A "Wildcat Strike" By The NFLPA Coming?

[C.Biscuit97]

1 hour ago, racketmaster said:

I should have used "shot" and not killed by police as the article referenced by me did not include other means of deaths (vehicles, beatings, choke holds etc.) but still the total in 2019 of all types of unarmed black killings at the hands of police in 2019 was 25 deaths (at least according to USA today). Now with blacks making up 13% of the population in the US, 25 killings in a year does not seem like an epidemic as you stated 27 Americans die of lightning per year. Is 25 too many, well I guess 1 would be considered too many. But without researching each case, "unarmed" is likely to be somewhat deceiving (was the suspect cooperative, did they resist arrest, run away, grab for their gun etc.). The numbers don't say peaceful unarmed suspects killed  by police. I would venture a guess that the vast majority of the unarmed killings, the suspects were doing something other than being cooperative. There are probably a handful of cases that the officers were completely out of line and should be charged and held accountable by a jury of their peers. 

 

But the general point is that the media and often the players (who have higher profile positions of power based on the numbers who follow them on social media) are perpetuating a myth that black people (especially males) are at great risk of being killed by police just about any time they leave their homes. It creates an atmosphere of fear and more animosity and mistrust between police and black communities. So are there some bad officers out there, you betcha, just like there is in every profession. There are going to be some bad doctors out there and if you are treated by one, they may end up killing you. But we accept the risk and put our trust in the fact that most doctors are good and the bad ones can hopefully be weeded out over time. 

 

What bothers me is that the vast amount of blame is being heaped on police officers and most officers are good people who live in the communities they serve and want to see there communities safe. I'm not against banning certain police tactics or offering different training, eliminating officers from the force who have a certain number of verified complaints etc. But the black community (and this really goes for all people but since it is currently defined as a black person getting killed by police issue) also needs to step up and be more accountable. We need more fathers in homes and we need to be more respectful and peaceful when stopped by police. If there is harassment from police, report it. But it is never a good thing to start mouthing off and fighting police. Changing levels of respect starts in the homes and unfortunately there are way too many young people who are completely disrespectful toward any type of authority (this goes for all races). I think more community based policing efforts, more positive interaction between police and youth in minority communities needs to happen whether through recreation leagues or camping etc.  Schools need a complete overhaul and there needs to be more school choice for parents instead of the random charter school or private school stipend. Demonizing one side or another will not work, everyone will need to step up some and do their part in order to solve some of these issues. I also think it might not be a bad idea to make a requirement that all Americans spend a year serving in the military or fulfilling a 1 year community service requirement like the peace corps. This could help young people gain a greater appreciation for the country, bring people together as a team, and help instill greater respect and discipline. There are many more things that smarter people than me could come up with that could make a positive change in the black community and the country as a whole but the current mainstream rhetoric is not one of those things. 

This happens for everything.  There are idiots who think nba players are thugs because of how guys acted in the 90s and they probably are the league with the least amount of guys who get in trouble.  It’s like the far majority of protestors are doing so peacefully but some people just say they are all rioting.

 

yes, most people believe police officers do a great job.  But when you are given a gun, you should be held to a higher standard.  You can’t just be like “my bad.”  They are not the jury and judge.  And if you can’t handle that, don’t be a police officer.  

[racketmaster]

19 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

This happens for everything.  There are idiots who think nba players are thugs because of how guys acted in the 90s and they probably are the league with the least amount of guys who get in trouble.  It’s like the far majority of protestors are doing so peacefully but some people just say they are all rioting.

 

yes, most people believe police officers do a great job.  But when you are given a gun, you should be held to a higher standard.  You can’t just be like “my bad.”  They are not the jury and judge.  And if you can’t handle that, don’t be a police officer.  

Again, some of it is perception but a recent study showed 93% of the protests were peaceful. If that study is to be believed  then 7% are not and there has been a lot of people killed and property looted and destroyed in that 7%. It’s almost 1 out of every 10 protests turn violent. If 1 out of every 10 police interactions ended badly then we would have a serious epidemic on our hands with the amount of daily police interactions across the country. 
 

The fact is BLM and Antifa like protests that end up with looting, robbing, burning and killing can cause serious damage to a community and is not helping. Peaceful protestors need to distance themselves from this criminal behavior or risk being lumped together since seeing a protest coming down your street you might not know if you will be harassed or attacked or left alone. There are disturbing videos of protesters harassing ordinary citizens just trying to have a meal. What is this accomplishing. The protesters that act like this just piss ordinary people off who just want to go to work, provide for their family and have a meal out in peace once in a while. It will cause people to move out of the cities or avoid patronizing businesses in the cities which will lead to financial issues with less taxes being raised. 
 

Again, you could spend hours talking about this and issues surrounding it. I just think the mainstream narrative is a one way street right now and is causing more fear and distrust in police then ever before. Yet, with body cams and cell phones, police have never been watched more closely. It is a tough job and every officer I know is a good dude and would never want to harm someone if they did not have to. But as we push this narrative the confrontations between police and citizens are worsening. Who wants to be an officer and have a bunch of peaceful protestors walk by shouting obscenities at you and spitting all sorts of things. The officers are often showing uncommon restraint. Maybe the media and civilians need to show some of that same restraint before rioting after seeing the next 20 second video of police violence before days later a more complete video is released showing more to the story.