America: everyday life vs that YouTube video

[Deleted User]

By now most of us have seen that viral youtube video of the nurse getting arrested.

The comments on the video seem to portray America as some fucked up place where the cops think themselves kings and this is the one occasion where their corruption was exposed. I doubt this is true, YouTube comments are not a very reliable source of information.

But I've never been to America before. What do people who actually live in America have to say about this incident?

Remember to keep the comments civilised.

 

[Jayro]

By now most of us have seen that viral youtube video of the nurse getting arrested.

The comments on the video seem to portray America as some fucked up place where the cops think themselves kings and this is the one occasion where their corruption was exposed. I doubt this is true, YouTube comments are not a very reliable source of information.

But I've never been to America before. What do people who actually live in America have to say about this incident?

Remember to keep the comments civilised.

I live in the USA, and our country is becoming a "police state". Cops are killing unarmed people left and right, using brute force, and seeing the corruption as it happens, while the cops go unpunished and with paid leave leaves us pissed off. Now, I'll be the first to admit, I have a bias against cops... My girlfriend was assaulted by an older man, and when we called the cops, they took the assaulter's side "because there weren't any bruises or video evidence" according to them. So FUCK COPS. They weren't there for us when we needed them. In my opinion, cops should be treated just the same as Fire fighters and paramedics, in the regard that "if we need you, we'll call you."

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Disturbing, but the sentiment of those comments are not true. America is a very large country, and one thing that happens in one part of the country might be very different in another. I live in Seattle, and the police I know here are very well trained and organized. Personally, I know two cops in training, and when I was on the streets during the inauguration day protests/riots, they were very diligent and did their jobs well. See, all the various town/city police departments operate independently for the most part. It is impossible to generalize what happened among one police department to another anywhere else in the US. That's just how this country works.

Honestly, there's been so much mass-hysteria over police brutality due to an over-reporting of incidents like the one in question with the nurse. Nevertheless, violent confrontations with police have been on a general downward trend across the US over the past many decades. While things are getting better, cases of police brutality are being reported more and more, and so it seems like the situation is getting worse when it is in fact improving. I'm hoping that something good can come of this and whatever issues certain police departments face can be rooted out much quicker knowing they'll have the public ire if they fail. But no, the whole "America is a fucked up place where cops think themselves kings" is pure hysteria.

 

[th3joker]

Cops tend to think of themselves as above the laws they enforce. They also have ticket quotas and look for excuses to fuck with people. Watch the show cops

 

[Jayro]

Cops tend to think of themselves as above the laws they enforce. They also have ticket quotas and look for excuses to fuck with people. Watch the show cops

Yeah, exactly. Cops are public servants, but they act like they are above the law and constitution at all times.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

I live in the USA, and our country is becoming a "police state". Cops are killing unarmed people left and right, using brute force, and seeing the corruption as it happens, while the cops go unpunished and with paid leave leaves us pissed off. Now, I'll be the first to admit, I have a bias against cops... My girlfriend was assaulted by an older man, and when we called the cops, they took the assaulter's side "because there weren't any bruises or video evidence" according to them. So FUCK COPS. They weren't there for us when we needed them. In my opinion, cops should be treated just the same as Fire fighters and paramedics, in the regard that "if we need you, we'll call you."

Thanks for this reply! OP, if you look here, you'll see that opinions vastly differ from place to place, person to person here in the US. I agree with Jayro's sentiment on cops that commit wrongdoing going unpunished. I don't know what happens internally at police departments, but it seems counter-intuitive to stamping out whatever problems that department has. Corruption? Maybe.

I do have to address one thing though, Jayro. The police have a duty to uphold the law. If they can't find evidence that a crime was committed, their hands are tied. While I feel for you, I don't think you can hold it against the cops unless there was evidence and the cops ignored it. Also, you could press charges if you wish.

Cops tend to think of themselves as above the laws they enforce. They also have ticket quotas and look for excuses to fuck with people. Watch the show cops

Ticket quotas are stupid. Memorize the police schedules and you'll notice that at the end of the month, police are everywhere pulling people over for anything they can to meet their quotas.

 

[Jayro]

Also, you could press charges if you wish.

I honestly don't care enough to press charges, he's gonna die soon anyways. He's gotta be in his 80's. He beats his wife too. The assault happened at a friend's apartment complex, and it was years ago.

(I also live in Washington state, Vancouver WA to be exact. Basically, Portland Jr.)

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

I honestly don't care enough to press charges, he's gonna die soon anyways. He's gotta be in his 80's. He beats his wife too. The assault happened at a friend's apartment complex, and it was years ago.

(I also live in Washington state, Vancouver WA to be exact. Basically, Portland Jr.)

Jeez, if some 80-year-old wife beater did that to my girlfriend, I don't think I'd have the discipline to not sock him in the face at first sight.

 

[Jayro]

Jeez, if some 80-year-old wife beater did that to my girlfriend, I don't think I'd have the discipline to not sock him in the face at first sight.

