Baltimore Burning and Officers Injured

[Epoetker]

I got a followup article in my FB on that mom. They know her name etc. I don't want to link to it because I don't know it's really on topic...but some of the comments in my FB link are discussing a GoFundMe campaign for her. Gee...I don't know about that...

Definitely not GoFundMe anymore, they've predictably folded under the tiniest of pressures and can no longer be trusted. If this is going to be the way of things with funding from now on, I encourage you to start sending those who offend the sensibilities of the establishment money directly (or discreetly:) I do remember throwing a hundred or more at George Zimmerman back when he set up his fundraiser himself. But perhaps we've reached the limits of what distant funding can accomplish in this nation, and must now learn to deal with people and their representatives face to face again.

[Paprika]

.but some of the comments in my FB link are discussing a GoFundMe campaign for her. Gee...I don't know about that...

Some feel the need to do something for self-validation.

[Jesse]

Except the only people who could be reliably counted would be those arrested. Rioters aren't exactly going to queue up to be polled.

True. I know that trying a poll like that would be totally unreliable. It's just something I would like to know, if we could do it.

I got a followup article in my FB on that mom. They know her name etc. I don't want to link to it because I don't know it's really on topic...but some of the comments in my FB link are discussing a GoFundMe campaign for her. Gee...I don't know about that...

Yeah...I am not sure why she would have a need for a GoFundMe campaign. Unless all the money goes towards buying belts for her son.

[DesertBerean]

I got a followup article in my FB on that mom. They know her name etc. I don't want to link to it because I don't know it's really on topic...but some of the comments in my FB link are discussing a GoFundMe campaign for her. Gee...I don't know about that...

[Darth Executor]

Everybody knows rioting is wrong, but there's no point in re-iterating that. Instead, what can be done to prevent future occurrences?

Actually no, not everybody knows rioting is wrong:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...liance/391640/

Twitter is full of people who do, in fact, see no problem with the rioting and believe it to be justified retaliation against muh oppreshun.

It seems instructive to me to compare North Charleston to Baltimore. In North Charleston, there was even video evidence of what happened (and it was damning toward the officer), yet there were no riots. The city immediately took control of the situation and acknowledged problems.

Far more instructive to me is that white cops in Ferguson, the mixed race police force in Baltimore and the black cops in Detroit all act the same. The core problem obviously lies with the communities themselves and police brutality is a product of bad communities rather than their cause.

The same did not occur in Baltimore.

Baltimore put the cops under investigation. What were they supposed to do? There is no video, and if they took the guy on a "rough ride" which seems the most likely scenario there probably isn't going to be one.

[One Bad Pig]

Very true. I would like to see a breakdown of the percentage of those that are local compared to the out of towners. The same thing happened here in Oregon during the Occupy Wall Street nonsense. They were all bused into Portland and started a riot. Ruining everything they could.

Except the only people who could be reliably counted would be those arrested. Rioters aren't exactly going to queue up to be polled.

[Jesse]

I'm not sure if it's "most" -- but no doubt some... and some of the local thugs get caught up in it to get FREE STUFF and to act like fools.

Very true. I would like to see a breakdown of the percentage of those that are local compared to the out of towners. The same thing happened here in Oregon during the Occupy Wall Street nonsense. They were all bused into Portland and started a riot. Ruining everything they could.

I wish the Police Commissioner of Baltimore would just plainly and clearly announce, "Mr Sharpton - please stay away, we'll handle this our way.

Didn't that happen in Ferguson? A few from the black community asked him to go away because he was making things worse.

[Ana Dragule]

Valerie Richardson note in the Washington Times that FBI data on police killings are limited and data is not required to be submitted. If there are areas where people feel there is more police discrimination or more killers on the basis of race, people could band together for a change in policy to investigate this and better address needs in the communities.

Oliver Laughlin of The Guardian discussed not only other how others have had similar experiences with the police in Baltimore, but how the police interact with other organizations, and cites some interesting statistics about crime and poverty. In Laughland’s article Freddie Gray was Me, Dr. Heather Pfeifer, an associate professor at the University of Baltimore’s school of criminal justice was commissioned to work with Baltimore officers on communicating with witnesses and victims of violent crime and homicide noted, “Baltimore has the fifth highest murder rate for cities above 100,000 in the US (of 37.4 per 100,000 residents) and has the seventh highest violent crime rate in the country. It is estimated that 19,000 of the city’s residents are heroin users, according to recent research, and almost a quarter of the population live below the poverty line.” There had been previous drives to recruit non-white officers, and 48% of the Baltimore police are black, with 63% of the citywide population that is black. “’It seems there’s no coordinated effort around this issue [of police violence]. It seems like chaos reigns with it. A lot of agencies are simply acting in their own interests,’ said one senior criminal justice official talking anonymously.” The Baltimore Fraternal Lodge, the police union there, helped negotiate Maryland’s 1973 Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights which civil liberties organizations have called the most extreme law enforcement protection bill of its kind.

