Discussion for article #236416
“We are determined to get past this,” Oates said. “There’s new leadership in this department. We are addressing this problem.”
Let me guess: lots of lessons learned, zero tolerance policies and “this is not who we are.” Did I forget anything?
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I guess Justice Roberts is right after all. Racism is a thing of the past in this fair land.
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Oates said the emails came to light in an unrelated 2013 internal affairs probe involving now-retired Maj. Angel Vasquez.
So it took them 2 years and intervening protests, riots, and public outrage over police racism to finally do something about it. How honorable that they finally decided “[t]hese activities are a breach of trust” and “are disgusting.”
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I have not read the article because quite frankly this is becoming like a broken record and I just can’t read the same shit over and over again. I hope they were all fired immediately
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FloriDUH! My goodness! Why can’t we just medicate that entire state with chemtrails?
Serving and Protecting…FloriDUH style! WooHoo!
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Florida, you’re really stepping up your game lately!
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What else should they do?
With the domestic violence poster we have an inversion of the phenomenon where real events are so bizarre that a news item reporting them looks like an Onion piece. That poster is parodic in the vein of demotivational posters, but those dufus cops evidently saw it straightforwardly – they can’t tell when they’re being lampooned.
I honestly don’t get such people. I’ve never once even considered sending racist or pornographic jokes to anyone. I don’t know anyone who’d even be receptive to such jokes. If I sent one, I’d get a bunch of responses from friends questioning if my account had been hacked or I was losing my mind. I’ve never even received such jokes. That’s why I look in wonder at people who do such stuff. Common sense should tell them that they’re in a position where it’s completely not O.K. to do this. Where are these people coming from? How do you reach adulthood without understanding the obvious? Is this kind of thing common and somehow I’ve been living under a rock?
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Jobs that allow people to have power over others are always going to attract folks that want to use and abuse that power whether it’s needed or not.
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Don’t forget the Bad Apple excuse.
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Actually, Chief Oates started rooting out problems when he became the new chief in Miami Beach, about 5 years ago. (Previously, he was the police chief in Aurora at the time of the shootings there. Before that, in Ann Arbor, he was recognized for his work in reducing attacks against Muslims in the wake of 911.) As a police Chief in Aurora, Oates is known for improving strained relations between his department and minority communities, all while reducing the crime rate. So, how about giving credit where credit is due? Oates is doing exactly what we would want a police chief to do: get rid of the bad apples and build a good, community-oriented police department.
Quite true. It also attracts another kind of person who wants to do good work in a community and make a positive difference. Two very different types of people. The problems really get out of control when the type you described rise in the ranks and start running the show, because that’s when a whole department can go bad… a “birds-of-a-feather” thing. Good ones that rise in the ranks will run the departments in a way that keeps the bad cops in check and weed them out, while developing good policies that keep good officers moving up the ranks. So, departments tend to spiral down, or spiral up, depending on the dominant culture and leadership that exists there.
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Fair enough, thank you for the insight and correction. Perhaps my initial reaction was too cynical. It is just frustrating that these people have continued to work for two years. But you are correct that the Chief should in fact be given credit for taking action, regardless of any delay.
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They determined two high-ranking cops were the instigators. One has already retired. The other one was fired.
I agree with your premise in theory, but are there any big-city police departments you’re aware of that fit the positive description?
FloriDUH. Day by day, incident by incident, making Texas not look quite as bad.
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I think “16” officers goes little beyond a “handful”.
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Thank goodness. What a bunch of fucking losers
Why can’t the Miami Police just focus on what they do best? Like beating up on protesters?
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