1) My Prediction proven otherwise
When you analyze events and make predictions, some will be proven wrong. For me, none tops the prediction that "racial riots are a thing of the past" after the calm response to the George Zimmerman verdict.
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/07/after-trial-george-zimmerman-and.html
Massive Urban Racial Riots is a Thing of the Past
This was a racially-divisive trial and our default reaction to these types of trials is to expect a riot if there's a certain verdict.
That's because many of us had memories of the April 29, 1992. On that date, the verdict for the 4 European-American police officers who brutally beat Rodney King was announced. Three had Not Guilty, one had a hung jury verdict. Chaos reigned the streets of Los Angeles the next few days.
Learn more at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/04/2-decades-since-la-riots.html
But this time , no massive urban riots. Just a few reports a few knuckleheads vandalizing police cars in Oakland. But nothing even coming close to the scale of the 1992 LA Riots.
This is a major sign that American society has matured a great deal in the last 2 decades.
This is also a major sign that racial riots might just be a thing of the past. And that anyone who expects future racial riots in response to trials could be seen as "someone whose mindset is stuck in the past."
Probably the reason that after that blog post, that Ferguson and Baltimore had riots was because officials weren't prepared for them.
You can be dammed sure that police officials were ready for something to happen after the Zimmerman trial in relation to the Trayvon Martin's death!
But now, the rioters no longer wait for the trial. Why wait for the police to be prepared when you can riot when the news break (with faster speed these days) of a police brutality incident.
==========
2) Now to Baltimore
The riots that occurred in Baltimore last month was in response to the brutal beating of Freddie Grey. He wasn't doing anything except "looking suspicious" which in itself means nothing! However, he protested against the police stopping him and he got a beatdown so bad that his spine was broken and he later died.The Conservative Correctness Crowd noted his past arrest records, mostly for non-violent drug offenses! While it's better to stay drug-free, the militaristic drug enforcement causes more problems than it solves. It indirectly encourages people to aggressively deal with people whose only sin is giving in to peer pressure and unhealthy habits! It indirectly encourages people to stop and bully people for "suspicion" of drug dealing or even drug possession. These things cause people to distrust police and view them as just another gang (though with direct taxpayer subsidies).
The Radical Left however, expected this to be some white-on-black incident. Turns out things are much more complicated than that! Some of the officers involved were African-American. Unlike Ferguson, Baltimore has a mostly African-American city council, a police force with major African-American presence and an African-American mayor!
Joan Walsh (so filled with white guilt) claims that African-American police brutality is due to self-hatred and due to being indoctrinated by European-American society to think less of their fellow African-Americans.
http://reason.com/blog/2015/05/02/joan-walsh-says-dangerous-things-about-r
But it means a lot when some have vigorously pushed the narrative of "black men killed by white cops" as if it were only those instances of state-sponsored violence that were problematic. That narrative helps dangerous myths flourish—like the myth that black cops might be less brutal than white cops. Here's Joan Walsh arguing that there was "no debate" black cops "absorb" the attitudes of their colleagues
I think it has more to do with this attitude of "hey I got a badge, gun, taser, baton, and the authority -- nobody disrespects me and get away with" which has more to do with HUMAN NATURE than this self-hatred nonsense!
I mean watch any protest/riot videos coming from China, Iran, Nigeria, Egypt or Russia! The police brutality occurs from the police officers who are the same race as the people they are beating up! What makes anyone think African-American (or Latino or Polynesian or Native American or whatevers) police won't have the temptation to over-react and brutalize people they come in contact with?
It's just that when the cop interact with a person of another race, racism could get added to already toxic mix of impatience, aggressiveness, rudeness, arrogance that gets enhanced with the legal authority to enforce excessively strict laws.
And when it's European-American cop dealing aggressively with a non-white person, it comes with a mental image of a painful history of conquest, slavery and segregation!
-------------------
With the riots come news coverage emphasizing the rioters/looters/vandals over the peaceful protesters. There were many cases of protesters protecting stores from getting looted, even protesters forming a line to stop people from confronting police officers.
You can see the various photo examples at
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/28/baltimore-protests-peaceful/26510645/
But yet, we get the excuse makers who claim it is "racist" and "white privilege" to even make mild criticisms of rioters, looters and vandals!
