Slog Comments
How the Police See Us
1
So that police cruisers can enter/exit the police station and you know, respond to emergencies, has zero to do with the "moat" around the station? Gotcha.
3
Thanks for posting this, Dominic. This is controversial, but I chalk much of this up to imperial rot. We're seeing the tactics used to suppress populations abroad come home, in the form of militarized police tactics and constant surveillance, to name a few.
4
You can thank Occupy Wall Street for this. Neo Anarchists will always flock to large marches, they love to stir up a shit storm and have no problems turning a peaceful protest into a chaotic situation for their own amusement.
5
Didn't know that leaving lanes open for vehicle access = OMG POLICE STATE!!!11!!!!!1!!
Douche. Report better next time.
Douche. Report better next time.
6
Of course the SPD doesn't trust civilians. Occupational psychosis. When you're a hammer, the world is full of nails.
11
@1, @5 yes, I could see your point about emergency egress if the police were still using horses and semaphore flags instead of "motorized vehicles" and "wire-less radio." The report is correct: this is another example of the counter-insurgency model that police have used for 20 years. Maybe you didn't get the memo.
12
@4 Finding scapegoat groups to justify heavy-handed, militarized policing. How very freedom-loving of you.
13
@4, Sort of unfair to blame Occupy. The anarchists though is probably quite correct (and probably the ability to get in and out unobstructed (emergencies/anarchists?). It's actually kinda depressing to see the moat with that thought in mind. But this is somewhat matter of fact pragmatism on the part of SPD. So no Randy Rowland, it isn't you they don't trust. It's the jackasses that might co-opt your peaceful demonstration.
14
Nothing more bourgeois than middle class white kids yelling "police state" or "counter insurgency!"
Did mom forget to send the rent money?
Did mom forget to send the rent money?
15
@13 I get what you're saying, but if a few anarchists are enough to push us towards this kind of stuff, that isn't their fault. Seriously, does this seem like the best response - to justify their critique of all government legitimacy being at core based on violence? Maybe the problem is that they're right.
18
Ian Awesome, Slog is also filled with people like you who make wild accusations that the SPD caused local lunatic Jennifer Fox to lose her baby. Then when pressed to provide evidence, you just pull a different colored gerbil from your ass, make a new fauxhawk and go into hiding like the pussy you are.
19
@4: I know it's a lot of words, but you really ought to read the entire statement under the picture.
20
I'm pretty sure the SPD is racist and out of control. But not because of this. It's not even 9 yet and we've possibly got the dumbest Slog post of the day.
22
11: yes police have radio cars (and bicycles) but they dont have matter transporters. Cars and vans require a fair amount of street to move quickly in (1 lane) and out (1 lane).
Not saying that's the reason (seriously I dont know) but it is a possible reason.
Not saying that's the reason (seriously I dont know) but it is a possible reason.
24
Did you bother to ask SPD about this? Or your BFF Mayor? Perhaps they would have a reasonable explanation; or would that be too much journalistic effort?
26
Seriously. A lane so emergency vehicles can get in and out is not a "barricade" and 8 guys standing around with their hands in their pockets is not a "platoon of officers".
27
Outstanding posting, Dom, outstanding.
And for how the FBI feebs view us:
(This occurred after, but in the similar timeframe, as the unlawful arrest of Alabama's (democratic) Gov. Siegelman.)
http://blog.locustfork.net/2008/02/anoth…
February 1 – The morning calm in the small Alabama town of Toney, near Huntsville, was broken at 6:15 Thursday morning when a team of five FBI agents, accompanied by a prison matron, pounded on the door. When the man of the house answered, he was forced into the yard, shirtless in the early morning cold.
They came for his wife, Sue Schmitz, a diminutive, 63-year-old retired social studies and civics teacher who has lived in the town for 38 years. She was dragged out of her bathroom, where she was taking a shower, and handcuffed – breaking her flesh and scraping her wrists as she was hustled off to prison.
