"Get on the ground! Get on the ground!!"

[kentuck]

What happened to the old days when suspects were asked to raise their hands or to put them on top of their heads??

Now, in almost every instance, we hear law enforcement screaming to "get on the ground".

Then, when they stick your nose into the dirt, they routinely put their knees into your back and twist your arms to put on the handcuffs.

Is this always necessary?

It seems to me that this is just another indicator of how far off the tracks our law enforcement has gone in this country.

"Everybody! Get on the ground!"

[secondwind]

1. I couldn't agree with you more.. and they lift the arms behind the person so high, as to cause

unnecessary pain.

They have become sadists.

[tridim]

2. And every cop I've ever seen loves that power play.

And power is a hell of a drug.

[Betty Karlson]

17. That is the root of the problem:

the main motivation for present day law enforcement is the feeling of power.

Serving the community? Protecting the innocent? Upholding the law? Naw...

[treestar]

3. Why call it routine?

There is no proof of that. Rather one outrageous case

[JackInGreen]

4. I'm not sure

if you're a troll or havn't been paying attention.
Go watch an episode of Cops, you'll see plenty of knees in backs, 'get on the ground' in relatively docile situations.
There's the water horse, drink if you will but you can't and won't be forced.

Edited to include: I used to have pretentions to be in law enforcement, I found the SOP for interacting with any 'possible perpetrator' to be so brutal I couldn't and wouldn't carry it out. 'Why call it routine' indeed, it's part of training, you nit.

[pangaia]

6. ".. an episode of Cops, "

Are you serious?

[JackInGreen]

7. For your average Joe example

sure, why the hell not? It's a lovely game of civil liberties bingo, you can tick em off on your fingers or on a handy home made bingo sheet.

[Tipperary]

22. That's a nice personal attack there Jack. nt

[JackInGreen]

26. I retract and apologize

for the 'ye nit' ending there.
I've hung out with law enforcement for a good part of my life, participated in training drills and tried my hand at their academy. To think that it's not common place is outrageous, and it made me.....*clutches pearls* heated! I used....A BAD WORD...wait, no I didn't. I said 'ye nit'.
When I start talking about someones mom, their general intellect or disposition in life and their destination after, then I'll be engaging in personal attacks. Meanwhile, yeah, I was a bit insulting. Sincerely sorry.

[cwydro]

34. Personally, I found the "troll" comment

inexcusable.

That poster is a longtime DUer.

[JackInGreen]

35. So am I (04 in my first account, after the change had to restart) but I don't post a lot

because I'm caustic as hell most of the time
And admittedly, where I hang out on the internet, here and other places, it's so damned hard to tell now adays whose a troll and whose being sincere.

[cwydro]

38. Then you should know better.

The name-calling here just makes DU suck.

Is it that hard to disagree respectfully?

[JackInGreen]

39. Cwydro

I've read a bunch of your posts, and you're usually a voice of reason and I respect that.
Unfortunately, I'm quite the bastard and really don't care for the training language, I'll keep to my usual 'rarely post and usually pretty acidic', thanks.

You are right, the name calling sucks, I'll try and abstain as much as possible.

[ieoeja]

42. Actually, you were correct. Anybody denying this cop trend is either seriously dense or ...

... intellectually dishonest.

You should not have to apologize for stating the obvious.

[gopiscrap]

55. Good for you!

The only reason a cop becomes a cop is because he/she is socially maladjusted and has a sadistic streak in them!

[JackInGreen]

56. I was apologizing for being nasty

But I won't apologize for the point made

[JustAnotherGen]

44. I thought you were fine

There's a point where a spade needs to be called a spade.

[jeff47]

48. Longtime DUers are quite capable of being trolls. (nt)

[Rex]

64. It is obvious some are exactly that.

But they always fly under the radar.

[treestar]

23. Get some statistics

Not anecdotal evidence from a TV show.

Should there not be any cops? What if you decide to brutalize someone? Would it be better if there were no cops they could call?

Yeah everyone who does not agree with your generalizations must be a troll.

[JackInGreen]

30. wait wait

'Should there not be any cops'...and I'm in with generalizations, ok tree, ok.

[Rex]

63. YEP.

The projection at the end is funny too!

[catnhatnh]

54. We can't get an honest statistic even on how many civilians are killed...

...so I guess we'll just have to trust our lyin' eyes...

