Florida Police Department Used Black Mug Shots For Target Practice

[OutHouse]

I think the outrage involves the inherent racism involved in using black mug shots as target practice, rather than say, standard pictures and targets that are ordered in bulk.

But, I forgot. Racism doesn't exist. And even if it did, it's okay for the police to be racist.

you really need to get over yourself.

 

[Svnla]

Here is something else that may shock you, just because some PD has taken your mugshot does not mean that you committed a crime and it damn sure doesn't mean that you were convicted of one or spent any time in prison. I know, crazy how our system works with all that innocent until proven guilty bullshit.

Read my post again. Where did I say mugshot = convicted/guilty/spent time in prison as you claimed?

Funny why there is no mugshot of me anywhere, ever. Oh, maybe because I do not give the Police the opportunity to do so. Crazy huh?

 

[nickqt]

you really need to get over yourself.

Yes, I'm totally "not over myself" for saying what I said.

Want to try again, or are you ok with that incoherent put-down?

It's only total failure if you give up, hotshot.

 

[Darwin333]

Read my post again. Where did I say mugshot = convicted/guilty/spent time in prison as you claimed?

How about do not commit crimes => no prison => no mugshot picture to be used as target?

Seems pretty dammed implied to me, if not your "equation" doesn't work a single bit since you started with committing crimes. Do I really need to pull up youtube videos of people being arrested simply for filming the police in public, a perfectly legal activity, to make my point or can you muster up the intelligence to get it all by yourself? Let me know, I'm happy to help.

Funny why there is no mugshot of me anywhere, ever. Oh, maybe because I do not give the Police the opportunity to do so. Crazy huh?

Funny, there are lots of criminals without mugshots, crazy huh? Oh yeah, that has absolutely nothing to do with this thread does it.

 

[davmat787]

Snipers usually don't take head shots fwiw. Unless circumstances dictate otherwise, they usually go center mass. Nice grouping in the lower right target, I wonder at what range these were shot and what cartridge used.

 

[Darwin333]

Snipers usually don't take head shots fwiw. Unless circumstances dictate otherwise, they usually go center mass. Nice grouping in the lower right target, I wonder at what range these were shot and what cartridge used.

I honestly have no clue what normal police "sniper" procedure is, which is why I didn't mention it, but they do have much different roles than military snipers. They won't be firing from what a .mil sniper even considers long range and about the only reason I can think to use one is in something like a hostage situation in which you need the bad guy to go down right now.

Unless presented with better info, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that one. Doesn't change the fact that using mugshots, especially all black mugshots which is the only thing we have actual evidence of, and then to top it off being dumb fucked enough to leave the shot up mugshots at the range instead of taking it down and getting rid of it..... Way to much dumb fuck to give them a water gun imho much less a friggen rifle.

 

[Svnla]

Seems pretty dammed implied to me, if not your "equation" doesn't work a single bit since you started with committing crimes. Do I really need to pull up youtube videos of people being arrested simply for filming the police in public, a perfectly legal activity, to make my point or can you muster up the intelligence to get it all by yourself? Let me know, I'm happy to help.


Funny, there are lots of criminals without mugshots, crazy huh? Oh yeah, that has absolutely nothing to do with this thread does it.

Again, where did I say what you accused me of (here is your own words) :

Here is something else that may shock you, just because some PD has taken your mugshot does not mean that you committed a crime and it damn sure doesn't mean that you were convicted of one or spent any time in prison. I know, crazy how our system works with all that innocent until proven guilty bullshit.

Where did I say anything you accused me of (the bolded and underlined parts (especially the convicted and spent time in prison)?

STOP putting your own words into my mouth. If you can't do that, DO NOT quote me, just hit the road, jack. Very simple to understand.

 

[nickqt]

Where did I say anything you accused me of (the bolded and underlined parts (especially the convicted and spent time in prison)?

Probably referring to this post where you equate having a mugshot with having committed a crime and serving time in prison. If I had to guess.

How about do not commit crimes => no prison => no mugshot picture to be used as target?

Shocking simple solution.

Shockingly simple answer to your confusion. If I had to guess.