The most stupidest example from another fool who over-compensates for his white privilege, Cody Dubose
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/28/1380944/-The-Dominant-White-Response-to-Baltimore-Shows-Why-Black-Residents-are-Justified-in-their-Anger
As a white male, I don't particularly care for looting and rioting. I wouldn't like to be one of the store or property owners who will have to replace or rebuild. But I'm forced to recognize this destruction as the final option for a group of people so systematically disenfranchised that their voices have not been heard. And I have to ask myself a difficult question - who is the worse moral monster: The young man whose hopelessness leads him to jump on the hood of a cop car, or me, a person who has acquiesced to a system that creates justified hopelessness among young people in places like Baltimore?
This is just plain foolishness! Instead of this "As a white male, I don't particularly care for looting and rioting" nonsense Why Not "As a human being I understand people's anger towards the system, but this rioting and looting usually makes bad situations worse!"
And it usually does make it worse! I mean, who is going to open stores where looting takes place. Businesses are in it to make money and if people are encouraged to riot, businesses lose money and locate elsewhere!
Which is why I think it's ridiculous to excuse riots and looting as "reaction to poverty" because they only perpetuate poverty! It's like breaking things in your home when you are angry! Yeah, you may have a legit reason to be angry, but breaking your own things just creates more problems.
And for all this talk from left-wing websites (ie Salon, The Nation, Daily Kos, etc) about hearing minority voices, you hear NOTHING about the various non-white store owners and store employees who will now be unemployed due to the looting and vandalism!
For example, this pizza shop owned by an Egyptian immigrant
https://www.facebook.com/IjReview/videos/925652184124933/?fref=nf
It's like a lot of people on the Radical Left who only care about non-white minorities when they act in ways that promote their Marxist, anti-capitalist revolution! They have no use for non-white minorities worried about paying the rent now that their place of employment got looted by fools who just took advantage of a chaotic situation to cause ruckus!
And this stuff that we shouldn't call "looters" thugs because it's racist?
I mean, I know that sometimes the word "thug" gets over-used especially in discussions about non-white minorities who don't conform. I mean, I thought it was stupid for people to call NFL player Richard Sherman a "thug" just because he yelled at the camera about his trash-talking opponent. I think it's stupid for people to assume that someone wearing sagging jeans is a "thug", since usually, they're just kids following a trend, kids going through a phase! I also think it's stupid for Bill O'Reilly to call Kanye West a "gangsta rapper" when he doesn't perform gangsta rap! Kanye West isn't even from the ghetto, he's from the suburbs!
But individuals who cause chaos in the streets by looting and vandalizing? Yes, they are thugs!
Of course people will say "what about all those crazy European-Americans who break and destroy things after a sports game, surf festival or a pumpkin festival? Why don't they get called thugs?"
They should be called thugs too!
In cases where too much leniency is placed on European-American rioters, the solution isn't to make excuses for African-American (or other non-white) rioters, the solution is to be more aggressive in criticizing and prosecuting European-American thugs!
I mean, the soft bigotry of low expectations, whether it's making excuses for European-American frat boys or non-white looters, is counter-productive and wrong!
It doesn't matter how much you suffered in life, it doesn't immunize you from being judged on the content of character. Martin Luther King didn't say "don't judge my children" just that he wanted his children to live in a world where they're judged by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin.
And now the riot excuse makers have been quoting MLK's "riot is the language of the unheard" as if he was condoning riots. He was just making a sociological observation about social conditions that encourage riots to happen!
3) the Angry Mom
The film of the mom who caught her son throwing rocks at cops, and then pulled him by his ears and smacked him, has gone viral.
Most of the reactions was like "Yes, a mother who takes control of her misbehaving son!" or "A mom who takes no crap from her teenaged son!"
Now, I don't condone child abuse and I know that when working a substitute teacher, I could get arrested for hitting a misbehaving juvenile like that, even if my ego wants to "smack them".
But again, we get trolls commenting on that topic! Joan Walsh, who as mentioned earlier, thinks the solution to racism is over-compensating for her "white privilege" has this to say
http://www.salon.com/2015/04/29/the_hideous_white_hypocrisy_behind_the_baltimore_%E2%80%9Chero_mom%E2%80%9D_hype_how_clueless_media_applause_excuses_police_brutality/
Her moment of losing it made her a hero to much of white America – and not just to the right. Coast to coast, the media is hyping Graham as “Hero Mom” and her on-camera beating as “Tough Love.” It’s not just Fox News or the “New York Post,” whose tabloid “Send in the Moms” front page this time reflects rather than rebukes the mainstream media. And that’s heartbreaking.
