Watch This Officer School Another Cop About Civil LibertiesBy Amanda Warren A recent Live Leak cell phone video demonstrates an officer schooling another cop about citizen rights and personal liberty. The only thing we know so far is that it happened on the 4th of July, where police are gathered in the street over something to do with fireworks. He wants the others to leave someone and their home alone. Perhaps the situation was so asinine and in need of no force, that one officer just couldnt take it anymore. He did not hold back. Theres an oath I swore toso dont freakin mess with these citizens, you understand me? Unfortunately for Americans or I should say North Americans and the UK there is a bent against the average citizen in a sort of Us vs Them mentality among law enforcement. But it doesnt have to be that way! Concepts like no such thing as excessive force and civil asset forfeiture taught to young, new law enforcement do not help. Thats why I wish we knew more about this situation and could offer some positive feedback and encouragement to all the officers present that it is good to be free from harassment and abuse where no violent offense has taken place. The irony of this happening on the 4th of July is not lost, here but lets hope it wasnt just a one-time Independence Day speech! This could be a positive trend, however, as one former officer recently let rip a Twitter rant about corruption in law enforcement that he personally witnessed. Source: LiveLeak Constitutional and Jury Rights handbooks to give to your local police if you dare or you can start with other people in your town first and maybe everyone can make better demands. Also see: Recently from Amanda Warren: Now if all the rest would listen, and then go arrest real criminals like illegal immigrants..transplanted all across America via oBumer and bunch..God! Cops would be busy for a year just doing that..And we are a nation of laws and due process of such? Would make a great comedy skit, wouldnt it. How about the bankers? They are raping people every single daythey are the real criminalsgads. If you are referring to Mexicans then know this: They did not come here escaping religious persecution, they did not arrive on ocean liners, nor did they arrive on slave ships, they were here long before the invisible lines, long before the Europeans invaded this once beautiful country. Grow up. my comment has to do with the law. Illegal.immigrants, whom everyou are correct on the bankers and all the rest of those types, politicians also.who hold themselves above thelaw. it is not the undocumented workers who are criminals but the corporations and the politicians who serve them who want to keep hardworking family people illegal in order to exploit them.. Everything Hitler did was legal. MLK The easiest way to exploit people is to criminal productive behavior and make them criminals. Laws that do this are themselves criminal. The purpose of giving legal status who people who deserve and desire it is to make them vulnerable and thus easy to abuse and misuse. Most Americans want immigration reform. All immigrants want legal status. The only people who do not are those who exploit them and the assholes who defend them. proper term is criminal aliens Half of unauthorized immigrants came legally but visas or work permits expired. They are not criminals, since being in this country without authorization is a civil offense (like jay walking or installing driving without a smog permit), and under current law, they cannot be deported. If you commit a civil offense (parking ticket), are you a criminal? Calling people who come to work and support their families criminals is itself criminal. Do you want to pay to deport 11 million people, then support their 4 million US citizen children,and pay higher prices for food, housing, restaurants, hotels? Do you want to break up millions of families? Do you want to cause a recession? You pay for the cost of deporting a significant portion of the US labor force (70% of agriculture, etc) and you take their 4 million children into YOUR home! Many undocumented immigrants came legally and did not get renewed papers. It is not a crime to be here without papers: it is a civil offense. Those who enter without documentation are violating the criminal law, but he number since 2008 has actually declined. They come to work and feed their families. Many have children who are US citizens. RAther than criminalizing those who work and have committed no crime other than being without papers should be given legal status. Undocumented immigrants have a lower crime rate than US citizens, pay hundreds of billions in payroll taxes on which they can never collect, and are willing to do low paying seasonal work (6 weeks here, then move on, then move on) which Americans are not (Alabama proved that). Rather than waste money hassling people who are needed and who harvest our food, build our buildings (including Trumps), wash the dishes in restaurants, do the most dangerous jobs in slaughterhouses, and who want nothing more than to work and take care of their families, why dont we reform our laws so they dont have to commit a crime just to work and take care of their families? The reason reform has not happened, given that the majority of Americans support it, is that the corporations which illegal hire them do not want workers with legal status, who would then be able to demand minimum wages and legal protection from exploitation and abuse. Its the right thing to do, as most Americans agree. should the law