Cops = mob mentality?

[Arkaign]

"Insanity in individuals is something rare, but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/videotaped_police_beating

I'm wondering if it's a side effect of 'macho-guy' syndrome of being a cop, combined with being with a bunch of similarly-minded folks, that leads to these kinds of incidents. I have relatives who are officers, and while I think almost all officers are decent people who try hard to serve their communities, I also observe that they 'bring their work home' constantly, and pretty much talk shop 24/7. Anything involving violence/shootings/beatings/etc is definitely top-shelf conversation material.

Thoughts?

 

[Genx87]

That was pretty insane. The scuttlebut on teh internets is the cops were staking out a corner when they saw 4 guys kill 3 people. Apparently 1 guy ran and these 3 tried to get away in the car. Apparently the cops decided a little street justice was in order.

I dont know for certain that is what happened so dont quote me.

 

[bamacre]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2myV0b9LE7I

 

[mxyzptlk]

man, that's really bad police work isn't it? Don't they have procedures to follow in a felony stop in philly? Here in LA theres no swarming of a car load of potentially armed suspects.. They have you get out, one at a time, facing away from the officers with your hands shown, then lay down on the ground and THEN someone approaches to search/cuff you... if you don't comply then everyone sits around for a few hours until SWAT shows up.

 

[Vic]

That is disturbing. At the very least they didn't follow proper procedures. Does anyone have any additional info on this?

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Vic
That is disturbing. At the very least they didn't follow proper procedures. Does anyone have any additional info on this?

Something tells me we are going to hear a lot more about this. The video tells a lot, and yes, it is very disturbing.

 

[n yusef]

Things like this make me wonder how common it is that police abuse their power in hideous ways. I'd like to believe this is a one-of-a-kind occurrence, but the ease with which the police beat their suspects makes me doubt that.

 

[RichardE]

Cops are just criminals who didn't get caught and get paid by the government.

 

[TheSlamma]

Originally posted by: n yusef
Things like this make me wonder how common it is that police abuse their power in hideous ways. I'd like to believe this is a one-of-a-kind occurrence, but the ease with which the police beat their suspects makes me doubt that.

Internal Affairs stays busy enough

 

[BeauJangles]

I believe there was a study done a number of years ago in Miami, when the city had one of the highest number of complaints about police, that concluded that it is actually safer for everyone involved if police ride alone. They found that police, when in large numbers (which could be as small as 2 - 5) would frequently feel emboldened by one another and fail to follow protocol or procedure.

I'll track down the name of it, but it's an interesting read.

 

[alchemize]

Obviously they knew something about these three. You don't have 37 cops swarm in on some folks ridin dirty.


edit:
"The three suspects ? Dwayne Dyches, Brian Hall and Pete Hopkins ? were each charged with attempted murder in the shooting, police said."

I imagine dealing with scum of the earth every day makes you want to step on the maggots now and again. I couldn't do their job...

Like Arkaign, I have friends and relatives that are LEO. You definitely get a few that abuse the authority, but they are the minority and typically wash out eventually. Especially in modern departments, the shit going on in the 60's and 70's was a bit wilder. Most are trying to earn a living and do a good job.

Cops are just criminals who didn't get caught and get paid by the government.

I wish Karma was real There'd be a carjacking in your future...

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: alchemize
Obviously they knew something about these three. You don't have 37 cops swarm in on some folks ridin dirty.


edit:
"The three suspects ? Dwayne Dyches, Brian Hall and Pete Hopkins ? were each charged with attempted murder in the shooting, police said."

I imagine dealing with scum of the earth every day makes you want to step on the maggots now and again. I couldn't do their job...

Like Arkaign, I have friends and relatives that are LEO. You definitely get a few that abuse the authority, but they are the minority and typically wash out eventually. Especially in modern departments, the shit going on in the 60's and 70's was a bit wilder. Most are trying to earn a living and do a good job.

Cops are just criminals who didn't get caught and get paid by the government.

I wish Karma was real There'd be a carjacking in your future...

And the Karma would be the police showing up 30 minutes later instead of 20?

 

[piasabird]

I am guessing that the people in the car said something like they would just kill the cops like they killed the other people and the cops went nuts. Whatever it was that hapened was so bac the cops just could not stand it. People were dead and they wanted to take revenge on these people. Tensions run high and people crack. Even cops are human. They deserve the benefit of a doubt just as much as punk gang members.

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: piasabird
I am guessing that the people in the car said something like they would just kill the cops like they killed the other people and the cops went nuts. Whatever it was that hapened was so bac the cops just could not stand it. People were dead and they wanted to take revenge on these people. Tensions run high and people crack. Even cops are human. They deserve the benefit of a doubt just as much as punk gang members.

