In view of recent events, are you more or less likely to call the police for assistance?

[CreekDog]

I'm curious.

[Lil Missy]

1. no change. n/t

[Ohio Joe]

2. No change - nt

[RSillsbee]

3. No Change

You should always call the police if only to get your side of the story on paper.

I just don't expect them to get there in time to change anything.


Restated post

[RaleighNCDUer]

27. Why do you assume that talking to them will get your side down on paper?

If they don't like the way you look, your said won't be heard.

[Raine]

34. It's good to have a police report for insurance

purposes, it can help your case.

[RSillsbee]

40. First let's be clear

I call if I'm a victim or if someone attempts to rob me and I use a firearm to defend myself.

If I am a suspect(regardless of guilt or innocence)I say nothing and ask for a lawyer

[Marnie]

46. So anytime you feel like a victim you shoot that person?

Just asking.

[RSillsbee]

48. I have been the victim of ONE attempted mugging as an adult.

The attempt ended when the mugger saw me drawing a handgun from the pocket of my hoodie. No shots were fired, no one was hurt and I wasn't mugged.

Do you feel that this was somehow a bad outcome?

[BiggJawn]

4. less likely.

Half afraid they'll come and kick *MY* ass, half afraid they 're so understaffed they can't respond in a timely manner.

We're on our own, Fellow Babies.

[pinto]

5. No change. Will always call 911 if needed. The pepper spray cop isn't going to change that for me.

Would like to see that one held accountable though... :hi:

[Marnie]

45. Agreed

[Better Believe It]

6. No change. They will show up after their donut break.

[bemildred]

7. No change. nt

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. No change. n/t

[EFerrari]

9. Police contact is dangerous. nt

[obliviously]

13. I hope criminals continue to feel that way.

[lunatica]

10. The Oakland police published a long long list of things they won't respond to

Domestic violence, car theft, petty theft and animal abuse are among them.

So I may call them, but they don't have to come anymore. This is a result of so many being laid off because California is the second worst state with economic problems.

Come to think of it that may be why the use of violence has been so elevated. They had to call cops from a dozen cities in the Bay Area to clean out the Oakland Occupy group. They obviously don't think they can handle things by themselves.

Jesus! If there something worse than cops full of self-confidence it's gotta be cops who are not very confident!

[Lorien]

26. I'm sure they'd come if someone is suspected of smoking a joint, though. nt

[LeftyMom]

29. In Oakland?

:rofl:

No, the city doesn't give a shit about pot. They were going to allow the dispensaries to set up big grow warehouses with city approval, but the feds nixed the idea. There are dispensaries, schools teaching cultivation, and such though. There was a store selling grow supplies (openly, not pretending they were for tomatoes or something) but they closed the Oakland location. Still have one here in Sacto though. :shrug:

[eShirl]

30. Isn't Oaksterdam located in Oakland?

Just a wild guess.

[LeftyMom]

31. That's why I laughed at the idea of weed busts in Oakland.

From the feds, maybe. The local cops no.

[lunatica]

39. I appreciate you're sarcasm but strangely in Oakland that isn't the case

Oakland wanted to take full advantage of the business of pot because it could be taxed when used even for medical reasons. They announced they were going to open quite a few dispensaries with their own license to grow the pot on the premises. Unfortunately it didn't happen because of the Federal Government and it's obsession with marihuana to the exclusion of going after real crimes against humanity. To hell with what the voters said about it.

Would there have been some fallout if they had been successful? Probably, but when isn't there fallout.

[appleannie1]

11. I live at the edge of a county. There are 2 troopers per county. I have been on my own for years.

The last time there was an accident in front of my house, I called emergency services. Fire, ambulance, police and electric company to replace the pole. I took the information of the witnesses and their contact info. The fire police directed traffic for the 4 hours it took for the police to get here because there were wires down. When they finally got here, I gave the trooper the information of the witnesses. If someone breaks into my house, they are dead meat.

[sabrina 1]

12. Less likely!

[safeinOhio]

14. Only change might be

to get a hidden camera first.

