revelarts
03-05-2015, 09:32 AM
link to PDF
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/department-of-justice-report-on-the-ferguson-mo-police-department/1435/
....The report (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/department-of-justice-report-on-the-ferguson-mo-police-department/1435/) highlighted repeated examples of bias in law enforcement and described a system that seemed to be built upon using arrest warrants to force money out of black residents. In addition, the Justice Department also pointed to several racist e-mails written by police and municipal court supervisors (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-three-minutes--and-two-lives-forever-changed/2014/08/16/f28f5bc0-2588-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html) and highlighted numerous allegations of physical and bigoted activity on the part of officers.
“Seen in this context, amid a highly toxic environment, defined by mistrust and resentment, stoked by years of bad feelings and spurred by illegal and misguided practices, it is not difficult to imagine how a single tragic incident set off the city of Ferguson like a powder keg,” Holder said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
In Ferguson, it has become “routine” for officers to violate the constitutional rights of residents, he said. This behavior deepens the distrust that residents say has long existed, as encounters between police and residents “frequently and rapidly escalate and end up blatantly and unnecessarily crossing the line,” he said.
He described the investigation as fair, thorough and rigorous, and vowed to continue working with people in Ferguson and surrounding municipalities, calling the report “only the beginning” of a necessary process. After the Justice Department issued similarly harsh reports on the police departments of Cleveland (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-finds-use-of-force-problems-in-cleveland-police-department/2014/12/04/303e0d28-7be6-11e4-b821-503cc7efed9e_story.html) and Albuquerque (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/07/albuquerque-agrees-to-justice-department-deal-and-will-overhaul-its-troubled-police-force/) last year, city officials in both places (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/07/albuquerque-agrees-to-justice-department-deal-and-will-overhaul-its-troubled-police-force/) reached settlements (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-finds-use-of-force-problems-in-cleveland-police-department/2014/12/04/303e0d28-7be6-11e4-b821-503cc7efed9e_story.html) with the department and promised that reforms would follow....
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/03/04/holder-report-shows-why-michael-browns-death-set-off-ferguson-like-a-powder-keg/)
I hope no one assumes that the report is purely biased or wants gives some other reasons why the abusive police behavior is justified or not really that bad.
But P.Depts are human organizations.
to paint them as all bad all the time is wrong but to paint them as angels that do right 99.99999% of the time is to be willing blind and in denial.
to add to this report I'd like folks to consider this book.
Police Unbound: Corruption, Abuse, and Heroism by the Boys in Blue
http://www.amazon.com/Police-Unbound-Corruption-Abuse-Heroism-ebook/dp/B003980ICU/ref=sr_1_53?ie=UTF8&qid=1425556545&sr=8-53&keywords=police+corruption
Former chief of police in Minneapolis and commander of the Bronx police force Tony Bouza pulls no punches in this blunt, candid assessment of police culture. Emphasizing the gap between the average citizen's perception of police work and the day-to-day reality of life as a cop, Bouza reveals the inner dynamics of a secretive, fraternal society that will do almost anything to protect itself. The strong bonds of loyalty among police both inspire individual acts of heroism in the face of danger but also repress full disclosure of the truth when corruption or abuse of power are suspected, says Bouza. Young rookies are quickly molded by the unspoken rules and the code of silence that govern a cop's professional life, and they soon learn that physical but not moral courage is expected.
Bouza evaluates sweeps, roundups, sting operations, the controversial practice of racial profiling, and the politics of law enforcement. He critically examines the excesses, abuses, and corruption of the New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis police forces, among others, offering insights into what went wrong in the infamous Louima and Diallo cases.
But his most telling criticism is not directed against the police per se but against our society's ruling elites and the middle class, who give police the unmistakable message that the underclass must be kept down and property owners protected at all costs. He charges that the heart of the problem of both crime and police abuse in America is our tacitly accepted class structure separating the privileged from the poor, and along with it the systemic racism that society as a whole is not yet willing to face. Bouza concludes his critique on a positive note with straightforward proposals on how to make the police more ethical and effective.
This controversial, eye-opening book by a veteran insider exposes a reality that TV cop shows never portray and raises serious moral questions about class and race....
Is this Former chief of police working for Eric Holder or sumthin' or Sharpton's payroll?
The fact is the culture of police depts is NOT to treat everyone equally. Or to be honest at all times. Or just to get the bad guys.
Blacks and the poor in general often have to deal with a face of police that the middle class and rich do not see... or want to see.
