– I’m cautiously optimistic about the Seattle Bike Master Plan
– How Portland can reduce the wage gap between women and men
Often there’s really not any more time on the “day off” for creative work than during the rest of the week. Everything else that got put off during the week rushing in to fill that gap left by the day job. [h/t]
– If you’ve had your bike stolen in Marysville, go look for it.
– Today in conservative victimhood
– Now where will I possibly be able to find deep fried seafood in Ballard? (I like Ivar’s, but I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Ballard location).
Feds Find Albuquerque Cops Use Excessive Force
After weeks of protests against Albuquerque police in the wake of a highly-publicized fatal shooting of a homeless man, the Department of Justice has determined the city’s police “has engaged in an unconstitutional pattern or practice of excessive force.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/do.....ive-force/
The police use-of-force issue isn’t limited to Seattle, Albuquerque, and a few other cities. It’s endemic and nationwide. America’s cops are just too violent. They’ve become a threat to the homeless, mentally ill, and law-abiding citizens. Where did this come from?
I think the chief culprit is the “war on drugs.” Drug busts put officers in danger, so police forces have come to visualize themselves as paramilitary units carrying out military-style operations with military weapons and equipment. The problem is use of these weapons and tactics isn’t limited to high-risk drug busts. Cops have gotten in the habit of thinking and acting like fighters in a war zone across the board.
But it isn’t just police overreaction to the violent drug culture that has produced a generation of trigger-happy cops who shoot elderly people with canes and kids with video game controllers.
Cops shoot non-threatening subjects and law-abiding citizens in growing numbers because there are no consequences. They’re protected from discipline by strong police unions and a “circle the wagons” mentality among police officials, and from lawsuits by qualified immunity that courts apply when they shouldn’t. Basically, if a cop shoots your dog, or your child, or you, there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it. The cop will keep his job, you won’t be compensated, and the killer cop culture will go on its merry way.
It’s time to take back our streets from dangerous, abusive, and trigger-happy cops. Things are seriously out of whack when law-abiding citizens are in more danger from police than criminals.
Voters should not tolerate politicians like Ed Murray, who has turned over Seattle’s police department to a former police union official whose first acts as interim chief were to reverse numerous disciplinary actions. Seattle voters should send a message to Murray by turning him into a one-term mayor at the next election.
Former King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, who now heads our state police academy, has taken a step in the right direction by revamping police training to de-emphasize military-style tactics.
But that’s not enough. The state should systematically confiscate the military vehicles, equipment, and weapons accumulated by police agencies throughout the state, often with confiscated drug money. This stuff should either be divested altogether or should go into a state-controlled repository that police agencies can draw upon only under state supervision.
Police hiring practices should also be scrutinized and supervised. I’m sorry, but a military combat veteran with PTSD who recently came home from a combat zone in Iraq or Afghanistan is not a good candidate for police work in our communities. He just isn’t, because in a combat zone, pulling the trigger is the solution to every tactical problem, and that’s exactly the mindset we don’t want our police to have.
Finally, while I’m not advocating getting rid of police unions, the unions must not be allowed to control the disciplinary process of any police department. Every fatal police shooting should trigger a state-level review that is beyond the control of local police officials. And compensation policies should be revised so innocents who are wrongfully harmed by police violence are fairly compensated.
In short, we need fundamental changes in police attitudes and actions toward the citizenry, and there needs to be accountability for police behavior. The system of protecting cops who kill without justification needs to be replaced by a system under which police officers and their superiors know that unjustified shootings will result in discipline, financial consequences, and, when appropriate, criminal prosecution.
The status quo is unacceptable. Violent cops and bully cops need to be removed from our police forces, no ands, ifs, or buts.
Obamacare shuts down the 9th Street Ministry Medical Clinic in Arkansas!!!
Damn that ObamaCare, shutting down a free clinic by stealing their patients.
Roads are for motor vehicles.
@4 Not really. They originally were built for horses and buggies.
Jeff Bezos lost $1.28 billion in the stock market today. The market’s going down because investors are finally realizing the economy isn’t recovering. People should have listened to Krugman. He was right and conservatives were wrong. Rich people who advocate austerity, trickle-down, and wage cuts are killing their own businesses. No one ever stayed rich by making other people poorer.
These ranchers think they have a right to graze their cattle on federal land without paying grazing fees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhJ6H9vlEDA
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Western ranchers are heavily subsidized by the government. Federal grazing fees usually are about a fourth to a third of grazing fees on private land. But cheap apparently isn’t good enough for people who want things for free.
Trigger-happy L.A. sheriff’s deputies shot and killed an innocent crime victim instead of the knife-wielding perp yesterday.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lo.....ocent-man/