If we had a real AG, that was concerned for all cases of injustice instead of just those he can paint as racist, we might impress him with this plethora of videos and see something positive done...

Zen, I am sure it probably exists somewhere, but I would also be very interested in being able to video and audio record these types of encounters where the data is instantly streamed to some device apart from my phone. There's bound to be an app somewhere that will record and simultaneously save the data to a cloud server, but I haven't been able to find it. If you do find a good one, please share that information. I don't want some jackass with a badge seizing my device for evidence. If it is simultaneously saved to the cloud, then they can't "accidentally" delete the evidence that incriminates them.

On another note regarding video/audio recording of the police, why is it that cops are so dead set on not wearing body mics and cams as part of their uniforms?

Does anyone doubt that if Officer Darren Wilson's account of what happened in Ferguson, MO, the day he shot Michael Brown were caught on video/audio that town would not have burned? I don't know if Officer Wilson's account is true or not, but I would love to be able to judge for myself without having to simply take his word for it. If Michael Brown really did the stuff that Officer Wilson said he did and it was recorded on video, that town would not have gone up in flames.

How about the shooting of Robert Crawford III? That was the guy toting around a BB gun in a WalMart. Police claim that they told him to drop the weapon, but the store surveillance video suggests they came in hard and immediately gunned him down on sight. I understand their aggressive stance with him, but I am not sold on the need to pull the trigger the nanosecond they saw him. It did not appear to me that there was ever any attempt to communicate with him at all. If they did try and he reacted badly, then let the chips fall where they fall, but in my heart of hearts, I don't think they ever gave him a chance.

Same thing with Tamir Rice. I understand the hard approach they took, although I think there were better ways of handling that situation than driving up within 10 feet of a suspect in possession of a gun and screaming for 2 seconds before gunning him down. Doing it the way that they did was absolutely guaranteed to get somebody killed that day be it the cop(s) or the dumbass kid with the pellet gun. The better way top have handled that call would have been by pulling up 50 yards away with and AR-15 and a bullhorn from behind the cover of the squad car, as there was no imminent threat at that time.

I wish, in both cases (Crawford III and Tamir Rice) that the squad car and/or the officers had video/audio recording devices to help corroborate the officer's stories in those cases. In Rice's case, I'd also like to know what the cops were talking about and doing in the 4 minutes when they left him there bleeding to death. The video from a distance proves that they certainly were not making any attempt to administer first aid to the 12 year old kid they just shot in the gut.

The only reason this case with Mr. Vasquez gets any attention at all is that is recorded for all to see on the dashcam video. Without that, Officer Robinson writes up a bogus report with a few choice falsehoods, and WHAMMO, Mr. Vasquez is convicted of assaulting an officer of the law, resisting arrest, and whatever other BS they could think of all the while making Robinson the department hero for the day. Further, the statistics mentioned by Technocracy in an earlier post get padded a little more.

Recording devices would weed out the trash from our police force more surely and accurately than an army of internal affairs cops who also wear the badge. Additionally, it would be a helluva lot cheaper to buy that tech than to continually pay out the kinds of settlements that Mr. Vasquez is sure to get. If cops know that their Blue Wall of silence has effectively been dismantled, then the bad cops would be gone and the supposed good cops who never had the balls or brains to rat out the bad ones could be real good cops again.

True enough, but we let them be better at it than we are.

What was the quote in Forrest Gump? Something like 'Stupid is as stupid does'.

You know that is not actually a crime, right? Are you somehow suggesting that I should be beaten to within an inch of my life for not actually committing a crime?

You know that moral high ground you think that you have? Well, you just lost it. Hope you're proud of yourself. It takes a real concerted effort to say something that dumb.

There is no gray area here. You are just wrong all the way around. There is no need for me to debate any of your points, because they are wholly without merit from start to finish.

I do have one question for you, though. You seem hell bent on blaming Mr. Vazquez for this beating by continually citing the fact that he stepped out of his car. My question is regarding exactly which part of the criminal code you think Mr. Vasquez violated by stepping out of his car? My contention is that while it may not necessarily be advisable, it is not against the law. Further, while he was out his car, he made no aggressive moves whatsoever toward Officer Robinson. You and Robbie have continually repeated that claim, but after viewing the video a dozen times or so, I never once saw anything remotely aggressive that Mr. Vasquez did. Perhaps you would like to cite the exact time within the video that proves that Mr. Vasquez needed to have his teeth kicked in because I would love to see this phantom aggressive move you keep talking about. Keep in mind that you saying it's true and it actually being true aren't necessarily the same thing. The actual facts matter more than the convenient ones that you have invented in your mind to be able to make this absurd argument of yours. Anybody with eyes, ears and a brain can see that you are wrong.

Also, I have to say that I haven't laughed so hard in the last few months as when I read this gem from you. "... you are going to face the stout opposition of self-defense." I swear that I can't tell whether you are a comedian, a talking head for one of the major political parties or just some starry eyed cop groupie/apologist when you say something that blatantly ridiculous. With that, you simply have no credibility here. You just can't say something that stupid and be taken seriously.

Here we have gas tax , registrations fees and general fund money that goes into construction and repairs. I also don't have a problem with paying for the roads but it could all be done through a fuel tax or the general fund and not require annual renewals. They would not need so many employees if there was not an annual renewal. Privatizing would solve the problem if it were not for cronyism.