[CrispyQ]

61. This. ^^^

You'd think with the advent of so many video cameras LE would behave better than they did in the past, but they don't. And worse, they flaunt it with their paid leave punishments, lack of indictments & the continuing support of the bad apples by the rest of LE.

The amount of disturbing video footage from all over the country, shows a trend. Hopefully things are changing.

[Fumesucker]

5. Oh, there's more than one outrageous case

This one was particularly egregious and sticks in my mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant

Oscar Grant III was fatally shot by BART Police officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California, United States, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009.[1][2] Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco,[3] BART Police officers detained Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. Officer Johannes Mehserle and another officer were restraining Grant, who was lying face down and handcuffed .[4][5][6] Officer Mehserle stood and, according to his attorney, said: "Get back, I'm gonna Tase him."[7] Then Mehserle drew his pistol and shot Grant once in the back. During his court testimony, Mehserle said that Grant then exclaimed, "You shot me!"[3][4][8] Grant was unarmed; he was pronounced dead the next morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland.[8]

[heaven05]

11. really?

well the others who responded to you said it all. geez

[treestar]

25. Statistics?

Any real proof, or just a generalized hatred of one particular profession?

[heaven05]

31. Please

you are embarrassing yourself. The proof is everyday life of the poor and POC in this democracy. You're not impressing anyone with your vapid, vacuous call for "statistics".

[onecaliberal]

51. There are purposely no good stats on many types of incidences. They don't

Want people to know what cops are really doing.

[heaven05]

52. +1000

exactly and some people know that and still embarrass themselves by playing silly games.

[JackInGreen]

57. this a million times

And a million more.

[JustAnotherGen]

45. No one hates a general profession here

They hate the behavior that is coming to light.

Thank God for Cell Phones and wireless companies. Thank god for us. We can change this because the cell phone is becoming mightier than the gun. Full Disclosure: I work in the Cell phone industry at the 'evil empire' and have a 'homeland security function'. Let's use this tool that some in America think serves to oppress - to turn the tables.

That's what is happening here. Video is being used as defense weapon.

It's not hate for us all to engage in Community Policing of the Police - until we get all of those rotten apples thrown out of the bin.

[heaven05]

53. yep

[Comrade Grumpy]

59. Try opening your own eyes.

I'm not aware of any statistics on the number of "get on the ground" arrests vs. the number of polite arrests. All I know is what I see repeatedly. I'm not blind. Neither are you.

[Dont call me Shirley]

21. We are not living in "The Land Before Time"

Police brutality is real. They permanently damaged my sons hand, and he's white, cuffs too tight, thrown into van by lifting arms upward by cuffs. A DUI does not deserve this kind of brutality. Cops are out of control.

[treestar]

24. Yeah but it's "routine"

because of the cases you see in the news. There's no proof it is "routine." Why do these cases make the news? They are unusual.

[Dont call me Shirley]

28. This the way the police are trained to behave. That means their actions are routine.

[JackInGreen]

32. I'm afraid until you provide

line and verse and charts with numbers and peer reviewed 'official' reports of the increase or average use of the 'DOWN ON THE GROUND' and knees in backs you're going to be arguing with a tree stump.

[Dont call me Shirley]

33. I'm not going to argue. The massive amount of police abuse stories in the media over the past

few years screams proof.

[jeff47]

50. Because it's a basic element in their training.

That makes it routine.

As for statistics, you're talking about a group desperately fighting to prevent us from getting the count of people who die in custody. You think they're going to record how many times they throw someone to the ground?

[awoke_in_2003]

67. Because it is routine...

when cops are dealing with people of color.

[Sunlei]

8. I think we need Federal law to ban police from using their 'new training' violence.

including allowing their bite-crazy dogs to bite as many people as possible.

[kentuck]

9. I think that our country has been at war for so long now...

...that we have simply transferred the war to our own citizens.

[Sunlei]

20. I bet the "drunk palin brawlers" were not smashed into walls or knocked to the ground.

police and local govs, are out of control in many 'selected' local communities.

[questionseverything]

65. plus one

too many x military cops too

[kentuck]

66. And it's not the fault of the ex-military policemen, in my opinion.

They have been trained to act as military policemen might act if they were in a hostile environment.

It is more the fault of various political leaders, from mayors to governors to the US Senate, there is plenty of blame to go around.

We have to obey the laws. But the laws have to be fair. That is a necessary component of a fair justice system.

It's not an easy job being a cop on the street, I would be the first to admit. However, our policemen have to be as fair as our laws and our justice system permit.

