Police are supposed to avoid “contagious or sympathetic fire” – or else you get this Queens incident: unprofessional police shooting relentlessly at some phantom threat.

Moreover, according to NYPD, police are supposed to fire “no more than 3 rounds and then assess what the situation is"

In NY City, the fear is justified. Consider these recent NYPD incidents: Four officers fired 12 shots at an unarmed Hassidic Jew named Mr Busch; The acquittal of 3 officers who sexually assaulting Mr Louima with a broken broom handle at the 70th Precinct (Louima suffered massive internal injuries); the complete acquittal of all wrong-doing of officers who shot dead by a hail of 41 bullets an unarmed man, Amadou Diallo, who was simply returning from work; and, the city is facing a class action lawsuit, brought by nearly 70,000 people, because the police have been aggressively strip-searching everyone they arrest - even for minor offences like fare-dodging.

Couple all of this together with the incalculable sum of bogus police parking tickets; NYPD’s illegal searching of subway patrons, (even after Judge & common sense stated this has no impact on terrorism); as well as the endless illegal NYPD so-called random vehicle searches and breathalyzer tests. I don’t drive much yet have been subjected to 3 breathalyzer shake-downs in the past 5 or 6 months – I also DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL AT ALL!

In the final analysis, NYPD and its vast adjunct of paramilitary forces have been given total immunity even in cases of torture and murder; issuing unfounded parking tickets; and promoting Big Brother style harassment campaigns & moral turpitude. The constellation of these many deliberate violations of decent and civil conduct by the NYPD has collectively resulted in the publics mistrust.

In summary, pubic mistrust extends well beyond this latest NYPD firing squad incident in Queens.

Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodies?
T Bone | 12.06.06 - 3:26 pm | #