Discussion for article #240341
And will you also apologize to all of the “Stop and Frisk” innocent people as well?
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“If you look at the photograph of the suspect, it looks like the twin
brother of Mr. Blake. So let’s put that nonsense to rest right now,”
Bratton told CNN Thursday morning. “Sorry, race has nothing at all to do
with this.”
It never does, right Commish? And besides, they all look pretty much the same anyway.
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I wouldn’t take his call either…
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I would, but he probably wouldn’t like what I had to say.
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Trying to head-off a lawsuit perhaps? How many people get a personal apology from the Chief of Police I wonder? Only those with deep pockets, who have not yet made up their minds whether to sue, I suspect. Maybe the Chief should just Tweet him…I hear that’s what people do nowadays.
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A very sincere tweet…
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For the sake of argument, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt on the racial angle here. I still don’t understand why they had to tackle him. The crime under investigation wasn’t violent, and the cops had him outnumbered. Why didn’t they just ask to talk to him?
That’s part of the Eric Garner story as well. What is it about the crime of selling loose cigarettes that requires someone to be physically subdued? Why do cops keep injecting violence into situations that don’t have any?
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I’d appear right in front of City Hall and say, “I understand the Police Commissioner wants to apologize to me but complains he can’t get ahold of me. Well, here I am.”
Then when he makes his CYA apology ON CAMERA to me. I just turn and walk away without any comment and file a lawsuit the next day.
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Why does our culture? Why do certain of our politicians? And why, large and small after the fact, do we buttress this destructiveness with saccharin paeans to our pretense of goodness in lieu of a proper investigation?
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That has been a question for a long time. Policing now seems to involves escalation by officers. You mentioned Eric Garner, and I agree with you 10000%.
Well, when you do not have to answer for your behavior, why not? Confront, escalate, subdue and jail.
“I can’t apologize to him cause I can’t reach him.”
Yeah the NYPD and the courts would take an excuse like that in a heartbeat, all right.
Not sure how to reach James Blake myself, but I know how NOT to reach out to him. Hold a press conference and exonerate the “white 5” before a thorough investigation is completed.
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What happened to approaching and asking for ID?
Blake was just standing there when the cops charged and tackled him. I always thought the reason BOLOs specified “armed and extremely dangerous” was to notify cops to ratchet up their tactics from those used on unarmed check kiters, jaywalkers, and identity thieves.`
Blake’s lucky to be alive considering America’s out-of-control cops seem to default to extreme violence in every circumstance these days.
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It seems that the answer is simple: laziness. It’s easier to teach folks with a propensity for violence to use that violence to subdue a potential suspect than to teach them the subtleties of things like conflict avoidance, communication, research, interrogation, etc.
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“I want to extend my apologies for the incident in which he found himself in,”
Do two “ins” make an out?
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Bratton has just proven the point that police attack people without cause - and only if the individual is “famous” do they deserve an apology. Again, proving that Black Lives Matter will and should continue to impact the national reporting of false arrests and mistreatment of citizens.
The millions of dollars that are being spent in settlement cases of the families of people who were murdered by the police for no reason should outrage every taxpayer. Certainly, there is a better use for this money - mandatory cameras.
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Very good point. Why tackle him? Why not just ask to talk to him? Of course the Commish would claim that even if the suspect was white, he too would have been tackled and ruffed up! Of course he would have been treated the same way…
Yeah, that’s an odd phrasing. Or not so odd if you want to make it seem like he had any culpability in being tackled to the ground while walking.
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OF COURSE race was a factor. If it were a white person, the cops would have walked up and said “Excuse me sir but can you come with us?”
A black person gets the business end of a boot and a face full of concrete. THAT’S the difference.
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