Since the surge in crime, which began on April 28 at midnight, more than 830,000 civilians have been murdered—nearly one-tenth of Liberty City's total population. In addition, 35,000 vehicles have been reported stolen, many of which were then driven illegally over sidewalks and pedestrian walkways before plunging into the nearby Humboldt River.
Showing posts with label police brutality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police brutality. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Liberty City Police Face Allegations Of Incompetence, Brutality
I've visited Liberty City. And the problems are even worse than you think.
Since the surge in crime, which began on April 28 at midnight, more than 830,000 civilians have been murdered—nearly one-tenth of Liberty City's total population. In addition, 35,000 vehicles have been reported stolen, many of which were then driven illegally over sidewalks and pedestrian walkways before plunging into the nearby Humboldt River.
Since the surge in crime, which began on April 28 at midnight, more than 830,000 civilians have been murdered—nearly one-tenth of Liberty City's total population. In addition, 35,000 vehicles have been reported stolen, many of which were then driven illegally over sidewalks and pedestrian walkways before plunging into the nearby Humboldt River.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
4 Philadelphia Cops Fired for Beating
The ax has started to fall in response to the Philly police beatings. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that four officers have been fired, others have been demoted and/or disciplined.
Maybe this beating was an aberration, but given the mass involvement, it's hard to imagine that this wasn't part of the informal Philly police culture. Two of the officers were just months out of the police academy. That's not a good sign. Nor does it reflect well on their academy. I guess Philly is still hiring old-school police.
As I wrote before, there's no excuse for police acting like they did. They should be fired. And some criminally charged. And yet, part of the cop in me also can't help but feel sorry for the officers.
I wish the Philly brass had done more to confront and change a culture of police brutality before this happened, rather than ruin the lives of a half a dozen men simply because this time their bad deeds were caught on tape. Do you really think that Commissioner Ramsey was shocked, shocked!?
In 1958, Everett Hughes coined the concept of "reality shock." The bigger the gap between what you're supposed to do and what you have to do, the more likely you are to dismiss all of what you're supposed to do. Academy trainees are sequestered away for the realities of policing in an idealistic bubble of what some people think police should be. The goal of the police academy should be to minimize "reality shock" by closing the distance between police training and police reality.
There's a great Ali G Show episode that shows this. He spends a day at, of all places, the Philadelphia Police Academy. I show it in my classes because it illustrates some of the absurdity of police training. I also show it because it's funny. At one point Ali G gets reprimanded for swearing at a man with a [fake] gun. You know what, when lives are at stake, an officer really shouldn't be thinking about his mouth. There's nothing wrong with swearing at a man with a gun.
In the Netherlands, police training last two years. That's probably too long. But what I like about the Dutch system is that police officers spend those two years alternating between school and the street. They spend half the time in each, in three-month intervals. That way school relates to the street and on the street you can apply what you learn in school.
Maybe this beating was an aberration, but given the mass involvement, it's hard to imagine that this wasn't part of the informal Philly police culture. Two of the officers were just months out of the police academy. That's not a good sign. Nor does it reflect well on their academy. I guess Philly is still hiring old-school police.
As I wrote before, there's no excuse for police acting like they did. They should be fired. And some criminally charged. And yet, part of the cop in me also can't help but feel sorry for the officers.
I wish the Philly brass had done more to confront and change a culture of police brutality before this happened, rather than ruin the lives of a half a dozen men simply because this time their bad deeds were caught on tape. Do you really think that Commissioner Ramsey was shocked, shocked!?
In 1958, Everett Hughes coined the concept of "reality shock." The bigger the gap between what you're supposed to do and what you have to do, the more likely you are to dismiss all of what you're supposed to do. Academy trainees are sequestered away for the realities of policing in an idealistic bubble of what some people think police should be. The goal of the police academy should be to minimize "reality shock" by closing the distance between police training and police reality.
There's a great Ali G Show episode that shows this. He spends a day at, of all places, the Philadelphia Police Academy. I show it in my classes because it illustrates some of the absurdity of police training. I also show it because it's funny. At one point Ali G gets reprimanded for swearing at a man with a [fake] gun. You know what, when lives are at stake, an officer really shouldn't be thinking about his mouth. There's nothing wrong with swearing at a man with a gun.
In the Netherlands, police training last two years. That's probably too long. But what I like about the Dutch system is that police officers spend those two years alternating between school and the street. They spend half the time in each, in three-month intervals. That way school relates to the street and on the street you can apply what you learn in school.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Philadelphia PD shame
Philadelphia cops pulled three men out of a car and beat the crap out of them. For about 30 seconds. I find it inexcusable. I’m sure these guys who were beat are not good people. And no, I don’t know the whole story. But I can’t imagine any scenario where it’s these beatings are justified.
What were they thinking? They were pumped on adrenaline. There was a shooting. A cop had been killed two days earlier. They surely felt these guys “deserved” a thumping. But that doesn’t make it right. Just because you want to beat somebody--just because perhaps they even deserve a good beating--doesn't make you should. Some of these cops might have been very good police. And now their careers are over.
Even worse, the guys who were beat will get big bucks from the city, thanks to the stupid actions of a dozen cops.
What were they thinking? They were pumped on adrenaline. There was a shooting. A cop had been killed two days earlier. They surely felt these guys “deserved” a thumping. But that doesn’t make it right. Just because you want to beat somebody--just because perhaps they even deserve a good beating--doesn't make you should. Some of these cops might have been very good police. And now their careers are over.
Even worse, the guys who were beat will get big bucks from the city, thanks to the stupid actions of a dozen cops.
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