The Blue Wall of Silence

[Paprika]

I didn't say it was uncommon, but that if the incident involved something serious to do with the public, like an officer beating up a prisoner or committing a crime like robbing someone, most honest cops would not protect them. I think there are good cops and bad ones. But some people seem to think MOST if not all cops are corrupt. That is just not true.

Assuredly there are many 'good' cops.

However, there are serious problems in police departments of cities like Ferguson and Baltimore. You may be right that not all cops are 'bad'; however for many citizens of such cities it is quite probable that for them effectively most cops are 'bad', because the cops they encounter and interact with are - and these are not the cops averaged over the entire nation.

Unwarranted generalisation can run both ways: while one 'bad' police department does not imply that most cops nationwide are 'bad', most cops nationwide being 'good' does not imply that there cannot be systematic local problems that need to be addressed.

[Sparko]

Assuredly there are many 'good' cops.

However, there are serious problems in police departments of cities like Ferguson and Baltimore. You may be right that not all cops are 'bad'; however for many citizens of such cities it is quite probable that for them effectively most cops are 'bad', because the cops they encounter and interact with are - and these are not the cops averaged over the entire nation.

Unwarranted generalisation can run both ways: while one 'bad' police department does not imply that most cops nationwide are 'bad', most cops nationwide being 'good' does not imply that there cannot be systematic local problems that need to be addressed.

how were the cops bad in ferguson? The incident started with a policeman answering a call, and then encountering a violent black youth who had just robbed a store and consequently tried to take the officer's gun away and shoot him with it. The perpetrator ended up dead as a consequence. The citizens rioted and burned down their own neighborhood. A thorough investigation showed the cop was innocent, and the people rioted some more, looting, burning, their own town.

[Paprika]

how were the cops bad in ferguson?

Why do you assume I was talking about that incident specifically?

There was, after all, the report on the Ferguson Police Department.

[shunyadragon]

how were the cops bad in ferguson? The incident started with a policeman answering a call, and then encountering a violent black youth who had just robbed a store and consequently tried to take the officer's gun away and shoot him with it. The perpetrator ended up dead as a consequence. The citizens rioted and burned down their own neighborhood. A thorough investigation showed the cop was innocent, and the people rioted some more, looting, burning, their own town.

Read the report I referenced on the Ferguson Police Department. If you read it I described the shooting of Michael Brown in the incident was justified. It is apparently the report you have not read.

You have trollishly trashed my references, but you have not responded to them with specific reference in rebuttal to my references.

[Tassman]

I love how Tassman and Shunya know so much about the inner workings and motivations of the police. Based purely on media reports and watching cop shows on TV, I am betting.

I’m not claiming to “know so much about the inner workings and motivations of the police”. I'm presenting information as reported by many reputable outlets, such as The Atlantic, claiming the Department of Justice findings indicate that for years Ferguson's police force meted out brutality, violated civil rights, and helped Ferguson officials to leech off the black community thus engendering a climate of distrust within the black community. Did The Atlantic et al get it wrong?

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/...report/386887/