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/department-of-justice-report-on-the-ferguson-mo-police-department/1435/
....The report (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/department-of-justice-report-on-the-ferguson-mo-police-department/1435/) highlighted repeated examples of bias in law enforcement and described a system that seemed to be built upon using arrest warrants to force money out of black residents. In addition, the Justice Department also pointed to several racist e-mails written by police and municipal court supervisors (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ferguson-three-minutes--and-two-lives-forever-changed/2014/08/16/f28f5bc0-2588-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html) and highlighted numerous allegations of physical and bigoted activity on the part of officers.
“Seen in this context, amid a highly toxic environment, defined by mistrust and resentment, stoked by years of bad feelings and spurred by illegal and misguided practices, it is not difficult to imagine how a single tragic incident set off the city of Ferguson like a powder keg,” Holder said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
In Ferguson, it has become “routine” for officers to violate the constitutional rights of residents, he said. This behavior deepens the distrust that residents say has long existed, as encounters between police and residents “frequently and rapidly escalate and end up blatantly and unnecessarily crossing the line,” he said.
He described the investigation as fair, thorough and rigorous, and vowed to continue working with people in Ferguson and surrounding municipalities, calling the report “only the beginning” of a necessary process. After the Justice Department issued similarly harsh reports on the police departments of Cleveland (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-finds-use-of-force-problems-in-cleveland-police-department/2014/12/04/303e0d28-7be6-11e4-b821-503cc7efed9e_story.html) and Albuquerque (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/07/albuquerque-agrees-to-justice-department-deal-and-will-overhaul-its-troubled-police-force/) last year, city officials in both places (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/07/albuquerque-agrees-to-justice-department-deal-and-will-overhaul-its-troubled-police-force/) reached settlements (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-finds-use-of-force-problems-in-cleveland-police-department/2014/12/04/303e0d28-7be6-11e4-b821-503cc7efed9e_story.html) with the department and promised that reforms would follow....
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/03/04/holder-report-shows-why-michael-browns-death-set-off-ferguson-like-a-powder-keg/)
I hope no one assumes that the report is purely biased or wants gives some other reasons why the abusive police behavior is justified or not really that bad.
But P.Depts are human organizations.
to paint them as all bad all the time is wrong but to paint them as angels that do right 99.99999% of the time is to be willing blind and in denial.
to add to this report I'd like folks to consider this book.
Police Unbound: Corruption, Abuse, and Heroism by the Boys in Blue
http://www.amazon.com/Police-Unbound-Corruption-Abuse-Heroism-ebook/dp/B003980ICU/ref=sr_1_53?ie=UTF8&qid=1425556545&sr=8-53&keywords=police+corruption
Former chief of police in Minneapolis and commander of the Bronx police force Tony Bouza pulls no punches in this blunt, candid assessment of police culture. Emphasizing the gap between the average citizen's perception of police work and the day-to-day reality of life as a cop, Bouza reveals the inner dynamics of a secretive, fraternal society that will do almost anything to protect itself. The strong bonds of loyalty among police both inspire individual acts of heroism in the face of danger but also repress full disclosure of the truth when corruption or abuse of power are suspected, says Bouza. Young rookies are quickly molded by the unspoken rules and the code of silence that govern a cop's professional life, and they soon learn that physical but not moral courage is expected.
Bouza evaluates sweeps, roundups, sting operations, the controversial practice of racial profiling, and the politics of law enforcement. He critically examines the excesses, abuses, and corruption of the New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis police forces, among others, offering insights into what went wrong in the infamous Louima and Diallo cases.
But his most telling criticism is not directed against the police per se but against our society's ruling elites and the middle class, who give police the unmistakable message that the underclass must be kept down and property owners protected at all costs. He charges that the heart of the problem of both crime and police abuse in America is our tacitly accepted class structure separating the privileged from the poor, and along with it the systemic racism that society as a whole is not yet willing to face. Bouza concludes his critique on a positive note with straightforward proposals on how to make the police more ethical and effective.
This controversial, eye-opening book by a veteran insider exposes a reality that TV cop shows never portray and raises serious moral questions about class and race....
Is this Former chief of police working for Eric Holder or sumthin' or Sharpton's payroll?
The fact is the culture of police depts is NOT to treat everyone equally. Or to be honest at all times. Or just to get the bad guys.
Blacks and the poor in general often have to deal with a face of police that the middle class and rich do not see... or want to see.