With the people rioting and making a fuss over freddie gray's death, any police activity is going to be heavily scrutinized - and that's in general a good thing, but as police they're likely perceiving the entire thing as an overreaction, that anything they do will be sensationalized and twisted into racism and misconduct. So they're afraid to do their jobs when there is a chance they will be attacked for it, despite not believing they were doing anything wrong.
From the way this video played out, it looked like there were a lot of phone calls and the decision not to arrest came from higher up. Since this was a minor offense (gambling in public?) it really wasn't worth the potential risk of triggering another riot.
Taking off my devil's advocate cap now, I'm of the opinion that if gambling publicly is a civil offense, and legally there is no reason to justify taking the person to jail, then it's great that the camera prevented over-use of force. The fact that they were saying they had to take him to jail, and then later decided they didn't have to because it was a civil offense and not a criminal one, really shows them in a bad light.
I think it's important to understand what the culture in the police department is probably like when stuff like this happens, and I'm really thankful for this video and that it captured some seemingly candid expressions from the officers.
I wonder if police develop a distorted perception of non-police as being more criminal than they really are, simply because the bulk of the non-police they interact with during the course of their jobs are in fact criminals. It seems like if that is true it would explain in some ways the young cop's attitude, that it's better to lock this guy up than let a potential criminal go free.
as police they're likely perceiving the entire thing as an overreaction, that anything they do will be sensationalized and twisted into racism and misconduct
I'm gonna play devil's devil's advocate :D
While I detected a bit of real dissension in the ranks, I perceived a bit of overacting here. It's like they wanted to be heard saying those things to build sympathy for police and to scare the public.
You even had one guy acknowledging the idea that the video would wind up on youtube!
I wouldn't go that far. I just think a few of them hammed it up for the cameras. I mean, what you say is certainly possible but I wouldn't even say it without evidence.
The point would be -- "to build sympathy for police and to scare the public." That didn't cover it?
You're right, I apologize. I latched onto the "overacting" bit, and the resulting feelings I had as a response to the video, and ran with that while glossing over the suggestion that it was to build sympathy for the police.
I mean, I'm fairly certain that the guy saying "jeeze, this will probably end up on youtube" or whatever was thinking that mocking the police recording videos would probably make him look better. It could be that I'm overthinking this whole thing. xD
view the rest of the comments →
Mumberthrax ago
So ok, I'm going to try to play devil's advocate.
With the people rioting and making a fuss over freddie gray's death, any police activity is going to be heavily scrutinized - and that's in general a good thing, but as police they're likely perceiving the entire thing as an overreaction, that anything they do will be sensationalized and twisted into racism and misconduct. So they're afraid to do their jobs when there is a chance they will be attacked for it, despite not believing they were doing anything wrong.
From the way this video played out, it looked like there were a lot of phone calls and the decision not to arrest came from higher up. Since this was a minor offense (gambling in public?) it really wasn't worth the potential risk of triggering another riot.
Taking off my devil's advocate cap now, I'm of the opinion that if gambling publicly is a civil offense, and legally there is no reason to justify taking the person to jail, then it's great that the camera prevented over-use of force. The fact that they were saying they had to take him to jail, and then later decided they didn't have to because it was a civil offense and not a criminal one, really shows them in a bad light.
I think it's important to understand what the culture in the police department is probably like when stuff like this happens, and I'm really thankful for this video and that it captured some seemingly candid expressions from the officers.
I wonder if police develop a distorted perception of non-police as being more criminal than they really are, simply because the bulk of the non-police they interact with during the course of their jobs are in fact criminals. It seems like if that is true it would explain in some ways the young cop's attitude, that it's better to lock this guy up than let a potential criminal go free.
flyawayhigh ago
I'm gonna play devil's devil's advocate :D
While I detected a bit of real dissension in the ranks, I perceived a bit of overacting here. It's like they wanted to be heard saying those things to build sympathy for police and to scare the public.
You even had one guy acknowledging the idea that the video would wind up on youtube!
Mumberthrax ago
So you think that this was set up or staged with participation of the police?
What would be the motivation there? An attempt to stir up more ragey riots?
flyawayhigh ago
I wouldn't go that far. I just think a few of them hammed it up for the cameras. I mean, what you say is certainly possible but I wouldn't even say it without evidence.
The point would be -- "to build sympathy for police and to scare the public." That didn't cover it?
Mumberthrax ago
You're right, I apologize. I latched onto the "overacting" bit, and the resulting feelings I had as a response to the video, and ran with that while glossing over the suggestion that it was to build sympathy for the police.
I mean, I'm fairly certain that the guy saying "jeeze, this will probably end up on youtube" or whatever was thinking that mocking the police recording videos would probably make him look better. It could be that I'm overthinking this whole thing. xD