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AIBU?

To be glad i dont live in America having seen this on Sky News.

90 replies

sunshield · 08/06/2015 12:51

Video: Texas Officer On Administrative Leave After Bikini-Clad Girl Detained
09:40, UK,
Monday 08 June 2015

This is quite shocking and telling about life in the US . A Policeman throwing a 14 year old girl on the floor then sitting on her "screaming" at her when she is obviously in pain with her hands in handcuffs. Worst of all he pulls is Gun out at Teenagers who have just gone to see what is happening offering no threat of violence or menace towards the police.

It seems the police officer is getting some "thrill" pointing his gun at kids. Is this typical behaviour of "law Enforcement" officers in the US or just that aimed at black teenagers. Sky News Website.

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BeautyQueenFromMars · 08/06/2015 13:11

It was one police officer. Hardly representative of the nearly 800,000 officers over there.

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RachelWatts · 08/06/2015 13:20

That police officer is now on administrative leave.

It does sound shocking though.

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LurkingHusband · 08/06/2015 13:24
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Mistigri · 08/06/2015 13:52

The police in the US have an appalling record.

They're probably ok though as long as you're not black, poor or mentally ill...

Whatever your views about the UK police really there is no comparison.

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OrlandoWoolf · 08/06/2015 14:03

They're probably ok though as long as you're not black, poor or mentally ill

Indeed.

beauty
It was one police officer. Hardly representative of the nearly 800,000 officers over there

True - but a lot of the recent headlines does suggest institutional racism.

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Casimir · 08/06/2015 14:10

Words do not work on some people teenagers

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keepitsimple0 · 08/06/2015 14:18

Not quite sure how much better the UK is

if we are talking about deaths by police (and we may not be), it's much better in the UK.

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squoosh · 08/06/2015 14:55

I'd certainly rather take my chances with a British cop than an American one.

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orangutanhihio · 08/06/2015 14:58

What about Russia? The police there actively ignore homophobic crime, beatings etc.

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OrlandoWoolf · 08/06/2015 14:58

I think it depends on "the group" you belong to. Belonging to certain groups in this country can make police interactions hard - but at least they don't have guns routinely.

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creighton · 08/06/2015 23:14

casimir, the 14 year old was walking away from the pos police officer. he made a point of dragging her to the ground and assaulting her. clearly you are okay with that kind of treatment of young black people.

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chocolatespiders · 08/06/2015 23:18

I find it hard to watch, the one where cop put his knee on the lads neck and he later died was horrific- I worry that if this can go on in pubic what the hell goes on behind closed doors.

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lem73 · 08/06/2015 23:31

YANBU. There have been so many appalling cases in the U.S. in the last few years. The way in which the officer was attempting to restrain the girl was mind bogglingly unprofessional. He had completely lost the plot.

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Sconejamcream · 09/06/2015 05:37

Every industry in life has some bad eggs, but you can't generalise. Just because some accountants commit fraud doesn't mean all accountants are theiving bastards. Or some builders rip off old folk, but they aren't all doing it.

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FFTransform · 09/06/2015 06:06

It does seem a systematic issue, as I understand it's only because the video went viral that we even know about it, otherwise it would have been just another day for the policeman involved

I have been to America and had a lovely time, but don't think I would go again, there are plenty of places to go in the world where they don't treat people in that way, I am not likely to be the target demographic, being not back or poor , though actually I think these kids aren't poor either, but it makes me uncomfortable the extremes there are in some parts of the states and the lack of will/ability to do any thing about it

I don't suppose anyone will care that I don't go though!

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creighton · 09/06/2015 06:57

You can generalise this appears to be standard procedure in america but publicised now because people have cameras on their phones. The police didn't attack any of the white children, just the black children. I guess that is okay with you.

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Stanky · 09/06/2015 07:09

He was actually a senior officer as well, which is why none of the other police officers tried to stop him or have words. All they could do was watch as their superior behaved in this unprofessional way. He completely escalated the situation, and assaulted that poor girl. It looked like a very dangerous situation when he started waving his gun around at the unarmed black teenagers. He also did a silly roll, like he thought that he was in a film.

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Misssss · 09/06/2015 07:15

I saw this, sickening. Poor kids, they must have been terrified. I know our police aren't great but I'm glad I live in the UK rather than America too.

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Inkanta · 09/06/2015 07:20

Yes I saw it - disgusting. At least that bastard officer has been exposed now - thank goodness for video

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Imustgodowntotheseaagain · 09/06/2015 07:23

I'm a biker. If I lived in Texas it appears it would be OK for me to be shot, probably by the police - but the police are refusing to admit how many of the 9 bikers shot attending a riders rights' meting at a restaurant were shot by the police. They prefer to spin a story that the bikers shot each other. The police story keeps changing as more witnesses get out of prison and say what they saw. But most of them can't get out of prison because their bail is set at a million dollars.

Yep, I'm glad I live in the UK. Our police aren't perfect but when they shoot somebody there's an independent investigation.

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sunshield · 09/06/2015 11:34

ur Charged For Cheering At School Graduation
A court affidavit says the "loud, boisterous noise" by the family members was "against the peace and dignity" of Mississippi.

It seems the USA gets a thrill with treating Black Teenagers as criminals and punishing them out of all proportion with the offence committed .

This is similar in context to the original posting .

Black teenagers charged with "Screaming and cheering" at a High School Graduation have been threatened with six months jail .

According to Law Enforcement . It is against the peace and dignity of the state of Mississippi to scream and cheer at a high school graduation.

Seriously what century are the "southern" states of America in ?.

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Birdsgottafly · 09/06/2015 11:41

The worst case that stayed with me, from the US, was the arrest of a 38 week pregnant woman, who was handcuffed to a radiator and ignored, by everyone in the Police Station for twelve hours, until she became unconscious through dehydration, obviously her son died.

There was no basis for her arrest and she had over a million dollar payout, but in that case, it wasn't "just one officer".

But then, we now have the truth about Hillsborough, I don't know what's worst tbh.

I've seen some appalling, illegal behaviour from our UK Police.

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OrlandoWoolf · 09/06/2015 11:45

I suspect people's experience of the police - in any society - very much depends on what they think of you and any perceived group you belong to.

I've seen the police at their best. And at their worst. Being white and middle class undoubtedly helps at times. But people in my group have be treated awfully by the police in the past. Diversity awareness and asking tough questions of why things happen and how groups are treated no doubt helps.

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BigChocFrenzy · 09/06/2015 12:03

All police forces have bad apples, but the USA stands alone in Western countries for the number of killings and the grossly excessive violence at minor stops, especially of African Americans, even children.
Sadly, most white Americans seem indifferent to what is happening.

Their police have little sense of proportion: Guardian US police put 5yr old in handcuffs & leg irons, then drove him to the medical centre.
His crime: he tantrummed in an SN class

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GeorgeYeatsAutomaticWriter · 09/06/2015 12:07

Astonished that anyone would try to defend this.

What was very striking to me about this video was the number of white older men just wandering around, willy nilly, while police officers handcuffed, restrained and sat on black teenagers. So much privilege on display there.

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