The police aren't some invading army that showed up at the city gates one day, they are employed by and answer to the jurisdictions they serve.

In the case of Waldo, Florida, the city ignored an out of control police department since they were earning millions. For them to act shocked now is pretty hypocritical.

In other areas, like Ferguson, the police run amok since citizens aren't holding them and the people who put them in power accountable. If you live in a jurisdiction like that, you need to get more people registered to vote and change the politicians. You need to press for civilian review boards and hold the police department and the politicians responsible for the actions of the police. Policing should be a major campaign issue in these areas.

In some jurisdictions police and sheriffs are elected. Hold them accountable on election day. Insist on a professional police department.

Some cities/towns have great police departments that are professional and do a good job. Model your local departments after them.

jobs and not sacred. The notion that donning uniform bestows the status of hero on someone is ludicrous. There should also be an expectation that the police funciton as peacemakers first and not treat the citizens of their communities as enemies first.

A person should be ashamed if they have a family member in law enforcement.

We need relief from the brutality NOW.
We need to know what Police Chiefs and Prosecutors will condone up front so that we can vote them out on election day if necessary.

But I have little confidence that the draconian 'law and order' types in the GOP will actually vote in their own self interest on election day. That's why I want every town and municipality and county on record as to what we the people can expect.

I couldn't care less if the department is professional overall. It only takes o ne rotting apple to infect the whole bag. They MUST cut out the rot as fast as possible.

IMHO every unprosecuted instance of excessive force that we've seen should have caused the firing of both the Police Chief and the DA. That's what they need to expect from us.

Find out who is in charge and turn the heat up on them.

to set up shop in their town/state, they are raising revenue via traffic tickets aimed at mid to lower mid income drivers.

In my town, whose city council and mayor have recently turned from D to ALEC TeaBag I have noticed every car of the cars being pulled over are small mid-income cars, lower-mid-income cars. Not once recently have I seen a big pick up or luxury car being ticketed. Is this another national trend; class discrimination on overload?

Or use drones. Just make sure they bomb cop cars not ambulances.

Federal law mandates that all fines and fees go into a statewide general fund, which must be distributed over the entire state.

There's a whole lot of small towns making their budget via fines and seizing assets. Such as Ferguson. The police are pressured to abuse the people so that they get more money from fines.

Break that link - make it so that the town does not get paid anything special if they write a bunch more tickets, or "find" a bunch more drugs.

Would the good cops then begin to police the bad cops?

An open letter to PD’s, their Cities and their associated DA’s

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B1g5mB92bow
www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/watch-nypd-cops-pistol-whip-cowering-teenage-pot-suspect-after-foot-chase/
www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/07/1334884/-No-charges-for-officers-involved-in-raid-that-left-a-toddler-severely-disfigured?detail=facebook
www.occupydemocrats.com/watch-cops-caught-on-tape-threatening-to-take-baby-away-from-biracial-couple-for-no-reason/
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3kEpZWGgJks

There are a few things I want to know.

How, by their written policies, does the <City> Police Department, City of <City>, and Santa Clara County District Attorney approach complaints of excessive force, or ineffective prosecution, by Officers of the Court (including Law Enforcement and Prosecutors)?

How, precisely, are the citizens of Santa Clara County assured that Officers of the Court will discharge their responsibilities to the INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty in a fair and even-handed manner without resort to excessive force?

Are the citizens of Santa Clara County assured that any Officer of the Court caught displaying behavior similar to that in these videos will, at the very least, be suspended from work until an inquiry has been completed?

Can we expect the District Attorney and associated Police Chief to resign if any such display of unwarranted force is not prosecuted?

Does the <City> PD, City of <City>, or Santa Clara County DA encourage (by their individual or collective failure to act) incidents of excessive force or other corrupt practices such as those evidenced in these articles/videos? How is the “Blue Wall of silence” encouraged or discouraged in these jurisdictions?

Does the 4th amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America still apply to <City>, and Santa Clara County?

How many Officers of the Court have been disciplined as result of similar cases in each of the last 10 years? The answer to this should be provided in the form: “out of 20 incidents in 2004 which generated 35 public and 3 internal complaints, 1 officer was disciplined, one resigned and one was terminated for cause, 33% of the “adverse” action was taken against internal complainants”.

In case it is not perfectly clear, we do NOT consent to being governed, or policed, in the ways described in the referenced sample of recent cases.

Militarization of our police departments is a *bipartisan* effort of corporatists in both parties, right along with mass surveillance, the assaults on journalism, and the persecution of whistleblowers. The programs and legislation that are turning our police departments into paramilitary forces come through Homeland Security and the Pentagon, and are being used to suppress and intimidate dissent, exploit communities, and fill lucrative private prisons with slave labor as the nation is corporatized and Americans are made into a nation of low-paid wage slaves.

Both parties are complicit in this outrage. See the links below. Real change requires pushback against corporate politicians who are enabling this militarization, and that includes both corporate Democrats and Republicans.

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