Dozens arrested in third night of protest

[Valjean]

I suppose any situation where there's no injury, no damage, no clear and present danger, and the alleged violation is insignificant, innocuous, and/or minimal.

That's part of the problem. Police officers seem to be laboring under the delusion that if they let anything go or otherwise don't come down hard on any and all picayune violators, it will lead to anarchy.

They're anarchophobic., obsessed with order and propriety. They seem to think their purpose is to keep people in line and maintain orderliness. Law is just an afterthought.

 

[Revoltingest]

Just the opposite. The corrupt public officials have friends in the private sector.

Public officials manage to be corrupt all on their own.
(Been a big problem in my town.)
Why share the wealth, eh.

 

[Suave]

I'd like robotic traffic enforcers to identify traffic violaters to whom unarmed robocops would issue traffic citations. Imo, there should be no interaction between systemically racist white privileged human police officers and traffic violaters.

My dear R F comrades, please meet a police robot, the future of. traffic law enforcement.

 

[Trailblazer]

Expired plates (if that's the reason) doesn't strike me as trivial or a "pretext". I certainly wouldn't spend money to renew plates
if I knew I'd never be stopped for it.

A little over a year ago, I was driving with plates that had been expired for three years and I did not know it because I rarely ever drove that car and I had lost track.... You cannot even imagine the look in my face when the officer told me how long they had been expired, but apparently he believed my story, which was true, that I never drive the car, because there was so much moss all over it you could not even see the color of the paint! That was a very nice officer because he could have given me a huge fine, but instead he gave me the minimum fine which was about 136. and that was less than if I had I renewed my plates for all those three years. However, it was not really my fault, as the DMV made an error and I never got a renewal in the mail since they sent it to the wrong address. I figured that out later but I was not going to contest the ticket because I was lucky I got off that easy.

 

[Trailblazer]

I can accept the possibility that the shooting was an accident and that the police officer may not have intended to kill this person. But the fact that they pulled him over in the first place and the BS reasons for doing so - that was no accident. This is what should be addressed.

Imo, pulling him over is not what needs to be addressed, what happened after that is what needs to be addressed.
Even if the shooting was an accident the officer should be prosecuted, because a man is dead because of that officer.

I do not blame the protesters one bit, this violence on people of color has to stop. I was pulled over for plates that had been expired for three years and I was not treated like that man was. I never even had to get out of the car. I got a ticket and that was that, and the officer even felt sorry for me that he had to give it because he knew I was telling the truth when I told him I hardly ever drive that car.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Expired plates (if that's the reason) doesn't strike me as trivial
or a "pretext". I certainly wouldn't spend money to renew plates
if I knew I'd never be stopped for it.

They couldn't send something in the mail?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Imo, pulling him over is not what needs to be addressed, what happened after that is what needs to be addressed.
Even if the shooting was an accident the officer should be prosecuted, because a man is dead because of that officer.

I do not blame the protesters one bit, this violence on people of color has to stop. I was pulled over for plates that had been expired for three years and I was not treated like that man was. I never even had to get out of the car. I got a ticket and that was that, and the officer even felt sorry for me that he had to give it because he knew I was telling the truth when I told him I hardly ever drive that car.

We really do need to evaluate why people get pulled over and the threshold for that. Sending a text at a red light or having an air freshener dangling from the rearview mirror and other such trivial things shouldn't warrant being pulled over, but all it takes is a bully with a badge to see you.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Dozens arrested in 3rd night of protest over Daunte Wright's death - UPI.com

As I understand it, the reason for the traffic stop was an expired license plate. Whenever the police stop people on piddly violations like this under the pretext of "law enforcement," I have to wonder: Is it really worth it?

I can accept the possibility that the shooting was an accident and that the police officer may not have intended to kill this person. But the fact that they pulled him over in the first place and the BS reasons for doing so - that was no accident. This is what should be addressed.

