Ah, the Police - To Protect and Serve

[Turtle]

It starts off as perhaps a "he said" - "she said" kind of thing, but then you realize "he said" ain't makin' it up. And he's got the video to prove it.

Miami Beach police shot a man to death, a bazillion times or thereabouts, after a relatively short chase on Memorial Day. The driver of the car allegedly hit a police officer at a traffic stop and then sped away. The police say he was firing a gun at them during the chase. So they killed him. It took them three days to find the gun in the car, however, and they still haven't determined if the gun has even been fired.

But wait! There's more! The police did their dead level best to destroy a citizen video that shows them shooting the man. First, the police pointed their guns at the man who shot the video of the police raining bullets at the driver of the car, according to a Miami Herald interview with the videographer. Then, still at gunpoint, they ordered the man and his girlfriend out of the car and threw them down to the ground, yelling, 'you want to be f****** paparazzi?' Then they snatched the cell phone from his hand and slammed it to the ground before stomping on it. Then they placed the smashed phone in the videographer's back pocket as he was laying down on the ground. He managed to yank the SIM card from the phone before they.... well, you can read all about it here, from the Miami Herald:

Witnesses said they were forced to hide video after Beach shooting - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com

 

[AMonger]

I can't wait to hear the D12 defend this.

As usual, the 90% of bad cops give the other 10% a bad name.

 

[greg334]

If you are expecting me to defend it, think again.

The cops violated not just the rights of the guy they killed but also the rights of the individuals capturing it on their camera. They are the press as far as I'm concern and the violation is clear that the cops violated their first amendment rights to have a free press.

Nothing short of forcing the police chief and his staff out, brining in the DoJ (God I hate to say that) to clean up the department and put the cops who had a hand in all of this in jail.

 

[Turtle]

If you are expecting me to defend it, think again.

Huh? Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?!

Other than perhaps the cops who were involved, I can't imagine anyone trying to defend this.

Trust me, I didn't post this to see if you would defend it.

Mainly, I posted it to make Amonger feel good, to feel vindicated.

 

[greg334]

nope not at all, just the opposite. I have been accused of siding with the government a few times to justify the 'trampling of our rights' and this is one incident where I feel extends into the the realm of what many consider a profession, reporting an event.

 

[Turtle]

The laws are quite clear in that if you can be there, of if you can see there, you can photograph there (except for certain very specific situations). Whatever happens in public is in public, and anyone can take pictures or video of it, whether it be with a cell phone camera, surveillance cameras, or red light cameras. Even on private property, unless there are signs telling you it is prohibited or unless you agreed not to take pictures if allowed on the property, you can take pictures and video there, right up to the point where you are told to stop. And even then, the pictures you've already taken are your property and cannot be legally confiscated or destroyed.

It used to be the police had their cameras trained on us, now it's the other way around, and some cops don't like that, especially when our cameras catch them breaking the law.

 

[greg334]

I agree with everything you are saying but I am talking about what the intent of freedom of the press was when it was written.

We each are the press if we choose to be (blogs, forums, standing on the roof of your house yelling out events - any way it is broadcast to the public), there is no institutionalized press that existed when our constitution was written and even though many think that we have a distinct difference under the first amendment between a citizen and a journalist, there truly isn't and never will be. The professional journalist has the same rights as the citizen and the citizen has the same rights as the professional journalist - no one is above the other.

The cops by destroying the cell phone violated freedom of the press as far as I see.

 

[chefdennis]

From the title of this thread:

"the Police - To Protect and Serve"

The abuse in this story is simply soo far over the top it is scary...but it is happening more and more and more then people think or really want to admit....

But while a little off the topic of the thread, but on the topic of the title of the thread....remember when someone breaks into your home , that law enforcement is...just a "phone call away"...oh and a few more minutes too...if they aren't really busy and short staffed....make sure you can protect yourself...

 

[Turtle]

The abuse in this story is simply soo far over the top it is scary...but it is happening more and more and more then people think or really want to admit....

The abuse is so far over the top that the people of Miami, and maybe the people of this country, should be marching on Miami Beach Police headquarters, in full-on mob mentality mode, looking for heads to put on pikes, and then spike them out front with a sign saying, "Failed To Protect and Serve."

One of those, more or less, is already scheduled for 6 PM Friday in front of Miami Beach City Hall. But that one isn't for the video incident, although that may become a part of it, that one's to protest the 4 innocent bystanders who were shot by police over the weekend in the two related shootings. The people of Miami, and Miami Beach especially, are getting tired of an out-of-control police force. Ya think?

 

[AMonger]

If you are expecting me to defend it, think again.

Well, at least I've found one instance in which you won't say we should lick their badges and bend over and grab our ankles. How about the rest of the D12?

 

[layoutshooter]

I have great respect for many individual police officers. Police departments scare me.

The police in general are an extension of the government and the government is out of control.

The government needs controlled and police departments must be made to remember who they work for. Not the city, the state or the feds, they are OUR employees.

 

[Moot]

What am I missing here? This link Witnesses said they were forced to hide video after Beach shooting - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com shows a shaky video shot from several floors above street level. It shows what is presumably police officers opening up on a car. My suggest is if you want to shoot front page type moving pictures of Sasquatch, space aliens, presidential assassinations, Angie Dickinson's boobs or police brutality, get a decent camera, zoom lens and a tripod.

Reading the story it sure sounds like the cops were WOFC. But the video in the link sure doesn't support it.

An aside to Amonger; what one incident with law enforcement got you on this anti-cop rant? Or was it more than one incident. Also, what prompted you to adjust your bad cop percentages? Was it this latest Miami Beach tragedy? I hope you enjoyed National Doughnut Day on Friday.

 

[Turtle]

The video at the link is not the phone video.

 

[AMonger]

An aside to Amonger; what one incident with law enforcement got you on this anti-cop rant? Or was it more than one incident.

It was two things: the militarization of the cops that started with the war on drugs, and the advent of the internet that reveals all the brutality that we had not known about before.

Also, what prompted you to adjust your bad cop percentages? Was it this latest Miami Beach tragedy? I hope you enjoyed National Doughnut Day on Friday.

It's a quote I read somewhere a few days ago. It probably is more like the 10/80/10.