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POLL: Police Brutality?

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Aldeth the Foppish Idiot, Apr 14, 2005.

  1. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    From my unprofessional opinion, I would say the officer was not being negligent. He saw "Bob" roll through a stop sign. He has no idea when "Bob" is going home or how many stop signs he is going to roll through on his way home. He has no idea how many people "Bob" is going to run over, or how much property damage he may do before arriving at home.

    Now, should the officer have allowed the chase speeds to increase to the level they did? I don't know, but I don't think he should have just let "Bob" go on his merry way and hope everything will be OK by the time "Bob" gets home.
     
  2. Beren

    Beren Lovesick and Lonely Wanderer Staff Member Member of the Week Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    I can make an analogy here ...

    Under Canadian law, if the police notice a pattern of driving that causes them to suspect intoxication, and the guy speeds away, the police are justified in chasing him down.

    Its the driver who's causing a danger to the public, and its recognized that the cops have a duty to prevent that danger, and are exposing themselves to danger. The onus is on the driver to stop for the police. Once that car stops, you start to get into issues such as whether certain questioning and detention procedures are justified, but I won't bore anybody here with that. :)

    Once the case arrives in court, leading the police on a highway chase is a highly aggravating factor that ups the guy's sentence.

    Now of course in this situation, the cops had no way of knowing about the guy's handicap. But I think they did reasonably conclude that there was a dangerous situation that they had to stop.
     
  3. The Great Snook Gems: 31/31
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    I want to know who the "loser" was that thought the cops acted improperly. Oh, wait a minute, it was me. :)

    To me having four cops blaze away at a car is quite excessive. Why one of the cars didn't pin the SUV in after it hit the other car is beyond me.

    Then again it is always easier to be a critc then to be a performer.
     
  4. Sydax Gems: 19/31
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    Yesterday, today's newspapers: a 32 years old man attacked a 25 years old woman and a 12 years old boy, after the agression, the man started to run away, stole a car, drove about 200 mts and crashed a tree; 2 cops that were around were warned so when they started to go to the place where the woman and the boy were assaulted they almost got hit by the stoled car, they turned around to see the crash, so one of them started to run to the crashed car but had to stop because the man got out of the car and ran to the police with a knife (clearly visible) in his hand threatening him clearly, the stop movement of the cop made him almost fall down, and got surprised by the action of the man, so the other cop shouted "stop" to the man but he didn't stop but still wanted to attack the other cop who was trying to run away, so the cop shot the man in one leg, this made him hesitate but after a few seconds still wanted to go after the cop so he got shot again, this time in the knife's hand (bull's eye!) Now, he's in jail, charged for assault to the woman and the boy and to resist authority, he may face up to 10 years; now, relatives sued police for brutality and they seem they going to get away with it; usually this people go to jail to protest and they manage to get lot of people to agree with them so you always see 100 people with signs and all the stuff protesting...
    The thing is, I think in both cases, police acted rigthfuly.
     
  5. khazadman Gems: 6/31
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    Well Snook, most suvs are powerful enough to push your avaerage patrol car out of the way. Especially the older ones. So pinning it in is not really possible.
     
  6. Bion Gems: 21/31
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    One problem, though, about pushing the "driving is a privilege, not a right" line too far: in many, or most parts of the US, there's little or no public transport, and a car is often necessary to hold a job. The US is set up to be car-reliant. Note the excitement of 16 year olds upon getting their licence, or the sadness of the elderly upon losing it; the ability to drive is almost like a component of citizenship here. Of course this leads to all sorts of problems, as cars are super dangerous. But try arguing that the US should spend more on public transport, and people think you're a commie...
     
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