Perhaps Maryland residents can help change this bill. Perhaps policies can be changed to require better coordination and communication. Perhaps police need better training on how to handle conflict that escalates into shootings. Perhaps cities can engage police in events that built relationships across communities. Perhaps people or communities can work together to improve policies that help people improve their chances of getting out of poverty and replace politicians that don’t care. Rather than becoming hardened against others, we must work together to build a better America or we will risk becoming scared or stagnant. There are opportunities that build up instead of violence. I've heard discussions of body cameras for officers that might be a good policy.

Overall, I suspect this should prove an interesting comparison to the Ferguson shooting.

Laughland, Oliver. “Freddie Gray was Me”: Frustration with Police Simmers after Death in Baltimore. The Guardian. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2015 from http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...ltimore-police

Richardson, Valerie. Police Kill More Whites than Blacks, but Minority Deaths Generate More Outrage: Analysis Contradicts Widespread Views about Racial Targets. The Washington Times. April 21, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2015 from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...ty-d/?page=all

[Cow Poke]

I think there is a fact here that gets lost in these discussions. And that is, most of these rioters are not locals.

I'm not sure if it's "most" -- but no doubt some... and some of the local thugs get caught up in it to get FREE STUFF and to act like fools.

They migrate from one place to the other like locusts when there is a powder keg about to go off. It's like the Jesse Jackon's and Al Sharpton's of the world are homing beacons.

I wish the Police Commissioner of Baltimore would just plainly and clearly announce, "Mr Sharpton - please stay away, we'll handle this our way".

[Jesse]

Also, it's a simple fact that cops are going to be outnumbered by protestors, so it is imperative that they get control of the situation immediately and effectively. What happened in Baltimore was actually predictable when the Mayor had the police back up to give the protestors "room to destroy". That is a recipe for disaster.

None of this happened in a vacuum - they already had a model for what NOT to do in Ferguson.

Also, I think the citizens of Baltimore - MANY of whom showed up today in droves to clean up - could have been called upon by the local leaders to help with getting the message out "this is not Ferguson", and protect the shop owners and local businesses.

I think there is a fact here that gets lost in these discussions. And that is, most of these rioters are not locals. They migrate from one place to the other like locusts when there is a powder keg about to go off. It's like the Jesse Jackon's and Al Sharpton's of the world are homing beacons.

[Cow Poke]

Also, it's a simple fact that cops are going to be outnumbered by protestors, so it is imperative that they get control of the situation immediately and effectively. What happened in Baltimore was actually predictable when the Mayor had the police back up to give the protestors "room to destroy". That is a recipe for disaster.

None of this happened in a vacuum - they already had a model for what NOT to do in Ferguson.

Also, I think the citizens of Baltimore - MANY of whom showed up today in droves to clean up - could have been called upon by the local leaders to help with getting the message out "this is not Ferguson", and protect the shop owners and local businesses.

[Cow Poke]

Everybody knows rioting is wrong, but there's no point in re-iterating that. Instead, what can be done to prevent future occurrences?

Legitimate black leaders (not race baiters or poverty pimps like Jackson and Sharpton) stepping up and speaking truth to power. Obama making clear and convincing statements of condemnation for the violence without endlessly playing the "but, I understand why they would do this" crap.

He actually came close to doing that today.

It seems instructive to me to compare North Charleston to Baltimore. In North Charleston, there was even video evidence of what happened (and it was damning toward the officer), yet there were no riots. The city immediately took control of the situation and acknowledged problems. The same did not occur in Baltimore.

Wasn't that South Carolina? But, yes, there either needs to be immediate charges, or a statement of intent to charge, or a statement of the intent to decline charging with a solid explanation why. The vacuum and not knowing is an incubator for violence.

[KingsGambit]

Everybody knows rioting is wrong, but there's no point in re-iterating that. Instead, what can be done to prevent future occurrences?

It seems instructive to me to compare North Charleston to Baltimore. In North Charleston, there was even video evidence of what happened (and it was damning toward the officer), yet there were no riots. The city immediately took control of the situation and acknowledged problems. The same did not occur in Baltimore.

[Sparko]

This boy was raised right.

[One Bad Pig]

IMHBAO it looks like she is making her stance crystal clear.

Now, yes.