Trust me, it took a lot to keep me from grinding his face into my next meal.

 

[GhostLatte]

While yes that brutality was uncalled for, not all police officers are like that and some people need to learn that they are essential for preserving law and order.

 

[leerpsp]

I'm from the usa this kind of stuff happens a lot only one case i know of in Kentucky were i'm from and if one cop gets in trouble because of you then most of them from then on that know that one cop are out to get you the rest of the time going out of there way to pull you over run you out of coffee shops you name it.
If you call one an ass or flip then off and yes its not agents the law to do that its freedom of expression but they get you with there catch all disorderly conduct.
Some in Kentucky still don't have a body cam or some will turn them off or brake them so they can trump charges on people.
It is starting to get really bad in the usa not all cops are like this but its starting to get more and more common so the usa people have to set and watch it all unfold and are not able to do anything about it most of the time.
The video's you see online here and there showing this is only 1% of this going on a lot more of this happening that no one has proof of so its more like 45% if not more.

 

[Quantumcat]

I can understand why it happens. Consider life from the perspective of a police officer. Anybody could be carrying a gun, and have no hesitation about using it on you.

If you value your life, you have to start every encounter in an aggressive way because of the risk. Even if someone clearly can't logically have a gun (they're in a swimming suit or naked for instance) it would be force of habit - you don't start by determining whether there might be a gun involved or not (by then it could be too late and you are shot), you just have to automatically approach every situation aggressively.

The only solution is to have less guns, but the NRA seems to own the government and it won't happen. This is a large reason why I would never want to live in the U.S. I could get shot as an innocent bystander by police or criminals alike. And then go bankrupt from the medical bills as salt in the wound.

Edit : I used to wonder how so many American police could just be so evil, until I understood this perspective. It really doesn't make any sense that somehow, all of the thousands of police officers recruited each year from all different backgrounds could all be a bit evil in the same way. But once you realise it's the environment they are working in that causes it, it makes so much more sense. All of these different sorts of people end up the same because they have to all go through the same horrors which shapes the way they do their job.

 

[StarTrekVoyager]

From what I see, America is a butchery. People die everyday because of this shameful healthcare system that puts money before human lives. Cops are more violent than in any other state, people die from being arrested. Everyday I want less and less to go to the US in the future.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

The only solution is to have less guns, but the NRA seems to own the government and it won't happen. This is a large reason why I would never want to live in the U.S. I could get shot as an innocent bystander by police or criminals alike. And then go bankrupt from the medical bills as salt in the wound.

The fact the NRA, which is basically a group that supports children being murdered, exists, is a shame for the USA.

 

[Quantumcat]

From what I see, America is a butchery. People die everyday because of this shameful healthcare system that puts money before human lives. Cops are more violent than in any other state, people die from being arrested. Everyday I want less and less to go to the US in the future.

France is a little bit scary too. I was in Nice a few weeks after the truck incident, and on the train to Monaco, there were scary armed military guards at all the train stations.
Edit: but then at one train station there was a public piano, and someone was playing the Song Of Storms and Kakariko Village on it, so that kind of made up for it!

 

[StarTrekVoyager]

France is a little bit scary too. I was in Nice a few weeks after the truck incident, and on the train to Monaco, there were scary armed military guards at all the train stations.

Actually, this was only due to the terrorist attack. And keep in mind the militaries patrol to protect people. Even cops can't do shit woth guns because they'd get sued and end up in jail. And civilians aren't allowed to have guns otherwise. France also has Social Security which basically means you don't pay essential medical services, and only pay ~30% of the less important ones.

 

[RustInPeace]

I'll only address the everyday life and touch a bit on the cops here. Starting with the latter, I haven't had many brushes with them, the only thing of note is that, without going into detail because it's nobody on here's business, a crime scene happened, my laptop and external hard drive were taken in as evidence for really no reason other than a detective seeing me type on the laptop. I was modding a porn forum at the time and I had to quickly inform the rest of the staff that I'll probably be going away for a while. I explained that I was "posting a message" to someone, saying I have to leave. That's it, but yet they took my stuff, and I still haven't gotten them back, it's been 5 years. I've tried calling them about getting it back and it went nowhere. Non-personal times, whatever, they do stuff. I can't assess if they're good or bad on any other situation other than the one involving me 5 years ago. No "fuck the cops" or "praise the cops" basically. I'd say fuck that detective and their evidence retrieving ways. My equipment and the computer in the living room that was also confiscated, had no evidence at all about the crime scene. Nothing, so what the fuck?

