And the problem is the majority will never put in the effort to keep up with the up dates. They will only remember Bennett's original version.

 

They just don't care. Bennett's story fit their own personal worldview and narrative so they don't care to even bother to look at anything else.

Going to be totally honest here Snottie, I'm really not sure what you want to see or hear. IMO you have a unrealistic opinion of how high pressure dangerous situations like this should go down. Do you think the officers that ran to music festival this weekend during the during the shooting all turned on their body cams? Do you think that was even that high on their list of things to do? Your a cop responding to an active shooter in a casino...where exactly is turning your body cam on fall on the list of things to do? The bad guys with guns aren't going wait for you to make sure you have your body cam on before they resume shooting people.

 

If I don't do things the way they're supposed to be done at my job, I probably won't last very long there. LEOs are in a position to alter people's lives permanently. I don't think it's unreasonable to hold them to a higher standard. We do it, or used to anyway, with the president. Same tree, different branch.

 

And it doesn't matter how high on their list turning on the camera falls. If it's on the list, it should be done.

If I don't do things the way they're supposed to be done at my job, I probably won't last very long there. LEOs are in a position to alter people's lives permanently. I don't think it's unreasonable to hold them to a higher standard. We do it, or used to anyway, with the president. Same tree, different branch.

 

And it doesn't matter how high on their list turning on the camera falls. If it's on the list, it should be done.

 

And I'm sure he was/is being disciplined for it. Basically if he doesn't lose his job, you aren't happy is what it boils down to.

And I'm sure he was/is being disciplined for it. Basically if he doesn't lose his job, you aren't happy is what it boils down to.

 

No. That's not what I said.

 

He should be disciplined, yes. The precedent must be set that the taxpayers funded those cameras to eliminate questions about what happened, and they are to be utilized every time, by every officer.

No. That's not what I said.

 

He should be disciplined, yes. The precedent must be set that the taxpayers funded those cameras to eliminate questions about what happened, and they are to be utilized every time, by every officer.

 

Just because SnottieDrippen hasn't been notified of any disciplinary action doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

Just because SnottieDrippen hasn't been notified of any disciplinary action doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

 

Gotcha.

If I don't do things the way they're supposed to be done at my job, I probably won't last very long there. LEOs are in a position to alter people's lives permanently. I don't think it's unreasonable to hold them to a higher standard. We do it, or used to anyway, with the president. Same tree, different branch.

 

And it doesn't matter how high on their list turning on the camera falls. If it's on the list, it should be done.

I'm assuming you don't have job where you may have to run into a building where someone is shooting people. So forgive me if I willing to cut this guy some slack for not making doubly sure his cam was on.

I'm assuming you don't have job where you may have to run into a building where someone is shooting people. So forgive me if I willing to cut this guy some slack for not making doubly sure his cam was on.

 

And you would be absolutely correct.

 

With great power comes great responsibility.

And you would be absolutely correct.

 

With great power comes great responsibility.

 

That's not great power or responsibility. It's courage.

 

Easy to critique from your couch eating potatoe chips while this guy is running into a potential active shooter situation.

 

He deserves a slap on the wrist for the camera and a pat on the back for a job well done otherwise.

Going to be totally honest here Snottie, I'm really not sure what you want to see or hear. IMO you have a unrealistic opinion of how high pressure dangerous situations like this should go down. Do you think the officers that ran to music festival this weekend during the during the shooting all turned on their body cams? Do you think that was even that high on their list of things to do? Your a cop responding to an active shooter in a casino...where exactly is turning your body cam on fall on the list of things to do? The bad guys with guns aren't going wait for you to make sure you have your body cam on before they resume shooting people.

 

People do a lot of weird things in high stress situations. Tunnel vision, loss of hearing etc can even happen. No one should be shocked that a human forgot something as simple as a camera when he's going into a building where he thinks he might die.

Please God, if my life is on the line do not let the cop stop and turn on a camera before something happens to me.

