Officer punches girl in face...

[coffiend]

sorry but I cant agree with you on that one TLyttle, although I dont smoke weed, I dont feel that it should be an illegal substance, and I do make my voice heard on that every chance I get.

You're saying that profiling is okay and pulling over young people without any real reasonable cause other than their age is okay because they are more accident prone?

well... if a study showed that more Honda got in accidents than Toyotas do you think that an officer should pull over every Honda he/she can? how is profiling young people any different than pulling over a black person for being black? or a hispanic for being hispanic? etc. etc.

it is no different. If an officer doesnt have any reasonable cause to pull an individual (a person is doing something illegal) then they should mind their own business and find something to do that is actually helping the community, thats all there is to it.

If thats how things were, my respect would be restored, but unfortunately that is never going to happen.

[Astroman]

There is not one reported case of anyone dying from smoking weed.

[STC]

Originally Posted by Astroman

There is not one reported case of anyone dying from smoking weed.

Yeppers!

This is propaganda controlled by the MSM (Mainstream Media). These lies (misinformation, disinformation) are only use to confuse the public into thinking weed is bad and leads to more dangerous drug use. This propaganda is specifically for helping the interests of the Big Tobacco, Alcohol, and Pharmaceutical Industries trans-nationally. You don't want to mess with these establishments and cut-out their business! Oh, and cigerretes, chew, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals... all legal substances and drugs are far more disasterous and detrimental to the well being of people than pot. They actually KILL!

I'm a conservative... and I don't smoke weed. Yet, I also don't think it should be illegal and all the harsh penalties placed ontop of it! The "War on Drugs" is a complete joke... a total lie!

Cheers!

[djct_watt]

Originally Posted by coffiend

sorry but I cant agree with you on that one TLyttle, although I dont smoke weed, I dont feel that it should be an illegal substance, and I do make my voice heard on that every chance I get.

You're saying that profiling is okay and pulling over young people without any real reasonable cause other than their age is okay because they are more accident prone?

well... if a study showed that more Honda got in accidents than Toyotas do you think that an officer should pull over every Honda he/she can? how is profiling young people any different than pulling over a black person for being black? or a hispanic for being hispanic? etc. etc.

it is no different. If an officer doesnt have any reasonable cause to pull an individual (a person is doing something illegal) then they should mind their own business and find something to do that is actually helping the community, thats all there is to it.

If thats how things were, my respect would be restored, but unfortunately that is never going to happen.

That makes sense. . . but you have to get into the definition of stereotyping and profiling. IE, to pull someone over who is in a beat up low rider, neon lights, with thumping bass, in a neighborhood where those kinds of cars just don't exist would probably be warranted. However, pulling over a black guy just because he is black is not, especially if it's a black guy in a suit driving a Ferrari. However, if you see some kid all dressed in Fubu and gold chains, driving a Smart car like he stole it. . . there might be a chance he did.

In a sense, you have to profile criminals and criminal behavior/red flags. Sometimes racial lines cross into the statistics (ie, odds are most people who dress "urban" in certain neighborhoods will likely be a minority), but profiling COMPLETELY on race IS a bad idea. A lot of judgement and discretion should be used. . .

. . . another scenario would be 3AM, a big group of youths walking, dressed in stereotypical rebel type clothing should probably deserve a second look (maybe not a full stop, but a second look, and a full stop if other things are noticed). However, a bunch of nerds dressed in star trek uniforms at 10PM probably do not need to be bothered.

Judgement and discretion is a critical part of cops' job, and without the ability to use them, a cop would be pretty much be useless.

It's easy to be against a police state where you are subject to search, but when I was living in Sacramento, my roommate's car was broken into 6 times in 1 year. My bicycle had been stolen. Another friend had his motorcycle stolen. My neighbor was raped. My friend and I were assaulted by a group of 10 drunk @#(*$#$@#$'s. I was lucky enough to not get badly injured, but my friend was hospitalized. I never committed any crimes, and I'd prefer to be "inconvenienced" if it meant that my friend didn't have to have his head bashed in and his face torn open. And you know what, there were tons of cops in the area. We even had a police station a few blocks away. But the thing is, most criminals (even the most stupid ones) will not commit a crime directly in front of an officer. . .

As long as things are kept reasonable, professional, and courteous, I am all over prevention methods, especially if they work.

It's easy to be against police when you never really fall victim to serious crimes.