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I think "Rodney King 2.0" angle is being terribly unfair to the police, even though I so happen to find the police actions there deplorable. Those police offic
by comrade_ogilvy 13y ago
I think "Rodney King 2.0" angle is being terribly unfair to the police, even though I so happen to find the police actions there deplorable.
Those police officers were making a proper stop of a fleeing suspect. But they lost control of the situation, both the suspect and their own emotions, and could not think of anything better than to keep increasing the level of force applied when their previous application of force failed.
IMO, their failure is we expect police officers to behave more like human beings and less like automatons. But they did not intend to put anyone in the hospital/morgue when they stepped out of their squad cars.
Cameras might have saved Rodney King such a severe beating precisely because those officers would have turned on their cameras, since their initial intentions were proper. What the cameras would have done is put every officer on notice that their actions would be closely scrutinized, after the fact. They probably would have behaved better, if that were the case.