be different? Yes.Thing is it is not changed. Recently the feds took over more than three hundred thousand immigrants and dumped them into Minnissota.I read..thats not right..nor will I hide my head in the sand You have taken totally unsupported claims of 300,000 immigrants and expanded it to the claim they were dumped in Missnissota (sic). There is no evidence the feds ever made this claim, as all the anti-immigrant websites claim. There are two things wrong with this lie: 1. It is not based on a credible sourcehere is Hotair: In fact, one source told Newsradio 1200 WOAI as many as 300,000 Central American immigrants are now en route to the United States through Mexico, and the Department of Defense has asked military bases around the country to find 180 barracks, holding centers, and other facilities to house the flood which is not expected to stop coming any time soon. One source? That is not journalism. In fact, this report was made during the flood of immigrant youth seeking asylum. It is not illegal for a person seeking protection to approach the border and contact border officials. This is the legally proscribed method of seeking asylum, according to US law. These are not illegal aliens but legal asylum seekers. Under US law, anyone seeking protection must be given due process and legal status while the case is considered. They cannot legally be deported so long as their case has not been decided and they have, during that time, legal status and in no way are illegal or guilty of a crime. It is a fact that the young people fleeing the violence in El Salvador and Honduras (the murder capital of the world, where the US recognizes and arms a military dictatorship which ousted the elected government) were not avoiding border officials but approaching them to ask for asylum: as such, they were following the law. Those who wanted to turn them back or deport them were urging the government to violate US law. PBS reported: The government says that by May of this year, more than 47,000 unaccompanied children were caught crossing the U.S. border. Between 60,000 and 90,000 are expected to come in 2014, according to the White House. Thats more than twice as many as last year, three times as many as in 2012. They come alone, because many have parents here in the U.S. who are undocumented and cant easily leave and return to the country. The majority come from the Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. These children came fleeing violence, rape, etc and they turned themselves over to officials asking for protection: they are not illegal aliens but children seeking asylum per US law. As for undocumented immigrants, 1/3 are not guilty of any crime because they came with visas which expired. Being in the US without documentation is not a crime but a civil offense. U.S. officials say the sheer number of people who stay after their visas expire an estimated 300,000 a year along with record-keeping and manpower constraints make it impossible to track every personThe Pew Hispanic Center, a research group that studies issues, attitudes and trends among the Hispanic population, estimated in 2006 that almost half of the 10.8 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. came here with visas and stayed after they expired. cronkitenewsonline.com So half of the undocumented are not criminals but guilty of a civil offense. They want extensions but cannot get it so they stay without, millions having US citizen children. The youth who came in recent years violated no laws when they presented themselves to border officials for protection. There is zero evidence that 300,000 immigrants were dumped in Minnesota. These are the kinds of lies that are told to outrage the gullible who are ignorant of the fact that since 2008, more undocumented immigrants have left than arrived, and that half of them are not guilty of a criminal offense by being here. Do not believe everything you read, especially if it is designed to appeal to your bigotry. Each year, 6 million immigrants come to the US legally on visas, work permits, etc. Many stay when these expire. If the government made it easier for these people to extend their authorization, they would be able to keep track of them. These people, like undocumented immigrants in general, have a lower crime rate than US citizens because if caught, they would not only be punished but they would be deported and separated from their families. They are not criminals; the real crime is the lack of immigration reform, which all immigrants desire, as does a strong majority of the US public. Those spreading lies, and those believing them, no matter how absurd, only makes things worse. I am more likely to believe your take on this than I am the MSM.is where I recall reading thisI dont go to anti immigration web sites.did not know there were such! Thing is this immigration situation especially on the southern boarder is a bad scene.somewhere of recent, calif claims that latino people now outnumber whites.in that state. True or not I cant say..I suggest you get on the side of the law and then help change it to a sense of fairness for all concerned rather than support..anything goes is alright. The original source was San Antonia radio station WOAI, which had an interview not with a government official but the head of the Border Patrol Council, which is the union that represents Border patrol agents, who in an inteview discusses problems in finding places for the large number of immigrants (which clearly suggests they have turned themselves over to the