 

[Darwin333]

Again, where did I say what you accused me of (here is your own words) :



Where did I say anything you accused me of (the bolded and underlined parts (especially the convicted and spent time in prison)?

STOP putting your own words into my mouth. If you can't do that, DO NOT quote me, just hit the road, jack. Very simple to understand.

I posted your own words. If you can't understand what you wrote then I am afraid I can't help you much but your "equation" was quite clear.

Maybe next time you can have someone help you use words instead of equal signs and your point will be better stated, until then:

How about do not commit crimes => no prison => no mugshot picture to be used as target?

Is pretty damn clear, no words being put into your mouth whatsoever. Its what you said, own it, edit it or keep defending it kid. Doesn't change the fact that you said "do not commit crimes" would equal "no prison" which would equal "no mugshot picture to be used as target". I honestly don't know how to break it down any further "jack". Perhaps I need to post the definitions of "do", "not", "commit" and "crimes" for you to properly understand? Commit has a whopping 2 syllables but they are all very easy words, perhaps I was mistaken when I assumed you had a clear understanding of their very simple meanings? If so I sincerely apologize.

Besides, if you didn't intend on saying that you needed to commit a crime in order to have a mugshot in order for said mugshot to be used as shooting targets...... what the hell could your original point possibly have been in the first place???

 

[JMapleton]

They should have been smart enough to know that if this became known to the public, it would give them a bad image and changed it. It shows poor decision making on behalf of that department and those involved should be punished for that.

 

[rudeguy]

im sure more people target shoot obama and there is less outrage over that...

It is a bit odd using mugshots for target practice, thats all that concerns me.

isnt one of those guys the face eating zombie?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnso...on-bans-bleeding-obama-target-others?s=mobile

 

[sm625]

The true level of racism in this country is best seen when looking at people's views on black crime. Most people believe that blacks simply commit more crimes. "Look at the disproportionate numbers of blacks in prisons" they say. Yeah, very interesting isnt it?

I, for one, do not believe that blacks commit crimes at a higher frequency than whites. The fact is that most white crimes simply go unprosecuted. More crimes get committed by white folks in congress than on the streets of chicago. And in all the news rooms all around the country. And in all the schools every time they try to teach crap that isnt true. All the backroom deals. The manipulations. The machinations. But almost none of it gets prosecuted. The richest (and whitest) 1% did not steal the literal majority of the world's wealth by not committing any crimes. The very idea that this could be a shocking statement to anyone is only more proof of the deep racism embedded in our culture.

 

[smackababy]

The true level of racism in this country is best seen when looking at people's views on black crime. Most people believe that blacks simply commit more crimes. "Look at the disproportionate numbers of blacks in prisons" they say. Yeah, very interesting isnt it?

I, for one, do not believe that blacks commit crimes at a higher frequency than whites. The fact is that most white crimes simply go unprosecuted. More crimes get committed by white folks in congress than on the streets of chicago. And in all the news rooms all around the country. And in all the schools every time they try to teach crap that isnt true. All the backroom deals. The manipulations. The machinations. But almost none of it gets prosecuted. The richest (and whitest) 1% did not steal the literal majority of the world's wealth by not committing any crimes. The very idea that this could be a shocking statement to anyone is only more proof of the deep racism embedded in our culture.

Are you really of the opinion that white crimes are ignored 90% of the time? Come on now. You can't possibly be that stupid. The majority of crime is committed by impoverished people. A large portion of that happens to be black.


And, how is this even news? This printout looks like a lineup they print out to show to witnesses to identify possible suspects. These were already being printed and they simply repurposed them.

 

[OutHouse]

The true level of racism in this country is best seen when looking at people's views on black crime. Most people believe that blacks simply commit more crimes. "Look at the disproportionate numbers of blacks in prisons" they say. Yeah, very interesting isnt it?

I, for one, do not believe that blacks commit crimes at a higher frequency than whites. The fact is that most white crimes simply go unprosecuted. More crimes get committed by white folks in congress than on the streets of chicago. And in all the news rooms all around the country. And in all the schools every time they try to teach crap that isnt true. All the backroom deals. The manipulations. The machinations. But almost none of it gets prosecuted. The richest (and whitest) 1% did not steal the literal majority of the world's wealth by not committing any crimes. The very idea that this could be a shocking statement to anyone is only more proof of the deep racism embedded in our culture.

