Breitbart News by Daniel Leberfeld October 5, 2016
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin challenges the attorneys general of all 50 states to review the training of police officers in light of the recent shooting deaths of several African American suspects.
“As an American, a black male in this country, I’m suggesting, calling — I’m demanding that all 50 state attorney generals call for a review of their policies and training policies for police and law enforcement to eliminate militaristic cultures while putting a higher emphasis on de-escalation tactics and crisis management measures,” Baldwin said. “The situation that’s upon us right now and that’s going on in our country is devastating. But now it has to reach a point of intolerable. We cannot tolerate this. Lives are being lost.”
But what about suspects cooperating with the police and not escalating matters by being combative? Wouldn’t that help cut down on police shootings? Breitbart Sports asked Baldwin, after Sunday’s Seahawks-Jets game, if any of the blame for police shootings lies with non-cooperative suspects who endanger police.
“That is a non sequitur,” Baldwin responded. “You are not even following the premise when you ask that question. The reason why that is not even a conversation is law enforcement are given consent. You can Google it. Basically what it says is that they are agents of our government. We give them authority to govern us. So, if an agent of the government is not following the laws and policies or is not well-trained or not getting sufficient training to handle citizens who are not professionally obligated to protect communities, are not professionally obligated to protect communities like law enforcement are, that is where the issue lies.
“Yes, we can talk about crime in general, but it’s not my neighbor’s job to protect me. It’s law enforcement’s job to protect me, so I want to provide them with the best resources, best tools, best training, so they can go out there themselves in a better manner, protect the communities they serve and ultimately protect their reputation.”
But what about life-threatening situations in which a cop making the wrong split-second decision with an armed suspect could lose his life?
“It’s a very difficult job; I’m not taking away from that,” Baldwin said. “It’s a very difficult and dangerous job, but that’s what they signed up for. When you sign up to be a police officer you are consenting to be in those situations. You might not always be in that situation. You might not ever be in that situation, but you are consenting, you know it comes with an inherent risk, so when you are in those situations, you have to lean on your training, lean on your understanding to get yourself through those situations, so you can come home in a safe manner.
“Now, I’m not saying it’s easy to do that, but what I’m saying, what I’m more concerned about is providing better training, better resources, better tools for our law enforcement, so they can make those split-second decisions and make them in a manner where not only is the criminal or the person they have the encounter with can go home safely, but also themselves can go home safely.”
(Another step in the end of the NFL. Ratings are down substantially. People are fed up. If the trend continues the NFL is going to be about as popular as the WNBA)
23 comments:
How does Baldwin know that there is a problem with the "training" specifically? Bad shootings may be due to mood, inattentiveness, malice, the unpredictability of the victim, shadows that look like the victim is carrying a weapon, and perhaps 50 million other factors. Without more, the cost of retraining (taking cops off of the streets) may be much worse than leaving them alone with the training they have.
1% of the shootings of blacks come from cops. While we still labor under Willie's insistence of putting 100,000 more cops on the streets, it's pretty clear that, to meet those numbers, we have many diversity hires who shouldn't be there, and discipline and training aren't what they ought to be.
Many of those unarmed who are shot are mentally ill.
Some other inconvenient facts.
I think football players should be subject to mandatory retraining. To not be pussies. Play like they did in the 1960's.
No wonder they are hemorrhaging fans.
Last stats I saw indicated that viewership is down, year over year, but if the league still exists, then there is still room for improvement.
Imagine if you watched car crash videos regularly, and all your coworkers told stories of car crashes and deaths, and you had to go through regular training that constantly and vividly reinforced the dangers of car crashes, and you knew the details of nearly every car crash that happened. You probably would never drive, or if you did, you'd be slamming on the brakes at every hint of danger. I think that's the mental space our cops are working under. It's just speculation on my part, as I have no first hand knowledge. I don't blame the cops. I suspect the training produces too quick a trigger. I don't think it was like that in the past. I bet if postal workers had guns, lots of people's dogs would get shot on sight for the same reason. Mail carriers are terrified of dogs, and cops are terrified of us. I think both are due to over playing the dangers in training. Just a guess from a commenter on a blog somewhere. I don't want cops to be in any more danger than necessary, but a dead innocent citizens is not exactly a solution to the danger. Often there is no danger but what is perceived in the cop's mind, and he always has a very final and fatal solution in his hand. I wish it was used less often.
For the reactionary outrage obsessed: No, this does not mean I like criminals and cop killers, or that I hate cops. I worry about myself, my friends, my pets. I do fear them being shot by cops, because I think the chances are pretty good compared to being shot by a criminal.
