6 ms·

As a white male, I've experienced nothing but respect from police officers. Of course I'm horrified by the reality of stop-and-frisk, but NYPD is far from a for

by duaneb 12y ago

As a white male, I've experienced nothing but respect from police officers. Of course I'm horrified by the reality of stop-and-frisk, but NYPD is far from a force of racist assholes. Body cams will definitely help, but let's not classify them hastily.

zem 12y ago
> As a white male, I've experienced nothing but respect from police officers > NYPD is far from a force of racist assholes i don't think the first statement adds any sort of confirmation to the second (i.e. you literally can tell nothing about how racist nypd are based solely on your interactions with them).
serf 12y ago
As a white male, I've routinely been disrespected and stopped extraneously in California, Massachusetts, and New York, without further ticketing or incident, just merely as a form of harassment. I'm inclined to believe that gender and race have little to do with the dealings of a power-hungry organization, and even more inclined to believe that personal (anecdotal) race/age/gender has even less to do with understanding the power-grab that's going on between military groups and the rapidly growing 'paramilitary' that people seem to believe various PDs are growing into.
- justinsteele 12y ago
  As a white male, I disagree with your belief that race has little to do with police interactions. http://www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data http://www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data There is much, much more data as well. It's rather frightening that it has taken this long for us to do anything about it.
  - serf 12y ago
    You're misunderstanding my intended point. I meant to illuminate the fact that a person of the same race and creed can have vastly different (anecdotal) experiences. The link you provided shows me two things : Ethnic groups are the chunk of victims (I know this, and it's terrible), and the numbers are rising. I want my focus to be on that second point. Police are acting out of bounds in recent history. The racial problem is not new. I don't condone it, and it's terrible, but the times' are changing, and police are a problem now for everyone regardless of the racial split. The percentages may stay somewhat static, but check out the difference illustrated by that link in sheer numbers over time! Yes, ethnic groups are disproportionately targeted, but yes, everyone is being targeted for these searches with greater frequency now.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- johnlong 12y ago
  "As a white male, I've routinely been disrespected and stopped extraneously in California, Massachusetts, and New York, without further ticketing or incident, just merely as a form of harassment." How do you people manage to have so many interactions with the police? I'm 29, white, living in San Francisco for five years, grew up in London. I have literally never even spoke to a police officer in my entire life.
  - serf 12y ago
    Go to places where it's unavoidable. Courthouses, high security events, political rallies. Any place where the consensus is that they "need to keep the peace". Live in a place that is considered high crime by the surrounding communities. Be a different color/religion/orientation/gender than the police officer nearest you. Be financially distraught. Be poor, and have no where to live. Live flashy within the law. Drive a fast looking car. Paint it red. Put some loud (but entirely legal) exhaust system on it. Lower it to the limits of legality, and put some big chrome wheels on it. Be empathetic and understanding towards criminals and the reasons they became labeled as such. That's the best way to meet a police officer, probably. I've never said something this honest to another individual on hacker news before : I envy you who can avoid the police. I'm not familiar with London, but it's miraculous here in the states.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
mikeash 12y ago
If they're not a force of racist assholes, why do they carry out the racist asshole policy of stop and frisk? Are they just spineless dweebs "just following orders"?
- duaneb 12y ago
  It's almost as if you can't classify the whole by the actions of a subset.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    Isn't stop-and-frisk the actions of the whole?
    - duaneb 12y ago
      AFAIK stop and frisk is a NYC thing. Also, there are many cops who aren't on 'stop and frisk' duty.
      - mikeash 12y ago
        Yes, it's a NYC thing. We're talking about NYC. And perhaps not all of the NYPD is on a duty that directly involves stop and frisk, but how many enable it? How many have stood up to fight it? How many have resigned rather than be part of an organization that officially does something so obviously racist and unconstitutional?

by duaneb 12y ago

zem 12y ago

> As a white male, I've experienced nothing but respect from police officers > NYPD is far from a force of racist assholes i don't think the first statement adds any sort of confirmation to the second (i.e. you literally can tell nothing about how racist nypd are based solely on your interactions with them).

serf 12y ago

As a white male, I've routinely been disrespected and stopped extraneously in California, Massachusetts, and New York, without further ticketing or incident, just merely as a form of harassment. I'm inclined to believe that gender and race have little to do with the dealings of a power-hungry organization, and even more inclined to believe that personal (anecdotal) race/age/gender has even less to do with understanding the power-grab that's going on between military groups and the rapidly growing 'paramilitary' that people seem to believe various PDs are growing into.

justinsteele 12y ago
As a white male, I disagree with your belief that race has little to do with police interactions. http://www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data http://www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data There is much, much more data as well. It's rather frightening that it has taken this long for us to do anything about it.
- serf 12y ago
  You're misunderstanding my intended point. I meant to illuminate the fact that a person of the same race and creed can have vastly different (anecdotal) experiences. The link you provided shows me two things : Ethnic groups are the chunk of victims (I know this, and it's terrible), and the numbers are rising. I want my focus to be on that second point. Police are acting out of bounds in recent history. The racial problem is not new. I don't condone it, and it's terrible, but the times' are changing, and police are a problem now for everyone regardless of the racial split. The percentages may stay somewhat static, but check out the difference illustrated by that link in sheer numbers over time! Yes, ethnic groups are disproportionately targeted, but yes, everyone is being targeted for these searches with greater frequency now.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
johnlong 12y ago
"As a white male, I've routinely been disrespected and stopped extraneously in California, Massachusetts, and New York, without further ticketing or incident, just merely as a form of harassment." How do you people manage to have so many interactions with the police? I'm 29, white, living in San Francisco for five years, grew up in London. I have literally never even spoke to a police officer in my entire life.
- serf 12y ago
  Go to places where it's unavoidable. Courthouses, high security events, political rallies. Any place where the consensus is that they "need to keep the peace". Live in a place that is considered high crime by the surrounding communities. Be a different color/religion/orientation/gender than the police officer nearest you. Be financially distraught. Be poor, and have no where to live. Live flashy within the law. Drive a fast looking car. Paint it red. Put some loud (but entirely legal) exhaust system on it. Lower it to the limits of legality, and put some big chrome wheels on it. Be empathetic and understanding towards criminals and the reasons they became labeled as such. That's the best way to meet a police officer, probably. I've never said something this honest to another individual on hacker news before : I envy you who can avoid the police. I'm not familiar with London, but it's miraculous here in the states.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

mikeash 12y ago

If they're not a force of racist assholes, why do they carry out the racist asshole policy of stop and frisk? Are they just spineless dweebs "just following orders"?

duaneb 12y ago
It's almost as if you can't classify the whole by the actions of a subset.
- mikeash 12y ago
  Isn't stop-and-frisk the actions of the whole?
  - duaneb 12y ago
    AFAIK stop and frisk is a NYC thing. Also, there are many cops who aren't on 'stop and frisk' duty.
    - mikeash 12y ago
      Yes, it's a NYC thing. We're talking about NYC. And perhaps not all of the NYPD is on a duty that directly involves stop and frisk, but how many enable it? How many have stood up to fight it? How many have resigned rather than be part of an organization that officially does something so obviously racist and unconstitutional?