The phenomenon is common enough that there’s a name for it: High-Speed Pursuit Syndrome. It’s the “condition” police officers sometimes suffer from during a high-speed chase, when, as an ACLU spokesman once put it, they “get so angry and pumped up, and the adrenaline rush is such that … you see violence visited on suspects at the end of a pursuit.”
Rodney King was a prime example, but it happens all the time, and it rarely makes the national news. Take the Nov. 29 shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in Cleveland: After leading police on a 25-minute chase through city streets, Russell found himself surrounded in a dead-end in East Cleveland. Police have said that they opened fire when Russell tried to run one of them over. That version may eventually be tested in court, but what is undisputed is that 13 officers unloaded a total of 137 bullets into Russell’s 1979 Chevy Malibu, killing both him and Williams.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Williams’s uncle, Walter Jackson, said that 24 bullets had been removed from her body and the damage to her face and torso was extensive. Williams’s mother, Martha Mae Williams, said, “I’m not going to let them close her casket … They’re going to have to look at what the police did to my child.”
High-speed police pursuits have been under increasing scrutiny in recent years: according to a 2010 FBI report, someone dies every day as a result of a police pursuit, and the majority of those pursuits begin with a stop for a traffic violation. The same report found that innocent bystanders constitute 42 percent of those killed or injured in police pursuits.
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30 comments:
We've got two choices: 1) Stop when the police request that you do so or God forbid 2) Make a law that police cannot chase you at all. HOW DAMN HARD IS IT TO COMPLY TO THE LAW?!!! If you don't believe the police have a legitimate reason for "harassing" you then take it to court. IT'S THAT SIMPLE!
The King video was edited, they don't bother to show the first minutes of the stop when King is argumentative and belligerent, then goes after the cop. Again, media selective reporting. Don't run or act aggressive you won't die, real simple to figure out.
Unless they are chasing a kidnapper or murderer why should the police chase them and put innocent motorists and pedestrians at risk.
They have become animals, or at the extreme least, animal like. That is the closest simulacre anyone in our society should be able to see about LE today.
This story oozes, dare I say drips the blood of, 'pack animal' hunting. Yet in the conditioned minds of some it's, still humane, within a 'free society', to allow the hunt.
LE is a big, big problem within our society. Their thirst for blood has been whetted, their eyes red and we are all the game.
I'm sorry somem of you think kops have absolute control and authority over us. It somehow slipped into the current attitudes of policing and there are many 'sheeple' who accept and even endorse it.
Meanwhile, there are others who will always reject that type of thinking and obedience. And rightly so.
It is, and has, been too easily abused by those who are charged with keeping the peace. Most police agencies have evolved into secret societies who believe they have total control and authority over those whom they are SUPPOSED to serve, AND take orders from.
Somehow the roles have reversed. You want to subject yourself to a kop beatdown? Merely asking a kop to explain himself could put your life in jeapordy. Youtube and other similar sites are full of those instances.
They have constructed this false image that their job is noble, dangerous, best thing for society.
While part of those things may have been true in the distant past, any reasonable person can see that is not the case in current times.
Kops REFUSE to examine their own faults and shortcomings. Instead they demand more and more blind obedience.
Everyone wants to be safe. But that also comes with a price. And when the 'protectors' become the oppressors, ones who you fear than any criminal, things have drastically gone wrong.
That price has become too costly for me to accept.
Speak for yourself Ginn.I plan on complying when the lights and sirens come on.This story does indeed contain the elements of which you spoke,but I never intend to push it as far as this guy did,armed or not.
After a police car chasing you and the first shot being fired why would you not stop? This is not the whole story, but have we heard from Al Sharpton yet?
11:04 --
OK moron, what if one of those cowboy kops ran over your wife or kid?
The next incident will be in Crisfield. We citizens are scared. All the crime has been in the projects or linked to the projects.
I think officers in these high crime areas are stressed out. I worked (not LE) in the Westport neighborhood of Balto city for years and I was stressed out.
I'm sure I know more people that were murdered than all the readers on this blog put together.
I'm sure I know more people in prison (including one for gunning down a witness) than all the readers on this blog put together.
Hearing gun fire was routine. Seeing assaults, drug dealing, death on the streets was an everyday occurrence.
One thing I know for a fact. It is very hard to get black officers to work in these predominately black high crime high poverty inner cities neighborhoods.
I saw it as far back as in the 1980's. Even little boys from Westport, who would dream of becoming a police officer didn't want to work in Westport. They didn't want the criminals to see they had gone on to better themselves.
I think most white young police officers go into police work so naïve. They think they will and really want to "make a difference." I felt that way when I entered into the non-profit world. It took all of 1/2 day to see how naïve I was.
I visited many a young black man in U of MD rehab faculties, Montebello and Kernan, paralyzed due to bullets severing their spinal cords. Not from police officers, but from other young black men. Saw a few who, due to a gun shot wound to the head, were going to spend the rest of their lives in a PVS-"vegetable" and living in a tented bed because of uncontrollable seizing from the brain injury. Some had a 1/4 of their heads completely missing. All black. All shot by another black.