100% fail.

 

[DrPizza]

They use regular sized pieces of paper as targets? They don't even use a life-sized picture of a head and put it at a sniping distance? Based on this, I can believe that they were simply re-purposing mugshots that were printed to show to someone reporting a crime.

"Yes, it was a black man who held up my store."
"Does he look like one of these men?"
At that point, do you really think the police are going to show someone a set of mugshots with 1 black guy, 1 Hispanic guy, 1 Asian, and 3 white guys, to show cultural diversity?

Again, that's assuming these were re-purposed mugshots that were printed for another purpose. It doesn't make sense to print targets this size for sniper practice. Shooting a smaller picture of a head at a closer range is not the same as shooting a real sized picture at a longer range, though the target may take up the same size in degrees.

 

[smackababy]

They use regular sized pieces of paper as targets? They don't even use a life-sized picture of a head and put it at a sniping distance? Based on this, I can believe that they were simply re-purposing mugshots that were printed to show to someone reporting a crime.

"Yes, it was a black man who held up my store."
"Does he look like one of these men?"
At that point, do you really think the police are going to show someone a set of mugshots with 1 black guy, 1 Hispanic guy, 1 Asian, and 3 white guys, to show cultural diversity?

Again, that's assuming these were re-purposed mugshots that were printed for another purpose. It doesn't make sense to print targets this size for sniper practice. Shooting a smaller picture of a head at a closer range is not the same as shooting a real sized picture at a longer range, though the target may take up the same size in degrees.

Simulated distance isn't terrible for practice. While, it likely isn't as good as the real thing, it is fine for what this amounts to: familiarization with hitting smaller targets with your service weapon.

This kind of shooting is what we practiced on the military. We never really shot 350m silhouettes.

 

[Rakehellion]

The true level of racism in this country is best seen when looking at people's views on black crime. Most people believe that blacks simply commit more crimes. "Look at the disproportionate numbers of blacks in prisons" they say. Yeah, very interesting isnt it?

I, for one, do not believe that blacks commit crimes at a higher frequency than whites. The fact is that most white crimes simply go unprosecuted. More crimes get committed by white folks in congress than on the streets of chicago. And in all the news rooms all around the country. And in all the schools every time they try to teach crap that isnt true. All the backroom deals. The manipulations. The machinations. But almost none of it gets prosecuted. The richest (and whitest) 1% did not steal the literal majority of the world's wealth by not committing any crimes. The very idea that this could be a shocking statement to anyone is only more proof of the deep racism embedded in our culture.

Pretty much. Black people are harassed more, arrested more often, convicted more often, and given harsher sentences for the same crimes as white people.

The same if a man and a woman commit the same crime.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/

 

[mizzou]

They use regular sized pieces of paper as targets? They don't even use a life-sized picture of a head and put it at a sniping distance? Based on this, I can believe that they were simply re-purposing mugshots that were printed to show to someone reporting a crime.

"Yes, it was a black man who held up my store."
"Does he look like one of these men?"
At that point, do you really think the police are going to show someone a set of mugshots with 1 black guy, 1 Hispanic guy, 1 Asian, and 3 white guys, to show cultural diversity?

Again, that's assuming these were re-purposed mugshots that were printed for another purpose. It doesn't make sense to print targets this size for sniper practice. Shooting a smaller picture of a head at a closer range is not the same as shooting a real sized picture at a longer range, though the target may take up the same size in degrees.

Mugshot lineups are around 6-8 people and are supposed to be of a similar: race, sex, height, weight, complexion

 

[smackababy]

Mugshot lineups are around 6-8 people and are supposed to be of a similar: race, sex, height, weight, complexion

Which is exactly what appears to be shown in the OP. Rather than simply throw these printed lineups away, the police are saving the taxpayers money by repurposing them into targets. Not only are they saving money, they are becoming more efficient in shooting at the same time, lowering the risk of their shots accidentally hitting a bystander, or cameraman filming cops.