[freshwest]

15. I deal with conflicts before things get to that point. If you have to call them, things are already

Out of control. The kind of order that law enforcement brings to a situation is not the way to make peace in the long run. It is usually an adversarial response, creating a winner and a loser. Not always, but generally.

The LEO is taught to think in certain terms, like a surgeon. If you don't want surgery, don't go to one, that's all he knows how to do. If you call a cop, he may be able to negotiate for you, but without funding for neighborhood policing or community outreaches to prevent problems, they are simply the last resort, and they don't know if the caller wants to kill them. Whenever you're at the last resort, you are already pretty much screwed.

A few of the incidents we've seen reported here lately did not in any way require officers trained to take down violent or petty criminals. They just needed help for various things. All of the gray area in government has been hollowed out and the needs that were once met by other agencies are gone.

Much of this has been going on for a long time, since the Reagan era at least. With the destructions of 'institutions' that do help people the only institutions left are punitive ones. They aren't necessarily cheaper to society as a whole, but they make some budgets look good while others suffer.

The profit ratio of hiring uneducated people to handle complex situations that require a university level of education to handle humanely is a major factor of the horrendous stories we hear form the privatization of social services.

There really is no honest profit to be made off of dealing with other people's problems; it's a moral issue, but it's been taken over by business since Nixon and since have run with the meme that 'government should be run like a business.' Which means that it will have a 'profit and loss' statement.

In a democratic and humane society, who determines who will be cut as loss, when it's not profitable for the organization that has the contract? A lot of people have been cut loose, then they end up in situations where the police are called. The police are not there to deal with them, they are there to stop violent criminals.

The police problem may be part of this greater problem. In the past, the distant past for some, I know, when the police were called to a strange situation, other professional were used to shunt the persons who would have been treated as criminal suspects, to places that were more appropriate. A couple of the examples on the board today fell in that category, which is why I'm dwelling on it.

I've talked with police who admit they are untrained to deal with the mentally disabled, mentally ill, traumatized or otherwise confusing and erratic persons they are sent to deal with. They can't tell the difference in the behaviors of these people because they are taught that to not cooperate fully, to not answer questions, is a sign of a criminal trying to hide their crimes. They don't understand that innocent and un-conniving persons aren't always able to interact with them when they are afraid or uncomprehending of what's being asked of them. And they aren't given time to learn, either.

As far as the OWS and other incidents of violent suppression, that is merely a function of the 1% to shut people up from saying the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes; that they don't have the right to do what they are doing to other human beings and the planet. The rulers use law enforcement incorrectly. The orders the LEOs are being given are illegal. Not the people they are sent to arrest and disperse.

[cherokeeprogressive]

16. Dumb question. Who calls the police? I'd call 911 if I needed assistance.

If we're talking about calling someone to my home, I'm betting the 911 call would be more for "them" then for me.

[TorchTheWitch]

23. calling 911 IS calling the police unless it's strictly a medical issue

Who do you think responds to 911 calls? Come on, you know that unless it's strictly a medical problem you're calling about when calling 911 it's police assistance you're calling for.

[cherokeeprogressive]

24. "FIRE! I HAVE A FIRE!" "Calm down Sir... how do we get there?"

"Um, Big Red Truck?"

[Old Codger]

17. Call

And do whatever I must in the meantime, living out in the boonies petty much means "take care of it yourself", for the most part the police are historians.

[Selatius]

18. No change. We never trusted the damn cops in my circle of friends anyway.

We're a minority group of Democrats in a state that is basically a one-party dictatorship of Republicans. Of course the police are going to be less sympathetic if they found out where we lived and our political bent. If we lived in wealthy and gated neighborhoods and had the "right" kind of family names in the area belonging to people whose families were once slave-owning plantation owners and wealthy merchants, we'd be treated pretty well, but being working class stiffs offers us no such benefits.

Many are also armed, one or two heavily so, but that's more a general observation of this state. We defend our homes, and we'll call the police typically after the intruder is dead.

