They don't have the man power reserves or the resources or the training to deal with what has come pretty close to being a total breakdown in law and order.

Then I was reminded of the LA riots after the acquittal of the officers who beat h*ll out of Rodney King. Those riots began at the intersection of Florence and Normandie and went on for days 'till federal troops finally brought the city under control. Over 50 people died. Thousands were hurt. Thousands more were arrested. Thugs went on a jihad against Korean businessmen. And something approaching a billion dollars in damage was done. And there is considerable evidence that, for whatever reason, LAPD failed to act quickly and decisively once the rioting began. Many believe that if the police had responded vigorously, immediately, much of the damage could have been avoided. And the riots contained. Chief Gates was out of town. And there is video tape of cop cars flying through the intersection but not stopping. Effectively conceding ground zero to the thugs. So when you criticize the authorities in St. Louis for being too vigorous in dealing with the insurrection in Ferguson, remember LA and what can happen when cops are passive.

*Houston cops gunned down 17year old Randall Webster after stopping him for stealing a van. They claimed he was armed. He wasn't. And the officers employed a throw down gun. No Harris County grand jury would indict. But the officers eventually faced federal civil rights charges. The case was made into a TV movie starring Hal Holbrook as the boy's father.

**A local gay activist was shot in the back of the head "accidentally" by an officer who was arresting him for disorderly conduct. For reasons never quite understood, the guy apparently made a pass at the cop. The incident raised use of force questions and whether officers customarily draw their weapons when arresting someone on a class C misdemeanor.
 
Last edited:
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Protesters peacefully marching escorted by police 4 everyone's safety. Was that so freaking hard? <a href="http://t.co/hx3Bi1VAex">pic.twitter.com/hx3Bi1VAex</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/vj44">@vj44</a> TY@gregpinelo</p>— Nancy Mitchell (@NancyWonderful) <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWonderful/statuses/500050725326827521">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>"Thank you so much for coming out here tonight," woman says to Johnson, almost in tears <a href="http://t.co/bgaMJz3ihS">pic.twitter.com/bgaMJz3ihS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/vj44">@vj44</a></p>— Nancy Mitchell (@NancyWonderful) <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWonderful/statuses/500054328812765184">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Hundreds of protestors are marching down W Florissant in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ferguson?src=hash">#Ferguson</a>, escorted by state troopers & county police. <a href="http://t.co/gbwcobDvQD">pic.twitter.com/gbwcobDvQD</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/vj44">@vj44</a></p>— Nancy Mitchell (@NancyWonderful) <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWonderful/statuses/500053999719284738">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Of course the demonstrators are on better behavior tonight. A different agency is on duty. One which wasn't involved in the shooting that started the whole thing. And a high ranking black man is in charge. And there have doubtless been some negotiations and assurances. The governor is involved. Why is this such a wonderment to you?

We saw similar results after Katrina when 3-star general Russel Honore was put in charge. A black man from Louisiana. It had the desired effect. Remember him barking at scared national guardsmen: "Put those g.d. rifles down!"? When a 3-star tells you to jump, you jump.
 
Last edited:
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

Probably better training, too. One of the problems of the militarization of local PDs is the quality of local PD personnel and training.
Here's what I don't get - given that there are going to exist riot police and armored vehicles and tear gas, then small-c conservatives and libertarians ought to prefer that they are in the hands of local police departments (as close of an analog as we have today for a well regulated militia) rather than in the hands of the federal, or even a state, government. Do they really want the FBI or the national guard to have to step in every time there's more than a minor scuffle? It just doesn't make sense to me.
 
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>St. Louis Detective Kevin Bentley mingling with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ferguson?src=hash">#ferguson</a> crowd. "This is what we do." <a href="http://t.co/cE9QIztGMI">pic.twitter.com/cE9QIztGMI</a></p>— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/statuses/500068933605818368">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

Go figure. The police in Ferguson tonight don't show up in riot gear, mingle with protestors, and (so far) everything is peaceful.

I'm a firm believer that people get what they expect from others. Ferguson PD expected riots and that's what they got. MO state troopers expect a peaceful protest and that's what they got. ( I'm not condoning rioting just an example).
 
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

Here's what I don't get - given that there are going to exist riot police and armored vehicles and tear gas, then small-c conservatives and libertarians ought to prefer that they are in the hands of local police departments (as close of an analog as we have today for a well regulated militia) rather than in the hands of the federal, or even a state, government. Do they really want the FBI or the national guard to have to step in every time there's more than a minor scuffle? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Sometimes you have to make philosophical compromises. As I pointed out in an earlier post, the vastly larger, better equipped, better trained LAPD wasn't able to contain the riots after the Simi Valley verdict. Why should we expect this comparatively tiny pd to be able to handle something unprecedented in its history? Bringing an insurrection under control, ending the threat to life and property, is job one.
 
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

Go figure. The police in Ferguson tonight don't show up in riot gear, mingle with protestors, and (so far) everything is peaceful.

I'm a firm believer that people get what they expect from others. Ferguson PD expected riots and that's what they got. MO state troopers expect a peaceful protest and that's what they got. ( I'm not condoning rioting just an example).

And it's irrelevant that a Ferguson cop, not a state trooper shot the young man? And if Ferguson cops had made nice with the crowds, there wouldn't have been any bricks tossed off interstate bridges or Molotov cocktails thrown or police cars torched? Seriously?
 
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>St. Louis Detective Kevin Bentley mingling with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ferguson?src=hash">#ferguson</a> crowd. "This is what we do." <a href="http://t.co/cE9QIztGMI">pic.twitter.com/cE9QIztGMI</a></p>— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/statuses/500068933605818368">August 14, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Different agency. Black face. Good police work. I'd imagine on Christmas morning if you find a pile of horse sh*t under the tree, you'd start digging around looking for the pony.
 
Re: Nice Plant #7: Get me off of this planet

It's amazing how quickly the Usual Suspects pivoted from "oppressive government" to "out of control mob" when this story happened. If only there was some factor that could explain it...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top