Everyday life, I'm in my house all the time. I'm in a part of the city where 9 times out of 10, I see a fellow Latino or a black person. I rarely see white people, it's become a humorous thing with me that I flip out in my head that I saw a white person. They just don't live around these parts. There are some white neighbors, but I hardly see them anyways. It's a small city, you get crime, underbelly sections, shady people, but that's in every town and city that has a busy population. Big cities get more attention, Baltimore, Chicago. Small cities get it too when something goes viral, but nothing here qualifies as viral. In some ways you can't classify all of America as this and that, because it's very diverse, and continues to be so. In other ways you can, but even so, can't go overboard with that. Such as that all cops are horrible, that's not true. Liberals are ruining the country? No. Conservatives are? No, how about both? I don't want to get political here, but I feel like people on all sides are fucking up the country, conversely people from many walks of life remind that there's still some good in it. It's that diverse, I feel like no middle ground can come of it, only that the country is just, I don't know, divided. In shambles if you only read the news and don't look outside your neighborhood or city if you live in the States as well. What I see? Normal everyday shit. Perhaps that's in the majority, but the media doesn't bother covering that, for obvious reasons (which are not really pleasant to me). I've heard recent podcasts from people overseas who give the country a visit and love it so much, so as a tourist place, America's highly recommended. To live there permanently? Give it a try, if you find the right place for you. Here, so many Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, this is practically a haven for Latino Americans, specifically this central part of the city. So for them, I'd say come here and we'll enjoy a lot of local Dominican little food joints. There's even a cargo service here that delivers stuff from this general area to Dominican Republic only. In that respect, the transition from one of those countries to here, is seamless.

Anyways, rambled on too much. As for that nurse thing, really horrible what happened to her. I do wonder if it wasn't recorded, would it even get so much attention. Pros and cons to the fact that the current society is obsessed with recording everything and with that, cops getting bodycams. I was shocked mostly that this took place in Utah! What the hell? The act itself, horrible yes, but it can happen, cops pushing their weight against someone and being aggressive when resisted. That it happened in Utah blew my mind.

 

[DinohScene]

HAHAHAHA murricah.

I'm sorry but the US is portrayed as a laugh over here.
It's the land of burgers, fastfood, fat pigs on scooters and other nonsense.

Also, no, I have not seen that video, nor do I care.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

If you value your life, you have to start every encounter in an aggressive way because of the risk. Even if someone clearly can't logically have a gun (they're in a swimming suit or naked for instance) it would be force of habit - you don't start by determining whether there might be a gun involved or not (by then it could be too late and you are shot), you just have to automatically approach every situation aggressively.

The only solution is to have less guns, but the NRA seems to own the government and it won't happen. This is a large reason why I would never want to live in the U.S. I could get shot as an innocent bystander by police or criminals alike. And then go bankrupt from the medical bills as salt in the wound.

That's the whole conversation going around about a lack of training for many police officers. Officers who are poorly trained lack the capability for better mental judgment that could decrease violent encounters and fatalities. As you said, someone who can't logically have a gun shouldn't be hossled. That said, it's absolutely a hard job, especially in crime-ridden areas. Speaking specifically about the nurse in the video in question, that absolutely should not have happened, but for a cop working in the Bronx? Yes, approaching situations aggressively is an understandable position given the nature of the area they work in.

Also no, I don't think a solution is as clear as simply barring the sale of guns. 2nd amendment debates aside, there's just no conclusive evidence that this would work. If we're talking about causation, while gun manufacturing nearly doubled between 2007 and 2011, gun murders in 2012 were at their lowest rates since 1981 and drastically declining. Same with robbery and aggravated assault involving firearms (Source). Rising gun production with drastically declining gun violence would suggest that there is another factor at play and at the very least, it cannot just be gun control that needs to be examined in order to deal with violent crime.

From what I see, America is a butchery. People die everyday because of this shameful healthcare system that puts money before human lives. Cops are more violent than in any other state, people die from being arrested. Everyday I want less and less to go to the US in the future.

Healthcare needs to be fixed, no doubt. But calling America a "butchery"? Rates of murder and violent crime have been drastically declining over the past many decades. The reason things look so bad now is because violent crimes and police confrontations are reported more often and on bigger platforms, giving the illusion that things are going to hell when the actual facts show that the situation is actually getting better and better. America's homicide rates are too high, for sure, but you also have to consider geography since America is so vast -- high homicide and violent crime rates happen in concentrated, densely-packed areas, thereby driving up the number of potential victims. Meanwhile, other places in the US have extremely low crime rates due to a multitude of factors. You really cannot generalize anything in this country, there's just too much diversity of everything to do that.

 

[CallmeBerto]

I'm going to have to give it up to Halo here as I basically agree with everything he has said.

Are there bad eggs? sure people are people and power has never made a human being a better person however I believe that most people become police officers in order to help others.
I will also agree that there are bad eggs who deeds never go unpunished however saying that the ENTIRE police force is racist or bad or whatever bad label you want to slap on them is NOT the answer.


The answer is that both sides need some work.

One side needs to chill and stop calling everything police do violence and for him/her them to hang like some crazy mod mentality until ALL the facts come out.
The other side needs some serious internal review to get rid of all the bad eggs.

 

[RustInPeace]

sure people are people

I popped reading that because...