The debate over the moment Graham says she “lost it” is complex. There’s a parallel black debate going on that, as always when it comes to racial issues, is richer and more nuanced. But anyone white who’s applauding Graham’s moment of desperation, along with the white media figures who are hyping her “heroism,” is essentially justifying police brutality, and saying the only way to control black kids is to beat the shit out of them.
David Limbaugh (brother to Rush, but with much more serious personality) had the best response to Joan Walsh's over-compensation
"Joan Walsh Does Not Think for Me"
http://townhall.com/columnists/davidlimbaugh/2015/05/01/joan-walsh-does-not-think-for-me-n1992785/page/full
Walsh acknowledges that she's aware many African-Americans are praising Graham, as well, but says her criticism isn't aimed at them. Their situation "is richer and more nuanced." Why is that, you ask? Because, she explains, "most black people debating the issue acknowledge that the desperate public beating came from centuries of black parents knowing they have to discipline their children harshly, or else white society will do it for them -- and they may not survive it."
That's mighty self-congratulatory of Walsh, but it really is bizarre thinking. Maybe she presumes that because she's an all-empathizing and superior liberal, she can presume what motivates all black people to engage in certain behaviors. Perhaps she also presumes she knows what every white person is thinking because she is white and intelligent.
I can't speak for blacks, but I can conjecture that they aren't thinking about slavery or Jim Crow when they administer corporal punishment to their children. Do you really think black parents who discipline their children are motivated by a desire to prevent future white racists from unfairly incarcerating their children? How about because they don't want them to join gangs or to be a perpetrator or victim of black-on-black violence, which is far more prevalent than white-on-black violence?
I can't speak for all whites, either, but I can speak for myself
.
Let's examine Walsh's claim that by hyping Graham's heroism, we are justifying police brutality and saying the only way to control black kids is to beat the blank out of them, acknowledging upfront, of course, that we'll never be able to apply the nuanced thinking that she employs to get to the heart of the matter.
When I saw Graham slapping her son, I thought she was responding appropriately to the horror of her son's participating in a very dangerous and potentially criminal activity. These riotous mobs in Baltimore feloniously assaulted police officers and caused millions of dollars' worth of damage. Let's not downplay the stunning gravity of the situation.
(skipped paragraphs)
What a condescending inference Walsh is drawing in suggesting whites are applauding Graham for "beating up" her son "as though that's the only way to discipline a black child." What in the world? Neither the mother's nor the child's skin color is relevant. I would applaud any mother for disciplining her child in that situation. She did not beat him up. Give me a break.
(skipped paragraphs)
I don't think Graham is a hero, but when so many other parents obviously had no control over their kids wreaking havoc and violence in those mean streets, I think she should be applauded for trying to bring her own son under control. He will be much the better for it. And I will not apologize for applauding her, nor will I accept Walsh's supercilious attempt to cast those who disagree with her in this situation as racists or whatever in the world it is that she's trying to say.
4) Whose the Villain : Republicans or Democrats
Usually, the liberals respond to news about urban riots with condemnation of Republican budget cuts and for their pro-police stance.
But as it turns out, Baltimore hasn't had a Republican mayor since 1967.
Maryland usually has Democrat governors but now has a Republican governor.
And the US has switched from Republican to Democrat presidents usually about every 8-12 years.
So both political parties have to take responsibility for the problems of many impoverished communities.
Here's a response to the blame game
Liz Mair's "Just Admit it, Liberals and Conservatives: Neither of You Can Easily Explain the Riots in Baltimore"
http://journal.ijreview.com/2015/04/244000-baltimore-reasons-liberals-conservatives/
Salon, for its part, ran a piece calling “smashing police cars… a legitimate political strategy,” in which blame for Baltimore’s woes is pinned on, among other things, “the free market” and “real estate,” core attributes of a capitalist system.
Meanwhile, conservative website Twitchy ran a story about looting at a family-owned store being the handiwork of “the social justice mob” as opposed to just, say, apolitical criminals.
The truth is, in a political landscape where people seem to be being exposed to fewer and fewer ideas that conflict with their own, and self-selecting away from hearing dissenting viewpoints, it is not surprising that what has happened in Baltimore should primarily serve to vaidate our own, already entrenched perspectives.
Yet situations like this are complex, even if we can clearly say that violence and looting are wrong, and peaceful protest is right (well, unless you’re the author of that Salon piece).
The truth is, in a city that has long been run by liberals, in a state that skews blue, it is harder to argue that Baltimore is the fault of conservative policies than progressive ones.
