HuaiDan Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Article says police left her alone while she was shackled, later found her strangled to death. Police should NEVER leave restrained individuals unsupervised for this very reason. And I doubt the story. Seems to happen far too often.....they even give it a name: In custody sudden death syndrome or some nonsense. It might be believable when you're dealing with some drugged up crackhead, but this really sounds like a trumped up excuse. The police are using force when tactful negotiation would be appropriate. The downward spiral continues: the police react to a hostile public by becoming assholes, and the public responds to asshole police by becoming hostile. The police have the responsibility to demonstrate how to effectively manage a crisis and break this cycle. Strangling an irate mother is not one of the ways. Police kill mom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 HuaiDan, do you think this sort of thing happens because the system became more and more bureaucratic over time? In the small town where I live, for example, it wasn't too many years ago that if you were found driving home the worse for drink say, the officer(s) who pulled you over might cut you some slack as I think the saying is, on their own discretion. As you'll likely understand, in a small town everyone knows pretty much everyone else. Thus if the officer involved knew you had a good reason for being drunk, (and as we all know, there are times when being drunk is certainly understandable), he might take your keys, call a cab for you and tell you to go home and sleep it off. You could pick up your keys when you'd sobered up, of course. That is certainly not to say you would always get off like that; if you were just an idiot who insisted on driving a car while you were in such a state you couldn't drive a nail through soft wood, you'd get no such deal. You'd get the book thrown at you, etc. Nowadays you'll just be breathalysed, arrested on suspicion of DUI if you fail the roadside test and taken to a police station or so-called "booze bus" where your BAC will be verified and you either charged with DUI or released as the case may be. There is no discretion any more, no grey area. Zero tolerance, the law is the law and that is that. Zero tolerance is all very well, but I think in the long run it defeats its own purpose. The only reason police can enforce the law in any area is that they are supported by the community of that area. Not only must they have the support of the community, they must also have its co-operation from time to time. Once the support and the co-operation start to fade away, the police must use harsher and harsher methods until the point is reached where law and order breaks down entirely and it is time to send in the Army, or, as is more likely the case these days, arm and train the police in more and more militaristic style until they may as well have been in the Army anyway. Casey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuaiDan Posted October 2, 2007 Author Share Posted October 2, 2007 Considering the US prison population has more than quadrupled since 1980 while the general population has only gained a modest 30%, I'd say part of the problem is that the police are compelled to use their powers of arrest far too often, something the people truly fear and will drive many people to act outside the confines of normal behavior. Yeah, so it was an airport, one of the 'hot zones' for alert enforcement. Who gives a flip. She was obviously no terrorist. With a sorrowful heart I say we will see an increasing number of these type of incidents in the coming years. Fear and distrust of LE agencies is growing among the general population, not just the truly criminal element. This is something that undermines your scenario of small town old timey police tact or any application thereof, something that would definitely be absent in an airport. I grew up in a small suburb where my best friend's dad was the most feared cop on the beat. A boxer and body builder to boot, and no meathead either. It was kinda cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 She acted in panic, and the police do what police do best, intimidate her more to create more fear. I believe the police caused this inderectly by treating her the wrong way. She was sick, alcoholic and I suspect severely depressed and needed to get on that plane to get to the facility for treatment, and the police made sure her emotional state got worse. What's lacking is that cops don't understand people anymore. They are filled with Rambo style atttitude and don't get it when normal, regular people, react in panic or fear. They see everyone as criminals, even if they're innocent. And I'm sorry if I hurt any policeman here. I don't think all of you are like this, there are good cops too (and probably more of you than not) but you do have a big chunk of bad cops and they make more noise than the good ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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