agents, which is legal for those seeking asylum). The last paragraph of the article, which is NOT quoting the interviewee, states: IN fact, one source told Newsradio 1200 WOAI as many as 300,000 Central American immigrants are now en route to the United States through Mexico, and the Department of Defense has asked military bases around the country to find 180 barracks, holding centers, and other facilities to house the flood which is not expected to stop coming any time soon. This source, for reasons unknown is not identified and no evidence is provided. It is certainly the case that Minnesota is not mentioned and that the state does not have facilities for 300,000, not to mention the expense and visibility of shipping 300,000 people from the border to a Northern state. The story was then picked up by right wing rag Hotair and copied word for word in other anti-immigrant media. I can find no MSM mention of this. California, our most economically advanced state, with the worlds 8th largest economy, is now a majority minority state, meaning that people of color, Lationos, Asians, etc outnumber whites. I find this a good thing. As for getting with the law, I write constantly to promote immigration reform to give legal status to people who work, make a contribution, and want nothing more than to be given legal status. I oppose the bigotry of those who lie about immigrant criminality and other forms of hate speech which demonize people whose lack of legal status is used to exploit them. I will never get on the side of a law which makes exploitaition and abuse easy. As Dr King pointed out, the law and morality are often at odds. That is why he pointed out that slavery was legal, sanctioned by the Supreme Court, and that Everything that Hitler did was legal. Sometimes, it is the law which is criminal. I work to get rid of such laws and create legal status for those who now are victims of criminal laws which enable greedy employers to abuse and exploit them. I am on the side of justice. of course there are illegal laws. Lots of themand also laws, although not illegal.but are unjust.that does not make illegal immigration right. I am against illegal immigration..Period! The US can not so to speak, save the world from justice gone wrong all over the globe. Nor should we try to do soWe do a poor job of justice with our own citizens..lets pick that situation up as the first order of carrying out Justice.. A person who overstays his work permit because he needs to work and support his family and does not want to be separated from his children, who often are USA citizens, is doing the right thing, the morally right thing tho he is committing a civil offense. A person who cannot support his family in Mexico and illegally enters the country, because he is not qualified to get documentation, is doing the morally right thing. It is more important to do what you must to feed your children than to obey a law which is written to block you from working and supporting your family. it is the law which makes people doing what is morally right criminals or offenders which is not right. What would you do if the choice were to let your children starve or to work without proper papers? Which is right? We can solve this by legalizing law-abiding immigrant workers. Reagan did it. Its the right thing to do. No one should be forced to choose between taking care of his children and breaking the law. Such a law is immoral and does not deserve to be defended. I said it clearly. Our Gov should not attempt to save the injustice all over the globe.Morally speaking or not. those who wish can immigrate here by the legal manner..the worlds population is something like 7billion.and we are going to save the world? Not! I agree the USA should not attempt to control the world. But the immigration issue is central to our identify and economy as a just society. Its not the 7 billion, but the 11 million immigrants who are here without legal status that is the issue. Its not about saving the world by destroying multiple nations (Afghanistan Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc) but about treating the 11 million members of our American family, who live and work here with their children, with respect and justice. We can start be decriminalizing their efforts to work and support their families and giving them the protections and rights that come with legal status. This is about saving ourselves from hypocrisy and the exploitation of people desperate to make a living and provide for their children. This is about living up to our founding principle that all men are created equal and ending the exploitation of people whose only crime is choosing to take care of their families by working hard. All we need to do is give them papers that give them legal status: simple, just, and central to our belief in the dignity of work and family values. Acting as the world cop is indeed not our job, but giving justice to those who live and work here is. HE didnt spell it Missnissota (sic) [sic]. YOU DID! Its a dirty, lousy trick, and Im calling you out on it, you bastard. He misspelled it Minnissota and so I made a joke of it. Calm down. You point is, 300,000 immigrants were not dumped in Minnissota. You are just hyperventilated because I proved your claims about undocumented workers depressing wages was wrong. Wages are depressed by unemployment and lack of union leverage. Get a grip. Name-calling is for losers. Yep. Exactly right. Dont forget they are here also to put pressure on wages and keep them down. 1. When Alabama passed draconian laws chasing immigrant workers, out the farmers could not find seasonal workers at competitive wages to harvest the corps so they rotted in the field. Few Americans will work for a month in one state for minimum wages and primitive housing, them move on to another state to harvest another seasonal crop, etc. So these unskilled workers are not taking US jobs and so they cannot be depressing wages. 