I worked with blacks who wouldn't even go up an elevator in any one of the high rise low income residential housing (projects.) They used to say "any community that ends in "homes" you don't want to be near at night or ever by yourself"-Perkins homes, high rise project example.
I can't second guess any police officer working in high crime areas. Most commenting on this blog are just as naïve as I once was. The Eastern Shore is a completely different world than the world, a lot of police are policing.
Take a google street view tour around Westport. You will get an eye opener. Google and read some online articles about the area. Westport isn't unique to Baltimore City nor is it unique to any large city in the countries.
4:06 PM you assume way to much in your post and when I came to the part " I know for a fact", your credibility fell.
Just about everytime I hear someone say that they are proven wrong.
Your post sounds more like an attack on black people more that what this thread is about.
While I agree there are many on the shore that are naive, not everyone on the shore has not travelled or lived outside the shore or the state of Md. for that matter.
And to profess to know more dead people and people in prison than most on this blog is a little reaching and naive on your part.
There are many different readers on this blog. From many different areas. From many different backgrounds. Putting yourself above all these differnt people is a lot of things but I will just say it is presumptious.
Also, it almost sounds like you mean since a lot of blacks kill and injure so many other blacks, it's no big deal if the police do it too. But I could be wrong.
I would just like to point out to those who don't already know., this is the same Cleveland police department where in Nov this year police officer Timothy Loehmann shot and killed 12 year-old Tamir Rice. Timothy Leohmann was judged 'unfit for police service' for emotionally breaking down while handling a live gun by the Independence, Ohio PD in late 2012. "“His handgun performance was dismal,” deputy chief Jim Polak of the Independence, Ohio, police department wrote in an internal memo."
Yet he was able to 'provide police service' in this same Cleveland PD referenced in this article.
4:39
The comment was about why the possibility exists for the overreaction of white police officers in predominantly minority high crime areas. If you read into it anything else, then that's your problem.
If you don't believe it is a fact that is it hard to get young black males to enter into the police force and THEN get them to police their own areas where they grew up if the area in high crime, then you don't pay much attention to what is going on. Whole programs such as "a cop on every block" have been dedicated to this. I've sat in on many meetings with task forces to try and solve the problem. We met with task forces from other cities. It's a national problem. You can chose to believe what you want, but I do happen to know the facts on this matter.
Armed with a vehicle is something! ACLU, maybe you should quit defending the lawbreakers and start encouraging people to abide by the laws and then dare the police to harm civilians. Until our leaders start denouncing the guilty, more police will be challenged and we will have a very scary society. Buy guns, get a dog and prepare to defend yourselves, people. The police will be castrated very soon
4:39-You are wrong. The commenter suggests that stress is a factor in some poor decisions cops make.
No where so they suggest that "it's no big deal if the police" kill anyone.
I see the point as being the police are stressed from seeing so much violence that they could be overeating because they don't want to end up a victim.
This is all I'm going to say to you because you are combative and looking for an argument instead of a sensible debate.
1;30 first why do people flee, because they have something to hide. Sometime police attempt to stop a vehicle and it starts a pursuit. What happens if you don't pursue based on your theory and then later find out the person had an abducted child or just murdered, raped or has a weapon and on their way to kill? I know you're going to say how many times does this happen, I don't know but I bet if it was your child or loved one you wouldn't accept the police saying we had no reason to continue the pursuit. However we blame the police rather than the criminal.
5:25 PM
I think that is all you're going to say because you have nothing to say and you know it.
If ANY cop cannot make a correct decision under stress, he is not fit to be a cop. That is what training, evaluations etc. are for. Check ginn's comment at 444 for an example.
I assume you meant over-reacting and not over-eating in regards to the poor police seeing so much violence they don't want to be a victim. That's almost laughable since most times kops are the ones who initiate violence.
Since you seem to have a problem comphrehending what I post, but magically understand fully what others say that happen to agree with you, I will explain one more thing before I dismiss you.
A debate IS an argument by its very nature. Standing one's ground and offering facts, case histories, quotes, sutdies, ect., are some of the things that happen in a debate.
Just saying someone is wrong, character assinations and whatnot are NOT ways anyone will win any debate, if they even have a chance to.
Explaining or quoting someone else's opinion may be helpful, IF it can be done accurately and honestly, but using someone else's arguments, opinions, materials etc., as your own is not done nor acceptable.
If that is the best you can do, I agree with you that you should not speak to me again. You will not sway me or anyone else by using such tactics.
Instead of making any points for your own position, you streghten the case for the other side, and I am quite sure you would not want to do that.
Good luck.
Anonymous said...
After a police car chasing you and the first shot being fired why would you not stop? This is not the whole story, but have we heard from Al Sharpton yet?
December 6, 2014 at 2:56
from what I read no shots were fired until the car was at a dead end and then alledgedly tried to hit a cop with the car. it is in the article.
Thank you for your unsolicited concern but ... oh wait. You have no concern for me, just trying to be a smart ass. Got it.
