Is America a Police state?

[Revoltingest]

You have a right to videotape cops....& they have a right to smash your camera & rough you up a bit.
Tis a delicate balance, eh?

TV Crew Covering President Claims Mistreatment - Honolulu News Story - KITV Honolulu

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Police continue to harass citizens who record them | Washington Examiner
[youtube]jdxMjjTu44s[/youtube]
YouTube - Police told to arrest innocent people to meet targets

Your thoughts about recording the acts of public 'servants'?
Has anyone had a bad experience with law enforcement?

America is a government state. This is what happens when a Republic goes bad. If history is any indicator, things will get worse. Keep supporting the Republicans and Democrats, and pretend they actually care. I'm not in denial

 

[Guitar's Cry]

I've recently had three incidences with cops in the last three months. The first was for a cop questioning me for pulling into a supermarket after he started following me. He felt it was suspicious, I wanted sandwich meat. The second was in New Hampshire supposedly for pulling out in front of someone (neither me or my passenger was aware that happened). He asked me to get out of the car and searched me for drugs because I was acting nervous and my name was similar to someone they were looking for. (He asked me why I was acting nervous, so I told him it was because a cop had me get out of the car on the interstate.) The third was in my apartment, when the same cop from the 1st incident came through my front yard with a flashlight, asking for a guy named "Roy," and did a cursory search of my apartment for the person in question.

Now, I'm sure the third incident was practical. If there was a person they were looking for in the neighborhood, I'm perfectly fine with them asking questions. Problem is, I'm on a dirt road with three other houses. And all the recent incidences are leaving me a tad nervous whenever I see a cop car. I am perfectly law abiding with not even a speeding ticket, but it is very nerve racking to be put under suspicion multiple times in such a short amount of time.

Especially when these guys have guns and the weight of the law.

 

[TJ73]

May be not a "police sate" per se, but I see an overreach of government in general. Too many institutions to control too many basic liberties. Too much authority is given to DEC, CPS, IRS... And good luck dealing with any of these agents of big bro, you'll go broke or die first.

 

[bobhikes]

You really need to visit other countries for an extended period of time to appreciate what a police state really is.

The police here are tame.

 

[TJ73]

You really need to visit other countries for an extended period of time to appreciate what a police state really is.

The police here are tame.

Oh I am sure you're right, but I live here and think it is a shame, relative to what we could have and should have.

 

[Revoltingest]

An old favorite.
Pair Jailed For Remark To Clinton - Chicago Tribune
While de facto rather than de juro, it is illegal to insult the president in his presence.

 

[Twilight Hue]

The police here are tame.

No such thing. Police are trained and hired for one thing, and the equipment they carry makes it obvious as to their purpose. You will be forced to comply with the law or suffer.

There is no such thing as a tame cop. Just restrained by orders from going further and deeper depending on which country you live in. Trust me, if ordered from their superiors, they will unquestionably do just about anything they are ordered to do to you.

 

[Revoltingest]

There is no such thing as a tame cop.

I would bet that some are....but you never know what kind you'll run into & if they're having a bad day.
Some just need to let off a little steam...with a truncheon or flashlight. Of the instances of police
abuse I'm personally familiar with, no cop has ever faced sanction for it. They're largely immune.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I would bet that some are....but you never know what kind you'll run into & if they're having a bad day.
Some just need to let off a little steam...with a truncheon or flashlight. Of the instances of police
abuse I'm personally familiar with, no cop has ever faced sanction for it. They're largely immune.

That's exactly why I'm for two way surveillance to keep a system of checks and balances alive, and to prevent abuse by those who are hideously empowered by the government to watch over us. Some citizenry I noticed are fighting back with cameras and recorders which IMO is good to see in a free republic. Keeps all involved honest as much as it can be. However if the cops are ordered to take your camera and smash it to bits....

Ironically there was something on you tube (Cant find it ATM) about a Ex-Calif cop who was all too familiar with the way things run in law enforcement and subsequently started tailing his ex-patriots with a video recorder and posting some of the results. Essentially he started a citizens media patrol on wayward officers who enjoyed their jobs a bit too much. Wonder if hes still doing it or if not, or if he was later legally silenced under threat of some kind of recourse?

In all fairness, I knew several police and sheriffs personnel who are really decent and charitable people off-duty. Even so, I wonder if ever under enough pressure from their superiors in way of a direct order, they would ever do things to people they otherwise wouldn't do under normal circumstances in enforcing the law.

I would think most cops would sadly go towards more extreme enforcement (albeit in cases cases reluctant) by way of more enacted extreme legislation if ordered to do so for fear of losing their position and jobs. There are tons of vids out there right know clearly showing cases that the constitution and citizen rights stands secondary to orders given from their commanding officers and the commanding officers superiors in way of enforcement. I see laws now enacted that were unheard of years ago that the police enforce. Cops will do just about anything they are ordered to with few exceptions coming from the ranks irregardless of what your interpreted rights are at the moment. Its a bit unnerving to see this in the US esp. among the older generations.

 

[Troublemane]

I guess it depends on where you live. When I lived in Palm Beach, I could walk back and forth over the bridge to West Palm without a problem. But if I had been a black man, I would have been stopped by the cops. (I saw them stop severl black men who were walking over into Palm Beach, none looked like likely criminals).

