4 ms·

While most cops are simply doing their jobs like any other profession, there are some who let their power go to their heads. Devices like cameras can help when

While most cops are simply doing their jobs like any other profession, there are some who let their power go to their heads. Devices like cameras can help when complaints are received (as long as the cameras can't be tampered with post facto..) Case in point: girlfriend was in a taqueria in the Upper Haight neighborhood of SF, and witnessed the following. A cop was sitting at a table. A guy walked in, stood in line to pick up a takeout order. He started staring at the cop. Now, the Haight has more than its fair share of weirdos, so a person staring at a cop is nothing new. But the cop decided to take offense at that. Started verbally harassing the guy. Took him outside, threatened to arrest him. All this time, the guy is saying: but I didn't do nothing, man! At one stage, the guy put his hands in his pocket, trying to pull out some ID; and the cop's hand immediately went to his gun, threatening "you don't want to be doing that!". Luckily, the guy took his hand out quickly. After harassing the guy, the cop shoved him and walked away. GF witnessed the whole thing, and went out to talk to the cop as he was walking away. He just laughed at her, saying "get out of my way" and kept walking. There were other witnesses too; but it still is basically their word against the cop's, and the SFPD refuses to do anything about it. Had there been a camera[#] on the cop, they would be singing a different tune. [#] I told her: next time, _video_ the damn thing!

oh_sigh 12y ago
You can't stare down a ref in the NBA. Why can you stare down a cop in a restaurant?
click170 12y ago
For what its worth she should have filed a report anyway (assuming she didn't because of the perceived futility). One witness against a cop doesn't count for much, but 2? How about 3? How many individual eye witness complaints do you think it would take to get them to take the incident seriously? How many witnesses were there that day? Not everyone there will complain but if you don't either then you're part of the problem instead of the solution.
rdtsc 12y ago
> While most cops are simply doing their jobs like any other profession, The problem is the following -- those "good" cops doing their job protect the bad cops. The whole "blue code of silence" thing. Those are not good cops doing their job. The are bad cops. If anyone has not spoken out when a colleague has been abusing their power, they have become a bad cop. One can argue this is just human behaviour -- us vs them. That maybe true but when police have so much more power vs regular citizens, that kind of behaviour is amplified and exaggerated many times over. To put it another way. A corrupt shoe salesman can only be that dangerous. A corrupt cop can do a lot of damage to a lot of people. So that is the reason I have essentially stopped saying "oh just a few bad ones, the rest are good and law abiding". I think I moved to the default that all are corrupt and either engage in abuse or cover up of abuse unless I am presented with evidence otherwise.
- valleyer 12y ago
  > I think I moved to the default that all are corrupt and either engage in abuse or cover up of abuse unless I am presented with evidence otherwise. I sure hope you appreciate the irony of this sentence.
barkingcat 12y ago
This is really strange - just looking at a cop is enough to get hassled!

oh_sigh 12y ago

You can't stare down a ref in the NBA. Why can you stare down a cop in a restaurant?

click170 12y ago

For what its worth she should have filed a report anyway (assuming she didn't because of the perceived futility). One witness against a cop doesn't count for much, but 2? How about 3? How many individual eye witness complaints do you think it would take to get them to take the incident seriously? How many witnesses were there that day? Not everyone there will complain but if you don't either then you're part of the problem instead of the solution.

rdtsc 12y ago

> While most cops are simply doing their jobs like any other profession, The problem is the following -- those "good" cops doing their job protect the bad cops. The whole "blue code of silence" thing. Those are not good cops doing their job. The are bad cops. If anyone has not spoken out when a colleague has been abusing their power, they have become a bad cop. One can argue this is just human behaviour -- us vs them. That maybe true but when police have so much more power vs regular citizens, that kind of behaviour is amplified and exaggerated many times over. To put it another way. A corrupt shoe salesman can only be that dangerous. A corrupt cop can do a lot of damage to a lot of people. So that is the reason I have essentially stopped saying "oh just a few bad ones, the rest are good and law abiding". I think I moved to the default that all are corrupt and either engage in abuse or cover up of abuse unless I am presented with evidence otherwise.

valleyer 12y ago
> I think I moved to the default that all are corrupt and either engage in abuse or cover up of abuse unless I am presented with evidence otherwise. I sure hope you appreciate the irony of this sentence.

barkingcat 12y ago

This is really strange - just looking at a cop is enough to get hassled!