You can make any inference YOU want. I think I know how you feel on this subject.

 

Police Officers are trained to assume bad intentions of everyone they do not know...regardless of race, age or sex.

 

 

 

So do you think the officer is going up the stairs with his gun drawn on a routine patrol if he's in a white neighborhood like he did in the black housing project in New York a couple of weeks ago?

 

If that were a 12 year old white child in Ashland Park in Lexington instead of a black neighborhood in Cleveland do you think the 2 officers roll right up on him and basically come out shooting or do you think they stay back and try to talk to him?

 

We all know that police officers don't always do what they are trained--just like everyone else. I can guarantee you that their personal feelings and prejudices affect their performance in these situations.

 

Could it also be that police officers are more likely to assume bad intentions on the part of blacks and are quicker to use deadly force?

 

What do you base that on?

So do you think the officer is going up the stairs with his gun drawn on a routine patrol if he's in a white neighborhood like he did in the black housing project in New York a couple of weeks ago?

 

If that were a 12 year old white child in Ashland Park in Lexington instead of a black neighborhood in Cleveland do you think the 2 officers roll right up on him and basically come out shooting or do you think they stay back and try to talk to him?

 

We all know that police officers don't always do what they are trained--just like everyone else. I can guarantee you that their personal feelings and prejudices affect their performance in these situations.

 

New York Officers were in an apartment building in a crime ridden neighborhood that had no working lights in the staircase. Would you have your gun drawn regardless of the ethnic background of the neighborhood? Could have been any crime ridden neighborhood and in those circumstance they may have their guns out. That does not excuse what they did in anyway, but the crime of the neighborhood not race was the underlying cause they had their guns drawn IMO.

 

Cops may have reacted quickly in Cleveland, but when someone reaches for a gun in their waist band how long do you wait......................?

 

Officers are shot dead in their vehicles every year, before they get a chance to get out of their car. That's why police officers call cars the "Kill Box", because they are sitting ducks while still in the car.

 

By "Guaranteeing" how police officers feel and would react, Are you saying that if YOU were a cop that you would be prejudiced and let your personal feeling dictate your actions?

So do you think the officer is going up the stairs with his gun drawn on a routine patrol if he's in a white neighborhood like he did in the black housing project in New York a couple of weeks ago?

 

If that were a 12 year old white child in Ashland Park in Lexington instead of a black neighborhood in Cleveland do you think the 2 officers roll right up on him and basically come out shooting or do you think they stay back and try to talk to him?

 

We all know that police officers don't always do what they are trained--just like everyone else. I can guarantee you that their personal feelings and prejudices affect their performance in these situations.

 

So you are assuming they are prejudiced? How open minded of you.

As far as what you bolded, 3 autopsies, one state, one federal, one private all came to the same conclusion. That's what I mean. I understand some people are never going to believe anything other than what they have made their mind up to, regardless of the evidence.

 

I deal with plenty of people from all races that don't trust the police. I truly don't feel blacks have a corner on that market.

 

As far as trusting the system, I deal with plenty of people from all races that think the system is stacked against them.

 

With all that said, all of us have to continue to work towards better race relations. While I agree that some things are all about race, all things are not always about race.

 

Agree with all of this.

I understand what the meaning is but every movement has a face. That face for "Hands up, don't shoot" is Michael Brown. Those behind the movement picked a bad poster child. It costs them credibility and does nothing for their cause. People see "Hands up, don't shoot" they think Michael Brown and like I've said before, the message is lost.

 

 

I don't disagree with anything you are saying.

New York Officers were in an apartment building in a crime ridden neighborhood that had no working lights in the staircase. Would you have your gun drawn regardless of the ethnic background of the neighborhood? Could have been any crime ridden neighborhood and in those circumstance they may have their guns out. That does not excuse what they did in anyway, but the crime of the neighborhood not race was the underlying cause they had their guns drawn IMO.

 

Cops may have reacted quickly in Cleveland, but when someone reaches for a gun in their waist band how long do you wait......................?

 

Officers are shot dead in their vehicles every year, before they get a chance to get out of their car. That's why police officers call cars the "Kill Box", because they are sitting ducks while still in the car.

 

By "Guaranteeing" how police officers feel and would react, Are you saying that if YOU were a cop that you would be prejudiced and let your personal feeling dictate your actions?

 

 

I know how a couple of retired officers from the vice squad in the Tampa area talked and felt. They were what I considered good cops and had around 25 years service each. They definitely thought different of people of color than they did whites, at least while on the job.

 

As for the 2 situations that I mentioned: No, I would not have had my gun drawn. People live there. Children live there. They were not there on am investigation. They were not dispatched there. If the place is so dangerous that I'm afraid of the dark I'm not going in there just to walk up the stairs. Zero reason for them to be in that situation with their guns drawn.

 

As for the Cleveland incident I'm talking about when the child reached for the gun. Do you think a white child in Ashland Park in Lexington would have had the cops roll right up on him and force a confrontation or do you think they might have given him enough of a benefit of the doubt to stay back and try and talk to him first?

I know how a couple of retired officers from the vice squad in the Tampa area talked and felt. They were what I considered good cops and had around 25 years service each. They definitely thought different of people of color than they did whites, at least while on the job.

 

As for the 2 situations that I mentioned: No, I would not have had my gun drawn. People live there. Children live there. They were not there on am investigation. They were not dispatched there. If the place is so dangerous that I'm afraid of the dark I'm not going in there just to walk up the stairs. Zero reason for them to be in that situation with their guns drawn.

 

As for the Cleveland incident I'm talking about when the child reached for the gun. Do you think a white child in Ashland Park in Lexington would have had the cops roll right up on him and force a confrontation or do you think they might have given him enough of a benefit of the doubt to stay back and try and talk to him first?