 

[HomerJS]

Are you really of the opinion that white crimes are ignored 90% of the time? Come on now. You can't possibly be that stupid. The majority of crime is committed by impoverished people. A large portion of that happens to be black.


And, how is this even news? This printout looks like a lineup they print out to show to witnesses to identify possible suspects. These were already being printed and they simply repurposed them.

Rate of pot usage among blacks and whites is close to equal but you are 10x more likely to be jailed if black.

 

[smackababy]

Rate of pot usage among blacks and whites is close to equal but you are 10x more likely to be jailed if black.

Please provide links to back this up. I'd also like to know the average amount pot found on suspects that were arrested, if that data is available.

It might also prove useful to have numbers on the percentage of inmates in prison for marijuana possession without intent to distribute.

Thanks!

 

[werepossum]

Which is exactly what appears to be shown in the OP. Rather than simply throw these printed lineups away, the police are saving the taxpayers money by repurposing them into targets. Not only are they saving money, they are becoming more efficient in shooting at the same time, lowering the risk of their shots accidentally hitting a bystander, or cameraman filming cops.

Supposedly one of the mugshots is from 15 years ago. That argues strongly against the "just saving taxpayers money" theory as well as the "it was all races" theory. Not saying either or both are not still possible, but for me anyway the belief bar's been raised way the hell up.

I'm also disturbed that images of unarmed men are used, especially unarmed black men who are already considerably more likely to be shot. We really don't need cops getting more comfortable with shooting unthreatening, unarmed black men. That motor skill set's been pretty well honed already.

Rate of pot usage among blacks and whites is close to equal but you are 10x more likely to be jailed if black.

Hey, smoking pot with one hand whilst holding up your pants with the other is obviously a huge threat to society. Somehow.

 

[nickqt]

Please provide links to back this up. I'd also like to know the average amount pot found on suspects that were arrested, if that data is available.

It might also prove useful to have numbers on the percentage of inmates in prison for marijuana possession without intent to distribute.

Thanks!

Seriously? This has been documented since forever. One of the most well-known set of statistics regard cocaine; Crack v. powder, both in useage, arrests, sentence length, etc.

There is a ton of research done on this.

And one huge reason that this is true is that black people are more likely to use/sell their drugs outside compared to doing it inside in neighborhoods where drug usage is high.

Closed doors are helpful when committing "crimes". It doesn't necessarily mean that all cops are racist. But let's not go ignoring the numbers.

Drugs shouldn't be illegal in the first place. Go read about Anslinger and the reason why cannabis became illegal in the first place. It wasn't about punishing "criminals" equally.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/race-and-drug-war

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/04/us/marijuana-arrests-four-times-as-likely-for-blacks.html?_r=0

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/soci...0-war-on-drugs-black-social-mobility-rothwell

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/crime#sthash.3LxQodmr.dpbs

 

[sm625]

People do get charged with intent to distribute for possessing ridiculous amounts of pot. (Like 10 grams and sometimes even less than that). But it is very difficult to get a conviction on intent to distribute with pot. Sadly, a lot of the people caught will plead into such a charge, which they should never do.

 

[smackababy]

Supposedly one of the mugshots is from 15 years ago. That argues strongly against the "just saving taxpayers money" theory as well as the "it was all races" theory. Not saying either or both are not still possible, but for me anyway the belief bar's been raised way the hell up.

I'm also disturbed that images of unarmed men are used, especially unarmed black men who are already considerably more likely to be shot. We really don't need cops getting more comfortable with shooting unthreatening, unarmed black men. That motor skill set's been pretty well honed already.


Hey, smoking pot with one hand whilst holding up your pants with the other is obviously a huge threat to society. Somehow.

No, it doesn't argue against it. When showing a printed line up, they have the suspect they expect and other random, similar in profile criminals. It doesn't matter from what era their mugshot is, so long as it is of the same picture quality as the rest. That is the entire point of it: to identify a SINGLE suspect. Not a lineup for a bunch of idiots suspected of the crime.