It's already been said, but again: DON'T TALK TO COPS.<p>THIS is why you don't talk to cops. Remember all those people that said "what if you're not the person they're looking for? What if you see an accident?"<p>This is what happened. Do you understand yet? If you have to talk to cops, despite everything you've now read or heard, then talk to them as little as possible. Follow their orders and get the hell away. The cop told him to leave. He should have left. His civic duty was done at that point.
Looks like another episode of the aggressive police state flaring up and hurting a citizen with their transcendentally puerile inferiority-complex driven thuggery. We'll see more of this as the economic conditions deteriorate and police militarization continues to ramp up. I think it's pretty safe to say that a lot of normal people are more or less in fear of the police, with more becoming fearful every day. This is a problem without an easy solution.<p>It'd be great if we could hammer down the officers/departments that conduct themselves in this way by firing and charging the officers in question, but there's no political appetite for it. The complaints process isn't going to accomplish anything-- I think the author knows that very well by now.<p>I suggest complaining to the mayor or trying to round up some sort of political action campaign flush with cash. Donate to candidates who campaign on being tough on cops. Make it a campaign issue.<p>It's either that, or be left with this infuriating feeling of helplessness and disgust.
I feel for this guy but:<p>Lots of talking to cops here. Don't talk to cops.<p>Lots of rights-demanding. We don't know how aggressive he was with it. If the cops think you are a threat, then who is going to change their mind?<p>Several counts of not doing what a cop says. Do what a cop says.<p>Just saying he could have saved himself a lot of grief.
And this is one of a couple of reasons why, despite my generally pleasant experiences with the US, it would take an extraordinarily good opportunity to get me to live there. I am scared of your seemingly unaccountable quasi-military police.<p>The solution to the situation presented to the author of this article was, of course, simple: do whatever the people with guns say. Don't talk back. Don't make eye contact. Wait until it's over and hope it doesn't get worse.<p>But maybe sometimes I won't do that. And maybe then this will happen to me.
This is what happens when police officers get confused about their job. Their job is to serve and protect, but sometimes they think their job is to pound down the nails.
Just wondering, why not file a civil complaint against the officers as well and then you can use the discovery process to get the results of the POBAR complaint?
I'm no expert, but shouldn't he have requested a lawyer? That would seem to be the legal system's prescribed defense against this. It may not have worked any better, but it seems like an oversight.
> I asked them where they lived. And they responded in unison: "Far away! We can’t afford to live here."<p>That is something I had not considered.
But what can you do about it?
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