Washington, D.C. has a new name - City of Cops

[donsu]

http://www.counterpunch.com/cassel07042003.html

What is happening to my hometown is heart breaking.

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Fenced Out on Independence Day
Fucking Furious on the Fourth

-snip-

Beginning at National Airport all the way to the bridges, double wooden fence had been erected between the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the river. People would have to enter through "checkpoints."

There were cops at the marina, cops at the airport. On the bike path itself, which runs between the Potomac River and the Parkway, there were cops on foot ("passing on the left," I yelled, for which I got a threatening look), cops on bikes. To my left, on the grass, cops on horses. To my right, in the river, cops in boats. On the riverbank, cops in tents, cops in trucks. Overhead, cops in helicopters.

To my surprise, Memorial Bridge, which lies at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, was closed to cars. Bikes could get in. But not before passing through "security." As I stood deciding what to do, cops approached me. Step forward, ma'm, he said. I looked at him. Did you hear me? I heard you, I said. What's this all about? I don't answer questions, I just do my job. Step forward. By then, several cops, menacing looking, too, surrounded me. Not your typical nice park police. Get off the bike, one said, and I did. He unzipped the carrier, took out the wallet and cell phone, and told me to step aside and come through the metal detector. Then I got the "wand treatment." You can leave now.
-snip-
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This is OUR city and I'm all for taking it back.

[zoidberg]

1. I had no problem with the DC cops

I went through a checkpoint on the east side of the Mall. The PG County policeman looked through my backpack and told me to have a nice day. It's amazing how human-like policemen can be when you don't treat them like crap.

[demnan]

2. The security around this city is actually impeding progress

God help us if we have a real emergency such as a biological attack or something. We'd all be trapped in the city by panicing police.

And some of them aren't wrapped too tight, you know?

[plurality]

3. the security was a pain in the ass

especially if you had to leave for a second 'cause then you'd have to wait for half an hour to get back through the checkpoint, but the worst were all the 'jesus' tents. I have no problem with Christians or with them handing out flyers at events, but I do have a problem with the fact that no other groups had tents and a blaring sound system. I might have enjoyed the 4th a little bit more if I didn't have to hear the founders created this nation as a Christian nation blaring in my ears for 6 hours straight.

[zoidberg]

4. I was by a pro-pot rally

Didn't see any 'Jesus' tents. There could have been more vendors, all the ones around me ran out of water. Fireworks were great, people were having a good time. Bugs were a bitch, but that's what happens when it rains for eighty days in a row.

[plurality]

7. damn I wish I had seen that!

I was on the side facing towards downtown. Was the weed area closer to the river? And yes, the bugs were a bitch, but I gave 'em a nice breath of nicotine and other carcinogins every chance I got, that helped keep them away. :smoke: (Of course I wish I had the better kind, damn not being able to find a hook up since moving out here!)

[zoidberg]

9. I was on the Vietnam Wall side of the Reflecting Pool

I'm not sure how big the rally was, but they had loud speakers and the guy speaking was very articulate (nothing like having a stereotypical stoner up there trying to convert the masses). It was kind of funny because there was a DEA intern in the group I was with. It's like they were taunting him. :D

It was my first 4th in DC and the fireworks were amazing.

[rman]

5. are you suggesting the topic starter treated cops like crap?

.

[zoidberg]

6. Not at all, I'm suggesting the person who wrote the article is anti-cop

It wasn't exactly a state secret that there were going to be check points to get onto the Mall on the 4th of July. They check your bags to go into museums and stadiums, so it isn't really an affront to the Bill of Rights to check bags when you are going to be in a confined space with 200,000 people. Where I walked in, nobody was having any problems. I actually saw a couple people thank the cops for doing their jobs on a holiday. There are many times when you should complain about a police state - this wasn't one of those times.

[jafap]

8. I am hijacking this thread - take me to Cuba

This thread seems to be related to a question I want to ask - how do you feel about cops?

America is such a police-state. On a typical two mile drive you might see two or three police cars. This is in a town of 30,000. In my one week in Europe, I only saw the police once (besides airport security). That was at night in a train station, and I was happy they were there.

Being a small guy I look at them as the authorities to protect me from bullies and thugs. On the other hand, it seems like all the times I have been bullied since high school graduation - the cop has been the bully, or the thug has been the cop. Another poster said that it is amazing how nice they can be when you treat them like humans, but it is also frightening and outrageous how nasty they can be when you have the wrong color skin, hair that's too long, an untrimmed beard, or a car that isn't fancy, etc.

Like in the article, they also think they can boss you around. I feel that since they work for me, that they need to mind their manners. They are jumpy maybe because they worry about getting shot, but alot of us get jumpy too when large armed people are barking at us. Another story on Counterpunch was about some cops who started beating up a bunch of bicyclists in Buffalo. Too many police seem to think that the badge gives them the right to break all of the laws they are supposed to be enforcing, and too many DAs and judges are agreeing.

[RememberTheCoup]

10. Well, you could always start your own thread :-)

...but this is related to the original post, so I wouldn't worry about it.

As to your question, I predict you will get a lot of strong viewpoints on both sides of that question, and I think both sides will be correct. Police have dangerous jobs protecting and serving the public. In addition, I believe most cops actually tend to vote Democratic (because they know Democrats support reasonable gun control laws and are the ones who always support increased funding for police). On the other hand, there are some who abuse their position. In some cities and localities, entire police forces may be corrupt. It does no good to make blanket statements about police. Obviously we cannot do without them. If there's anything to be done to improve the situation, it probably has mainly to do with training and internal monitoring (policing the police) as well as doing the things that make all labor forces work better -- improving salaries, benefits, and job safety.

[Michael Daniels]

11. I had no problem with cops

I avoided the Mall like it was the plague but I went to other areas earlier where they had check points and the cops were professional and courteous in doing their job.

Like another poster said, it wasn't any secret that security was going to be tight and the papers and t.v were pretty thorough about areas that were going to be closed off.

Personally, given the incompetence of the DC police force on a typical day I thought they did a good job on the 4th.

[jiacinto]

12. Well

I live in DC. While I find the security checkpoints annoying a lot of the time, when I sit down and actually think about it, I realize that they are an unfortunate necessary presence these days. Just imagine the flack that they would get if something bad happened and there weren't enough cops.