The Palm Beach police once pulled over a guy in an SUV outside my room, and I wish I had had a videocamera on me then. I watched them search his vehicle (he had been pulled over for going through a stop sign), and as they stood there more cops showed up. They asked him if this was his vehicle, he said no it was his mom's. They asked if that was his mom's gun in the glove compartment. He said he never saw it before. They also found a bag of weed. He claimed to have never seen it before either. Two of the cops laughed and high fived each other behind the SUV, then their faces went back to being serious as they came around the corner.They took the weed and the gun and let him go with a traffic ticket.

I myself was stopped by the cops in Palm Beach just for walking at night. I told them my car was parked behind the Everglades Club where I worked, and they were extremely sacastic in asking me if they called there would they get confirmation I worked there. When they discovered I was telling the truth, they did not apologize they just left.

So, do we live in a police state? I think so, and I think its our own damn fault for buying into what the media has been saying about how bad crime is. Crime is no worse now (overall) than it was 20 years ago. Again, it makes a difference where you live, but I think its because the media has made us afraid to even say "hi" to our neighbors, it has made us rely on a larger and larger police force to make us feel safer.

More and more cops out there means they have to justify their existence, so we are going to be pulled over more often and harrassed even when we are completely innocent. This applies to the TSA mentality of treating everyone in the country as a possible terror suspect, equally. I mean after all, its the only way to be "fair" is to treat everyone as a possible criminal.

 

[Starsoul]

Your thoughts about recording the acts of public 'servants'?
Has anyone had a bad experience with law enforcement?

All police states function like that, They protect the powerful and scare those who can question the powerful. Police just isn't meant for the service of common people, they keep the masses straight so that the masses do not stand up united to something that those in power cant afford to loose.

 

[Revoltingest]

In an exclusive interview with Philips, the passenger in the car said members of the Red Dog unit pulled over his friend's
vehicle and forced the driver, Shawn Venegas, to pull down his pants on the side of the road in broad daylight. He says
officers conducted a body cavity search for drugs on Venegas. No drugs were ever found, passenger Brian Kidd said.

Chief Turner: 'No Decision To Disband Red Dog Unit' - News Story - WSB Atlanta

 

[Father Heathen]

Give a man power and authority, and he is more likely than not to abuse it. Corruption is rife in law enforcement and the military, and the fact that our society looks upon anyone in uniform as a "hero" by default makes it easier for them to get away with it. In reality, the only thing that differentiates them from common thugs is that their actions are sanctioned by the government.

 

[Revoltingest]

Give a man power and authority, and he is more likely than not to abuse it. Corruption is rife in law enforcement and the military, and the fact that our society looks upon anyone in uniform as a "hero" by default makes it easier for them to get away with it. In reality, the only thing that differentiates them from common thugs is that their actions are sanctioned by the government.

That about sums it up. I'd add that the cops who committed this violent sexual assault aren't subject to the same treatment as ordinary citizens.
They're not arrested, they're investigated by fellow cops, there's a greater presumption of innocence (ie, authority to do what they're accused of),
they're somewhat shielded from civil suits, & they're comrades in arms assist in covering up the crimes.

 

[Father Heathen]

That about sums it up. I'd add that the cops who committed this violent sexual assault aren't subject to the same treatment as ordinary citizens.
They're not arrested, they're investigated by fellow cops, there's a greater presumption of innocence (ie, authority to do what they're accused of),
they're somewhat shielded from civil suits, & they're comrades in arms assist in covering up the crimes.

I've known of a few instances where cops had physically abused their wives and children while their fellow officers simply looked the other way. Or their children commit crimes and then are treated with leniency. So much for serving and protecting. And we're supposed to respect and revere them simply because they have a piece of metal penned to their chest? Judges tend to be just as bad.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

lol... How could America not be a police state? By any rational definition, America is most definitely a police state. America 'has' police, and they utilize weapons, aggression, deception, and paranoia to achieve their goals. Most people fail to realize how hawk-ish American police are. For example, New Zealand officers generally don't even carry firearms.

 

[Father Heathen]

lol... How could America not be a police state? By any rational definition, America is most definitely a police state. America 'has' police, and they utilize weapons, aggression, deception, and paranoia to achieve their goals. Most people fail to realize how hawk-ish American police are. For example, New Zealand officers generally don't even carry firearms.

Cops are known for manipulating people and won't hesitate to exploit a person's ignorance of their own rights.

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

Cops are known for manipulating people and won't hesitate to exploit a person's ignorance of their own rights.

Personally, I think rights are kind of bs, as they appear to be no more than cornerstones around which oppressive regimes can be built. Why do my rights need to be written down in the first place? Eventually, exercising one's right itself can and does become interpreted as an offense, or something that could lead to an offense (ick), in a different context. Yeah, you have the right to free speech, you just can't do it outside of free-speech zones.. Yeah, you have the right to petition the government, but don't expect them to do anything about it.. Yeah, you have the right to rights, but only up until future jurisdictions amend them in whatever way they please.

 

[MissAlice]

I'm sorry but I can't trust cops these days due to some first encounter experiences with them. I had one cop pull up on the side of the road while I was walking home and started asking me questions like why I was walking. I told him I didn't drive and then he went onto ask questions that were a bit inappropriate like if I was single and if I had been drinking or doing anything (which I wasn't). I tried to be lighthearted about it but it was not a comfortable encounter.