Unfortunately, cops are empowered to butt into our lives as part of their duties of enforcing laws. With the number of laws on the books, no matter how obscure, *everyone* is a criminal every day in some way. And the police can invent accusations if all else fails. Like the woman driver who stopped to record an arrest and was told to move along. But a cop was blocking her way. If she doesn't move, she is disobeying orders; if she moves, she is accused of trying to run him down. You can't win; they are better at the game than any of us.

The difference is, we didn't butt into the cops' lives and threaten them first.

Unless you're in a position to fight him (and I don't think anybody is), it's better to put up with their BS (but film them if you can) until they leave the scene. Then write up and sign a complaint and send it to his agency, with copies to the media, and maybe other agencies or politicians if you want them to intervene.

You may not win, but at least a judge won't beat you up for arguing with them.

I'm sure it varies a lot from one police agency to another. But even if it's only one officer in 1,000, if his colleagues won't stop him or arrest him for doing it, then effectively they're all guilty.

Around here the car tax goes to pay for things like local street repairs and the state highway patrol. I have no problem with a tax that is really a user fee, and is only charged to people who use the service it pays for (though privatizing would be better and cheaper).

+1 Beav, the only thing I would offer is to not forget that, in fact the cop initiated force when he decided to stop the driver. Any contact with a policeman carries the threat of death, even traffic stops.

How obscene! 'Mr. Vasquez will be more attentive to law enforcement requests'.

Mr. Vasquez will be paid a lot of money by the city to settle his suit and that city's citizens will pay a lot more through their taxes to cover the settlement or increased insurance. The cop may get a slap on the wrist, but his buddies in the locker room will slap him on the back and tell him he did good. Then he'll continue on with his career there or find another job with another city. He might even move on to a Fed job where he can really screw with those evil 'Constitutionalists'.

k, I think you might add that we're also being trained to be subservient or else, and expect and accept privacy invasion as a common, everyday event, along with checkpoints and that 'rights' don't exist in actuality.

I've done that a dozen times throughout the nation, unless I'm in traffic. I stop at the rear of my car and wait for the cop and then ask him what the problem is, on equal footing. I am not subservient nor am I aggressive until he offers some excuse for the stop that's nonsense--then I argue with him.

I've also begun researching total video, audio, and GPS auto protection with automatic cloud storage. I even thought of a sticker for my rear window and driver's window with the comment, "Smile, you're on Youtube."

You can go to Youtube right now and find hundreds of these videos ranging from verbal abuse all the way to death. If you realize that only a very small percentage of these events are caught on video or surface from police cams, you then begin to realize the extent of the problem. We have enough videos. It's time to begin taking action by forcing our police to be responsible for their actions as any of the rest of us are.

Yes, there are practicalities in all confrontations initiated by police and yes, they are licensed to exert force including your death but that has to stop. And only we can stop it.

Where the hell did this rule of keep your hands on the steering wheel and only speak when permission is granted type of mindset come from?
Are you a man? Are you a free man? Do you have any self esteem left in you? Do you live in a jail?

Do you draw the line anywhere on use of force by authority or are you a frustrated hall monitor?

I simply do not and will not accept appointed or assumed authority.
I don't abide fools.
I do not and will not blindly obey.
I will not kneel. I will not bow.
I abhor bullies.
I maintain that I have the right to be left alone.

As to obey and let the court sort it out, that costs me money, time, and hassle--none of which I have an excess of to waste on some ignorant badge's wrong assumptions and actions.

There is no excuse for this officer's behavior. However, when one is faced with a potential altercation with an officer with a gun and a legal system that gives deference to the police over the citizens (So much for "serve and protect") right or wrong, it would seem to be in your own best interest to practice caution and restraint. Live to have your day in court. This lunatic could have shot and killed. We need more of these videos and to use them to change the culture in our police force. We do not need more dead citizens. We need to prosecute abusive police who use excessive force to the full extent of the law. If the laws are not sufficient or existing laws give too much deference to the police we need to correct them. Do not submit to requests to search or any other requests that you are not required to by law. Educate yourself regarding the law in this regard. Knowledge is power. Be polite, civil and only as compliant as necessary; extricate yourself and get an attorney. When one is armed only with your mouth and up against a bully with a gun your mouth will lose every time. When faced with a rattlesnake... use caution. Folks we are in a war here... it is becoming a police state. Where are all the good police that should be ashamed and policing their own? Where are the judges that should be sending these thugs to meet some of their equals in prison?

I went back and watched the video again just to be doubly sure. Mr. Vasquez absolutely did NOT get out of that car in an aggressive manner, nor did he make any aggressive moves toward Officer Robinson. If simply disagreeing with the officer means he didn't kiss his ass sufficiently enough is considered an aggressive move, then I guess Mr. Vasquez is a straight up terrorist in your eyes. Think what you like, as you seem married to this apologist attitude of yours. One can only wonder what a cop would need to do to cross the line with you, because if this idiocy doesn't get there, I don't know what will.

Reading the comments under that article prompted me to add (excerpt):

"Fascinating. This act of unjustified police brutality brings out all the worst in some of the commenters here. Just look at the extreme violence and nastiness proposed, the very same mentality as the cop's.

.".. No wonder cops worry for their own safety, knowing such attitudes exist among the populace. No wonder they view everyone as a potential enemy. And with U.S. policy of preemptive strikes against any number of countries for no good reason at all, the 'shoot first, sort out later' practice becomes legitimized.

"We're witnessing here the end of civilization as we knew it and the onset of total tyranny. Hello, Orwell's 1984. ..."

It will take an enormous feat of volitional consciousness and conscious volition to reverse this accelerating disintegration. With the majority swept along into more and more hostility, can we find 100 monkeys of rationality?