So you think that its ok they swarmed these guys? Good thing they were wearing badges or they get charged with attempted huh.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: RichardE
Cops are just criminals who didn't get caught and get paid by the government.

I hope if you are in dire need of police assitance you wont call 911...afterall, you would just be calling criminals right?

 

[M0RPH]

This is pretty standard behavior for pigs. I'm just glad it gets caught on video every once in a while.

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: RichardE
Cops are just criminals who didn't get caught and get paid by the government.

I hope if you are in dire need of police assitance you wont call 911...afterall, you would just be calling criminals right?

I hope so as well. I would just be as likely to get shot as whoever I am calling about.

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: RichardE
Cops are just criminals who didn't get caught and get paid by the government.

I hope if you are in dire need of police assitance you wont call 911...afterall, you would just be calling criminals right?

I hope so as well. I would just be as likely to get shot as whoever I am calling about.

Ignorance is bliss.

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: JD50

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: RichardE
Cops are just criminals who didn't get caught and get paid by the government.

I hope if you are in dire need of police assitance you wont call 911...afterall, you would just be calling criminals right?

I hope so as well. I would just be as likely to get shot as whoever I am calling about.

Ignorance is bliss.

Of course, because police officers never hurt innocent people or act savagely ever. I could say the same thing to you.

 

[Rainsford]

Folks, would it be possible to have a discussion in this thread without it turning into yet another generic "cops suck", "no, cops are supermen" flame-fest? Because I think we have enough of those already...I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

Rainsford
AnandTech P&N Moderator

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: JD50

Originally posted by: RichardE

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: RichardE
Cops are just criminals who didn't get caught and get paid by the government.

I hope if you are in dire need of police assitance you wont call 911...afterall, you would just be calling criminals right?

I hope so as well. I would just be as likely to get shot as whoever I am calling about.

Ignorance is bliss.

Of course, because police officers never hurt innocent people or act savagely ever. I could say the same thing to you.

How about we play a little game. I'll find where you made an ignorant statement about you being just as likely to be shot by a cop as you are to be shot by a criminal, and you find where I made an ignorant statement saying that police officers never hurt innocent people or act savagely ever.

Wow, short game, I already won.

Edit - OT, I can't watch the video from work, but from what sounds like it'd be pretty hard to justify all of those cops beating on 3 guys, no matter what they did. I'm definitely interested in more details though. Sounds like a mixture of mob mentality and adrenaline overload, but again, I haven't seen the video so I could be wrong.

 

[maziwanka]

i saw the video of this on tv. absolutely unbelievable. they'll get what they deserve. fucking idiots

 

[fallout man]

Originally posted by: Rainsford
Folks, would it be possible to have a discussion in this thread without it turning into yet another generic "cops suck", "no, cops are supermen" flame-fest? Because I think we have enough of those already...I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

Rainsford
AnandTech P&N Moderator

I certainly wish that we could have a healthy discussion about this as a forum of people from all walks of life.

Here we have some alleged scumbags, and instead of following procedure, three cop-cars loaded with pork go on to perform an excercise in attempted manslaughter.

People do bad things, and they should be punished accordingly. However, given our systems of due course in justice, you aren't supposed to get the punishment until you are proven guilty by a jury of your peers.

Yes, emotions get in the way. This happens in court quite a bit, which is a fault of the system. HOWEVER--EMOTIONS SHOULD NOT GET IN THE WAY OF DUE COURSE WHEN THE LAW ENFORCEMENT ON THE SCENE IS EMPOWERED BY THE CITIZENS' GOOD WILL TO CARRY WEAPONS AND USE DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT LAW AND ORDER.

Something smells, and it smells like bacon.

I'm sure that the (ex)police-on-duty members of the forum, and the small-testacle-angsty-crew will chime in on this topic in defense of this absolutely abhorrent behavior. They are entitled to their opinion. Personally, as a citizen watching the video, I'm shocked at how:

a) the police put themselves in danger (at the possible cost of tax-payer money to fund their very expensive disability and subsequent pension).

b) ignored and shit all over any procedures already in place for a felony stop, which many argue to already be far too excessive and frivolously used.

c) jeopardized the ligitimate conviction of the suspects for their alleged crimes, by virtue of police discrimination and use of excessive force.

d) dented the opinion of the department in the community.

e) embarrassed the United States, since this video was world-wide news.

After all, it's innocent until proven guilty--AMIRITE GUYS?!

 

[KK]

I much rather have these 3 punks still running about the city.

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: fallout man


I certainly wish that we could have a healthy discussion about this as a forum of people from all walks of life.

three cop-cars loaded with pork

something smells, and it smells like bacon.

sure that the (ex)police-on-duty members of the forum, and the small-testacle-angsty-crew

What a great way to promote a healthy discussion...:roll: