“We need a culture change. We need the community to step up and say, ‘This is not the behavior that we’re willing to put up with.’ When that happens, it will help.” – Columbus, Ohio, Deputy Police Chief Richard Bash in Please Don’t Be That Idiot Who Shoots Their Gun In The Air On New Year’s Eve [via cbslocal.com]
The stupid is stunning.
Bigger issue in Dayton than Columbus, I think. When I lived in Dayton’s South Park Historic District, drunken shouts of “ Happy New Year” followed by 5-15 pistol shots started around 11:46 pm and ran through about 3:45 am.
If anything, police should be held to a higher standard than that of the public…As it stands now, police can commit crimes with impunity because, in most situations, they investigate themselves…Behavior that would get an ordinary citizen charged, convicted and incarcerated is routinely ignored by “the powers that be” because police are considered to be “above the law” as the “law” is whatever they say it is, the Constitution be damned…
Police officers are the only group that can murder someone by falsely claiming that “they feared for their lives”, have 48 to 72 hours to “get their stories straight”, and have a union lawyer and compliant prosecutor-steered “grand jury” absolve them of responsibility.
Police demand immediate compliance (Israeli-style)–with two or three cops issuing and yelling out conflicting commands, it is easy to see how a person under police control could lose his life for merely attempting to follow conflicting directions.
Ever notice that police unions are “fraternal”? This should tell you something. The “thin-blue-line” is a gang, little different than street gangs–at least when it comes to “covering-up” their questionable and quite often, illegal and criminal behavior.
In today’s day and age, “officer safety” trumps de-escalation of force. This, in part, is due to the militarization of the police along with training in Israeli police tactics. This becomes a problem, with the “us vs. them” attitude that is fosters, along with the fact that Israel is a very different place, being on a constant “war footing”, its police tactics are very different.
There are too many instances of police being “given a pass”, even when incontrovertible video and audio evidence is presented. Grand juries, guided by police-friendly prosecutors, quite often refuse to charge those police officers who abuse their authority.
Police officers, who want to do the right thing, are quite often marginalized and put into harms way, by their own brethren…When a police officer is beating on someone that is already restrained while yelling, “stop resisting” THAT is but one reason police have a “bad name” in many instances…this makes the “good cops” who are standing around, witnessing their “brethren in blue” beating on a restrained suspect, culpable as well…
Here are changes that can help reduce police-induced violence:
1. Get rid of police unions. Police unions (fraternities) protect the guilty, and are responsible for the massive whitewashing of questionable police behavior that is presently being committed.
2. Eliminate both “absolute” and “qualified” immunity for all public officials. This includes, prosecutors and judges, police and firefighters, code enforcement and child protective services officials, and others who deal with the citizenry. The threat of being sued personally would encourage them to behave themselves. Require police officers to be “bonded” by an insurance company, with their own funds. No bond= no job. You can bet that insurance companies would be more diligent in weeding out the “bad apples” than our present system…
3. Any public funds disbursed to citizens as a result of police misconduct should come out of police pension funds–NOT from the taxpayers.
4. Regular drug-testing of police officers as well as incident-based drug testing should take place whenever an officer is involved in a violent situation with a citizen–no exceptions.
5. Testing for steroid use should be a part of the drug testing program. You know damn well, many police officers “bulk up” with the “help” of steroids. Steroids also affect users mentally as well, making them more aggressive. The potential for abuse of citizens increases greatly with steroid use.
6. Internal affairs should only be used for disagreements between individual officers–NOT for investigations involving citizen abuse. State-level investigations should be mandatory for all suspected abuses involving citizens.
7. Prosecutors should be charged with malfeasance IF any evidence implicating police officer misconduct is not presented to the grand jury.
8. A national or state-by-state database of abusive individuals who should NEVER be allowed to perform police work should be established–a “blacklist” of abusive (former) police officers.
9. Most people are unaware that police have special “rules” that prohibit them from being questioned from 48 to 72 hours. This allows them to “get their stories straight” and makes it easier to “cover up” bad police behavior. Police must be subject to the same laws as civilians.
10. All police should be required to wear bodycams and utilize dashcams that cannot be turned off. Any police officers who causes a dash or body cam to be turned off should be summarily fired–no excuses. Today’s body and dash cams are reliable enough to withstand harsh treatment. Body and dashcam footage should be uploaded to a public channel “on the cloud” for public perusal.
11. All interrogations must be video and audio recorded. Police should be prohibited from lying or fabricating stories in order to get suspects to confess. False confessions ARE a problem in many departments. Unknown to most people, police can lie with impunity while civilians can be charged with lying to police…fair? I think not…
12. Any legislation passed that restricts the rights of ordinary citizens, such as firearms magazine capacity limits, types of weapons allowed, or restrictive concealed-carry laws should apply equally to police. No special exemptions to be given to police. Laws must be equally applied.
13 “Asset forfeiture” is a form of “legalized robbery under color of law” and must be abolished. We must return to Constitutional principles when it comes to “crimefighting”. The so-called “war on drugs” is actually a “war on the citizenry” and has had an extremely corrosive effect on the Constitutional principles that our country is (supposed to be) founded on.
14. “No-knock” raids must be abolished as they put both police and (especially citizens) in harms way. Even the Nazis “knocked on the door” before gaining entry.
15. SWAT teams must be reigned in on their “dynamic entry techniques”. Utilizing SWAT teams for routine situations is dangerous to both police and citizens. Smashing everything in sight “just because they can”, blaming it on an “adrenaline rush” must end. There is NEVER a reason for destroying property.
16. The “21 foot rule” must be modified or abolished. American police training assumes that ANYONE that gets within 21 feet of a police officer and is deemed a threat, even a non-life-threatening situation is “fair game” for the use of lethal force. Persons with rakes, sticks, knives, or even their fists have been executed, even when non-lethal means would have been more appropriate. Police hide behind the “21 foot rule” in order to justify questionable police shootings. Their “excuse”, when brought before a prosecutor or grand jury is “that is the way they are trained”. THAT has to change. Police have a greater responsibility NOT to use deadly force against those that they could easily subdue by other means.
Police work is not inherently dangerous…there are many other professions that are much more dangerous.
A little “Andy Taylor” could go a long way in allaying fears that citizens have of police.
I don’t know anything about new jersey and it’s laws, but if she was driving her own car from Florida, shouldn’t that exempt her from getting pulled over for tinted windows in the first place? If my memory serves correctly, that’s how it works in CA. Also, how is an officer seeing her Florida ccw permit grounds for a search of her vehicle? Unless she was dumb enough to consent to a search I would think (/hope) that would be grounds to have her case thrown out.
I agree, we need a cultural change – we need to teach firearm safety and marksmanship at a young age *gasp* starting in elementary schools even. The people shooting off a handgun are not the ones who go to the range on a regular basis and practice firearm safety – they are people who were never taught the 4 rules. This would also have the effect of reducing the number of hoplophobes pushing for gun control. The best way to take away liberty is to keep the majority ignorant.
Exactly what ‘culture’ are we talking about here? An imported one perhaps? I’ve never lived anywhere where shooting guns in the air, no matter what the occasion, was a thing. And all the places I’ve lived are extremely gun friendly.
You’re lucky if you’ve never had it happen near you. Around here, it happens every year. There’s at least a couple of people in my area that have automatic weapons, from the sound of it…
I just purchased a used Ruger PC4 in .40 caliber and it’s incredible. I believe that in states like CT, MA, CA, NJ or NY, this new version will be the go-to gun. Ruger is a front-runner in innovation, and they will follow this one up with (?) .40 caliber, .45 ACP. CDR Ski
While I understand his logic, the ’68 GCA is *NOT* constitutional. At all.
Neither was the NFA act of 1934…….
“Reasonable restrictions such as…” Open to any interpretation that limits ownership, possession and use of guns. Lawyers’ full employment provision.
We barely got a tax reduction bill passed. People in the country believe a tax cut will be a loss of income to them. The same people believe gun owners are an insult away from shooting up a mall. Repubs simply do not have the votes to get any gun bill (other than confiscation) passed. And there is no penalty for punting the issue.
Sweet build! I know we’re almost 4 years down the road from the date this article was written, but it is still topical. Love the way the build was thought out, and the execution and finished product is amazing!
Would love to shoot this gun!
I know a criminal defense attorney who will second this. He said that your personal defense gun should look as innocent as possible so you don’t trigger a jury full of snowflakes. (Sic.)
Proof positive the police chief is ‘Stupid is as stupid does!’
Did she consent to a search during the traffic stop? If yes, why? If no, the evidence seized should not be allowed. Or am I all wrong on this?
buying my 2nd cz at the curb outside a tavern. the first, a full size 75omega led to a compact. when the car pulled up i texted “kompressor?” and he affirmed.
i like the omega trigger better in single action, the compact is much easier to haul around.
Even though it was a 2016 review, Jeremy’s outstanding #5 trigger review was my favorite from this year since I was in the market for a budget trigger. I had almost decided on the Rise Armament RA-140 but the lack of a drop safety concerned me. Surprise! Santa found an RA-434 (with a drop safety) on sale and put it in my stocking, along with a set of ELF anti-walk pins.
Gee, none of us who have ever lived in L.A. County ever knew this was going on.
“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”
Dang Robert, $5000.00 for the pinball machine?! You could have bought ANOTHER awesome pistol and played Theater of Magic on XBOX One…
Finally finding a nice, reasonably priced, 9mm Browning High-Power to round out my modest collection of vintage FN-Browning pistols.
And NO, it’s not going to stay a ‘safe-queen’! It’s already been out to the range, and I’m planning more trips there.
Happy Motoring, Mark
So what “controls” does a “Series 70 Colt” have that this Dan Wesson “1911” does not? Do you know what a Series 70 Colt actually is and what’s really different about them compared to a “1911” of any other “series”?
I usually defend the police, if I believe they were right to do what they did…but in this case, I cannot. Using the excuse that the officer was scared, nervous, wanted to go home to his family, etc, should not be used when the officer kills an innocent unarmed man. LEO’s are trained to handle those stressful situations and to deescalate. The average civilian is not. Chances are, the civvy has never had anyone point a gun at his face, especially not guns held by a bunch of dudes yelling and screaming, who look like they just left a soldier of fortune photo shoot. If the officer is scared, how scared do you think this poor guy was? And to be killed simply because you are nervous and scared, and accidentally made the wrong move, is just wrong. Anyone, LEO or not, who kills an innocent person because you are “scared”, is just a coward.