 

I cant believe this is even a thing being discussed.

What exactly have racial protests accomplished over the last 30 years? Distraction from high murder and abortion rates in urban black communities? Urban black communities have bigger problems than racism, but, focusing on racism takes the focus off of problems such as family deterioration, under valuing education, poor role models etc.

 

You are brave enough to point out the elephant in the room.

 

When you consider that those things are products of racism the picture becomes more clear.

 

That raises an important point. It needs to be taken into account and determined what role the history of slavery and systemic racism plays.

 

I would argue that the culprit you are looking for is fatherless homes/families, not racism.

 

Another important point.

 

Why are those homes fatherless?

 

Great question.

 

Many factors can be linked to this. One of which is the misguided War on Poverty of 1964. The "State" can NOT be a substitute for a father.

 

I can say with certainty that no one is asking the "State" to step in, other than Bernie Sanders because that's his answer to everything, rather that the "State" allow fathers to go home to their children at night. I know, that's a privilege afforded only to law enforcement though.

 

The discussion that began here with the various quoted messages is where the discussion needs to be (on a national level) if the most egregious problems are to be identified and then solved.

 

When you look at all the social ills in our society, the single most predictive feature is single-parent homes. Poverty, prison, gang affiliation, drugs, dropping out of high school, etc. The percentage of likelihood someone falls into those kinds of things goes up tremendously if a child grows up in a single-parent home. It does not matter if you are white or black. For instance, families led by white single-mothers have lower economic status than black families with two parents. Race is not the deciding factor. Behavior leading to single-parent homes is. Having children out of wedlock is the issue.

 

The percentage of single-parent homes are rising in white and black communities and this is bringing with it all the challenges one would guess. As CNN's Don Lemon once pointed out, in African-American communities, unfortunately, the percentage of children born out of wedlock is 73%, according to data provided by the Centers for Disease control. While the percent of white births occurring out of wedlock isn't as high (29%), it is climbing and so are the social problems that surround that sort of behavior.

 

My contention is that this high percent of out of wedlock births leading to many social ills is not due to racism. The reason I say this is because prior to the 1960's black families were for the most part two-parent families. They did not tend to have babies out of wedlock. During the era when racism was legal and institutionalized, post-Civil War and Jim Crow eras, the African-American family was intact. It wasn't until the 1960's that things began to come apart.

 

So my question is what happened? Someone mentioned the war on poverty when the government started to assume responsibility that belonged to the individual, father and mother. Rewarding behavior that is detrimental to keeping the family intact, etc. There seems to be a correlation between the war on poverty and the demise of the African-American family. The real question: Can a relationship of cause and effect be established?

 

At any rate, the fix to this is not so much government action as it is culture and individual behavior. Racism (systemic or individual) cannot cause another person to have a child out of wedlock. As Don Lemon noted in his commentary:

 

In the middle of a national conversation about race following the George Zimmerman acquittal, CNN anchor Don Lemon gave an on-air commentary that went viral on social media. The focus of the commentary was a five-point list of recommendations. "Black people," Lemon said, "if you really want to fix the problem, here's just five things that you should think about doing."

 

The No. 1 item on that list -- "and probably the most important," he said -- had to do with out-of-wedlock births.

 

"Just because you can have a baby, it doesn't mean you should," Lemon said. "Especially without planning for one or getting married first. More than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock. That means absent fathers. And the studies show that lack of a male role model is an express train right to prison and the cycle continues."