2. A recent study found that unskilled immigrant labor does not depress wages in such fields as construction but rather makes the skilled workers more productive and thus increase profits and create pressure for higher wages. 3. If immigrant labor were legalized, it would allow them to demand higher wages. This would both make the work more attractive to American workers and it would create pressure on wages in general. Just as higher wages for union workers had a positive effect on wages for non-union labor, any increases in wages (whether minimum wage or whatever) tends to raise wages in general. The claim that unskilled immigrant laborers are taking American jobs and depressing wages is not true, by the evidence, but it is a claim made to justify not legalizing them (which would raise wages). In California, which has more undocumented immigrants than any other state, the state per capita income is above the national average and job and wage growth is among the highest of all states. Whenever wages are raised a the bottom (as legalization would enable), it lifts the entire platform of wages. If wages were raised high enough it would attract native workers. The only reason industry hires illegal immigrants is they can be paid substandard wages and exploited, abandoned when injured (they work in the most dangerous occupations); they thus have the incentive to keep them illegal and thus are behind the lies and false claims, not to deport them (which would destroy the US economy by crippling agriculture, construction, meat processing, etc) but to thwart reform which would give them legal status and thus bargaining leverage. we dont need reform we just need to enforce the laws we have The laws we have criminalize people whose only desire is to work and support their families; it also makes it impossible to enforce, since the 11 million who are unauthorized are forced to stay in the shadows. Current laws serve only to enable employers to exploit workers, who have no legal rights. Under current laws, half the undocumented immigrants who came here with visas or work permits which have since expired, have committed no crime but only civil offenses, and cannot be deported. You are in denial about the failure of current law to protect workers, to allow government to keep tabs on immigrants, and to deal with the fact that these undocumented immigrants have 4 million US citizen children, meaning that when they are deported, families are broken up, leaving US taxpayers to support the children. If we enforced current law which is literally impossible, we would be deporting 5 million people, at a horrific cost, and crippling major US industries like agriculture, which absolutely depends on immigrant labor for the seasonal harvesting of crops, construction,and hotel and restaurant services, as well as slaughterhouses. If they would be deported, it would cause prices to go up and government revenue to collapse, requiring higher taxes to make up the difference. People who come to work, stay out of trouble, and pay taxes should be given legal statusit would benefit them and us. Yesterday I witnessed two cops draw their guns on a young man in clear distress, he was certainly poor, possibly homeless and completely unarmed. He was a very small man and most certainly not a threat to anyone. Cops demanded he lay on the ground with their guns drawn, he got frightened (like a child would be) and screamed he didnt do anything (as it turns out he was on property where he was called to, to pick something up from a friend who lived there, one of the neighbors (snitch) not liking the look of him, anonymously called the police and gave false information). But as soon as the police saw they had witnesses to this encounter with the very small and scared man they put their guns back in their holsters and then started treating him like a lost and scared human being, things then calmed down. I can only imagine what would have happened if there were no witnesses I once lived in Scandinavia where the cops treat people like human beings and dont draw their guns at every possible moment. There is a YouTube video, from this year, I believe, of a handful of Swedish cops helping an American who was in alcohol distress on a metro train in, I believe, DC. They were SO concerned and respectful, calling him sir, asking how they could help. I saw the same thing when I was in Oslo. The whole time I was there I saw ONE homeless guy, obviously mentally ill. There were six cops with him trying to GENTLY get him to a hospital (which was free by the way). This is was LE is supposed to be. I said on another thread that there is no such thing as a good cop. I was wrong! There ARE good cops. They are just so few and far between as to be practically invisible. That they actually STAY at it is a tribute to their courage. But, god help them all as this country continues its RETURN to fascism. Yep. In a few countries, cops are actually living, breathing, compassionate human beings. I wish we could send ours elsewhere and import theirs. How the fuck did it come to this? Two years ago in my apartment complex, an Asian skater