The Murder of George Floyd and the Response To It

[Dave_LF]

So on my scanner right now: "20-year-old male coming down from meth and getting violent." Who responds to this one?

I guess even where things stand now there's already the problem that you might dispatch fire or paramedics to a situation where things get rough and it turns out the police would have been a better choice. And I guess you could always dispatch medical people with police backup just in case.

[River]

So on my scanner right now: "20-year-old male coming down from meth and getting violent." Who responds to this one?

So where I used to ride, for a call like that, cops hit the scene first and an ambulance crew will be staged nearby. When the cops give the clear, they'll either swoop in or go back in service, depending on the situation. This is the kind of call that first responders of all flavors tend to regard as a complete waste of time and resources and is a good example of why we need to rethink how we categorize and respond to emergencies. I'm not saying that a violent meth-head isn't a problem. Just that it's a problem we need something other than police cars and ambulances for because the people who man those aren't really suited to this kind of problem. I honestly don't know what kind of service would be best suited to the task (which kind of proves the entire point ).

[Inanna]

Oh! Could you explain that River? Why aren’t the police suited for this?

(I have NO clue)

[River]

It's mostly a question of training. Police do get taught to de-escalate, yes, but when someone's in an acute crisis they need a little more than someone talking them into dropping their weapon(s) or stepping back from the ledge (or all of the above...I once took in a would-be jumper who had multiple knives plus a sword cane pulled off him before he was handed off to me) and then popping them into handcuffs. That part, the handcuffing, was pretty standard where I was volunteering. If didn't always happen, but most of the time it did. Cuffs were the only permitted restraints in our area. Also, the police will arrive on scene with their uniforms and belts of equipment. Not exactly soothing. Really, if you can get someone in crisis to go to the ER without calling 911, it's a much gentler experience for everyone involved. That was why, when my ex got suicidal, I had his friend help me get him to turn himself in at the hospital. I could have called 911, but I knew exactly what would happen and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

This is not meant to knock on cops at all. There aren't enough expletives to convey how the ones I've worked with and known feel about certain aspects of the job. Furthermore police are officers of the law. If a law was broken during someone's episode, they have to address it and the patient may or may not have the resources to fend off what's coming. Furthermore, people who are mentally ill are more likely to end up homeless and, in most parts of the US, homelessness is criminalized. So someone who probably needs addiction treatment psychiatric care in some sort of group home or halfway house type facility is going to end up in jail because they were panhandling or hurt someone while high.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

This could potentially put a new spin on the case. I knew they had worked together, but I had not previously seen reports of personal animosity.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... sDHdgUjaYw

If this is established to be true, it could push the charges to first degree murder.

[elengil]

So there was a... well... rant. And someone interspersed it with some "visual aids".

It isn't pleasant to watch a compilation of police brutality. But GD the rank tone deaf hypocrisy is just...

Post

[elengil]

This could potentially put a new spin on the case. I knew they had worked together, but I had not previously seen reports of personal animosity.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... sDHdgUjaYw

If this is established to be true, it could push the charges to first degree murder.

I'd heard this mentioned a few times but never with any details. It does definitely put the whole situation in a very different light - 9 minutes of pre-meditation.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Since some people seem to think that 'statistical data' is necessary to prove what should be obvious to anyone who is paying attention, here is one data point.

ABC News analysis of police arrests nationwide reveals stark racial disparity

I don't think that statistics remotely tell the story with regard to police killings, but even the statistics are stark enough.

police-shootings-rate-ethnicity-us-.png (9.73 KiB) Viewed 6944 times

Rate of fatal police shootings in the United States from 2015 to June 2020, by ethnicity

[River]

Voronwë, the security settings on my work computer flagged the link under your chart (this doesn't mean there's actually a problem with the site) so if the answer is behind that link forgive me. One question: is that /million total or /million of the group. In other words, are we talking about 30 black people in one million black people getting shot or 30 black people in one million people in general? It doesn't change the overall conclusion that something is screwed up with our system, but the former's actually even worse than the latter.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

River, my assumption is that it is per million of the group, otherwise it would not really make sense. But the language is somewhat unclear. When I have more time, I'll try to confirm exactly what the figures that they are using are.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Here is another chart showing the actual numbers they used.

people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race-.png (13.5 KiB) Viewed 6977 times

Number of people shot to death by the police in the United States from 2017 to 2020, by race

These are the population numbers that they used:

Supplementary notes
The source lists the following demographics for populations in the United States:
42 million Black Americans
39 million Hispanic Americans
197 million White Americans
49 million Americans listed as "other"

[Túrin Turambar]

One of the more far-reaching effects of the George Floyd killing has been a worldwide clean-up of things formerly-accepted but now considered racist. For example, UKTV has removed an episode of Fawlty Towers from its streaming service because it contains a scene with a few uses of the n-word. I've seen some support for the decision, but more responses ranging from "this is well-intentioned but doesn't actually help" to "this is political correctness gone mad". My reading of the scene is that it makes fun of the characters for being sexist and racist rather than actually draws humour from sexism and racism, but that's just my interpretation as a non-American.

[Alatar]

IAWT.

[Sunsilver]

Sometimes the PC thing does get carried too far. For instance, when Pelosi and other democrats knelt in honour of Floyd and BLM, they were criticized for wearing kente scarves, a traditional scarf originally from Ghana, with a very strong cultural significance. Some people accused them of cultural appropriation.

Turns out they were GIVEN the scarves to wear by the people organizing the event, the Congressional Black Caucus.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52978780

I'm sure no disrespect was intended by anyone. The important thing is the legislation they are supporting to prevent a repeat of what happened to Floyd and numerous others arrested by police.

The Democrats want sweeping legislation to reform the police in America to make it easier to prosecute officers for misconduct, ban chokeholds and addresses racism.As she unveiled the bill, Mrs Pelosi read the names of black men and women who have died at the hands of police in recent years.

[elengil]

An interesting view of both sides at the same time -


I was a police chief stopped by my own officer. After Floyd, we need change at all levels.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... fWj67hxZdk

[Túrin Turambar]

I really like this Youtube Channel, and I particularly like his take on Confederate memorials:

[elengil]

Favorite part was the "comments" at the end LOL

[Túrin Turambar]

An interesting view of both sides at the same time -


I was a police chief stopped by my own officer. After Floyd, we need change at all levels.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... fWj67hxZdk

Great article!

[elengil]

Up to 4 "Suicides" now in at least 3 states in the last week/week and a half? All black men hanging from trees? Yeah. "suicides" my arse. 2 in California, 1 in Oregon, 1 in I think New York. That's just the ones I've seen so far.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I've heard of six, though I can't verify that. And I am totally and completely freaked out about it.

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