There has to be respect for the law. But the first step is to show respect for our citizens...

[Taitertots]

58. It's already against the law. We need courts that are not corrupt...

[Fred Sanders]

10. 300 million guns and 300 million media created phobias floating around...is why. Not necessary in Canada or UK or any gun-sane nation.

[heaven05]

12. a 14 year old girl

in a bikini had no gun.....

[Fred Sanders]

14. Racial prejudice is also one of the phobias, along with the love of guns.

You have something in your eye??

[heaven05]

18. racism is not

a phobia in my book. Too many people have that sick hate, in my book. Regarding the 300million guns? That's a sickness also and infecting more and more people of all races every day. A lot of the target and shoot POC LEO's and citizens shouldn't have them either or even be on any police force or 'neighborhood watch'. That fact is becoming more apparent everyday in this sick "cowboy and Indian" culture, period.

[NRaleighLiberal]

37. + infinity. n/t

[gelsdorf]

13. In my opinion, for whatever it's worth,

the issue may be the hiring of military veterans. After all, they are taught to kill. They then get bonus points on Civil Service tests to help place them into a position. If you watch the way the troops do things in a combat zone, it looks a lot like the way things are here with SWAT teams etc. The people are the enemy now.

[Mnemosyne]

46. I have wondered what the percentage is for leo that are ex-combat. Good point, gelsdorf. nt

[valerief]

15. Unless you're an open carry asshole. Then it's, "Sir this" and "Sir that." nt

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Because from the ground it will take a few more seconds to rush a LEO

Is it always necessary? Hell, no.

[Enthusiast]

19. Kicked and recommended to the Max! Well said, kentuck!

I don't see the necessity of this measure.

Besides, a cop's knee to the neck can cause a fracture resulting in paralysis.

[The Wizard]

27. Police make a pretty good buck

to keep the rabble in line. The gap between the wealthy elites and the general population is wider than it was before the Great Depression (euphemism for chaos). The elites use the police to keep the general population in fear and at bay because they are rightfully concerned about angry mobs bearing pitchforks torches and rope.
The police use of aggressive military tactics against the public sends the underlying message: Be glad for what you have, and be very glad we haven't killed you for complaining because we can. Hey, it worked for the Nazis.
Bern Baby Bern in the White House may be our only salvation.

[allan01]

29. how many of you in my generation and earlier when cops actually shot people w/ o regard

used fire hoses and their nite sticks liberaly and or rubber hoses . the cops were and are one thing only , to protect and serve themselves and the rich. i aint in the mood to find links , so find them yourselves .

[peace13]

36. In the eyes of the police, everyone is an enemy.

When you are at war you order folks to the ground and do whatever you please. These police in the video seem like frightened little people at the edge of panic.

[MarianJack]

40. You raise a good point, but...

...I can really see how a Texas cop could feel threatened by a teen girl in a bikini!

PEACE!

[Eric J in MN]

41. Citizens should be treated with dignity by the government.

When an arrest is necessary, citizens should be told, "Put your hands behind your back."

Nor ordered to the ground or tackled to the ground.

Sometimes cops pile on top of someone on the ground so that he or she has difficulty breathing.

[kirby]

43. Because it is dehumanizing...

that is the only thing I can think of. It is the ultimate form of submission.

[lpbk2713]

47. Humiliation is a big part of the fun of being in law enforcement.

They are in total control and they love it. They get high from it.

[raouldukelives]

49. "I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half."

Causing pain doesn't seem to be something they try to avoid, that is for sure.

If anything, it would appear to be a priority for them. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that some officers do all they can to cause as much unnecessary discomfort as possible to anyone they come across.
I can just imagine them sharing little tips and tricks with each other to inflict the maximum amount of misery without having it show up on camera, or be totally obvious to observers.
Sick, right? That is just a personal conspiracy theory but it sometimes seems so likely to me.

It's like when I watch them in action with a tazer. They love to use because it makes subdued people move uncontrollably.
"Stay still!" Zap! "Stop resisting!" Zap! "Why do you keep tensing up?" Zap!

Basically saying "If you don't stop having involuntary spasms I will inflict more pain on you!" and they do, and they don't seem to dislike it, if anything, it appears to be a perk.

[Taitertots]

60. Blame your local courts for allowing it

The courts are the check/balance for law enforcement. If you want the PD to stop abusing people for no reason, then you need to take your grievance to the courts.

[JI7]

62. it was never like that for black people