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Who would have felt comfortable in these circumstances?
A Massachusetts man was driving in the town of Medford last Saturday night. He admits he took a wrong turn and ended up going the wrong way down a traffic circle. The angry man steps out of a truck and approaches him. Michael, seemingly -- and perhaps understandably -- frightened, reverses. The angry man follows him and Michael stops.
The angry man appears to show his badge and identifies himself as a police officer. Some, though, might be troubled by the officer's greeting: "I'll put a hole in your head." Michael is apologetic and explains to the officer -- now identified as Det. Stephen LeBert -- that he is being recorded. LeBert suggests that he will seize the camera.
"I'm a f***ing Medford detective and you went through that f***ing rotary," says LeBert. As Michael insists he didn't see a sign, LeBert demands his license. "You're lucky I'm a cop, otherwise I'd be beating the f***ing piss out of you right now," LeBert adds, shortly after calling the driver an a**hole. LeBert ultimately calls for on-duty cops who at least do a little to calm the situation. However, the fact that Michael posted his video to YouTube has led to an investigation.
Medford Police Chief Leo Sacco told MyFoxBoston: "It's not the proper behavior, but we only know about it when people tell us. And unfortunately, we had to get up this morning and see it on a YouTube video."
In the days before cameras proliferated, you had to rely on witnesses and hearsay. The police were more likely to be believed by those in authority. Cameras have begun to change that -- on both sides.
Sacco told the Medford Transcript: "The video is troubling enough, and it requires investigation just based on what we see here. The driver does not have to file his own complaint. He may, but he does not have to."
[...] Sacco told the Medford Transcript that LeBert was a good policeman. He added, perhaps unfortunately: "If you work hard you do step on people's toes, which generates complaints."
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2015, @07:12PM
It is a cultural issue. All behavior issues are cultural issues. It has nothing to do with guns or drugs. Did we ban airplanes after 9/11? Did we ban fertilizer after Oklahoma city? How about backpacks after two bombings?
No it is cultural. In short: disenfranchisement, lack of life satisfaction, lack of dignity, and a culture of fear fueling a negative-reinforcement spiral. Granted the US isn't actually very dangerous at all when looking at all statistics. It is almost unheard of to ever get into a bar fight or be mugged or kidnapped in the US compared to other western nations. Still, things can go from calm to death pretty quick on occasion. Partially the problem has to do with how dangers are perceived.
The news agencies gobble up things like that and plaster it everywhere for views, even when nothing violent happened such as in this case. Do German newspapers have wall to wall coverage of "Crime almost happened"? Probably not. Politicians use it as their rallying cry here just like pedophile scares are the standard practice in the UK. So there are police and citizens out in the world that think there is a terrorist or an assault-rifle carrying maniac around every bush and tree. Unfortunately there is probably another citizen thinking the exact same thing on the other side.
The elephant in the room is that the US culture is one of protestant work ethic and justice. Work hard and be successful or else you are worthless. Punishment to the wicked should be swift and ferocious. Where does that leave the majority of citizens that do work hard and obey the law yet clearly never make it into the top 1%? They are treated like potential criminals, terrorists, and are clearly lazy, stupid, and fat. After all, if they weren't all those things they would be successfully in the 1% wouldn't they? It is even reinforced by stereotypes from abroad.
So there is this population that is obsessed with work, but rarely get the opportunity to succeed, a police force that believes nearly every one of them is out to murder, news organizations and politicians that pour kerosene over the whole situation for their own benefit, and overall low life satisfaction for all. I consider it a miracle the situation isn't any worse.
Nationally I have no idea what the solution is. Locally the solution has been made apparent to me via observational experimentation. People that don't pay attention to politics, government, or news tend to be happy and well adjusted. Local police that have no strong political or religious views are friendly and professional. Oddly what many people naturally do over time, become apathetic, seems to make the general population happier and safer. It took many years for me to accept that but have yet to do it myself.
If I was apathetic I would be fishing on a Saturday morning instead of reading the news and trying to convince a person I will never meet on several controversial and age old points in a futile attempt to make the world just a little more informed. I might even make the world just a little better. Nah, the truly wise people are completely ignorant of this news, line in a lake filled with bluegill, and a beer in their hand.
(Score: 2) by zugedneb on Saturday August 01 2015, @08:52PM
Nationally I have no idea what the solution is. Locally the solution has been made apparent to me via observational experimentation. People that don't pay attention to politics, government, or news tend to be happy and well adjusted.
This is a disaster. There is no way a democracy can survive this.
The only solutions would be to try to get people stop consuming, but don't know how.
Most people I know consume content and merchandise to patch up a broken family.
Wife sad? Buy some shit or go to theatre.
Kids cry? Buys some shit or download disney or similar...
Seems, only genetics and longevity will save us from this.
Until then, just dig into the shit.
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2015, @12:03PM
This is a disaster. There is no way a democracy can survive this.
This is true, but I think the ruling powers no longer want a democracy. They have moved things to the edge of a police state where law enforcement openly refers to citizens as "civilians" and "the enemy". It is not a democracy they seek.
More and more of these unwarranted killings by the police are coming to light. We are seeing a few a month now. Before you know it there will be too many to keep track of, the pubic will become desensitized to it, and the media will stop reporting on them because they don't get enough viewers or clicks. When faced with reality that is overwhelming the public tends to carry on so they will not become part of the next trending topic of oppression or violence by the State.