I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me.

Since posting that I thought about San Francisco the last time I was there. I recall there being all these posted notices that such-and-such a space (e.g., the little canopy covering an ATM) was private and the owner of said space was formally notifying everyone that no one had permission to, say, sleep there. IIRC, you had to post that, otherwise the law assumed you were OK with someone living there (weird ... go figure, huh?). So maybe that's how the law is in the Twin Cities? If so, the guy's contention (about that) isn't horse shit.

 

Y

Cops have limitations on their authority.

It may vary slightly from state to state, but in general you are not obligated to identify yourself to an officer unless he has reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime and is arresting you.

 

That's how I understand it ... Nevertheless, the officer is not required to convince you that he/she has a reasonable suspicion at the time the request/demand for identification is made.

 

What's the actual harm to you if you just say "I'm so and so and I'm picking up my kids" though? You're not divulging state secrets. Maybe by the letter of the law you don't "have" to do that, but what's the reasonable argument for not doing so?

 

What's the reasonable argument for the cops getting violent about a person exercising a constitutional right?

 

Well, if he has been messed with by security cops a few times just for being black in the wrong area, he probably doesn't want to deal with it and gets a little testy.

 

That cop was a serious dick.

I'm guessing he had dealt with the guy prior to the start of the video, but when the video starts, the female officer appears to be dealing with the situation, and has deescalated whatever had already happened.

But, dickhead just can't control himself, and gets impatient.

I'm really disappointed the other cop(s) didn't settle him down.

There's no reason this had to happen like it did.

Prior to seeing the video, I would have given some credence to this statement:

The officer received a call regarding a "suspicious person". Even if the person wasn't acting "suspicious" when the cop arrived, you'd think he'd still want to know what's going on, and who he's dealing with.

But, there was nothing happening that necessitated his arrest and/or tazing.

Cops like him suck, and give them all a bad name. And, the fact that it took this long, and the release of a video to instigate a review is bullshit too.

There were other cops who witnessed this action, and they were in possession of the video for months. Did they not watch it?

 

Blue wall, yo.

 

Then there's this guy:

 

Couldn't possibly be culture or behavior, right?

 

I'm not totally sure why the female cop is accomplishing by following the guy. He's left the place he wasn't supposed to be. The problem is solved. What value is there in pursuing the man? He asserted a right as he is allowed. He vacated the offending area.

And from what I've read, the "private area" is within the skyway, which is basically a massive space the public can move through freely. Reporters went through and saw no signage it was "employees only," and if you're in a space the public can freely go through and there are a line of chairs along one wall and no signs to tell them otherwise, one usually assumes they could sit for five minutes there.

 

Why would blacks have a culture and engage in behavior that keeps them poorer than whites?