abuse of power by two UVA police officers...probable hate crime

[Cuse0507]

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^Of course it’s happened before but how LIKELY is it? Is it likely enough to merit heightened scrutiny just because he’s black? That’s profiling and that is RACIST dude, HOW is this complicated?

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<p>I’m all for profiling (within reason). Anyways, it isn’t likely, but the day a cop lets his guard down could be the day he ends up dead. </p>

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I support firing people from their jobs when they’re clearly incompetant - if it’s found during the investigation that their violations merit jailtime and the victim wants to press charges, then yes, I support them being tossed in jail. You seem to be under the impression they committed “no crime whatsoever” so naturally, my position sounds like lunacy. I believe there was clear intimidation and harassmennt involved here, and possibly even more - enough to get them fired and potentially enough for a month or two in prison. Not long, the crime isn’t big enough to be long. That’s where we differ - you don’t think anything was wrong here, and I’m baffled that anybody could ignore all that was wrong here.

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<p>What crime do you think they committed? </p>

<p>You know that the police are allowed to detain you for up to 24 hours without charging you, if they have reasonable suspicion that you were involved in a crime, right?</p>

[frenchcoldplay]

<p>Was their suspicion reasonable?</p>

<p>If this went to court, I really doubt the judge or the jury would think so.</p>

[BillyMc]

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I heard the N-word more often in New York than I have anywhere in the South.</p>

<p>Just sayin’.

The only thing I can conclude from this is that you have spent far more time in New York than in many parts of the South.</p>

<p>I’m not saying that the South as a whole is racist; however, I would like to point out that 49% of Republicans in Mississippi think interracial marriage should be illegal. I would be unsurprised if surrounding states had similar statistics.</p>

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Who are you to say the police officers deemed it OBVIOUS this was not the man they’re searching for? Just imagine this for a second. What if after the police officers looked at him and just decided right then and there that it was OBVIOUS the man was not the criminal. Then, the man shot both officers. Now, would you be saying the same thing? Remember what perspective this article is from.

And remember that this is the perspective of a user named “UVAorBust” on a UVa scandal. Should they treat everyone like this, even if it’s obvious that they’re not the criminal, just to make sure they don’t get shot? You know, all of the other people in the area. Or are you just saying that the black man was more likely to shoot them so they made the right move? Honestly, a policy like that will make them get shot more.</p>

[Cuse0507]

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Was their suspicion reasonable?</p>

<p>If this went to court, I really doubt the judge or the jury would think so.

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<p>It was probably reasonable for the first five minutes, which is why they let him go and did not bring him into the station.</p>

[Cuse0507]

<p>

The only thing I can conclude from this is that you have spent far more time in New York than in many parts of the South.</p>

<p>I’m not saying that the South as a whole is racist; however, I would like to point out that 49% of Republicans in Mississippi think interracial marriage should be illegal. I would be unsurprised if surrounding states had similar statistics.

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<p>When I was at school up north (before I transferred), I had a British professor who speculated that the South was probably now one of the most tolerant regions in the country, mainly because of its diversity. The city I come from in North Carolina is roughly 50% white and 50% black, and the populations are forced to interact daily. This isn’t the case in many more predominately white communities in the North. When I was up there I lived upstate and was surprised at how many rebel flags I saw hanging on porches hundreds of miles north of the Mason-Dixon line.</p>

[Itachirumon]

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I had a British professor who speculated that the South was probably now one of the most tolerant regions in the country, mainly because of its diversity.

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<p>Which is sad, because he ought to know better. It’s not as bad as it was but let me put it to you this way: if the South was in any way more tolerant, why would gay marriage be illegal down there still? Why would such a huge amount of hate crimes take place down there? When you think of Sunset towns (which still exist) it ain’t the north you’re picturing. </p>

<p>Also - just because there are idiots who fly the stars and bars in the north that makes us as bad as the south? Keyword there: Idiots. The KKK spread everywhere and the rebel flag was a way for them to self-identify. </p>

<p>Just…just take a seat and admit the cops were out of line so we can end this discussion eh? It’s pretty obvious they went too far, why is that so hard to admit?</p>

[ilikeUW]

<p>"My girlfriend attends UVa and is black. We’ve talked the issue before, and she has never had a memorable experience involving racism here.</p>

<p>I think the officers were probably just actively investigating a lead. Charlottesville is not the nicest place. A decent chunk of the population is poor and black. There IS crime! Last fall, there were numerous robberies at gunpoint around the University, all made by black males. If a crime was reported, and someone nearby fits the description, I want police officers to investigate it to the best of their ability.</p>

<p>I strongly support intelligent racial profiling in security and police work. If a crime was committed by a young black male, it’s stupid to question an older Asian man as a suspect. Should TSA equally scrutinize a 6 year old white child and a 23 year old Middle Eastern man? That would be a terrible use of resources. Unfortunately, black males as a group commit crimes at a higher rate than the rest of the population. This case seems as if it may have started as active profiling, but deteriorated into unprofessionalism.</p>

<p>The situation was not handled in the best way, but in terms of suspect choice and active questioning, I’d rather be safe than sorry. I would much prefer that one person feel slightly embarrassed than to have someone else potentially killed by a criminal. I do find the later part of the encounter off-putting however. On the other hand, this is not something I have seen or heard about before from UVa police, and I think calling it a “hate crime” is a sensationalist exaggeration. "</p>

<p>Funny. You said “I strongly support intelligent racial profiling in security and police work.” That’s a contradiction in itself because there is no such thing as “intelligent racial profiling.”</p>

[frenchcoldplay]

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Should TSA equally scrutinize a 6 year old white child and a 23 year old Middle Eastern man?