Who was this threat to society? Sue Schmitz is a well-respected state legislator who is loved in her community and by her students and is truly legendary for her passion for civics and outreach to the disadvantaged. The dream of her life was to let the fire of civic spirit catch on in communities and among families on the margin of society, where the danger of drug abuse and criminality are the highest. She dedicated her life to it.
She launched a program called “We the People,” designed to build civic spirit and interest in participatory democracy among school children. And Ms. Schmitz’s advocacy of civic engagement led directly to her conflict with U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who considers it to be a criminal act.
And...
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/form…
April 03, 2012, 4:27 PM
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Former state Rep. Sue Schmitz is a free woman after completing a 30-month prison sentence resulting from a 2009 conviction on federal mail fraud and theft charges.
Schmitz, 67, was released from custody Friday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. After serving the bulk of her sentence at a minimum-security prison camp in Lexington, Ky., she was transferred in December to a halfway house in Birmingham.
(From Dom's posting:) "..or whoever is in charge"
Community Development Roundtable? The banksters paying the coppers those extra salaries?
One wonders . . . .
More...
And for how the FBI feebs view us:
(This occurred after, but in the similar timeframe, as the unlawful arrest of Alabama's (democratic) Gov. Siegelman.)
http://blog.locustfork.net/2008/02/anoth…
February 1 – The morning calm in the small Alabama town of Toney, near Huntsville, was broken at 6:15 Thursday morning when a team of five FBI agents, accompanied by a prison matron, pounded on the door. When the man of the house answered, he was forced into the yard, shirtless in the early morning cold.
They came for his wife, Sue Schmitz, a diminutive, 63-year-old retired social studies and civics teacher who has lived in the town for 38 years. She was dragged out of her bathroom, where she was taking a shower, and handcuffed – breaking her flesh and scraping her wrists as she was hustled off to prison.
Who was this threat to society? Sue Schmitz is a well-respected state legislator who is loved in her community and by her students and is truly legendary for her passion for civics and outreach to the disadvantaged. The dream of her life was to let the fire of civic spirit catch on in communities and among families on the margin of society, where the danger of drug abuse and criminality are the highest. She dedicated her life to it.
She launched a program called “We the People,” designed to build civic spirit and interest in participatory democracy among school children. And Ms. Schmitz’s advocacy of civic engagement led directly to her conflict with U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who considers it to be a criminal act.
And...
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/form…
April 03, 2012, 4:27 PM
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Former state Rep. Sue Schmitz is a free woman after completing a 30-month prison sentence resulting from a 2009 conviction on federal mail fraud and theft charges.
Schmitz, 67, was released from custody Friday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. After serving the bulk of her sentence at a minimum-security prison camp in Lexington, Ky., she was transferred in December to a halfway house in Birmingham.
(From Dom's posting:) "..or whoever is in charge"
Community Development Roundtable? The banksters paying the coppers those extra salaries?
One wonders . . . .
28
Not going to get worked up over this either.
The "anarchist" brats have a long history of fucking up peaceful demonstrations so this is no surprise. I'm actually more surprised they didn't try anything on MLK day.
The "anarchist" brats have a long history of fucking up peaceful demonstrations so this is no surprise. I'm actually more surprised they didn't try anything on MLK day.
29
The police station needs to have a lane clear for emergency response vehicles to get through, as would a fire station or hospital.
Though judging by the comments I can see why the police would fear a large hostile crowd. Seems funny that the same people who understand why the president has armed guards do not understand why a police station would need to be protected.
Though judging by the comments I can see why the police would fear a large hostile crowd. Seems funny that the same people who understand why the president has armed guards do not understand why a police station would need to be protected.
31
Did they go around counting how many people there were? They love that kind of harassment. If you don't have enough people you can't protest, clearly the constitution was about protecting the police's right to tell smaller groups of protesters to fuck off but this big group needs to know who's boss. Remember last year at the MLK protest when...wait...
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