Contrary to your hostile assessment, I pay attention to a whole lot that is going on around me, AND elsewhere. What I SAID was when anyone uses that pharse "I know for a fact", it has been my experience that they really do NOT know the true fact. While you HAVE read into it, that is YOUR problem.
And I still stand by what I said as it is true from my experience. And I bet even your self-proclaimed factual knowledge is flawed. People who feel they JUST HAVE to be believed raises red flags all other the place and I suspect you are no different. End of story.
I have no doubt that it is hard to enlist ANYONE to join a police force in these days. There has even been an article published concerning this very thing.
Public trust and respect for the police is lower than whale dung, and that's on the bottom of the ocean.
I didn't cause that. Criminals didn't cause that. POLICE caused that. And continue to do so as we speak.
It has already been proven in the state of Ct. they will not hire anyone with an I.Q. above a certain level. That's public record and a lawsuit was brought because of it.
And I find it very hard to believe only the state of Ct. would have such a policy. Just as no one wants to be a cop, nationwide, I believe hiring low level I.Q. applicants is ALSO a nationwide practice. And not a recent one either.
Anyone can set in on meetings. Just because you say you have does not impress me. Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. Makes little difference. Where someone gets assigned to patrol is of no consequence other than they should be from that area so they have a connection with the ones they 'serve'.
So I give you a nod on that point.
Here is a suggestion for your next task force meeting: explore what cops can do to lessen their negative impact on those around them. Stop treating citizens like criminals and stop treating 'alledged' criminals like targets at a gun range.
Everyone has the right to protect themselves. But if you don't think cops have been killing people AND animals indiscriminately, that is more that your problem. That is EVERYONE'S PROBLEM.
Until that is addressed and eliminated, expect not only what we have now, but more of what we have now, and WORSE.
That's not a threat, that is a prediction/promise.
Good luck.
If you read into it anything else, then that's your problem.
If you don't believe it is a fact that is it hard to get young black males to enter into the police force and THEN get them to police their own areas where they grew up if the area in high crime, then you don't pay much attention to what is going on. Whole programs such as "a cop on every block" have been dedicated to this. I've sat in on many meetings with task forces to try and solve the problem. We met with task forces from other cities. It's a national problem. You can chose to believe what you want, but I do happen to know the facts on this matter.
December 6, 2014 at 5:15 P
6:34-It is so easy for you in an "arm chair position" to offer up your opinion.
You can pontificate until you are blue in the face.
Go away. As soon as you "walk the walk" in the war zones, then come back and I'll be more than happy to talk.
Well, at least they had more than enough if those little numbered plastic markers! I guess that's pretty much the norm looking at that stack.
What state is this that I want to stay completely out of?
Anonymous said...
Unless they are chasing a kidnapper or murderer why should the police chase them and put innocent motorists and pedestrians at risk.
December 6, 2014 at 1:30 PM
How do you know they are not kidnappers or murders? What if your child was in that car and you didn't know they were being kidnapped?
How do you know they are not kidnappers or murders? What if your child was in that car and you didn't know they were being kidnapped?
December 6, 2014 at 9:54 PM
Good reasoning, NOT! The pope himself could have been in that car and he would be dead just as the man and woman were dead.
I wonder how many times those kops had to reload.
Anonymous said...
Well, at least they had more than enough if those little numbered plastic markers! I guess that's pretty much the norm looking at that stack.
What state is this that I want to stay completely out of?
December 6, 2014 at 9:50 PM
The state of Maryland. Please leave as soon as possible. I think Cleveland Oh. would suit you
That's the trouble with low I.Q. kops and their supporters. They are stuck at that level and will never rise above their station in life to even have an intelligent conversation.
They cannot be retrained for anything other than what they do now. Just like military vets, many of whom become kops, they are damaged goods.
If they can't follow orders, carry a gun and kill people, they are worthless to society.
Might as well keep sending them to warzones until they are all gone. And we will have to send less of the younger people to get ruined.
11:45-If anyone has a low IQ it is you. You can not carry on a sensible debate without insult. The spelling you use for cops, which I sure you think is clever, speaks volumes to your hatred of them. With such hate and anger in your heart you can never be objective.
In your mind cops will always be at fault because your hate and anger has over powered you so much that you won't admit they are ever in the right.
9:54 the world is full of what ifs and morons.
9:55 A
Maybe it is only insulting to the ones the description fits. And here we go with the 'cop hater' bs again. Anytime someone says something bad about cops they must be cop haters. Doesn't matter if what they say is true or not.
Kop is spelled that way as a symbol of disrespect, which so many have earned. It also serves as a distinction from any cop who has not reached that distinction yet.
And by not being objective do you mean not automatically believing what some kop says? Guilty.
You can try to INSULT, demean, dismiss, discredit or anything else to me all you like. It will not change anything. Kops think everyone is guilty until proven innocent, I'm just applying the same principle to them.
And guess what? Kops don't like it. Go figure.
Every time I see a comment with the word "kops" in it, I skip to the next comment. But that's just me.
I'm with you 9:16. Sounds to me like the person is either a komplete idiot or a kindergartner.
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