Fla. Police Tape Is No Laughing Matter to Protester
Police Apologize but Lawyer Plans Lawsuit for Rubber Bullet Shooting
By ARASH GHADISHAH

MIAMI, Aug. 10, 2006 — Call it unusual optimism, but Elizabeth Ritter counted herself lucky by day's end on Nov. 20, 2003.

On that day, the South Florida lawyer says, she was shot with rubber bullets at least four times by Miami-area law enforcement officers who were out in force to control protesters demonstrating against a free trade summit.

One bullet struck Ritter in the face.

"I felt there had been angels sitting on my shoulders because I had not been blinded by that shot," she said to ABC News.

She was demonstrating against law enforcement's handling of the protests.

A newly surfaced videotape that shows Broward Sheriff's Office officials laughing over footage of Ritter being shot by rubber bullets and calling protesters "cockroaches" has sparked outrage and prompted an apology from law enforcement.

(more...)
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=2296783&page=1

This link has the video -
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/15228898.htm

"Those who make peaceful change impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy

'Hero' policeman saves teenagers
A brave policeman swam out to save two young girls who were stranded after being swept out to sea.

Portland coastguard were called at 1100 BST on Monday after undercurrents in waist-deep water swept the pair from Fisherman's Walk, Southbourne, Dorset.

Nicole Morris, 12, and Louise Tully Blake, 15 - who cannot swim - were hanging onto a low sea wall, when the unidentified officer rescued them.

The girls suffered cuts and grazes and Nicole was stung by a Weever fish.

The Coastguard helicopter was scrambled and Poole Bay Lifeguards also attended the scene.

A coastguard spokesman said: "They had been caught by the tide and swept on to the groyne and couldn't move from there due to the force of the tide and the currents of the sea.

"It was a policeman who went into the water and got the girls out."

Dorset Police was not able to confirm the identity of the officer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/3532760.stm

Talk about making themselves look bad. There is no way the police can win that lawsuit.
'Hero' policeman saves teenagers
Not even news of times in which they actually do their jobs.
So were you trying to make them look worse? Countering a case in which an entire force of police randomly took pot shots with rubber bullets with the tale of one lone hero policeman?

A newly surfaced videotape that shows Broward Sheriff's Office officials laughing over footage of Ritter being shot by rubber bullets and calling protesters "cockroaches".....

Yeah.

As if that is not perfectly typical behavior for law enforcement officials (ESPECIALLY in Southern locales) in this country.

The people who decide to JOIN the law enforcement industry are by definition people who despise those individualists who dare to speak out against the status quo.

It is ZERO surprise that they glory in the fact that they can cause these protest-minded people great harm/discomfort.

FT, you're a lot smarter than that. What would possess you to post something that inherently stupid?

FT, you're a lot smarter than that. What would possess you to post something that inherently stupid?

Take it from somone with decades of firsthand experience;

The behavior described is perfectly typical behavior for law enforcement officials --ESPECIALLY in Southern locales-- in this country. (if you do not realize that, then you are clueless about the South)

It is FAR, FAR from exemplifying the worst behavior of the people (Southern law enforcement) that I am refering to.

Take it from somone with decades of firsthand experience;

The behavior described is perfectly typical behavior for law enforcement officials --ESPECIALLY in Southern locales-- in this country.

Please define what you mean by "perfectly typical", and "firsthand experience" in this context.

Countering a case in which an entire force of police randomly took pot shots with rubber bullets with the tale of one lone hero policeman?

C'mon Blib, use your head...even the woman that was shot understands it wasn't the "entire force" that's to blame here, she is however to be commended for maintaining her common sense and composure before, during, and after this regrettable incident.

Here's a part of the article you won't find 500 quoting:


"I believe it's a disgrace to police officers everywhere," Ritter said. "Those people are very poor representatives of law enforcement. … Citizens must feel free to express their ideas peaceably in this country."

C'mon Blib, use your head...even the woman that was shot understands it wasn't the "entire force" that's to blame here, she is however to be commended for maintaining her common sense and composure before, during, and after this regrettable incident. Yeah I mean its not like they all stood around laughing and congratulating themselves about it afterwords...Oh wait...they did.....

BTW its spelled PIGS. PIGS break the law, cops do not. These assholes most certainly broke the law in shooting peaceful unarmed civlians who posed no threat.

Go watch the videos, they are eye opening. The guy in charge kept saying "We won today" They have a combative elitist mindset. Of course they acted like PIGS if that was their commander.

