I’d planned to post dashcam win and promptly drop the topic. There’s a reason for that. It’s Christmas. I don’t want to wade further into Ferguson (which became nothing more than an excuse for rioters to party) or Eric Gardner (who surely didn’t need to wind up dead). There’s enough negativity in the world. One needn’t seek it out.
In fact, the main reason I posted dashcam win because it was an alternative to violence. Perhaps not a shining light of joy but at least a piece of freedom earned without bloodshed.
In dashcam win, the officer (who’s name eludes me) starts (as such things often do) by tearing into innocent trucker Brian Miner like an angry hornet. Things could have gone badly but they didn’t. That’s what mattered to me. Mr. Miner, innocent and yet treated like a criminal, was firm yet polite. Well done. The officer, after a few minutes off camera, apparently had a change of heart and chose to drop the dick waving. This is what I like to see. A civilized (eventually) interaction between civilized participants leading to a civilized outcome.
We all get angry. When this happens we collect our thoughts, rise to the occasion, and temper our urges. The inability to defer one’s own anger is inexcusable. Even an attack dog, should it fail to control itself, is dangerous and therefore must be euthanized. Humans who can’t clear that hurdle are nothing but apes.
The cop in dashcam win doesn’t come out smelling like a rose, but he is a superior person to one who causes mayhem. Even if it took a trucker with a dash cam and a sheaf of well organized paperwork to nudge him in the right direction, he got there.
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Alas something popped up today that is much the opposite. See the video here and here.
Pete Vasquez was confronted, subdued, and tazered (twice). His alleged crime? Driving a car with dealer plates but no inspection sticker. This is legal. Officer Nathanial Robinson (incorrectly) thought otherwise. Or maybe he had some other idea in his steamy head? Regardless, it’s not rocket science to sort out disagreements over paperwork. We do it all the time, peacefully and intelligently. It’s a mundane situation. Robinson should know the difference between filling out forms at the DMV and hitting someone with a rock.
Animals act like animals. Officer Nathanial Robinson wound up pile driving an innocent, non-violent, 76 year old man to the pavement. The clock on the video shows 26 seconds elapsed between the time Mr. Vasquez exited the car and when the officer (Nathanial Robinson) initiated violence. You heard me right. The officer initiated it. He reached out and tried to snatch a paper from Vasquez’s hand. Vasquez was just standing there; holding paper. There’s nothing about a badge that lets you manhandle people. There’s nothing threatening about paper.
Once Robinson let himself off his own leash he went as far as he could go without actually killing someone. I’m not sure why Robinson didn’t go all the way. It doesn’t look like he had anything more on his mind than dominance and control. In a very real and undeniable sense, he was a menace to himself and everyone in the vicinity. Maybe Robinson will go all the way next time? Maybe if Vasquez had been younger, or stronger, or simply unlucky, Robinson would have completed the trip he’d begun right then and there. The man can never be trusted again.
Such behavior wouldn’t have been justified by any license plate violation. It wouldn’t have been justified if Vasquez was drunk, bankrupt, had a pound of cocaine in the trunk, was half his age, and was sporting blue hair. The only cause for violence came out of a police officer’s head. Robinson was looking for a fight and created one out of thin air. He inflicted violence upon a victim. He’s a thug.
Nine seconds later, Vasquez was on the ground and Robinson was tazering, screaming at, and dominating a “non-compliant” person. That’s the rub. It wasn’t a “non-compliant” person at all. It was a citizen. An innocent, free, American, non-violent, citizen. A victim of a thug.
If a German Shepard did what Officer Nathanial Robinson did, the dog would be put down.
While fools dance because of Ferguson and Sharpton wallows in his own greed, you’ll likely hear little of Mr. Vasquez. For one thing he lived and he might be unharmed (a plucky man at 76!). For another he’s not the proper race to foment a riot. Either way, his story is just as important as others. Nobody, badge or not, should instigate or tolerate behavior like that of Officer Nathanial Robinson. No excuses.
Suprising that he had rap music playing in his squad car. Causes violence? No. Associated with it? Undoubtedly.
The rap didn’t paint the officer in a good light but that’s just window dressing. He can play anything he wants in his squad car so long as he’s doing a good job. Conversely I wouldn’t care if he was listening to a choir of angels prior to his bad actions.
Unfortunately, there will INDEED be plenty of excuses for Officer Robinson. From the usual crowd who prefer their coffee and donuts filtered. They made excuses for “Boo Boo” in Habersham. They made excuses for Andrew Lee Scott. They made excuses for Jose Gurena. They made excuses for Eurie Stamps. They made excuses for Kelly Thomas. They made excuses for Aiyana Jones. They made excuses for Erik Scott. And they are having a good laugh over on PoliceOne.com
And by the way, if a “Law Enforcement” German Shepherd did what Officer Robinson did, he would be given treats!
I think a lot of training goes in to teaching a dog when it can attack and when it can’t. Otherwise it’s just a beast for dog fighting.
And that is an accurate description of a significant number of “Law Enforcement” dogs.
I’ve never met a bad law enforcement dog. Then again I haven’t met many law enforcement dogs at all.
I was always taught to never argue with the cop — he’s just a public servant enforcing the law as he sees it, and you won’t change his mind anyway. The time to argue is in front of the judge. When cops behave like this they’re no longer public servants, though. They’ve gone beyond their charter as enforcers and straight to judge and jury. That is a fearsome prospect, for we’ve granted cops privileges above common citizens, and the public servant can quickly behave as the master.
There used to be a time-honored tradition called “running out of town on a rail.” This, along with the tar and feathers, served as an important ceremony marking the end of a jurisdiction’s tolerance of miscreants and a warning that a change of behavior would be necessary to restore one’s place in polite society. I do not believe the current approach of lawsuits, appeals, plea bargains and the department picking up the costs is more civilized or a deterrent. Perhaps running out of town on a rail is indeed a bit much, but surely we can compromise on tar and feathers?
Police must begin to think that when otherwise-upstanding citizens start thinking these thoughts they’ve lost their reputation, their honor, and the public trust. This needs to be policed internally and immediately,
Officer Robinson seems like as good a place as any for them to start.
Some day there will be a war, and these activities by cops will be one of the main causes. At that point cops will rue the day that they decided they were better than the rest of us.
That’s a possibility. But it’s an ugly one. Americans, in their heart, are a prickly bunch. I wouldn’t want to be a police officer in an America that is stacked against them. Life would be a lot better for everyone if we all backed away from the cliff and chose a better path. I don’t think Americans are as likely to fold without a fight as their European brethren and many of us don’t like being bossed around. All the tactical SWAT gear in the world isn’t going to change that. We’re much better off not getting into a war over dipshit things like unhinged police… just find them a more suitable job, maybe a couple years running a jack hammer will give them time to chill out and society needs guys to run jackhammers.