Should police officers be banned from making frivolous traffic stops like this? Unless they can show a clear and present danger (excessive speed, swerving, reckless driving, etc.), they really shouldn't be stopping anybody. Besides, the police departments don't have the resources to just let officers idly patrol the streets looking for random people to pull over. How many murders have gone unsolved? How many burglaries or auto thefts which they haven't made an arrest or returned property to their rightful owners? If they haven't solved all the crimes still on the books, then they have no business wasting police resources on piddly little traffic stops like this.

He had also failed to appear in court for a gun violation of some kind. I think that automatically results in an arrest warrant.

 

[RestlessSoul]

I watched Spike Lee’s ‘Do The Right Thing’ last night. Thought it might not have stood the rest of time too well, but it has. Too well.

 

[Altfish]

Define "Frivolous"

 

[Altfish]

This wouldn't be happening if the US had sensible gun control.

We have corrupt/useless policemen/women in the UK but nowhere near the number of deaths

 

[We Never Know]

That's a really good point. Getting a ticket via the mail would be just as effective as pulling someone over without all the potential violence.

Where I live, if people run a red light a camera takes a picture and you get sent a ticket in the mail. Not sure why a cop couldn't just take a picture of a plate and send a ticket in the mail that way.

Edit: At least, in the case of expired tabs.

Getting a ticket by mail then requires a fine to be paid by mail or a court appearance. If the defendant doesn't comply to either a warrant will be issued. Then what?

 

[We Never Know]

Expired plates (if that's the reason) doesn't strike me as trivial
or a "pretext". I certainly wouldn't spend money to renew plates
if I knew I'd never be stopped for it.

No joke. If you won't be stopped why do it.
I know some will say because its the right thing to do but evidently some don't care about that.

 

[We Never Know]

That's a really good point. Getting a ticket via the mail would be just as effective as pulling someone over without all the potential violence.

Where I live, if people run a red light a camera takes a picture and you get sent a ticket in the mail. Not sure why a cop couldn't just take a picture of a plate and send a ticket in the mail that way.

Edit: At least, in the case of expired tabs.

If a cop had been there and saw you run the red light you would have been pulled over.
The cameras are just $$ generators without cops having to be present.

 

[Twilight Hue]

This generation? Remember the L.A. Riots? There've been many more violent riots before that, too. This isn't a generational thing, imo - goes a little bit deeper than that.

While that's true, we don't riot after every single incident at a moments notice and target stores and shops.

It's more an excuse for people to go out and rob and steal goods.

 

[We Never Know]

That's a really good point. Getting a ticket via the mail would be just as effective as pulling someone over without all the potential violence.

Where I live, if people run a red light a camera takes a picture and you get sent a ticket in the mail. Not sure why a cop couldn't just take a picture of a plate and send a ticket in the mail that way.

Edit: At least, in the case of expired tabs.

Don't forget about these...

Automated License Plate Readers: State Statutes

 

[Ashoka]

"A riot is the language of the unheard" - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

[Subduction Zone]

The poll is problematic because a "frivolous stop" is not explained. Was the stop in Brooklyn Center frivolous? No, an expired tag is not a frivolous stop. And traffic stops are how quite a few dangerous criminals are arrested. Felons that do not respect the laws when it involves other people are also much less likely to obey traffic laws. A person on the run is not apt to go to his regular known haunts. Daunte appears to have been on the run from the law. If one eliminates such stops it will be only that much harder for justice to be served.

 

[We Never Know]

"A riot is the language of the unheard" - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

If Dereck Chauvin is found innocent of the death of George Floyd I'm wondering if we will see riot's greater than the Rodney King riot's.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I suppose any situation where there's no injury, no damage, no clear and present danger, and the alleged violation is insignificant, innocuous, and/or minimal.



That's part of the problem. Police officers seem to be laboring under the delusion that if they let anything go or otherwise don't come down hard on any and all picayune violators, it will lead to anarchy.

Wow! I do believe that you have a highly biased opinion about police. I have not had that sort of problem from police for the few times that I have been pulled over. I am not sure how quickly records show up, but if an officer knows that someone is a frequent offender or if the onboard computer alerts them of that it is not unreasonable for them to "come down hard" on those people.