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<p>How many crimes do you know committed by law students?</p>

<p>What was your SAT score? 1290?</p>

<p>Law enforcement should discriminating people by their SATs. Actually, most crimes seem to get committed by people without an SAT score, so we should make them the first target.</p>

[Cuse0507]

<p>

Which is sad, because he ought to know better. It’s not as bad as it was but let me put it to you this way: if the South was in any way more tolerant, why would gay marriage be illegal down there still? Why would such a huge amount of hate crimes take place down there? When you think of Sunset towns (which still exist) it ain’t the north you’re picturing.

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<p>Gay marriage is illegal almost everywhere, not just the south. Heck, look at California for example. That state gets criticized for being one of the most liberal places around, and even they couldn’t stop Proposition 8 from getting passed. </p>

<p>What are Sunset towns, by the way? I’ve never heard that term used.</p>

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Just…just take a seat and admit the cops were out of line so we can end this discussion eh? It’s pretty obvious they went too far, why is that so hard to admit?

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<p>I’m not denying that the cops may have been jerks. However, all we have is one person’s story of the events, so it is pretty hard to make a judgment. My point is that people are free to be bigoted jerks in this country. Should those cops be fired if they are racist pricks? Absolutely. Should they be locked up for being racist pricks? No way.</p>

[antipacifist]

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How many crimes do you know committed by law students?</p>

<p>What was your SAT score? 1290?</p>

<p>Law enforcement should discriminating people by their SATs. Actually, most crimes seem to get committed by people without an SAT score, so we should make them the first target.

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<p>[Philip</a> Markoff - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Markoff]Philip”>Philip Markoff - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>Yep, a real class act, that Phil. Bet he had a pretty high SAT score to boot. Look, all people of all colors and races and intelligence levels commit crimes - some more than others. it’s dangerous to let political correctness get in the way of public safety.</p>

[frenchcoldplay]

<p>any intelligent police officer shouldn’t have known he didn’t fit the profile. </p>

<p>I hate political correctness too. I will criticise trends and groups when I see them.</p>

<p>but I don’t think you understand profiling at all.</p>

<p>did you like, fail statistics or something? do you know how human ecology and sociology work?</p>

[frenchcoldplay]

<p>btw many white frat students commit sexual assaults on Grounds but even when they are found guilty they are not expelled from the University </p>

<p>you say that black people are targeted because white people are less likely to fit the profile</p>

<p>but in reality that’s because people believe that white students surely can’t fit the profile. OMG THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE.</p>

<p>and they are excluded from the data that drives the profiling.</p>

<p>sexual assaults committed by frats never make it to my mailbox, but they abound in real students’ talk</p>

[6281597]

<p>I have reiterate, this West Coast logic is truly mind-boggling. You people need more help than you can imagine.</p>

<p>Frenchcoldplay - half of your posts are incoherent babble.</p>

[antipacifist]

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you say that black people are targeted because white people are less likely to fit the profile

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<p>Yes, that is EXACTLY what i’m saying. if I go to a place with a larger black population or where blacks commit a larger number of crimes (i.e. Virginia), then doesn’t it make sense that the suspect of a crime would most likely be black? How is this not clear? Replace “black” with “white” or “teenager” or, hell, “space alien” and see if you still think I’m being irrational. </p>

<p>Proactive profiling I still support in some cases but am more moderate about. as an extreme example, let’s say i see a black man driving a car, i wouldn’t pull him over <em>unless</em> there was a car reported stolen and the suspect was black. In this case, a crime WAS committed and the author of the article fit the profile. When the officers pulled him over, they didn’t know he was a law student or anything like that. He could have been the criminal.</p>

[BillyMc]

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Replace “black” with “white” or “teenager” or, hell, “space alien” and see if you still think I’m being irrational.

Well, I mean…</p>

[antipacifist]

<p>LOL. you know what i mean, though.</p>

[frenchcoldplay]

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Frenchcoldplay - half of your posts are incoherent babble.

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<p>punctuation is optional, and the lack of it reflects freedom. I write for rhetoric.</p>

<p>(btw I published in the Cav Daily so it’s not like I don’t know how to use it)</p>

<p>also I deplore the Victorian prudishness with which you capitalise my username. if you had any common decency you would leave it uncapitalised.</p>

[frenchcoldplay]

<p>antipacifist: yes but when race is the sole category for profiling, that’s just lazy and unintelligent.</p>

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Yes, that is EXACTLY what i’m saying

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<p>only because crimes by white people get underreported. White parents can argue that the crimes of their children were just mistakes – and have a lot of social capital – but black children enjoy less of such privilege.</p>

<p>in Charlottesville, black people are more likely to be poor, and harassment against the poorer quarter is common.</p>

<p>what is your major anyway? do you even hold expertise in any social science?</p>

[antipacifist]

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only because crimes by white people get underreported

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<p>I don’t deny that that’s happened before, but do you seriously think there’s no possibility that there could be more crime in the black community, especially given that so many blacks live in poverty and that poverty breeds crime? Especially in the south, where in many larger cities there are more blacks than whites (another reason blacks are statistically more likely there to commit crimes, would be same with whites if it were the other way around). </p>

<p>Question: Do you think the same number of crimes are committed by all ethnic groups in this country? It’s just an objective fact that that’s not the case, not because of the inherent criminality present in any one ethnic group but just because of socioeconomic trends that tend to correspond with race. </p>

<p>and who cares about my major? Why do i need an MA in criminology to express my opinion on an internet forum?</p>

[frenchcoldplay]

<p>

and who cares about my major? Why do i need an MA in criminology to express my opinion on an internet forum?

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<p>you strike me as the sort of person to misuse (or abuse) a statistical average while ignoring the data’s multidimensional distributions.</p>

<p>even if you held a passion for any social science that is fine.</p>

<p>but you do not strike me as a scientist.</p>