Weaponized Safety

[Revoltingest]

"Weaponized safety" is an interesting term I ran across recently.
It was in the context of cops who pretend that some innocent
action by someone under their control is a deadly threat.
It provides pretext to escalate the situation, & become abusive.

That's just one example. We can see this attitude many other
places these days, ranging from benign accusations like
"micro-aggression" all the way to inferring deadly threat
from over-the-top political speech, eg, burning a political
figure in effigy.

"Security theater" is another delicious term describing
over-reaction to 9/11 events, eg, putting infants on the
Terrorism Watch List.

What have you seen?

 

[Revoltingest]

Oh, here's an example of something I don't see as a threat.
The Secret Service investigation was over-reaction IMO.
However, it does strike me as inappropriate.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Oh, here's an example of something I don't see as a threat.
The Secret Service investigation was over-reaction IMO.
However, it does strike me as inappropriate.

Not to mention stupid and pointless. Her main punishment was economical more than anything else. It pretty much ended her career.

 

[Revoltingest]

Not to mention stupid and pointless. Her main punishment was economical more than anything else. It pretty much ended her career.

Her career problems relate to her being offensive,
rather than the pic being a real threat to Trump.
There was no legal system punishment (that I know of).

 

[Subduction Zone]

Her career problems relate to her being offensive,
rather than the pic being a real threat to Trump.
There was no legal system punishment (that I know of).

That is what I meant. I am no fan of Trump by any means, but even I could see how wrong she was. Why offend such a huge percentage of a possible audience? Almost no one wanted to hire her after that.

 

[Brickjectivity]

"Security theater" is another delicious term describing
over-reaction to 9/11 events, eg, putting infants on the
Terrorism Watch List.

I may have tracked down the origin of the phrase. Apparently it comes from a popular mechanics article. www.popularmechanics.com/military/a6205/tsa-scans-security-theater-interview I found this info on an arcane conspiracy theory site called ammo.

"Security expert Bruce Schneier coined the term “security theater” to describe some of the TSA's procedures and screening practices." --https://ammo.com/articles/tsa-airport-security-theater-guide

By the way, turns out that the illuminati have been replaced by the global elite. I think either the Illuminati died or else they went back into hiding.

 

[Revoltingest]

This 20 second re-enactment sums up so many driver & cop interactions....

 

[metis]

Threatening innocent lives, imo, is simply wrong on all counts.

 

[Revoltingest]

Threatening innocent lives, imo, is simply wrong on all counts.

That isn't in dispute by anyone here.
Care to address the issue of escalating
things that aren't threats?

 

[lewisnotmiller]

"Weaponized safety" is an interesting term I ran across recently.
It was in the context of cops who pretend that some innocent
action by someone under their control is a deadly threat.
It provides pretext to escalate the situation, & become abusive.

That's just one example. We can see this attitude many other
places these days, ranging from benign accusations like
"micro-aggression" all the way to inferring deadly threat
from over-the-top political speech, eg, burning a political
figure in effigy.

"Security theater" is another delicious term describing
over-reaction to 9/11 events, eg, putting infants on the
Terrorism Watch List.

What have you seen?

Yup, I've heard of cops here escalating situations deliberately where suspects have been mouthy, etc.

I know, it sounds anecdotal and third hand, but it was the cops telling me this (I knew them personally) and I had no reason to disbelieve them.

 

[Yazata]

"Weaponized safety" is an interesting term I ran across recently
.....
What have you seen?

It's everywhere

One word: COVID. Hugely authoritarian measures, placing whole populations under what amounts to house arrest, controlling when they can leave, where they are allowed to go and how they must behave once they get there. Making civil rights a function of agreeing to particular medical treatments. All huge deviations from democratic ideals ostensibly enacted for your protection.

Censorship of all sorts of opinion by twitter, facebook, ISPs, tv networks, newspapers, educational establishments and cancel culture more generally. Control of what people can read, say and ultimately think, all ostensibly enacted for your protection.

And on and on...

 

[sun rise]

"Security expert Bruce Schneier coined the term “security theater” to describe some of the TSA's procedures and screening practices."

In other words to convince people that the bad guys will be caught by screening measures and so it's safe to fly. It also serves to convince the common bad guy that it's not safe to try something. The pro of course will use other measures designed to bypass screening.

 

[sun rise]

Playing devil's advocate, I'll bet most cops can relate real events where something that looked innocent was not.

But when it's combined with racism we have "driving while black" bad outcomes.