My friends dad was a cop. He used to get mad when people called them pigs. Then he started to see how they really operated. He quit the force over the corruption and now wouldn't call them anything but pigs.

I've met one or two cops in my life. You know, courteous, follows the law, tries to minimize situations rather then blow them up.

PS - My friends have audio of some police captain saying "bush looks like a fag with all that makeup on"...it's priceless.

Take it from somone with decades of firsthand experience;

The behavior described {note; said behavior being police laughing about a protestor being shot with rubber bullets, and police calling people cockroaches} is perfectly typical behavior for law enforcement officials --ESPECIALLY in Southern locales-- in this country.

Please define what you mean by "perfectly typical", and "firsthand experience" in this context.

What i mean by *perfectly typical* is that it is very common where I live for the police, whenever they manage to inflict bodily harm on a person they are trying to subdue or control, to later laugh and jeer at that person. It is also common for them to term people they are in conflict with --either verbal or physical-- names like "cockroaches", or ""niggers".

What I mean by firsthand expericence is that I have had police harass and ridicule me (back when i had long hair) with the purpose of instigating an altercation, and I have had them make extremely derogatory slurs to me. And so have innumerable OTHER people in this part of the country who have ever had a run in with the police.

BTW; I really fail to see why this explanantion was necessary, Vile.....it seemed pretty self-explanatory to me.

Yeah I mean its not like they all stood around laughing and congratulating themselves about it afterwords...Oh wait...they did.....

You're right, they did, and that was despicable.


BTW its spelled PIGS. PIGS break the law, cops do not. These assholes most certainly broke the law in shooting peaceful unarmed civlians who posed no threat.

That's a perfectly valid opinion 500, and you have every right to call them what you wish. The problem I have is when you use such terms in thread titles.

What i mean by *perfectly typical* is that it is very common where I live for the police, whenever they manage to inflict bodily harm on a person they are trying to subdue or control, to later laugh and jeer at that person. It is also common for them to term people they are in conflict with --either verbal or physical-- names like "cockroaches", or ""niggers".

What I mean by firsthand expericence is that I have had police harass and ridicule me (back when i had long hair) with the purpose of instigating an altercation, and I have had them make extremely derogatory slurs to me. And so have innumerable OTHER people in this part of the country who have ever had a run in with the police.

Sounds like you live in a police state FT.


BTW; I really fail to see why this explanantion was necessary, Vile.....it seemed pretty self-explanatory to me.

Your post seemed a bit exaggerrated.

Sounds like you live in a police state FT.

It IS a bit better now than in the past.

But I doubt if you have the slightest concept of what the deep South was like --in terms of law enforcement-- as recently as 30-40 years ago.

The police had virtually no stops or inhibitions placed on them.....if you said ANYTHING confrontational to them or showed any resistance, you could count on getting your ass kicked--- HARD. And if you added to the mix being black, or being a long-hair, you could count on a night in jail no matter how innocent of wrongdoing you were. OTOH, if you were the white son of someone well-to-do (provided you were somewhat clean-cut), you could get away with virtually anything.

There is a standing joke in the South -- it is merely a JOKE, (a very sick joke) but at the same time it IS very illustrative of the prevailing (despicable) attitude throughout the South;

A black man's body is dredged from the Mississippi with a huge log chain wrapped around it. The sheriff is looking on, and some bystander asks him if he realizes what this looks like. The sheriff says -- "Yep. Looks to me like that thieving n*gger stole more chain than he could swim with."

You get much the same thing in TX when a mesikan is found floating in the Houston ship channel.

Allegation of sex act languishes
By Craig R. McCoy and Nancy Phillips
Inquirer Staff Writers

JOHN COSTELLO / Inquirer
Erica Hejnar at the 26th District police station. She says police ordered her to perform a sex act in a jail cell there.

Part 1 | Extorting sex with a badge

When Philadelphia Police Officer Annamae Law arrived at district headquarters, she says, the place was buzzing.

" 'You should have been here,' " she said one officer told her. " 'You missed the show.' "

Here's what she missed, according to sworn statements of two women: An officer in a Fishtown police station had forced them to put on a sex show in a jail cell, ordering them to expose their breasts and kiss as a price of release.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/15267610.htm

Is the problem that everyone has with this incident the fact that they shot the rubber bullets or that they joked about it later?

Both. It shows the blantant disregard they have for the law they are suppossed to be upholding. Shooting unarmed, non-threatening civilians - illegal. Joking about it later - fucking assholes that should be fired and prosecuted immediatly.

