The Adventures in Policing Thread Part II

During BLM a stat came out about New York City. They pay out, on average, almost $200K per day because of police misconduct.

Really puts into perspective just how damaging the cops are.

 

It also puts into perspective how crap our legal system is in that it's cheaper to settle than it is to fight something in court.

I know one guy who filed a completely frivolous lawsuit after being legitimately arrested for interfering with someone else's traffic stop.

The Federal Court found that the cops had probable cause to arrest him and that there was no excessive force used but in the meantime the city ran up $200k in legal fees.

It would have been cheaper for the city to just give him $50k to go away. There's a whole YouTube community now that engineer confrontations with police so they can sue and hopefully get a payday.

There's another guy called "Rogue Nation" who's filed about 15 lawsuits, in the hope of a payday, most of which he doesn't follow up if the city doesn't immediately settle.

He once got a $50k payout, which he converted into silver because he doesn't trust banks, and it was stolen.

 

Oh dear:
New York City’s police commissioner expected to step down amid a federal investigation, sources say

Caban’s departure comes days after it was first reported that investigators with the US attorney’s office for New York’s Southern District had seized his electronic devices and phones.

Should be hearing a bit more about this in a few minutes.

 

There is a long and storied history of NYC mayors who fled abroad in the hours before they were indicted. I hope Eric Adams considers it.

 

Walker stayed in Europe until he was sure he wouldn't be prosecuted. O'Dwyer was appointed as Ambassador to Mexico which is hardly "fleeing".

 

He rolled up the window before the cop was done asking questions.

If the link posted above is true, that is illegal.

 

It sounds like Hill understand that he also fvcked up in that encounter.

But social media warriors are not going to admit that.

 

I'm always hopeful.

 

...unless you're black.

 

They coulda had Maya Wiley. For some reason they went with dumbass Adams

1834432639073243270 is not a valid tweet id

 

None of this justifies cops wrestling him to the ground and cuffing him.

There’s no excuse. But please, continue talking.

 

We don't often have stories that end with a happy ending here in the Adventures in Policing thread, but here's one:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/09/14/alabama-traffic-stop-rutledge-brown/

 

Paywall... just post a sentence or two of one's own, can't we please??

 

Alabama state trooper J.T. Brown saw a brown Toyota Tacoma speed by him on a highway, so he pulled the car over.

Behind the wheel was a 20-year-old woman. She was terrified.


“My heart sank, because I had no money and couldn’t pay the ticket,” said Abbie Jo Rutledge, who, at the time, was working for a beverage company as a merchandiser, and was barely getting by financially. She was on the job when she got pulled over that day in August 2022.


Brown could sense Rutledge’s distress.

“She was a young person, and obviously she was super nervous,” he recalled. “I try to make the experience not so stressful, because it is nerve-racking.”

After Brown took down Rutledge’s driver’s license, registration and insurance information, he offered some small talk. He asked her about her career, and she told him she was lost in life.

He spent a few minutes listening to her.

“We sat there and talked,” Brown said.

In their 15-minute conversation, Brown learned that Rutledge had ambitions of becoming a health-care professional, such as a nurse or a surgical technologist, but was putting off schooling to make some money.

Brown — who graduated from the surgical technology program at Bevill State Community College in 2013, though did not pursue a career in health care — encouraged Rutledge to go after her professional goals as soon as she could, and not give up on them.

Then, he made her a deal.

“I told her, ‘If you promise me that you’ll chase it, that you’ll chase your dream and go for it, then I won’t write you a ticket,’” said Brown, who went back to his car and printed out a warning for Rutledge.


Rutledge was stunned. She was expecting a speeding ticket, not life advice.

“That cop pulled me over and was more concerned about my career path instead of my driving habits,” she said.

The two parted ways, and neither expected to cross paths again.

Brown said he often has conversations with people about their challenges, and he offers advice when he can, so the day didn’t particularly stand out to him.

He hoped his words might make a difference in her life, but he had no idea that she would start working toward her professional goals immediately after the traffic stop.

As soon as Rutledge reached her next destination that day, she called her mother — an instructor at Bevill State Community College in Jasper — and told her about her interaction with the officer. Rutledge’s mother — who, they later realized, was one of Brown’s instructors in school — helped her register for the same surgical technology program Brown completed, and she began her studies in August 2023, after taking the basic required courses.

Rutledge kept the warning ticket Brown wrote her in her glove box, and later a keepsake box, as a reminder of the day she decided to make a change in her life.

On Aug. 6, two years after Brown wrote Rutledge the warning, she graduated from the program and fulfilled her promise. In a surprise to Rutledge, Brown attended her graduation ceremony, and presented her with her certificate.

“My mother got a hold of him and invited him,” Rutledge said, adding that she often thought of him and his words of encouragement over the past two years. “I wanted him to see the impact he had on me, and to show him that I took his words to heart.”

Brown said it was an honor for him to be there and witness Rutledge’s success.

“That was probably one of the most humbling times ever in my life,” said Brown, a father of two boys, ages 7 and 3, with another on the way. “I was super, super proud.”

On Aug. 6, two years after Brown wrote Rutledge the warning, she graduated from the program and fulfilled her promise. In a surprise to Rutledge, Brown attended her graduation ceremony, and presented her with her certificate.

“My mother got a hold of him and invited him,” Rutledge said, adding that she often thought of him and his words of encouragement over the past two years. “I wanted him to see the impact he had on me, and to show him that I took his words to heart.”

Brown said it was an honor for him to be there and witness Rutledge’s success.

“That was probably one of the most humbling times ever in my life,” said Brown, a father of two boys, ages 7 and 3, with another on the way. “I was super, super proud.”

“All the guys that I work with and that I’m around on a daily basis are just like me,” he said. “They do the same thing that I’d done that day, they just haven’t gotten recognized for it.”

Brown said he believes traffic stops can be an opportunity to have a positive impact on someone’s life, though he recognizes that there have been many incidents across the country when they have turned violent.

He said he hopes that his experience with Rutledge — which was first reported by the Daily Mountain Eagle — reinforces that not all officers are the same.

“I can be that light to show people, don’t judge all of us because of a few of us,” he said.

Rutledge now works as a surgical technician at UAB Hospital-Highlands in Birmingham.

 

Thanks, and that was way worth it...

 

Not trying to be confrontational but source/link? I am trying to imagine the premiums police departments (or their respective cities) would have to pay in order for a company to profitably insure against misconduct. There may be some departments that can get insurance…but NYPD?

 

Your life for a subway fare….

Eric, you need to resign now because why are you framing this story like this? I man "evaded" paying a $2.90 subway and your NYPD hunted him down with guns, shot him, shot another officer, and shot at innocent New Yorkers who were taking the same subway. YOU + NYPD are the issue pic.twitter.com/xtkcDdQivW

— luca (@LucaGuadagnegro) September 16, 2024

 

I realize a potential law passed by congress enforcing minimum standards on all state and local law enforcement would likely not pass SCOTUS…particularly this one..:it sure would be nice if congress could pass a law that makes them voluntary….and prohibits federal funding to states that don’t enact those minimum standards….similar to the manner that the drinking age was raised. Have a national database of fired police officers and withhold some sort of funding for states that refuse to register their officers or hire ones not on the registry.