What can Catholics do to stand up against police brutality?

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And people of small stature have injured/killed police officers. He didn’t shoot, taze, or use any type of impact weapon. He used minimal force by taking her to the ground to effect the arrest which any officer would do. All she had to do was comply. What was her excuse for refusing?
 
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Rozellelily said:
Respect is earnt,not demanded.
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So, do you challenge everyone you meet to earn your respect?
The default position for dealing with a law enforcement officer should be to respect him and comply with his instructions. Actually, that’s pretty much how we should be towards anyone we meet - respect them as a person (they are made in the image and likeness of God).
 
Police brutality is a sign of corruption. To stop corruption, you first have to acknowledge its existence, even in the face of so many non-corrupt officials, rather than blame its victims. You can only go so far with making excuses for every last case of brutality and corruption.

Second, we need to demand more accountability and transparency. Smartphones and dashcams have been a great innovation for this job. But more can be done to ensure justice. At this time, for example, it can be extremely difficult in some jurisdictions to file a complaint against an officer.

We also need harsher punishments for corrupt officers than paid administrative leave.

Finally, as for all cases of injustice to humanity, we must pray.
 
MikeInVA said:
So, do you challenge everyone you meet to earn your respect?
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I’m not the person you’re addressing, but I’m OK with making respect the default position as something that is unearned rather than earned.

In the police context, I lose my respect for an officer who tries to behave unconstitutionally, apply excessive force, or otherwise exploit his/her power to bully citizens. Loss of respect doesn’t mean that I turn around and be rude back, break the law, etc. But I may blow the whistle if the officer’s conduct is severe enough to warrant it.
 
I have thanked them for their service, just like I do our military. They seem to appreciate it
 
I said that it’s a start. Mistakes are made, and humans are humans. The Castille case is horrible and sad, and I believe the local PD made changes…
 
And the verdict in the case against the officer? Acquittal. End of story.
 
This is one of those topics that makes people take one of two ridiculous, extreme positions. Either cops are perfect saints who never deviate from protocol or overreact OR cops are all jackbooted thugs who shoot innocent people at random.

In reality, cops are just people. Some are great, some are terrible. But at the end of the day they’re just falliable human beings. We have to try to view each incident in isolation and not force
them through either a pro-police or anti-police prism.
 
I think that the OP’s question specifically addresses what to do about those specific police officers who choose to use police brutality. The thread may have taken an unfortunately black-and-white, all-or-nothing turn. But in the OP’s defense, I don’t think it was her intent.
 
Maximilian7525m
Assaulting a police officer is

a minor event

to you… ?

Video evidence of what could be construed as sexual assault is

BS

The lack of respect for law officers exhibited by some in this thread is absolutely in

Obviously you’re not capable of reading what I actually said so it’s probably pointless in trying to correct you…but here goes…first…I never said anything about assaulting a police officer was a minor event…that’s your own baseless assertion…second…I never said anything about lack of respect for a police officer…again…your baseless assertion…end of discussion…God bless
 
And people need to let the justice system work. I try to have no opinion on these cases, until whatever judicial proceedings occur are completed. It’s not as if the district attorneys, judges, investigators, etc. in these cases are going to engage in some massive cover up, under intense media scrutunny.
Apparently the court of CAF will make it’s decision on the New Jersey beach incident. I have…no opinion.
 
Pray. Always.

Support investment in cameras, de-escalation training and other such measures, including changing the guidelines for use of force.

Make it easier to file a complaint and change the standard for conviction because right now it’s almost impossible to convict a cop even in egregious cases.

Don’t call the police for frivolous things you aren’t prepared for them to use force to stop.
 
I carry in my vehicle. I keep my registration, insurance card, and driver’s licence in a visor holder over the passenger seat. If I’m ever pulled over, I’ll keep my hands in the steering wheel unless the officer instructs me to reach for my documents. At which time I will do so slowly, and calmly. At no time will my hand go anywhere near my weapon.
 
Rozellelily said:
We have these situations here in Australia but unfortunately it seems to happen even more in USA I think?
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I think we need to be careful about this. When the media picks up on a certain thread, it can make it seem like something more prevalent than it is.

For example, literally thousands of people die by drowning in a bath tub each year. And yet, it’s not something that typically makes the news. But imagine something changed and suddenly news outlets decided to make it an international news story each and every time someone drowned in a bath tub. It would seem like this epidemic came out of nowhere. We would feel like the number of bath tub deaths has risen exponentially. We may even be afraid to go near our bath tub.

Yet the reality is that nothing changed. Our perception changed because of increased media coverage.

Is this same principle at play with stories of police brutality? I can’t really say. Maybe, maybe not. We would have to actually look at the numbers rather than going by our own impressions based on the stories we see cycle through Facebook.

I also find it pointless to view all these videos online. For one, I really don’t need the image of someone being beaten or killed burned in my brain simply out of a sense of morbid curiosity. Second, even a video doesn’t tell the whole story. You are seeing one snippet of an encounter from one vantage point. It makes you feel like you’re getting the “real truth.” But that’s not necessarily true. There could be all sorts of things that happened before or off-screen that you simply don’t see.

I find it a bit odd that people read a news story or watch a snippet of a video and then are completely and utterly convinced that they know the whole story. And nothing can convince them that they don’t. I mean, yes, sure, it’s possible that they are exactly right in their understanding based on the news report and video clip. But for me, there are far too many places for error to creep in for me to so boldly and confidently weigh in as though I know exactly what happened. That’s what investigations, judges, and juries are for. I don’t feel the need to play any of those roles.

Does police brutality happen? I’m sure it does. Is it the epidemic that the media reports leave people with the impression that it is? I have my doubts. And I think there can be a real danger in making it seem worse than it really is. All of the sudden, every police officer is more tense and on edge. Every person who encounters the police is more suspicious. When that’s what is going through people’s minds, that’s only going to exacerbate the problem.

I don’t really have a solution to all this. Obviously, we want to stand up for those who are victims and stand against those who use positions of power unjustly. How this plays out is going to vary from case to case based on what actually happened.
 
Oh boy. People who have been injured and the family members of those who have been killed by police who “went too far”, should just shut up and keep quiet about it so people don’t lose respect for police? This sort of attitude is what leads people to lose respect for police. The idea that the state can arm a man and give him the authority to arrest civilians but the same civilians are supposed to just sit quietly and take it when those police are wrong, overstep their authority, and in extreme cases hurt and kill innocent people is what causes people to lose respect for police.

Your attitude is similar to those who caused the sexual abuse crisis in the Church. Here’s some money. Just shut up and get over it. It was partly your fault anyway. You shouldn’t have done thus and so. You don’t want to make the priesthood look bad. (Except the police don’t give out hush money to keep you quiet. They threaten to abuse their authority further if you don’t.)
 
Universal body cams, maybe. Those would protect whoever’s in the right and condemn those in the
wrong and make people think twice about their actions.
 
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