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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs Obedience the Only Way to Avoid Police Brutality?
Maybe you shouldnt just be obedient, Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Sr. told the crowd. Instead of just teaching children to be meek and compliant with law enforcement, maybe we should start teaching our young sons to ask for IDsask them to remember names and badge numbers" when they're stopped by police. Maybe we should all be more vigilant, he said.
When you see our young people stopped, you stop and start recording what you see," he said. Let members of law enforcement know that their every move will be scrutinized. "Obviously," though, "with the flash off"the police don't need another excuse to shoot.
I didnt expect Jones-Sawyer, a Democratic member of the California State Assembly, to sound like such a firebrand when I first showed up to the hearing on police violence organized by the California and Hawaii chapters of the NAACP. Hes a politician and his job is to legislate, to diffuse community anger over out-of-control police by channeling it into non-binding resolutions and stern floor speeches. But speaking to me in the lobby of the California African American Museum in Los Angelesafter I assured him I do not work for a porn sitehe said that what he really wants to do is start a grassroots effort to combat [police brutality].
* Right now, were acting like victims, Jones-Sawyer told me. Indeed, he taught his own children to be passive around police to stay alive; to keep their hands at ten o'clock and two o'clock on the steering wheel, look forward, dont make any sudden moves. But one day, he said, his oldest son challenged him: "Why's the responsibility on us to not get beaten and killed by police? Shouldnt it be on the police to stop brutalizing us?"
His answer was glib, but not wrong: "Because you could die." But it did get him thinking"
http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/is-obedience-the-only-way-to-avoid-police-brutality-915
Turbineguy
(37,364 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)Unable to be switched off during on-duty hours.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)There will be opportunities for you to address their malfeasance at a later date. If you refuse to follow their orders you always leave yourself open to the possibility of not being around for that opportunity.
WestCoastLib
(442 posts)Be it cop or mugger or murderer or hijaker or rapist, should you always just sit back and take it because they might kill you?
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)It's tough to find the defendant in a suit against a mugger.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)msongs
(67,433 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]
951-Riverside
(7,234 posts)Lets say you are a photographer and the police asks you to leave, the moment you ask "Why?", you will be placed under arrest for 148PC and YOU will be on the hook for lawyer fees and bail even if the charges are dropped also your name will be listed in various public arrest record databases for the world to see.
Good luck getting certain jobs with an arrest recorded for Obstructing a Police Officer and Resisting Arrest (Even if you were found not guilty).
And if the officer feels like throwing you to the ground, you'll get hit with Penal Code 69 -Resisting Arrest Using Force or Violence-.
This happens all day, everyday in California.
My best advice is keep your papers with you at all times preferably in the sun visor not the glove compartment, don't ask any questions when they contact you, answer their questions without hesitation, don't make eye contact, don't make any sudden movements, speak with in soft and humble voice and if you slip up say "sorry sir, it won't happen again".
damnedifIknow
(3,183 posts)A person shouldn't have to cower from the police fearful of getting beat or shot. It's wrong on every level imaginable.