<story><title>In Secretly Recorded Phone Calls, Officers Say Innocent People Were Framed</title><url>https://gothamist.com/news/mount-vernon-police-tapes-innocent-people-were-framed</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>RcouF1uZ4gsC</author><text>&amp;gt; Caught on tape by a whistleblower cop, the officers said they witnessed or took part in alarming acts of police misconduct, from framing and beating residents to collaborating with drug dealers, all as part of a culture of impunity within the department’s narcotics unit.&lt;p&gt;Probably the single most effective thing to reduce police abuse in America would be to end the war on drugs and decriminalize drugs.&lt;p&gt;No-knock warrants were originally used to try to catch drug dealers before they could flush the drugs down the toilet.&lt;p&gt;Civil forfeiture was originally created to try to take money from drug dealers.&lt;p&gt;The war on drugs has taken a wrecking ball to the Fourth Amendment restrictions on search and seizure.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>utkarsh_apoorva</author><text>Police brutality videos on twitter have left most of us, even in the developing world, in utter shock.&lt;p&gt;I am in Bangalore, India&lt;p&gt;For most of us in developing world, US has been a model state - with problems yes. But a great example nevertheless.&lt;p&gt;For God&amp;#x27;s sake, WE were supposed to be a third world country, always looked at with sympathy in popular media (usually grossly incorrect depiction though)&lt;p&gt;In India, civil unrest is common, and has increased over the past decade. Cops know one thing very very clearly - they are outnumbered. If civilians start to become violent, it will be impossible to control them.&lt;p&gt;So they stand down.&lt;p&gt;I have read umpteen number of articles talking about how policing could be improved in the US, from removing powerful weapons to changing the training programs.&lt;p&gt;I feel that the solution is probably simple - sensitisation to the fact that they are outnumbered. If war mentality is what they get into the field with, better factor everything in.&lt;p&gt;No army in the world engages with a superior force unprovoked.&lt;p&gt;People, the citizens, ARE the most superior force - not just morally, but Truly . F&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;*ing . Practically.</text></comment>
<story><title>In Secretly Recorded Phone Calls, Officers Say Innocent People Were Framed</title><url>https://gothamist.com/news/mount-vernon-police-tapes-innocent-people-were-framed</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>RcouF1uZ4gsC</author><text>&amp;gt; Caught on tape by a whistleblower cop, the officers said they witnessed or took part in alarming acts of police misconduct, from framing and beating residents to collaborating with drug dealers, all as part of a culture of impunity within the department’s narcotics unit.&lt;p&gt;Probably the single most effective thing to reduce police abuse in America would be to end the war on drugs and decriminalize drugs.&lt;p&gt;No-knock warrants were originally used to try to catch drug dealers before they could flush the drugs down the toilet.&lt;p&gt;Civil forfeiture was originally created to try to take money from drug dealers.&lt;p&gt;The war on drugs has taken a wrecking ball to the Fourth Amendment restrictions on search and seizure.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kingbirdy</author><text>&amp;gt; Civil forfeiture was originally created to try to take money from drug dealers.&lt;p&gt;I agree with your premise, but this statement is incorrect. Civil forfeiture originated from the British Navigation Acts of the mid 1600s. It continued to be accepted practice in the US after the revolution, and was relied on during Prohibition as a tool against bootleggers much as it&amp;#x27;s used against drug dealers now. Usage has certainly escalated due to the war on drugs, but it&amp;#x27;s not where it originated from.</text></comment>