Because we all MUST care

[Emiliano]

[InbetweenDreams]

[ceez]

So apparently the police are also going after anyone providing first aid to protesters, I saw some pictures earlier of police cutting open bottles of water used to rinse tear gas from the protesters eyes and for drinking but I'm on my phone now and it's barely cooperating. I did find the article with video included of police shooting non-lethal rounds at the owner of a lgbt bar in Raleigh for setting up a first aid station. The owner is ex-military and decided to offer first aid after his bar was vandalized the night before.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/...02416.html

[InbetweenDreams]

Yeah they did that in Asheville, cut open packs of bottled water and so on. Just Terrible. Things will get better. Just make sure you vote.

Just in case anyone is wondering, Trump cannot cancel the election.

[InbetweenDreams]

Well faith has been restored. There was a BLM protest this evening in the town I live nearby, it's a small town about 1,600 population and about 28,000 in the entire county. Hundreds of people showed up at the center of town near the courthouse to peacefully protest. The organizers obtained permits for the protest and worked in concert with and had support of the local police department. I was honestly surprised on how well it was handled, the turnout and the support and the few counter protesters that showed up were completely ignored. Most of all it was peaceful.

[Genersis]

Black Lives Matter.
Abolish the police.

That's where I'm at.

Sure, there needs discussion on what replaces some of the polices functions, but overall, I feel the current institutions are too rotten. A new model is needed, preferably not involving most of the current police personnel.

[InbetweenDreams]

@Genersis Not sure if I would go as far as to abolish the police. There definitely needs to be some big changes. The obvious issue is abuse of power and this is evident just about all positions of authority. The Stanford Prison Experiment shows just how ugly we humans can be. So I think it is more of the de-militarization of police that is will likely help but not totally solve the issue. That being said is police brutality an issue in the UK and other countries?

I am by no means an expert on any of this but I can make a conjecture of what I know so far. We have human psychology + authority over others + racism and now you have the mess in America (also in this context, racism is racism, you can put any adjective in front of it, you start with racism and discrimination you'll get systemic racism and "casual" racism and so on as a result). I am not sure how exactly we can address all the problems. How do you know if your rookie cop is racist? How do you know if your rookie cop who's getting in riot gear doesn't won't go on a sick and sadistic rampage? There definitely needs to be a way to weed those types of people out because they're not really ones you want representing your police department or your Sheriff's office.

One thing I think would help is the de-militarization of police. Police do not need to be driving black cars and menacing decals. There is a different perception between a white cop car versus a black car with blacked out windows and decals you can't see. I've never been a fan of that crap.

Another thing that needs to be abolished in the US is civil forfeiture. I don't know if anything like this exists in the UK or in other countries. Let's say you come to the US, you have $2,000 in USD on you because you know, you're a tourist. Let's say a cop pulls you over, it happens, driving in the US is a different experience than other countries, so I am told. The cop pull you out of the car and discovers your $2,000. Although, you are not charged with any crime and are let go the cop can take your $2,000 just because he suspects it might be used in a crime (usually drugs). Your money is gone and there's little you can do about it. This shit happens all the time. People have simply cashed out bank accounts and lost it all because a cop took it and were never a suspect in a crime or ever charged with a crime. Yes, that is for real. It is insane.