[Rowdyboy]

19. No change

[ismnotwasm]

20. same

In my neighborhood we call them possibly more often than most given the high crime rate. Most cops are cool enough.

Of course we live in the state of privledge called being white, as well as 'legal' whatever that term is supposed to mean when applied to human beings.
We enjoy other forms of privledge. For instance, there was a deaf woman being beated, by her husband. The police were called and hauled her to jail because she could not communicate and her POS husband could.

So nothing has changed I still will call the police if I need to and I still see room for improved--call it accountability.

[TorchTheWitch]

21. no change - my local police are awesome n/t

[emilyg]

22. no change

[Lorien]

25. Less likely, but then I live in Florida where most of the cops are completely corrupt. nt

[Liberty Belle]

28. I called 911 today.

Saw a rollover accident on a country highway - I wouldn't dream of NOT calling for help.

Just because there are some bad cops who go over the edge in a crowd of protesters or Wal-Mart shoppers doesn't mean all cops are bad, or that the beat cop who shows up at your home when it's burglarized is not going to be helpful.

I've had several dealings with cops over the years (car theft, burglary, etc). Their attitudes ranged from helpful to indifferent, but never abusive to me.

Now maybe if I were a minority I'd have a different experience. Twice I've been hassled by Border Patrol (on this side of the border). Both times I had a friend who was a minority (one black, one Native American); the BP shoved guns in our faces and hassled us for no reason, until I showed them a press pass and asked if I could interview their superior. Then they waved us on through.


Yeah, some cops go overboard going after people they perceive as bad guys, but most want to help people when they can. I'm more worried about the budget cuts that have made response times longer and longer, and all the OT they're working that's putting more stress on the officers.

But I suspect one reason for the rise in police brutality may be the training they receive. Did you know that Blackwater does some training now of police and sheriff personnel? I'd love to see if they trained the cops who went nutso lately ie the one who face-planted the Wal-Mart grandpa or the one who pepper-sprayed the sitting kids at UC Davis. There's a public records request waiting to be written.

[Mimosa]

32. Less likely. n/t

[provis99]

33. no change. I'd never call the cops.

They don't care about whatever happened to you, and they are looking for any excuse to arrest you when they get there.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HappyMe]

36. No change.

I'll still call if I need to.

[Union Scribe]

37. Much less likely.

In the past I have sometimes fallen for the "this is an isolated incident and most cops are good" lines. But never again. I know there are some good cops, but I don't know what ones I'll come in contact with, so I'd rather not even tempt fate.

[a kennedy]

38. I'll just post this......from a 09-21-09 DU post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6598990

[JNelson6563]

42. I remember that well. Made my loved ones watch video.

[pipi_k]

41. No change, but I just want to add this....

There have been times when the neighbors have been out of control here. Not that they live close or anything, but because we're out here in the woods, some of them think they can do whatever they want.

Like fire weapons in their backyards...shoot guns off in the air...shoot fireworks on holidays (into the woods, for petes sake!!!!)

That sort of thing.

I have wanted to call the cops. Mr Pipi always tells me NOT to.

Not because he's afraid of the cops. He is a retired cop himself.

You know what he's afraid of?

Retaliation from the neighbors. That is a very sad thing, and I would imagine that when he was working he probably saw/heard of lots of cases where people called the police and the neighbors/culprits retaliated in some way.

We see that all the time in urban areas where someone commits a crime and the police come out to investigate. Nobody wants to admit to having seen or heard anything. Not because they're afraid of the cops. They are afraid of their neighbors.

OK, so people can go on all they want to about how they "can't trust the cops", but so many more can't even trust their own damned neighbors.

[Starry Messenger]

43. I never call them.

[rucky]

44. More likely. Now we know what happens...

when they don't have anything better to do.

[coalition_unwilling]

47. Hah! That's a good one! Thanks - n/t

[ladjf]

49. It appears to me that the 911 responders are much more sympathetic

than the riot police. nt