 

see full article CNN's Don Lemon says more than 72 percent of African-American births are out of wedlock | PolitiFact

 

There has been a lot written on this by people like Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, and many social scientists but these facts are being ignored. Most famously, the decision to attack the Moynihan report, that drew attention to the growing problem of the disintegration of the African-American family, focused the nation's attention away from the underlying issue. Instead, some Civil Rights leaders and others didn't like the implication of the report. They decided that the main problem was discrimination and if they gave credence to the Moynihan report, it would take the focus off of racism. So, his report was largely put aside. This is tragic, because after all of the decades of the war on poverty and the amazing strides that we have taken in equality, there still is this huge problem of poverty, gangs, drugs, prison, unemployment, etc. experienced in many black communities, and it is getting worse. It is time we face one of the underlying causes. That of child-birth out of wedlock. The culture within the African-American community (and white communities) must be changed so that this is not acceptable behavior. In addition, attitudes towards academic achievement and those who are studious must be changed. Respect for authority must be instilled. Walter Williams grew up in North Philly, in the Ghetto. The most serious problems that teachers faced in school then were kids chewing gum, talking out in class, etc. Today, in those same schools, you have to walk through a metal detector to get inside. Guards police the hallways. Violence against teachers and other students are now the number 1 problems. A culture has collapsed during our lifetime. Those who are within those communities must be the one's to make the changes. Others can support them, and can stop with policies that contribute to the social ills, but only an individual can decide not to have a baby out of wedlock. Only a community can restore the kinds of values that encourage community health and human flourishing. We must reinforce the behaviors that lead to opportunities in life and discourage those behaviors that lead to social ills. Community leaders need to recognize their role in this, both civil and religious leaders.

 

This is why I believe the whole discussion on police shooting unarmed African-American males is wrong-headed. First, the facts do not back the characterization of the relatively few occurrences as motivated by racism, and second the whole discussion is just a red herring. The issues that will make the greatest positive difference in every African-American community (and in white communities) are those I tried to highlight here.

 

These are complex issues and I know there is more to it than saying, "Just stop having babies out of wedlock." That's why there needs to be a discussion surrounding this. We need to ask the question raised by Snottie Drippen, "What role did racism play in getting us to where we are today?" But if we just ignore the correlation between out-of-wedlock births and poverty, crime, imprisonment, dropping out of high school, etc., we do so at the peril of future generations. Why not try to reverse the trend of the one factor that is most significant in predicting so many other social ills?

 

Here's an article that examines the decision to ignore the Moynihan Report:

 

The Black Family: 4

"see full article CNN's Don Lemon says more than 72 percent of African-American births are out of wedlock | PolitiFact"

 

I reiterate, the black community has bigger problems than racism. Hebrews, Asians and Hispanics all suffer from discrimination as well, yet , are relatively successful. In fact, the first 2 are more successful than whites. Should whites go out and protest that they are not as successful as these two minority groups?

If I don't do things the way they're supposed to be done at my job, I probably won't last very long there. LEOs are in a position to alter people's lives permanently. I don't think it's unreasonable to hold them to a higher standard. We do it, or used to anyway, with the president. Same tree, different branch.

 

And it doesn't matter how high on their list turning on the camera falls. If it's on the list, it should be done.

 

Go and put yourself in high pressure situations like LEO have to deal with. If you won't, then don't be so quick to say there is no reason a body cam shouldn't be turned on. This isn't the corporate world, a factory job, retail, etc. Those are all honorable and fine professions. They rarely require the quick decision making skills needed by LEO and most first responders, be they Fire, EMS or LEO.

 

It does matter how high on the list it falls. Protecting life comes above everything.

The percentage of single-parent homes are rising in white and black communities and this is bringing with it all the challenges one would guess. As CNN's Don Lemon once pointed out, in African-American communities, unfortunately, the percentage of children born out of wedlock is 73%, according to data provided by the Centers for Disease control. While the percent of white births occurring out of wedlock isn't as high (29%), it is climbing and so are the social problems that surround that sort of behavior.

 

 

I'm curious in the data. Where are bi-racial children listed? Are they under the African-American stats or White. I ask because if all bi-racial children born out of wedlock are listed under African-American (a leftover from Jim Crow days and very possible I suppose) then that may skew the data some in one category that ought to be reflected in both.

 

Not that it matters because the point is well taken. Just curious about the numbers.