Saturday, July 9, 2016

Law And Order?

I don't know how to describe the violence in my country. Violence against the citizens and violence against police. It's too much, way too much. It's sad.
How many families are planning funerals and grieving today? Everything is fine one minute, the next thing you know it's bullets and chaos. Almost 2 years after Ferguson, things seem worse.
It's a breakdown.
 It's strange to think we have had an African American President who has almost finished serving two terms, if anything. it seems like racism is worse and nothings been addressed by the criminal congress that sits on it's ass and collects a paycheck for doing nothing, that is when they do show up. It's just another example of a system that doesn't work and it's been trickling down for decades.
For the first time it looks like a police office will be charged for a wrongful death. From what I've seen Philando Castile had a firearm, but he didn't use it, nor was he going to try. I don't understand how guns are drawn when you get pulled over? I have been pulled over a few times, no gun was in my face, just license and registration, maybe a ticket, maybe not. I think one of the most shocking things is that getting pulled over for a tail light being out or speeding or who knows what, ends in bullets and  death and a family left to pick up the pieces.
Since the economy has gone down hill and hasn't recovered, it's common knowledge that police officers are now in charge of policing for profit. Trying to cover municipal budgets and here is an example of one police chief's suggestions for making money by shaking down the citizenry.


  • fees for sex offenders registering in a given jurisdiction,
  • city tow companies,

  • fine increases by 50 percent,

  • pay-per-call policing,

  • vacation house check fees,

  • public hours at police firing range for a fee,

  • police department-run online traffic school for minor traffic infractions,

  • department-based security service including home checks and monitoring of security cameras by police department,

  • a designated business to clean biological crime scenes,

  • state and court fees for all convicted felons returning to the community,

  • allowing agency name to be used for advertisement and branding,

  • triple driving-under-the-influence fines by the court,

  • resident fee similar to a utility tax,

  • tax or fee on all alcohol sold in the city,

  • tax or fee on all ammunition sold in, the city,

  • public safety fees on all new development in the city,

  • 9-1-1 fee per use,

  • police department website with business advertisement for support,

  • selling ride-a-longs to the public, and police department–run firearm safety classes. 
It has been suggested that part of the problem in Ferguson was the towns reliance on police tickets to keep their budget intact and as a result there were many people who were in essence "imprisoned" in their homes as a result of outstanding warrants on tickets they could not afford to pay.
http://harvardlawreview.org/2015/04/policing-and-profit/
People may feel desperate knowing they will be financially destroyed when a police officer pulls them over.
As far as the Philando Castile shooting, it may have been a broken tail light or that he looked like a suspect in a robbery that got them pulled over. Putting a gun in a window with a woman and child in a car seems pretty extreme.
Then we have another shooting in Louisiana, Alton Sterling. He was selling CD's and allegedly threatened the person who called the police with a gun. From there chaos ensues and that man has bullets in his back and chest.
I could hardly believe it when the next day I see the horror that unfolds in Dallas. Five Police officers are killed, by an Army veteran, However, the carnage did not stop there, also shootings in Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia and Houston. 
It's going to be a long hot summer. 
Then we have Mr. Law and Order Trump, who will make America safe again. I think I've heard all this before. This was when Richard Nixon started the war on drugs. We all know what a success that was. 
 President Obama is coming back early from Europe to address racial and policing issues. President Obama was meeting with NATO. We now have armed forces in Poland, Romania, Estonia, why? Let's just hope our President who now has his sights set on Russia, can use his Nobel Peace Prize skills creating peace here in America, before he goes poking a bee's nest with a stick in Putin's backyard. 


3 comments:

  1. Hi Patricia, just stopped by for the read ... an excellent viewpoint here from you ... this is the reality, frankly, our politics is in the shitter too these dayz ... left or right, it's all crap, of course the right is more evil than the left so to speak ... but what are the Presidential choices this year? ... oligarchy or fascism? ... enough from me. I havent done a posing yet on this Dallas ordeal (but will), but there's a flip- side to that too ... all of this could have been easily prevented. Have a good one Patricia!

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    1. They don't want it prevented. As long as we are divided by color, political parties, class, it keeps us from uniting and getting rid of the whole insane structure. Thanks for stopping by Ranch, see you on your blog!

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