This is encouraged behavior. This is why I have absolutly no respect for police. If they really wanted to uphold the law both of these incidents would have been reported by officers and the offenders should have been prosecuted for their crimes. However most cops could care less about the law and do it more for their ego. Makes them feel like a big man (i wonder why they feel they need to make up for that...). They all laughed at hurting innocent people.

However most cops could care less about the law and do it more for their ego.Do 51% of the 600,000 police officers really feel that way, or was this just a stupid thing to say?

You get much the same thing in TX when a mesikan is found floating in the Houston ship channel.
Yeah, with the difference being that he was probably an illegal, and he most likely did it to himself, BUT......

there's a light at the end of the tunnel for Juan. For his family will probably get together and sue the port authority for not having signs in Spanish that warn people about the impending danger of swimming 600 ft. on a full stomach. 13 million dollars later, they'll be afforded the privilege of moving next door to people who actually earned their money, and who can fault them that, for it's the "new" American way, right?

Do 51% of the 600,000 police officers really feel that way, or was this just a stupid thing to say?
It was a stupid thing to say, but in a way, it's understandable. You can't tell me that certain detectives won't plant corroborative evidence on a suspect to ensure an indictment. You can't tell me that certain police officers won't lie to or beat a suspect during an interrogation to force a confession. You can't tell me that they won't lie while UNDER OATH to protect their job. You can't tell me that some cops (with the best of intentions, I'm sure) wouldn't shoot a repeat offender in the back to offset the chance of some lawyer getting him off on a technicality. Whether or not these numbers amount to 51% is hardly the point. A LARGE percentage of the police officers out there become cops because they LOVE the fucking POWER. It is, to a greater or lesser extent, about their egos, and I've witnessed it first hand. I've been man-handled because I'm a smart-ass, and despite doing nothing illegally, I've been fucked over so many times by "the good guys" that I'm severely jaded.

I'm well aware of the fact that many cops aren't bad people, Brooks, but let's be perfectly honest with one another - a lot of 'em are pricks of the highest caliber, and they LOVE their job. There's a reason why they became cops in the first place, and my guess is, it has nothing to do with helping people. These guys aren't mother Theresas', and they don't pretend to be.

certain detectives ,,, plant corroborative evidence ,,,,...lie to or beat a suspect during an interrogation to force a confession.....lie while UNDER OATH to protect their job.....shoot a repeat offender in the back to offset the chance of some lawyer getting him off on a technicality.
Whether or not these numbers amount to 51% is hardly the point. I do think the percentage is the point. If the group to which you refer is one out of every two thousand it's an anomoly. If it's one out of two, it's a problem and would show that the job attracts or creates bad people.

Also, I agree with you that all police may not be honorable at all times, but the perception that we should be concerned about them shooting someone in the back is most definitely influenced by movies or TV.

I do think the percentage is the point.
I guess you're right, but I personally feel that 1 out of 5 is too many. Hell, 1 out of 50 is too many, but then again, there’s nothing we can do about it. And if not to add insult to injury, the law is on THEIR side, not ours.

Thank God for IAD.

The point is these cops are allowed to get away with it. Its corroborated from the top. The top brass who is suppossed to be keeping them in line more often then not covers up for them. The majority of cops keep secret the illegalities of other cops. Its a corrupt system. Regardless of how many actually act out there many many more that help cover it up. Their loyalties are to other cops, not the people they pretend to 'serve and protect.'

Thank God for IAD.I agree with you 100% on this and I support the difficult work they do.

1. The top brass who is suppossed to be keeping them in line more often then not covers up for them.
2. The majority of cops keep secret the illegalities of other cops.
3. Their loyalties are to other cops, not the people they pretend to 'serve and protect.'1. I can tell you for a fact that that is not the norm. If you have a case where that has happened, it's exceedingly rare.

2. That occurs within every profession. Admittedly it's more serious when cops, lawyers, doctors, priests, pilots, firemen, dentists, politicians, electricians, carpenters, contractors, engineers, teachers and waiters do it, but believe me, every profession does.

3. This is meant to be an explanation and not an excusal.
You're right about cops' loyalties, but what caused that?
Walking into a bar fight and getting jumped by everybody while trying to protect your gun and your face at the same time knowing that only another cop will help you?
Or maybe when someone who didn't want a traffic ticket alleges a false accusation and no one else but another cop believes you didn't do it?
Or maybe when you arrest a criminal and the public you're protecting spits on you from their fire escapes?
Or maybe when people read one story about a bad cop and apply it to all of them?
Where would your loyalties lie?

