UA-100768763-1 Jump to content

a tough, thought provoking read


Mattallica

Recommended Posts

 

I know a guy who 6 years ago ( at the age of 59) was arrested by the police for the first time in his life for "acting in an aggressive manner" in a public place to another member of the public. He languished in a cell for 10 hours before being interrogated ,charged & then released on bail for 28 days . On the 27th day he received a call from a high ranking police officer saying  that "in the circumstances" he would be offered a 'caution' as long as my guy admitted the offence.

The guy queried what this 'caution' entailed & whether it would be the beginning of a police record ?  The police officer declared that it would not . " Come in tomorrow ,agree to the caution & all this will go away !"

The guy did some quick research .............the police officer had lied, a caution is registered ,it's a police record.

The guy hired an attorney ,took his advice & then presented himself at the police station on the 28th day.

Much to the disgust of the policemen at the station, the guy elected to go to court . "Why don't you do the right thing & take the caution" he was asked 

"Because I didn't do anything wrong " my guy replied.

He went to court ,he apologised to the judge for breaching the peace (olde English law) . The judge chided (olde English word) him & sent him away on the condition that he would be in deep shit (not his words) if he was seen in (his) court again. The guy thanked the judge & left the court with no criminal record but his tail between his legs.

Epilogue:  I've known this guy all my life & he can be an awkward fucker but on the day of the supposed "incident" where he "acted in an aggressive manner"  the incident was witnessed by another member of the public , a woman.  What she had NOT witnessed was why the guy (my guy) became aggressive in the first place .  What my guy knew however & what she didn't know  was that the whole incident ,the entire incident had been recorded (A & V) by a dash -cam:yes:   Whose dash -cam ? The dash-cam in the car driven by the guy that my guy "acted aggressively to":ohmy:

The whole damn scenario had been recorded ..........the police knew that because when my guy was arrested he insisted that the police obtain the dash-cam footage from the "poor innocent victim's"  car . They obtained it ,they had it in their possession & they knew .....just like my guy knew..........that the guy with the dashcam had driven straight at my guy before my guy reacted.

It later transpired that the witness to this incident was an ex-police officer who withdrew her statement when presented with the dash-cam recording.  The police never charged the driver of the vehicle despite them having footage of the whole incident .  The wrong guy got arrested.

There is a God :

Three years ago my guy was one of the prosecution witnesses in a court case where his old adversary was charged & convicted of attacking 3 people (2 men & a  woman) with a shovel .  He was given a suspended sentence & it was further revealed that he had a history of violence .

On that infamous day my guy was also confronted by the guy with the shovel ........Shovel-guy claimed in court that my guy was the one who wrestled the shovel from him & then threatened to flatten his head with it. My guy swore under oath that  " I picked the shovel up & walked away ...........I'm an old guy etc. ....."                      :whistling:

 

Being arrested left a bitter taste in my guy's mouth , revenge is sweet however.

 

It is highly unlikely that I would ever again call on the police for their assistance.........besides I've now got a shovel.

 

All lives matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know plenty of folks in law enforcement. My father was a part-time cop. My stepfather was state police. Three of my friends are cops. Another is a corrections officer. They all say the same thing; when will people take responsibility for cleaning up their own neighborhoods? To which I've responded, when will law enforcement lead by example? They insist "no one hates a dirty cop more than a cop" but I'm pretty sure that the first person to discover a dirty cop is another cop.

I know a guy who was in a bad relationship. He went to his girlfriend's place and broke up with her. She got violent and started hitting him. After a couple hits, he grabbed her by the wrists to stop her and she head-butted him, breaking his nose. He pushed her away, walked out of the house, bleeding, and called the police. They showed up, took his statement, spoke to her, saw her red wrists and arrested him. He spent the night in jail, covered in his own blood, with a fractured nose. Charges were dropped when she refused to testify but it cost him his job and the attorney's fees to get the arrest records expunged.

My wife and I were on our porch when we heard a distraught woman. Walking silently in the middle of the street was a strong, young black man wearing a backpack. A petite, young white woman was alternately crying, screaming, and cursing at him, clearly trying to provoke a response. He just kept walking, doing his best to ignore her while she circled him. She vomited on him, grabbed him by the straps of his backpack and shook him as hard as she could. My wife asked, "Should we call 911?" I said, "Reverse the situation. If it was a big black dude doing that to a little white chick, what would you do?" We called the police, told them exactly what we had seen. When the police car came into view, the woman suddenly turned off the drama and calmly walked away. The police asked the young man if he was okay and if he wanted to press charges. He just wanted nothing more to do with her. We know this because his mother thanked us for standing up for him. Turned out she was a neighbor from down the street who we knew but had never met her son.

Sometimes things go the right way. Sometimes they don't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are all (mostly) adults, but lets keep in mind that no politics are meant to be discussed here and this can certainly be construed as political. I feel like it can be allowed as long as tempers are kept in check.  Many of us here have "known" one another for at least a decade.  Just be considerate no matter your feelings regarding police or the current political climate and this thread will stay active. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Mattallica said:

Im Sorry Shane if i over stepped by posting this,

I thought, like you, that our "family"here  could handle it without issues, as they have.

No need to apologize.  As a senior member here, you have no need to.  My statement was just to keep us on topic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

There have been lots of events and movements over the last several years that have caused me to genuinely re-think my assumptions about our world and my place in it.  I've always tried to be a critical thinker, but when you are so embedded into a social and historical context you sometimes don't even know what questions to ask.  I think it's important that we keep working to confront issues that make us uncomfortable, and figuring out how to ensure that everyone has a fair shake, and isn't exploited by the status quo. . .but my fear is that the backlash may offset any gains we make on that front.  The 1960s were a time when there was so much optimism, but a "silent majority" existed, and that movement was undercut in the following decades.  Fear of change is one of the most galvanizing forces out there, and when people get a taste of power and privilege they aren't keen on giving it up.

But also, these issues are complicated, and I think that one negative side effect of cultural movements like this is that they push people to the extremes.  "Cancel culture" exists if you aren't purely aligned with what is considered the right side of history, and almost everyone is vilified by someone else.  But to truly move forward I feel we should welcome open conversations, and not shut people down just because they have a dissenting voice.  Nor should we treat people as worthless and unsalvageable because they made mistakes in the past.  We are all fallible, but have the potential for great, positive change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find it strange that after this happened, there a vote by the Minneapolis city council to defund/disband the police department. Yet in Minneapolis this past weekend there was 19 shootings at bars and clubs, 1 of which resulted death. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...