 

[icehorse]

There is a group of people we might call "the woke" or "overly PC" or "the illiberal left" who attack people who hold views different than what they view as "correct". For now I'll use "woke", but I'd be happy to use a different term. The woke often take on a fervor very similar to religious extremism. In fact author John McWhorter claims the woke have actually created a new religion. The woke's solutions opinions and solutions must be adhered to dogmatically. Any variance from the woke scripture can cause the perpetrator to be subject to public outcry and in some cases can cause the perp to lose their job.

For example, Alison Roman, a food writer for the NYT, was suspended from her job because she criticized Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo for being too commercial. Roman is white, Teigen and Kondo are "women of color". There are many such examples.

More personally, I might think that some of BLM's motives are good, but I don't think their solutions are very good. I've been called a racist for this.

 

[Twilight Hue]

It's everywhere

One word: COVID. Hugely authoritarian measures, placing whole populations under what amounts to house arrest, controlling when they can leave, where they are allowed to go and how they must behave once they get there. Making civil rights a function of agreeing to particular medical treatments. All huge deviations from democratic ideals ostensibly enacted for your protection.

Censorship of all sorts of opinion by twitter, facebook, ISPs, tv networks, newspapers, educational establishments and cancel culture more generally. Control of what people can read, say and ultimately think, all ostensibly enacted for your protection.

And on and on...

It's what caught my attention on goverment crackdowns on covid. Primarily in China and arguably Australia where authoritarian extremes violated things that went far beyond reasonable measures involving safety and security.

 

[Revoltingest]

Playing devil's advocate, I'll bet most cops can relate real events where something that looked innocent was not.

This will shed light on the legality of detaining or arresting
someone. There must be "reasonable" suspicion, or it's
a violation of (typically) 4th Amendment rights.
Reasonable Suspicion
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution - Wikipedia

But when it's combined with racism we have "driving while black" bad outcomes.

Racism is just part of a much larger problem.
There's an "inverse lottery" where the winner (as it were),
funs afoul of a system's corruption, incompetence, vengeance,
& abusive bureaucracy. This can affect anyone, although
race, class, gender, & personality greatly affect likelihood
of becoming the victim, & having a bad outcome.

Note that gender is a larger factor than race in police
shootings, with @95% of victims being male, with blacks
being disproportionately represented, but whites being
the victim in greater numbers. No one is immune.

We had a cop here who was prosecuted for coercing a
woman to have sex in exchange for lenience on a
traffic ticket.

 

[Revoltingest]

Traffic law enforcement is an enormous problem in Ameristan.
Ref....
How the Supreme Court Made It Legal for Cops to Pull You Over for Just About Anything
Excerpted (underlining added)....
In February, in a case involving a traffic stop over a dangling parking pass, D. Arthur Kelsey, then a judge on Virginia’s Court of Criminal Appeals, wrote: “So dense is the modern web of motor vehicle regulations that every motorist is likely to get caught in it every time he drives to the grocery store.” And now, he wrote, “reasonable suspicion justifying the seizure of citizens will be found even if police officers are mistaken concerning the law as long as their testimony includes magic words such as ‘I thought . . . I believed . . . I mistakenly believed . . . I suspected . . . I mistakenly suspected . . .’ or as in this case, the officer just doesn't really know one way or the other.”

In numerous cases, cops will have hostile focus upon someone
for personal reasons. They need only briefly follow the person's
car until they can claim some traffic violation. Then there are
tools they can use to escalate the situation with claims of an
"officer safety" issue. Typical claims...
You're behaving suspiciously.
You look nervous.
You're agitated.
I saw you reach for what could be a weapon.

 

[Wildswanderer]

"Weaponized safety" is an interesting term I ran across recently.
It was in the context of cops who pretend that some innocent
action by someone under their control is a deadly threat.
It provides pretext to escalate the situation, & become abusive.

That's just one example. We can see this attitude many other
places these days, ranging from benign accusations like
"micro-aggression" all the way to inferring deadly threat
from over-the-top political speech, eg, burning a political
figure in effigy.

"Security theater" is another delicious term describing
over-reaction to 9/11 events, eg, putting infants on the
Terrorism Watch List.

What have you seen?

Over zealous covid restrictions.

 

[Revoltingest]

Over zealous covid restrictions.

I agree that we've endured many.
But this thread is about weaponization of bogus safety concerns.
Do you have any egregious examples of Covid protocols being
used against people for for the purpose of abuse rather than safety?

 

[SomeRandom]

It's what caught my attention on goverment crackdowns on covid. Primarily in China and arguably Australia where authoritarian extremes violated things that went far beyond reasonable measures involving safety and security.

Aussie here. Care to mention what crackdowns specifically took things too far? Merely curious