Excellent post, Michael. I concur with your last sentence particularly. Mpls cops are definitely better than LA or Chicago cops. Some of the posts here have said how bad Mpls cops are compared to other cities. Where are these paradises where police can disarm crazy people with no loss of life? Name some cities. Actually, to answer my own question, St. Paul seems to have a little more mellow cops. But that may be because it is simply a little less rough over there - it's a more mellow city all around.
Mark Anderson Bancroft ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Atherton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Mpls List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2002 8:29 AM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Open Season > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Many people in the Somali community have > > displayed not only shock to me but they are also very afraid. > > I can tell all of you this. They have my attention! If stopped I will say, > > yes sir officer. I will not make any fast moves to my glove compartment. I > > will speak only when spoken to and I will do everything that they say exactly > > the way they say to do it. > > Perspective is a powerful thing. When I first came to Minnesota I was amazed > that each Fall newspapers print instructions how what to do if: a) you fall > through the ice; b) you and your snow mobile fall though the ice; c) you and > your car fall through the ice. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized that the > L.A. papers use to print similar a warning, but their warning was about what to > do when you are pulled over by the police: a) turn on the interior light if it's nighttime; > b) place your hands on the steering wheel if your are the driver, or keep them > exposed if you are a passenger; c) don't get out of the car and don't make > any sudden movements. We all knew the drill. I don't think I can tell you the > exact number of times that I was pulled over, but I'm sure it was over 25. > I can tell you the numbers of times I was almost shot: one; and I can tell > you the number of times that I was arrested for disrespect: one. When > Rodney King was beaten a certain segment of the city knew it wasn't because > of race, getting the crap beat out of you was just the standard punishment > for failing to stop. King was just stronger than most and there just happened > to be a video camera there. The L.A. Times did a story a year later on the lack > of racial intent. > > All this maybe true, but I now realize that there was another reason for these > newspaper warning: to help the police do their job. There were always stories > about cops getting blown away during routine traffic stops, other than domestic > disputes I think it was the most dangerous part of the job. I'm not going to > defend the LAPD, in terms of community sensitivity they were probably one > of the worst in the country, but now I also have some appreciation of the > difficulty of the job. In Minneapolis I've had only had one officer use the "attitude" with > me, all the others have been at least minimally polite, but I suppose a certain amount > of deference comes with age. Regardless, Minneapolis is far cry from L. A., which > is not to say that stuff doesn't go down and that things can't be better, it just implies > that you need to keep things in perspective. I believe that the death in this latest > incident had more to do with the weapon, then with race or mental health. If there > had been no weapon and they'd shot him, I'd most likely be marching with you. > > Michael Atherton > Prospect Park > > > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
