Steamhead

Paul48

Fred said "As I said earlier in my post, we are all a composition of what life has put before us".

There is so much missing from that statement. It admits defeat, and implies hopelessness. I think that all lives are better defined by what you are able to put behind you.

Steamhead

I'm still here, waiting for the next Baltimore City election.

Steve Minnich

I don't believe it admits defeat at all. Each person experiences life in a different way and those experiences help define who we are today based on how we dealt with, overcame, and adjusted to those life experiences.

JStar

Steamhead said:

I'm still here, waiting for the next Baltimore City election.

I hear that our governor will be looking for a job soon. I can get you guys a good deal...

Steamhead

No thanks, we at least need to keep our bridges open.

Paul48

Stephen....You just said the same thing I said.

Steve Minnich

Did I? I must've misunderstood. I'm tired.

dennis53

This is a great thread. Interesting, respectful, honest. It is nice to read things that are not just amplifications of the headlines.

FranklinD

It is a good thread.

I always had a slightly jaded view of the police in my city. I had a few run-ins with them growing up, usually for being in places I wasn't supposed to be. But honestly none were ever bad.

Heck, in the middle of the night one time when I was 16, my girlfriend and I snuck out and drove down to the local 'make out point' and promptly got my car stuck in a ditch. A squad came rolling past. A veteran and a rookie. They found it hilarious. They paid the $40 bill to have the car winched out and followed us home, and promised not to spill the beans to our folks if we paid them back by the next day. We did.

I've also been pulled over and had my car torn apart in a search because that officer thought I was acting 'suspicious'.

Now, I am the sole fleet mechanic for the entire police department. I hear the stories from their end, and have seen many hours of dash cam footage used for training and other purposes. I can say it's not a job I'd want, even in a city of 27,000. We have an abnormally large PD for our size.

I'd say 80% of them are totally decent, regular guys. 15% are the totally militant, always wearing body armor, always carrying an AR 15 type of guys, and 5% are the type that hate the job, hate the public, and are only there for the benefits. About the same percentages that apply to past coworkers I've had in any job.

There is a Captain here who is always trying to acquire military hardware. We now have a fully loaded MRAP shipped straight from Kuwait. Up armored and everything. We also have a smaller skid-steer based unit for breaking down walls. We have never used either, nor ever had a reason to. I asked him once why we have it (as I have to repair it, and it's no fun)...his answer was "if they'd let us have bazookas and .50 cals, I'd take em all day long". Most of the others think he's nuts.

I sympathize with the police...but I've also seen some ridiculous and unnecessary actions on their part.

Stay safe out there. Everyone.

Canucker

I think it's a great thread too. I'm an outsider watching from the North, and I'm acutely aware of how inaccurate and lazy the news media can be, as there was an "expose" of Health Canada and their inspection process by the Toronto Star. They used information posted by the FDA on the company I work for, which was from the very facility I am a supervisor at, of incidents that I was directly involved in investigating. It was an eye opener as to how little investigating was actually done and how much bias they had against us. I don't trust anything they write these days, so it's good to hear from people that are actually familiar with the story in Baltimore, an unfiltered view, if you like.

Paul48

We're all biased in our views. The answer to the problem goes well beyond just prompting punishment for the officers involved. You have to wonder....if any of these officers would get a job today, if they would apply for the Secret Service, FBI, or Justice Dept. Our cities and towns deserve to have our "protectors" subjected to that type of scrutiny.
There is plenty of blame to go around. None of the actions taken in this whole mess are excusable. The government failed us, but more disturbing is the fact that we failed as a community on every level. When we let children run the streets, and destroy and steal, we have failed. We are the moral compass for our children......mothers, fathers, community leaders, church leaders.
If you really want to effect change...interupt commerce. You might be able to arrest 100 people sitting on I-95, but you couldn't arrest 100,000, 200,000 or a million.

RobG

I have a neighbor who is an officer with four kids, he is dumb as a box of rocks (not his fault, his parents are stupid as well). The point is, his training was crap and he makes less money than I made in 1990. Until we train the folks and pay them well we will always have substandard police forces. Even the Army pays better than the police in my area get paid (and that's for a single person who eats in the mess hall and lives in the barracks). You get what you pay for.

Mad Dog_2

Frank for Mayor!

Fred

Paul48 said:

Fred said "As I said earlier in my post, we are all a composition of what life has put before us".

There is so much missing from that statement. It admits defeat, and implies hopelessness. I think that all lives are better defined by what you are able to put behind you.

@Paul48 , A wise man/woman never puts their life experiences behind them. That history is probably the single most important education we can each benefit from. It does not admit defeat at all. It admits to the fact that we all have been influenced by all of our experiences. Some learn from those experiences, others continue to believe and do the same things, over and over, expecting a different outcome. Many, I suppose are defeated because they don't know how to make a change or are knocked down everytime they try to change. At some point, we are each responsible for helping another to overcome their circumstances. I happen to believe we are our brother's keeper. Pull everyone up as we move through life. Unfortunately, most seem to want to push others down and then refer to themselves as a "Success Story" and better than the next guy. If we don't get there together, as a nation, what have we accomplished?

Mad Dog_2

Mama that smacked the #$@!#÷#/// out of her pillaging teenage son, would be my choice for Frank's school chancellor - serious! Took care of family business like nobodys business..Mad Dog

Steamhead

Mad Dog said:

Frank for Mayor!

Which brings me to another issue: Who in their right mind wants to run for office these days? You have to raise a lot more money than you'll ever make once on the job, and given the corruption we see on a regular basis, how can you blame folks for assuming you'll end up just as bad as "they" are?

But there is some good news: This morning the Baltimore state's attorney (this is a State, rather than a City office) announced she is charging all six officers that were involved in this. Here is one article which details the charges:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/01/1381699/-Baltimore-State-s-Attorney-Freddie-Gray-s-death-was-a-homicide-and-criminal-charges-will-be-pursued

This is an elected office, and I voted for her.

Fred

So many good perspectives here. I agree, you get what you pay for. The quality of some of our police, their mental capacity, their motives for wanting to be an officer, even the remnants of what their parents taught them about the diversity of our population and cultures have a hugh impact on how they behave, as does a lack of good training. I have an older brother who was an officer for about 12 years. I can tell you from personal experience, over those 12 years I saw him change drastically. He started wanting to help (even though I think he liked the idea of having some authority over other people, call it an inflated ego) to transitioning over those years to a person I simply wouldn't trust any further than I could throw him. He's my brother and I love him but the exposure to everything he saw and did certainly damaged him. He became hardened to life and his mentality was "Whatever it takes, that's what you do." He left the force many years ago but he didn't return to the honest, trustworthy person he was before that experience. The police should be Peace Officers first. Force is the last resort. Zero tolerance for Dishonesty and corruption. This is a profession where one mis-step and they should be out the door and they should understand that when they apply for a position.

Paul48

Fred said.."A wise man/woman never puts their life experiences behind them. That history is probably the single most important education we can each benefit from. It does not admit defeat at all. It admits to the fact that we all have been influenced by all of our experiences"

Agreed....But your original quote did not say that. It was left open-ended, as a justification for horrible behavior, to counter horrible behavior. We're not talking about a child "breaking wind" in church, and Oh Well....that's what you get for taking him to MacDonalds for breakfast. Everyone needs to be appauled at every aspect of what has gone on.