Already a thread on this in the social lounge ...
This seems to be the most appropriate place for such a thread. It's current news and certainly falls within the alert category. Maybe the admins could merge the other thread into this one?
Many police officers today, especially the younger ones, have an "US AGAINST THEM" mentality and this pattern of thought doesn't come from nowhere. It's taught to them in their training at either the police academies or is put into their heads by colleagues much like hazing is performed in high school and college sports.
Now most here don't know that I was the victim of an attack by the University of South Alabama Campus Police Department for no reason whatsoever back in 1996 in Mobile, Alabama. The City of Mobile Police Department and one of its officers got sucked unwittingly into a criminal conspiracy based upon lies and criminally negligent malfeasance, but soon learned of it through the city's hostage negotiator some hours later (I was being held, and was the, hostage in my own home by the City's SWAT team) when I suggested to the negotiator that one of the officers claiming I committed some crime go wake up a judge and
SWEAR UNDER OATH that I committed some crime I would then exit the safety of my own home to "talk to them outside." They of course had no intention of merely talking and once a real warrant was obtain albeit based upon perjured testimony, I did leave my home only to be choked nearly unconscious or killed by a member of the City's SWAT team before he patting me down. I had followed every order they gave upon exiting without hesitation.
Sgt. Gerald Malone, formerly of the University of South Alabama Police Department actually created a forged warrant signing a judge's name\signature to said forged document without consulting that judge and then tried to pass it off as legitimate. He actually told the hostage negotiator that, and I quote, "We can trick him out." Thank God the City of Mobile's Police Department hostage negotiator at the time (a seemingly honorable and decent man as I remember him which might sound odd coming from an innocent man in my previously untenable position) was familiar with that judge's signature and recognized something was amiss. It was just a continuation of what I had been subject to by the USA campus security and their officers that evening and he saw then that the City had been duped and lied to and that just maybe what I had been telling him over the previous four hours was in fact the truth and that I had committed no crime worthy of having my home surrounded by their SWAT team with a sniper itching to take a head shot and put this freedom minded, Inalienable Rights demanding man down in an eternal sense.
While not all police officers or sheriff's deputies are 'bad' or corrupt, the problem arises when the good and honest officers attempt to do the right thing when they see corruption or criminal behavior among their own ranks. In most cases those honorable and decent men are ostracized by their fellow officers, many times are deliberately put in harms way, or are left to their own devices and wits when they come into contact with a felonious criminal or situation where they need immediate backup but that backup is very, very slow to arrive if it arrives at all or in time.
So instead of having to suffer through such behavior and isolation they remain silent and do not cross that unspoken (publicly anyway) "
blue line" everyone is all too familiar with as the phrase is characterized and labeled. I can count on one hand the good, decent, and honorable officers I've encountered over the years. Changes are being made with the City of Mobile Police Department as this is being written. Not sure what is going on on campus as long as they remain on campus.
Even after my unfortunate experiences with this one department, I realize they caught pulled into a bad situation through the lies and fabrications of another department and while I was furious and deeply depressed after this event for at least a couple of years afterward seeing how Due Process had been dispensed with and saw nothing but corruption around me, I have recently praised this same department (City of Mobile Police Department) and at least two of its officers for their professionalism while going about my private business while grocery shopping and open carrying at the same time. Two separate officers from this department most assuredly saw me open carrying but not being a nutjob and comporting myself as the professional that I am, I completed my shopping unmolested, and left arriving home safely.
Of all people who would have an axe to grind with the police it would be me, but now with time passed I can separate my emotions from the reality that I see around me today. I believe the City has trained their officers on open carry laws as has the sheriff's department. I hope that all of the officers in both departments, if faced with a situation where they see corruption and wrong doing among their ranks, have the intestinal fortitude to report it and see that the law is respected and applied equally to all including those in their departments.
This should demonstrate that I am an honorable man myself even those previous bad experiences would not stop me from praising an officer if I see acting in a professional manner deserving of such praise publicly along with the department they serve within. I would like to see the "US AGAINST THEM" mentality dispensed with but keep in mind the type of people these officers have to deal with on a daily basis. Most are repeat offenders and felons at that notwithstanding my disdain for money making operations like check points and ticket quotas (if the latter exist) which are little more than revenue generating schemes.
It's my hope that the apparent positive change I see locally will continue and the officers receive all proper training on the Inalienable Rights that we Americans possess as a result of our Creator and not the result of some privilege given us by a group of men claiming authority over the populace because they are holding government offices. For some, government has become their God and every edict issued from it their dogma.
You can read about my experiences cited above here if you're interested and just in case you might have some questions as to why a SWAT team had surrounded my home.
1.
Mobile Man Sues USA and City Police for Violating His Civil Rights
2.
Mobile Man Sues USA and City Police: An Update
EDIT: I'd swear I had some spelling virus. Edited for spelling and clarification.
