are cops getting too violent these days?

TEXAS - A crowd of more than 100 protesters chanted "No more!" from the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse Sunday evening as they demanded an investigation into a police raid earlier in the day at a gay night club.
One patron was seriously injured in the raid, several protesters said, as police used excessive force in making seven arrests. Police defended their actions.
Speaker after speaker demanded an inquiry into the late-night raid at the Rainbow Lounge on South Jennings Street.
"I was scared," patron Todd Camp said at the protest Sunday afternoon. "I have never seen anything like this in my life."...
Witnesses say that police arrived at the nightclub about 1 a.m. Sunday and arrested seven people and that one of those arrested suffered a fractured skull during the take down and is at a Fort Worth hospital.

New CNN video - http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/06/29/dnt.tx.gay.bar.controversy.kdaf
Here's another link to the story as well. http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1458523.html
Another - http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/06/on_40th_anniversary_of_stonew...

Personally I believe this was done purposely, for them to do a "random bar check" with multiple cruisers and officers is hard to believe. They used excessive force, cracking one guys skull. To do this on the Stonewall anniversary is pretty unacceptable, I hope they get to the bottom of this.

discuss.

yes and no, in australia cops have pretty much no power to do anything, if they make physical contact the criminal can sue, press charges and otherwise make that cops life miserable and if the crim is non anglo-saxon then they can cry racism which almost always gets them off, but obviously we can't have police laws like china where they bash people up, it is a complex issue as not many countries have got it right, they are either too lenient like aus or too excessive like in china and burma, the us is one of the better countries, i watch "Cops" and wish that our police were like that:D

yes and no, in australia cops have pretty much no power to do anything, if they make physical contact the criminal can sue, press charges and otherwise make that cops life miserable and if the crim is non anglo-saxon then they can cry racism which almost always gets them off, but obviously we can't have police laws like china where they bash people up, it is a complex issue as not many countries have got it right, they are either too lenient like aus or too excessive like in china and burma, the us is one of the better countries, i watch "Cops" and wish that our police were like that:D

Phoenix6359

Really? most people here would LOVE your police.

[QUOTE="Phoenix6359"]

yes and no, in australia cops have pretty much no power to do anything, if they make physical contact the criminal can sue, press charges and otherwise make that cops life miserable and if the crim is non anglo-saxon then they can cry racism which almost always gets them off, but obviously we can't have police laws like china where they bash people up, it is a complex issue as not many countries have got it right, they are either too lenient like aus or too excessive like in china and burma, the us is one of the better countries, i watch "Cops" and wish that our police were like that:D

ParonoiaAgent

Really? most people here would LOVE your police.

No people are losing discipline and respect. When an officer tells you to do something, such as stay in your vehicle, STAY IN YOUR VEHICLE... if you knew how many criminals many police officers face all the timeimport_fighter1

It's a two way street. An individual often considers their situation when encountering police. Selfish? Perhaps, but many of the current situations that have sparked forum threads shows an ignorant innocence on part of the person involved. I do not believe for one minute that every time a person 'disobeys' a police officer is being outright disrespectful, it is the cognitive dissonance between their belief they did not do anything wrong while being yelled at or threatened with detainment. The person is trying to naively reason with the police officer and the officer needs to be able to discern this from someone who is just being a schmuck.

Police officers hold a position of power over the average citizen and need to be held to a higher standard of behavior and practice. When they fail, the consequences should be strict.

Well, they seem to love their tasers a bit too much...

Compared to around 40/50 years ago, no.

[QUOTE="ParonoiaAgent"]

[QUOTE="Phoenix6359"]

yes and no, in australia cops have pretty much no power to do anything, if they make physical contact the criminal can sue, press charges and otherwise make that cops life miserable and if the crim is non anglo-saxon then they can cry racism which almost always gets them off, but obviously we can't have police laws like china where they bash people up, it is a complex issue as not many countries have got it right, they are either too lenient like aus or too excessive like in china and burma, the us is one of the better countries, i watch "Cops" and wish that our police were like that:D

Avistann

Really? most people here would LOVE your police.

I agree Passive law enforcement would just make the Crime more tolerable in the us. Sometimes the Police do go out of hand... But majority of the police are good.

Well, they seem to love their tasers a bit too much...

supa_badman

I would jump at the chance to taser a jerk.

yes and no, in australia cops have pretty much no power to do anything, if they make physical contact the criminal can sue, press charges and otherwise make that cops life miserable and if the crim is non anglo-saxon then they can cry racism which almost always gets them off, but obviously we can't have police laws like china where they bash people up, it is a complex issue as not many countries have got it right, they are either too lenient like aus or too excessive like in china and burma, the us is one of the better countries, i watch "Cops" and wish that our police were like that:D

Phoenix6359

I think the problem is that cops aren't bending to public pressure. It was starting to get to the point where if cops crossed the line and people got up in arms about it they would apologize. Recently it seems like whenever someone calls cops out for doing something wrong they get ever more indignant and defensive. That troubles me just as much, if not more than the rise in violence reported.

If you are talking about the US.. no... if you are talking about countries such as mine.. yea.

No, it's just that you're hearing about it because of the internet

[QUOTE="Phoenix6359"]

yes and no, in australia cops have pretty much no power to do anything, if they make physical contact the criminal can sue, press charges and otherwise make that cops life miserable and if the crim is non anglo-saxon then they can cry racism which almost always gets them off, but obviously we can't have police laws like china where they bash people up, it is a complex issue as not many countries have got it right, they are either too lenient like aus or too excessive like in china and burma, the us is one of the better countries, i watch "Cops" and wish that our police were like that:D

ParonoiaAgent

Really? most people here would LOVE your police.

Even if some cops are violent, a lot of them have to deal with crap the entire day and just dont care anymore.

In my town, which is full of drugies, the state cops dont take s**t because they have to deal with these punks all day and get tired of it. Every so often they get a little out of hand, but I dont blame 'em. I'd like to punch a few of these idiot's faces in my self.

I think cops are always violent.

not where i live...

I wouldn't say cops are as violent these days. Typically a police officer has been a fairly easy position of power, and respect to gain. Hence the job typically attracts power hungry individuals that aren't necessarily worthy of the position, and abuses take place.

One concept I always hated about the police department is the idea of the "Blue Shield." Police Officers are expected to turn the other way, lie or cover up when another cop does something wrong. This means that "bad cops" rarely get caught red handed. It also means that the reputation of cops is hurt, and their job becomes harder, and more dangerous.

Not really.. violence is a part of human nature.

Not really.. violence is a part of human nature.

EMOEVOLUTION

[QUOTE="EMOEVOLUTION"]

Not really.. violence is a part of human nature.

mramz88

Taze first ask questions later imo.

Really depends on where you live. I just moved counties a few years back, and the cops around here seem pretty nice. But in my old county most of the cops were corrupt/did hard drugs, and given the choice of running into a cop late at night or a drug dealer I'd have gone with the drug dealer. But now that I've moved most of the cops seem very professional, and so of course there are twice as many complaints filed against them.

Everyone's always been too violent always.