Nick Gillepsie "Is Liberalism on Trial in Baltimore? Sure, And so is police violence"
http://reason.com/blog/2015/05/05/is-liberalism-on-trial-in-baltimore-sure#.xjbl4n:bCmn
A popular line of conservative argument in the wake of Baltimore's riots says that "liberalism" itself—big government everything, Democratically controlled city halls and councils, easy-to-qualify-for welfare systems—is the cause of the violent protests in the wake of Freddie Gray's death in policy custody. After decades of complete control by liberal Democrats that poured massive amounts of tax dollars into social programs, economic development plans, shitty public schools, and more, the results are so dismal that Baltimore residents explode in a combustible mix of anger, rage, and violence when an accidental spark sets them off.
This line of thinking is interesting for at least two reasons. First, it shows that on some level conservatives have internalized the old "root cause" argument about urban dysfunction happens. It's not simply individual moral decline but a system of social and economic deprivation that gives rise to riots. Second (and somewhat in contradiction to the first point), it also shows that conservatives are trying to dis-remember the lesson of Ferguson, which was that police misconduct predictably generates outrage and anger from those who deal with it most frequently.
(skipped paragraphs)
Yes, by all means, we need to be discussing how liberal policies have manifestly failed urban residents, especially the racial and ethnic minorities who live in inner cities. But we lose the thread of police misconduct spurred on by militarization and drug-war insanity—something to which conservatives have long turned a blind eye—at the cost of being able to address one of the major root causes of all sorts of problems.
5) Police Reform
From a former federal prosecutor Paul Butler
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/29/baltimore-and-bolstering-a-police-officers-right-to-remain-silent/the-police-officers-bill-of-rights-creates-a-double-standard
Say that the police suspect a civilian of a horrible crime, like killing a man by breaking his spine. Within the crucial first 24 hours after the crime, the cops would put the man in a room, read him his Miranda warnings and then go to work. They would try to get him to talk, perhaps by lying to him, or threatening him, or by wearing him down. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. But any cop worth her salt would try because, hell, it’s homicide investigation.
Unless, thanks to the Maryland Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights, it’s a homicide investigation of a police officer. Lucky for them, those cops don’t get treated like some suspect. Among other things, they get 10 days before they have to say a mumbling word.
From the Fraternal Order of Police (police union) president Chuck Canterbury
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/29/baltimore-and-bolstering-a-police-officers-right-to-remain-silent/greater-scrutiny-makes-officer-vulnerable-to-false-charges
The workplace protections provided by a “bill of rights” for police officers range from the very basic right of due process to more specific protections including the right to be notified that they are being subject to an administrative investigation, reasonable accommodation for any interview and a cooling off period prior to any questioning, which is especially important after a critical incident like an officer involved shooting.
Look what I highlighted in blue! 10 days before they have to talk? A cooling off period prior to questioning? Who else has such luxuries? Why the hell does anyone need a 10-day cooling off period? It probably takes less than 2 hours to write down what happened without any assistance! What's the point of a 10-day cooling off period other than give you time to come up with creative excuses?
For most other people, if they commit a wrong, they get suspended or fired in a lot less than 10 days! And it's usually for wrongs that don't even injure or kill someone!
-----
With smartphones people can now film police interactions. Of course, those who don't want to get caught will destroy evidence.
Now, the ACLU in California has an app that not only films police interactions but automatically saves it in a cloud in case an officer confronts the filmer and try to delete the video!
Learn more at
https://news.yahoo.com/california-aclu-group-launches-app-record-possible-police-222740828.html
If you don't want to be caught doing bad things, then don't do bad things. If you are doing something that can be misinterpreted, then be ready to interpret it!
------
On police training
Matt Apuzzo "Police Rethink Long Tradition on Using Force"
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/us/police-start-to-reconsider-longstanding-rules-on-using-force.html?_r=0
Mr. Wexler’s group will meet with hundreds of police leaders in Washington this week to call for a new era of training, one that replaces truisms such as the 21-foot rule with lessons on defusing tense situations and avoiding violent confrontations. While the Justice Department and chiefs of some major police departments are supportive, the effort has not been widely embraced, at least so far. Some police unions and others have expressed skepticism, saying officers are being unfairly criticized.
“All this chatter just increases the idea that these encounters are avoidable and law enforcement is at fault,” said Jeff Roorda of the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association, who said officers already thought about ways to avoid confrontations.The typical police cadet receives about 58 hours of training on how to use a gun and 49 hours on defensive tactics, according to a recent survey by Mr. Wexler’s group. By comparison, cadets spend just eight hours learning to calm situations before force is needed, a technique called de-escalation.
