St. Louis Riots

[bayonetbrant]

Coffee spew .. damn!  ;D

huzzah!

[LongBlade]

A Black Panther activist has gone through some role-playing/training with the Houston PD and he came away with some empathy for officers in tough situations who use their weapons...

Quanell, who has been critical of police in Texas, as well as in Ferguson, Mo., where the shooting of an unarmed black man by a police officer last August touched off rioting around the nation, took the test with the police department in the Houston suburb of Missouri City. In four scenarios, he had to instantly decide whether to use a [paintball] gun, a Taser or hold his fire.

In another scenario, Quannel fired at a man during a routine traffic stop in which the suspect moved toward him, ignored an order to halt and reached behind his back

"I actually fired six times," Quanell recalled. "I always questioned why officers fired so many shots in these situations. After going through the training, I think it's very hard for an officer to know how many shots they fired when they are in the moment."

Quannel said he submitted to the test because he "felt it was the right thing to do."

There's some good stuff in the article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/02/12/shoot-or-dont-shoot-police-scenarios-prove-eye-opening-for-civil-rights-leaders/

[BanzaiCat]

Quanell X is a grade-A certifiable asshole. So many of us here are tired of him. He's worse than Al Sharpton and the other race-baiters.

That said, I think this is the first thing I've ever read about that jackass that actually shows he has a brain in his head.

[Greybriar]

According to USA Today, "DOJ: Ferguson PD engaged in racially biased policing"

[Martok]

Saw that.  No surprise there (at the DOJ's "findings"). 

[airboy]

According to USA Today, "DOJ: Ferguson PD engaged in racially biased policing"

What the report concluded was:
The police force was significantly more white than the population.
That blacks were stopped, arrested, and convicted of more crimes than they would be as a straight proportion of the population
There were a couple of racist emails found

That is pretty much it.  And Darren Wilson was found to not have violated anyone's civil rights and that there was no credible evidence that the guy he shot had his "hands up" when he was shot.  So the whole basis of the riots (black guy shot in the back or with his hands up) was false - even when investigated by Eric Holder's Justice Department.

If a group is committing more crimes, then you would expect more stops, arrests & convictions.  I feel terrible for the people who are law abiding in poor communities - but a lower police presence or less aggressive policing will probably hurt the law abiding poor far more than if you maintained aggressive policing of high crime neighborhoods.

[Gusington]

How dare you use logic and cool, calm analysis to study such a hot button topic.

[LongBlade]

According to USA Today, "DOJ: Ferguson PD engaged in racially biased policing"

What the report concluded was:
The police force was significantly more white than the population.
That blacks were stopped, arrested, and convicted of more crimes than they would be as a straight proportion of the population
There were a couple of racist emails found

That is pretty much it.  And Darren Wilson was found to not have violated anyone's civil rights and that there was no credible evidence that the guy he shot had his "hands up" when he was shot.  So the whole basis of the riots (black guy shot in the back or with his hands up) was false - even when investigated by Eric Holder's Justice Department.

If a group is committing more crimes, then you would expect more stops, arrests & convictions.  I feel terrible for the people who are law abiding in poor communities - but a lower police presence or less aggressive policing will probably hurt the law abiding poor far more than if you maintained aggressive policing of high crime neighborhoods.

I dunno. Judge Nap says otherwise: http://video.foxnews.com/v/4093766769001/judge-napolitano-on-scathing-federal-report-on-ferguson-pd/?#sp=show-clips

[OJsDad]

I just got back from St Louis today.  There was a local paper article that talked about the this based on information that was sent to the state attorney generals office. 

1.  There is no data on where the people that were pulled over live.  Several communities that border Ferguson have large black populations and if they are getting pulled ticketed then that is making the numbers look worse.
2.  Most of the arrests made as a result of being pulled over were because that person had a warrant out for them. 
3.  Watching a little bit of the local news, it seems that this is part of a larger power grab to have the police department disbanded and those duties taken over by the county police department. 

[airboy]

There was one other big thing in the report.  Ferguson was using fines and tickets as a major revenue source to run the city government.  If you disproportionally target one race for minor offenses, and use that as a major fund raising enterprise, then it becomes a problem.

[JasonPratt]

2 Police shot last night during Ferguson demonstration:

Two officers were shot in front of the Ferguson Police Department early Thursday, authorities said, as demonstrators gathered after the city's police chief resigned in the wake of a scathing Justice Department report alleging bias in the police department and court.

A 32-year-old officer from nearby Webster Groves was shot in the face and a 41-year-old officer from St. Louis County was shot in the shoulder, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference. Both were taken to a hospital, where Belmar said they were conscious. He said he did not have further details about their conditions but described their injuries as "serious."

I'd link to the AP article, but it's behind a Compuserve paywall. And it's early morning and I'm lazy sleepy to find it somewhere else. halps.

[Barthheart]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/us-usa-missouri-shooting-protest-idUSKBN0M80CJ20150312

[Steelgrave]

I'm sure Eric Holder is very pleased with himself this morning.....

[Gusington]

I wonder what statement the President will make.

[LongBlade]

Awful news. Ferguson has been bungled since the beginning and innocent cops are paying for it.

They need a curfew to settle things down.

It makes me sick to think how badly the situation has been handled. My thoughts and prayers go to those two victims last night.