kid got into a screaming fight with his mom. Tragically, she called the county police force (this is a county outside of Richmond, VA, and although there is a county sheriffs department, the police do most of the contact work). They arrived en masse, and he came out of the apartment, unarmed, and came towards them. I am around the corner, in a nearby building, and I heard 4 or 5 .40 caliber shots. There were almost certainly more, because multiple cops shot at him. I was not a witness. But I was interviewed by a female internal affairs officer the next day. All I could do was tell her how many shots I heard, in what period of time. I wish I had told her more. They nearly killed an unarmed kid who was in emotional distress. Now that was the kind of cop that we can respect. Thats the kind of cop we need to replace the bootjacks. the problem is this! I myself was thrown into the Vietnam War, 1969, as an Army draftee and put into the Army Military Policeand if any of us had done what today is done all across the US we would have been courtmartialed on the spotl.Fort GordonGeorgia, Military Police School did not teach thisSo, What has changed? Police Chiefs themselves in the city police units dont do their job! Mayors of cities dont do their jobs! State Governors dont do their jobs.All forsake the oath each has taken, when signing on to their respective responsibilities.and There is no one to knock them(any level) off their perch.Least of all the Federal Governmentwhen that very edit..does even worse.Then whats next for us all? In order for there to be a change for the better? Here it is. Massive and I mean, massive non violent demonstrations of the long kindlasting much longer than the civil rights eraof which I was a young person of that timeam now 70 yaand too old to lead a demonstration of lasting value. One that can go on for years, of which this effort to turn, will take. Who out there reading this may have what it takes to lead? Our situation is extremely dire, NOW All forsake the oath each has taken is a magnificent phrase, sir. Thank you. This cop needs to school all departments everywhere!!! Officer youre a good man whomever you are. I hope you have a safe and prosperous career and retire with good health. Thank you. I hope he hits the lottery, so he can get away from all the other jackboot cops. Can we clone the lone good cop in America! PLEASE! For all the police who dont like the bad rap you are receiving, due to the criminal thugs among your ranks, stop having their back and put them in they place. You are paid, by the public, to protect and SERVE the public and you swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, which is the laws of the United States. I think I can speak for us all when I say; we have his back! Absolutely correct. They took a job that they KNOW to be dangerous then they whine that they are in dangerlike no shit. That is why they are cops. Firemen go into fires KNOWING that it is dangerousI do not recall them whining about the possible dangers. I would like to know where this good Police Officer went to Academy at?. Who is his mentor? Where did he get the values he just expressed? This needs to be replicated across the country I would wager his parents instilled respect. Which is sorely lacking in this age, in this time. Where is the good cop when you need him betcha he doesnt live in Florida I think Im in love. shared many timed in facebook Bless you, Officer! Youre a breath of fresh air! Finally A man which takes his oath seriously and stands by it tall Nice now if the majority would fallow his leadthe U.S. would have real protect and serve cops. Looks like it a Sheriff talking to a city cop bravo! there are more of these guys than there are the bad ones. I live in San Diego. Its one of the hardest police forces to get into. Most are educated and many have military backgrounds on top of that. I can honestly say, I have been let off with a warning far more than I ever received a ticket. They hand you pieces of paper that look like tickets, but it reads at the bottom, This Is a Warning. I got into a dispute with a meter maid once. She called a cop. He diffused the situation in about 60 seconds. I really dont think they have ticket quotas. I have only been treated rudely by one cop one time when I was younger. He arrested me for defending my property (my car was being vandalized and I knocked both of them out). He saw all the blood and arrested me, while his partner argued to let me go. But he was a seargent. This case was dropped. But, really, we have the best police force in the country. Also, let me give a shout out to the Baltimore Police. I got into a fight with a friend. I lost the fight terribly. I insisted on pressing charges in the OR. Two black cops,and me my friend are white, stayed in the OR for about two hours convincing me to change my mind. They said, you dont want your buddy in that jail. You have to realize how bad it is in there. I refused. They traded places talking to me while I got stitched up. They finally convinced me, shook my hand and said you made a good decision, now learn how to duck. There are more good cops than bad cops. If only a strong minority of police officers -and notice Im NOT asking for the vast majority or even just the majority- shared the attitude displayed by this fine young man in uniform, I would be the greatest SUPPORTER of law enforcement youve ever freakin seen in your entire life. What this country needs is a revolution. And Id like this fine and courageous young policeman to join us in it! 