De-escalation : a skilled required to succeed in working retail, education and libraries! In those environments, you deal with angry people who have little incentive to behave properly! Sometimes, they might be on drugs, sometimes they're bigger than you! And you almost NEVER given by your employers a gun, taser, mace, baton or even basic self-defense training!
You're damn right that you better have great de-escalation skills when working in retail, education or libraries!
But police officers, who have to take control of chaotic situations, are only given 8 hours of training in de-escalation?
8 hours? That's it?
If teachers have been able to take control of class full of big teenagers without a gun or a taser, why can't the police be trained in de-escalating situations so that they can keep the peace and prevent people from getting hurt!
I'm not naïve to think de-escalation is going to stop someone on a shooting spree! That type of stuff, police need shooting skills!
But for working with festival attendees, the homeless, teenagers ready to fight, or at a car stop, de-escalation skills can calm people down, sometimes to the point where they realize how silly their irrational emotions sound to everyone else. Or they can just make an angry person say "alright then, I'll comply". De-escalation skills also let people know that the police isn't an occupation force, it's a a peace-keeping force.
With great de-escalaters in a police force, even a person caught speeding or caught drinking or caught arguing at a parking lot won't hesitate to call police if they are being victimized by a criminal!
I mean, if all you encounter are rude cops, you might hesitate to call police if you got raped or your house got burglarized! But with de-escalation professionals on the police force, you won't hesitate to call police in an emergency even if were caught by the police in the past for speeding, drunkenness or other crazy stuff!
For some good examples of community-oriented policing
In Fresno, California
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/in-fresno-police-focus-on-building-relationships-not-making-arrests/2015/05/06/3c396f04-eab9-11e4-9a6a-c1ab95a0600b_story.html
Not long ago, the Hispanic residents of this gang-ridden neighborhood in Southwest Fresno would not have voluntarily spoken to a police officer, much less attended a police-sponsored block party and taken photos with the chief. But over the past decade, a sustained policing initiative marked by community meetings, Christmas gifts and dozens of neighborhood events has fundamentally altered police-resident relations.
At a time when other cities were aggressively arresting people for minor crimes, a strategy known as “zero tolerance,” officials in Fresno chose a different path. They embraced the softer community-policing ethos popularized under President Bill Clinton, which emphasizes partnerships and problem-solving instead of mass arrests.
Fresno officials say the result has been a significant drop in gang-related violence — and inoculation against the kind of angry protests over police brutality that have rocked Baltimore, New York, Ferguson, Mo., and other American cities over the past year.
In North Little Rock, Arkansas
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2015/may/07/nlr-officer-gets-national-exposure-community-polic/
In one of his hundreds of Instagram posts, North Little Rock police officer Tommy Norman is seen — in uniform — jumping through a moon bounce alongside a group of enthusiastic children.
In others, he's playing a pickup game of basketball, surprising youths at the Boys and Girls Club or wearing face paint to match the tiger colorings of children at this year's Rose City Day festivities.
The common theme in the vast majority of Norman's more than 4,200 posts is him interacting positively with the community, particularly young people. It's an effort that has earned Norman some 8,200 followers on the popular photo and video-sharing network and — as of this week — some national exposure.
Norman on Wednesday appeared on CNN to discuss his and the North Little Rock agency's focus on community policing. His Instagram feed served as a backdrop showcasing firsthand some of the work.
"We know we can't win everybody over," Norman said Thursday. "We want the community to know that they can trust us. When you're involved in the community, you have to become embedded in that community. As a police officer, to me there's no other choice. You open your arms to love people and care for people and show compassion."
(skipped paragraphs)
On CNN, he recalled once being called to Little Rock because a murder suspect there wanted to turn himself in and had asked specifically for Norman, whom he recognized as someone he could surrender to "peacefully and with dignity."
Norman said he received a message after the CNN interview from a woman whose 4-year-old daughter "screams" when she sees officers because her father was fatally shot by one. The woman said she was looking forward to sharing the piece about Norman because it showed another side to law enforcement, he said.
And, Norman said, he's even heard from people who have reached out to him to let him know they've turned around their lives after earlier run-ins with law enforcement. He said he received a note from one man he'd arrested eight years earlier for dealing drugs who wanted Norman to know he was now making good money driving a truck.
"He said the way I treated him with respect meant a lot to him and he really remembers it," Norman said.
And this is a European-American police officer working in mostly African-American communities. His popularity is because of his great de-escalation skills and for just treating civilians as valued community members instead of burdens to deal with! A great police officer can have a positive impact!