 

OK you know a couple of Cops that by their own account may be racist, so that means they all are!

 

They were not on a call your right...They were ordered to patrol that building, do Top-Down Patrols. May have reacted the exact same way in another rough neighborhood. We can debate if they should or shouldn't have had their guns drawn (I without out knowing much about it would think a flash light is enough, but I don't know what they normally encounter in those stairwells either)...but I think it had more to do with the criminality of the neighborhood than with the color of the skin of some of the residents.

 

Cops get a call of a man waving a gun in a park, I think they roll up fast where ever it is.

 

Did you answer my last question? By "Guaranteeing" how police officers feel and would react, Are you saying that if YOU were a cop that you would be prejudiced and let your personal feeling dictate your actions?

OK you know a couple of Cops that by their own account may be racist, so that means they all are!

 

They were not on a call your right...They were ordered to patrol that building, do Top-Down Patrols. May have reacted the exact same way in another rough neighborhood. We can debate if they should or shouldn't have had their guns drawn (I without out knowing much about it would think a flash light is enough, but I don't know what they normally encounter in those stairwells either)...but I think it had more to do with the criminality of the neighborhood than with the color of the skin of some of the residents.

 

Cops get a call of a man waving a gun in a park, I think they roll up fast where ever it is.

 

Did you answer my last question? By "Guaranteeing" how police officers feel and would react, Are you saying that if YOU were a cop that you would be prejudiced and let your personal feeling dictate your actions?

 

 

No offense, but I see a pattern wherein you describe every black encounter is justified as being "in a rough neighborhood" while others aren't. Even if people are in rough neighborhoods, they aren't all guilty and living in a rough place alone isn't legal grounds for shooting someone. Yes, I know it'd be different when we're talking about officers raiding a crack den, despite the fact that what I just said doesn't exactly address what's going on here either.

 

Can you see the point I'm trying to make here?

OK you know a couple of Cops that by their own account may be racist, so that means they all are!

 

They were not on a call your right...They were ordered to patrol that building, do Top-Down Patrols. May have reacted the exact same way in another rough neighborhood. We can debate if they should or shouldn't have had their guns drawn (I without out knowing much about it would think a flash light is enough, but I don't know what they normally encounter in those stairwells either)...but I think it had more to do with the criminality of the neighborhood than with the color of the skin of some of the residents.

 

Cops get a call of a man waving a gun in a park, I think they roll up fast where ever it is.

 

Did you answer my last question? By "Guaranteeing" how police officers feel and would react, Are you saying that if YOU were a cop that you would be prejudiced and let your personal feeling dictate your actions?

 

 

They were NOT ordered to do a vertical patrol. The were to do a drive through of the area and walk through of the lobby if they went inside at all. They took it job themselves to payroll the stairwell, were scared of the "dark" and now someone is dead that shouldn't be. I just don't believe that happens if that isn't a housing project. If it did and they shot a guy in uptown Manhattan I bet they wouldn't have waited 7 minutes to call it in while texting their union rep.

 

I have no idea how I'd feel if I were a cop. All I can go on are some statistics that I see as alarming.

Could it also be that police officers are more likely to assume bad intentions on the part of blacks and are quicker to use deadly force?

Blacks make up 35% of the prison population yet only 12% of the total population. We continue to hear how blacks don't trust the police based on past experience. Maybe it works both ways? Neither is right and something has to change on both sides.

They were NOT ordered to do a vertical patrol. The were to do a drive through of the area and walk through of the lobby if they went inside at all. They took it job themselves to payroll the stairwell, were scared of the "dark" and now someone is dead that shouldn't be. I just don't believe that happens if that isn't a housing project. If it did and they shot a guy in uptown Manhattan I bet they wouldn't have waited 7 minutes to call it in while texting their union rep.

 

I have no idea how I'd feel if I were a cop. All I can go on are some statistics that I see as alarming.

 

You say you go on statistics but seem to ignore the ones provided by JD. They did come from the FBI.

You say you go on statistics but seem to ignore the ones provided by JD. They did come from the FBI.

 

So did mine. Did you read the article that I linked?

No offense, but I see a pattern wherein you describe every black encounter is justified as being "in a rough neighborhood" while others aren't. Even if people are in rough neighborhoods, they aren't all guilty and living in a rough place alone isn't legal grounds for shooting someone. Yes, I know it'd be different when we're talking about officers raiding a crack den, despite the fact that what I just said doesn't exactly address what's going on here either.

 

Can you see the point I'm trying to make here?

 

That's not the pattern or point I am making at all...my point is that rough neighborhoods come in all colors and the common denominator is crime not skin color. That's what is being missed by almost everyone...Crime not Skin Color is the Issue.

 

No where did I say or infer the bolded and you know it.

They were NOT ordered to do a vertical patrol. The were to do a drive through of the area and walk through of the lobby if they went inside at all. They took it job themselves to payroll the stairwell, were scared of the "dark" and now someone is dead that shouldn't be. I just don't believe that happens if that isn't a housing project. If it did and they shot a guy in uptown Manhattan I bet they wouldn't have waited 7 minutes to call it in while texting their union rep.

 

I have no idea how I'd feel if I were a cop. All I can go on are some statistics that I see as alarming.

 

Reports I read said they were on a patrol, but that's not the point. If they were so afraid why even go in the building if they weren't there trying to patrol. They could have just stayed in their car. No where have I defended this shooting or their actions after the shooting...my point is that this could have just as easily been a white guy that got shot as a black guy...as much as you want all police actions to be racially motivated some are just mistakes without race being involved.

 

You don't know how you'd feel? You can't think about that for a minute and know if you'd be prejudiced or have preconceived ideas or not. Do you have those thought's now, or do only police officers have them?