Let me proffer this:
Get rid of all of the police and let the citizens take care of business.
AllenS said...
Let me proffer this:
Get rid of all of the police and let the citizens take care of business.
If that happened, chocolates nationwide would be asking for the po-po to come back.
"Get rid of all of the police and let the citizens take care of business."
I think that's what's happening de facto in Places like Chicago.
Did anyone see the video of the BLM activist that went through police training and then was tested in a fake, but realistic scenario? First time he got shot. Second time he shot the black assailant immediately, and changed his mind about what cops have to deal with.
It makes a pretty clear case like nothing else I've seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfi3Ndh3n-g
One problem with the police is that bad cops can move to a new job in a new city fairly easily thanks to union rules suppressing personnel file information and otherwise making background checks difficult. It's akin to the way the RC Church moved its bad priests around. Anyone who is serious about resolving policing problems should be in favor of transparency and access in pre-employment background checks. A department that fires an officer for cause but suppresses the reason should be accountable for problems in the officer's next posting that might have been avoided. Also, bodycams on all officers on the street who are not undercover.
This football player has the typical doofus response: Throw money at the problem in the form of "training," "tools," "resources." No specifics. The police get a lot of training, tools and resources. How is the current training, tools, and resources allotment inadequate to the perceived problem? No specifics. Apparently, the perceived problem proves the need to throw money. Football player declines to discuss the perception of the problem. That would call for actual thought, acknowledgment of uncomfortable realities. Football player is only there to signal his virtue; he's not interested in actually solving this difficult problem.
1 out of 3 Americans is boycotting the NFL.
"For the reactionary outrage obsessed: No, this does not mean I like criminals and cop killers, or that I hate cops. I worry about myself, my friends, my pets. I do fear them being shot by cops, because I think the chances are pretty good compared to being shot by a criminal."
Of all the absolutely stupid stuff you have said lately this is just about the stupidest.
You have a better chance of getting hit by lighting than getting shot by a cop. I know you want to be a contrarian but you really are be-clowning yourself.
Nice Surber piece on the NFL players crying race and the politics therein.
PS the Beast wanted to run her campaign ads on the Weather Channel during the hurricane.
The public was not amused.
For someone like me who drives around the big city a lot, avoids walking in dangerous areas as much as possible, has a lot of scary looking dogs in my home and often in my truck with me, the chances of having a dispute or misunderstanding with an armed criminal is very low. In fact, it has never happened. I and my dogs have been dangerously close to being shot by cops more than once just for being unknown to them at the wrong time, and being misunderstood or confused with bad guys. It happens way too much in Los Angeles, for me to feel comfortable. Against a criminal, we have a fighting chance. They avoid dogs. I can shoot back. But with a cop encounter, they don't just go away, so we're at the mercy of a cop and his understanding of the situation. He gets it wrong, and we're dead. I'm less than comfortable with that.
I have helped produce (donated money) for a new documentary on police encounters with dogs and the tragedy that often comes of it. It's tough to watch, and impossible to forget.
Of Dogs and Men
"You have a better chance of getting hit by lighting than getting shot by a cop. I know you want to be a contrarian but you really are be-clowning yourself."
You should get out more. In real life, stuff happens.
Also, most of the country does not agree with your opinions, but you wouldn't know that from your bunker.
We'll find out in a few weeks.
I think it's much more than anybody realizes.
Most of the country is more afraid of getting shot by cops than by criminals?
You are nuts you know that?
A guy wielding a machete sauntered into one of the athletic buildings on the CU campus the other day. Police showed up and asked the man to put the machete down. The machete guy did not comply with orders. Machete guy was shot dead.
No prob. The machete guy wasn't black.
"Most of the country is more afraid of getting shot by cops than by criminals?"
Of course I never said that. I said I was, and my personal experience confirms it.
You're conflating two separate points.
The only armed strangers who have ever come into my home or pointed a gun at me were cops. They were entirely justified, and I'm glad they were there, but one tiny mistake by me or them, and we wouldn't be having this wonderful discussion. My only option was hope and prayer. Yea, that's the kind of thing that will make you realize how easy it is. Cops being scared on the streets is a bad thing for all of us. I want them less anxious, less scared .
Oops. I was trying to discuss another side of an issue with some differing perspective right in the middle of your safe space where that shit should not happen. Sorry. That's was rude of me. Death to contrarians ... or America. Same thing.
Here's how bad it's gotten for the cops. They'd rather get their head bashed in than shoot the bastard.
Don't tell bags that. He knows that he cops are the problem. Not the savages looting the CVS.
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