Or maybe when you arrest a criminal and the public you're protecting spits on you from their fire escapes?
I have no doubt that kind of shit happens, and for that, they couldn't pay me enough to be an officer. That aside, my experiences with city cops have always been favorable. I think it's due to the fact that your average city cop is a "real" cop, and not some flunky asswipe wannabe who attended a vocational school to become an officer of the law.
Or maybe when people read one story about a bad cop and apply it to all of them?

Where would your loyalties lie?
Understood, Brooks, but we're not talking about one isolated story; we're talking about a litany of them. Many of us have been personally harassed by men who we PAY to protect and SERVE us, and when that kind of shit happens, it's obviously not going to be very conducive to limiting the number of hockers that get launched off random balconies.

My diatribe was just to address why cops loyalties sometimes have to lie with each other. I wasn't excusing it, just explaining it.

In that case, I completely understand. As I see it, it's a vicious circle.

Well put. It's hard to say which is the chicken and which is the egg.
To a great extent each side is complicit in continuing the cycle and blaming the other.

2. That occurs within every profession. Admittedly it's more serious when cops, lawyers, doctors, priests, pilots, firemen, dentists, politicians, electricians, carpenters, contractors, engineers, teachers and waiters do it, but believe me, every profession does. you 'every profession' excuse doesn't cut it. Cop take a vow to uphold the law. Therefore they should no longer be cops once they cease to hold true to their promise.

heres some nice American gestapo tactics...

9-11 Investigative Journalist Harassed And Beaten By Undercover Cops
By Christopher Bollyn

After calling 911 to report a suspicious vehicle with three armed men in my neighborhood, I was harassed, beaten and shocked with a Taser gun in my front yard in Hoffman Estates, Ill., in front of my wife and child. I was subsequently charged with resisting arrest and aggravated assault. I was then subjected to six hours of abuse at the hands of the local police.
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/bollynbeaten.htm

you 'every profession' excuse doesn't cut it. Cop take a vow to uphold the law. Therefore they should no longer be cops once they cease to hold true to their promise.

heres some nice American gestapo tactics...

9-11 Investigative Journalist Harassed And Beaten By Undercover Cops
By Christopher Bollyn

After calling 911 to report a suspicious vehicle with three armed men in my neighborhood, I was harassed, beaten and shocked with a Taser gun in my front yard in Hoffman Estates, Ill., in front of my wife and child. I was subsequently charged with resisting arrest and aggravated assault. I was then subjected to six hours of abuse at the hands of the local police.
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/bollynbeaten.htm

I hear about people who have supposedly been beaten by cops every day. And they're always the trashiest, most obnoxious people you will ever meet, but their story is always the same: "I was mindin my own fuckin business when these cops showed up and started cussin me out and beating me up." Yeah, right.

It's the biggest load of crap, and I hear it daily. I've dealt with cops both in a professional and civilian capacity on a number of occasions and have never seen misconduct. Cops get the most BS and are paid the least for it.

I fail to see what this has to do with the article...

you 'every profession' excuse doesn't cut it. Cop take a vow to uphold the law. Therefore they should no longer be cops once they cease to hold true to their promise.I was more referring to the human nature characteristic of closing ranks (which is not exclusive to police) than I was excusing this particular trait.
I also acknowledged that it IS more serious when cops (among others) do this. And by the way, some of those other professions are also required by law to report misdeeds by their colleagues. They usually don't either.

I fail to see what this has to do with the article...If it doesn't relate to the article, it at least relates to the "I was mindin' my own business story" Freethinker told earlier ("I have had police harass and ridicule me [back when i had long hair] with the purpose of instigating an altercation, and I have had them make extremely derogatory slurs to me. And so have innumerable OTHER people in this part of the country who have ever had a run in with the police.").

I hear about people who have supposedly been beaten by cops every day. And they're always the trashiest, most obnoxious people you will ever meet, but their story is always the same: "I was mindin my own fuckin business when these cops showed up and started cussin me out and beating me up." Yeah, right.
There's certainly an element of truth to that. On the other hand, god forbid you ever drive a BMW as a clean-cut white kid only to verbally dress one of 'em down for treating you like a fucking hardened criminal for speeding. My experience leads me to believe that as long as you kiss their ass and respect their authority, you're safe. Oh, and stay out of small rich communities if you're going to do something horrible like jaywalk.