"Garwood, Robin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:WM: I think this is either a fallacy or inefficient shorthand. The police do not have to "use a higher overall level of force" in the ghetto. Some people do require a higher level of force and some of those people are in ghettos. Domestic abusers often require high levels of force as do people hopped on some drugs whether they are urban, suburban, or rural. Certainly kids buying candy while wearing a do-rag do not need a higher level of force.
N.I. Krasnov wrote:WM: These are two unlike things you're trying to compare. Suburban culture does not mean lack of gunfire, nor does ghetto culture automatically mean gunfire. It's still a small minority, acting outside the cultural norms of anywhere but Texas who shoot at others.
"Suburban culture, meaning the lack of gunfire, and Ghetto culture, meaning no lack of gunfire, are equivalent?"
They are enforcing the law: that is what their duties are. If there wasn't such a horrendous level of criminal activity in north Minneapolis, then the police wouldn't have to use a higher overall levels of force.
WM: This is an outrageous statement. Patrolling here is the same as it is everywhere and police officers do it, not soldiers and there are very good reasons for that. The most important one, in my estimation, is that 90%+ of the people anywhere are not a problem to the police or anyone else. Police officers need to know which are which. An officer needs to know that there are citizens, most citizens, who want them to go home unharmed at the end of their day.Patrolling a ghetto is not the work of a Constable, it is the work of a Soldier. Cops want to go home to their families and collect their paychecks every two weeks like everyone else.
WM: Excuse me? There are very few white officers out there who are quick enough to hear what's being said to them when it's said in another culture, even though the culture speaks one of the however many forms of English. There are fewer still who speak Hmong, Spanish, Russian, etc. The truth of the matter is that regardless of your language you can make a mistake for which the cops will pull you over. People don't always come here with standard MN English well in hand.Krasnov:
"I want cops hired based on MERIT. Forget affirmative action, whether based on race, gender or culture."
WM: Well, good luck on that one. Someday maybe you'll run into a cop who is also a lawyer and can tell you the differences between how police learn the law and law school teaches the law. It was certainly an eye-opener for me. Further, too many people neither know nor understand the Constitution."What a police officer is required to share with the citizenry is his sworn duty to uphold the laws and Constitution, ethics, morality and objective truth."
WM: First, the courts do not often provide justice. At most they sometimes mete out punishment to those adjudicated to require it and the ajudication is frought with biases against color, culture, gender, and class. Second, when an officer pushes a kid around he/she is not keeping the public peace, investigating crime, or preventing criminal activity. He/she is creating another opportunity for someone to carry resentment at being ill treated by a licensed peace officer. How will that resentment be expressed and on whom?"Police are not there to protect anyone. They are commanded to keep the public peace, investigate crime, and if possible, prevent criminal activity. The enforce the law. The Courts provide justice."
WizardMarks, Central
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