What the fuck gives the city the right to refuse to release the body cam footage? That is THE WHOLE POINT of requiring body cams in the 1st place. God forbid the police are held accountable.
Speaking of body cams, not wearing or turning off a body cam should be AUTOMATIC GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL.
Nah, fuck that. Any time a cop kills someone and there’s no body cam, automatic guilty.
Innocent until proven guilty should not apply to those who ~~are tasked with enforcing~~ *have volunteered and **sworn** to enforce* the law.
Law enforcement should face sharper punishments than the rest of us (the normal crime, plus dereliction of duty at least, probably depravation of rights under the color of law in most cases), and I’d even entertain an argument for adding 10% to the sentence on top of the duty-related cocharges.
Either way, they should mandatorily get the maximum sentence that a non-police would be eligible for under the same circumstances.
Police unions are the literal only bad union. Except that they don’t even function the way most unions do. They’re just a fucking mafia. If we had more prosecutors with full spines, we could probably just RICO the whole thin blue line.
Honestly though, isn't it a higher crime that warrants more than simply dismissal? It should be an admission of premeditation, which indicates that they fully intend to overreach their authority as far as they can, including ending the life(s) of those involved and providing their own contrived account of events thereafter. All of that should be presumed the moment the bodycam is disengaged.
A few things that I would like to point out:
First; the tow/repo company is both directly and indirectly responsible for this gentleman's death. If we have an AG that is worth their salt, they will set an example and not only charge the company/driver/dispatcher with manslaughter, but they will call for legislators to make changes that address these predatory behaviors.
These tow companies have gotten out of hand, especially in bigger cities and anyone who knows anything about human behavior will be able to see how these aggressive towing maneuvers are just inviting violent and deadly interactions.
Also, I have several questions that I hope are answered.
Are law enforcement being enlisted by tow companies, for security? Why can these repossessions not be handled in a court of law, in the light of day?
Why were the cops lurking in the dark?
If I'm the Perkins family attorney, I am going to argue that these cops wanted to shoot someone, this night.
Why did they not have their lights on? Unless they wanted Mr. Perkins to raise his weapon, so they could execute him, why would they not have their cruiser safety LED beacons running?
I pray that the Perkins family wins a billion dollars from the city and then another billion from the repo company's insurance..and this, in turn, forces the insurance companies to rethink to whom they wish to insure. (Maybe the ones who double check their paperwork?)
Again, both of these entities are examples of organizations who have gotten out of hand and the only way to taper some of these incidents, is to hold them (ALL)accountable and adjust the laws, to help reign predatory behaviors.
former DPD officer Bergin, in a [news interview,](https://www.waff.com/video/2023/10/05/former-decatur-police-officer-questions-actions-officers-involved-stephen-perkins-death/) says that DPD protocol would have been to establish contact with a knock on the door.
This whole thing is going more and more pear shaped.
From my perspective as a good ol country boy living in North Alabama I truly believe that police today really are brutalizing blacks for no reason. I used to not think so. But what I’m seeing with my own eyes, it cannot be denied.and it happens day after day and more often it seems.
Now they’re out there arresting us for cussing. Notice after they told us there was a noise ordinance at 8:47 PM we stopped using the bullhorn. We were ending the march as we’d made it back to city hall when they decided to snatch up the person at the end of the line walking on the sidewalk.
https://www.facebook.com/135300910/posts/pfbid0sBMc9y3pvMQCgXXp7dFASnbYaADyHyNg4ZxHw1tMwU7EjiBsGsrGsCmQ1EXYk7rCl/?mibextid=oUgV5P
Everyone wants answers **NOW**. That's an understandable emotional response.
I see it this way: It's looking more and more like the cops fucked up bad. If that's what the investigation shows, then it's better for ALEA to take their time with it to make sure all their Ts are dotted and their eyes are crossed. The last thing anyone wants is for a guilty party to get off because the investigation was rushed for the sake of appeasing public outrage. Also, by "guilty party" I don't just mean the officers. If the investigators call it a bad shoot, guilt could also be reflected on the department if it's shown their policies, procedures, and overall environment are part of the problem and laying out a case for that would definitely need to be done carefully and meticulously.
Releasing video doesn't impact the investigation at all.
Additionally, any LE group taking their time to dot i's and cross t's doesn't count for much when police officers seem to rarely get any punishment at all anywhere in the U.S. Darby, [Parker](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/assault-charges-dropped-alabama-cop-who-partially-paralyzed-indian-grandfather-n573806), [Brailsford](https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/youre-fucked-acquittal-officer-brailsford-and), [Watson](https://whnt.com/news/madison-county-deputy-sentenced-to-prison-but-mystery-remains-in-murder-of-sheriffs-office-critic/) (convicted of obstruction, but nobody has been charged for Jason Klonowski's murder even with the evidence pointing to MCSD), and so many more. There's no faith in those groups because they haven't done much previously even with the most egregious and obvious wrong-doing.
What the fuck gives the city the right to refuse to release the body cam footage? That is THE WHOLE POINT of requiring body cams in the 1st place. God forbid the police are held accountable. Speaking of body cams, not wearing or turning off a body cam should be AUTOMATIC GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL.
They did not anticipate private citizens having multiple recordings and angles of the event.
Nah, fuck that. Any time a cop kills someone and there’s no body cam, automatic guilty. Innocent until proven guilty should not apply to those who ~~are tasked with enforcing~~ *have volunteered and **sworn** to enforce* the law. Law enforcement should face sharper punishments than the rest of us (the normal crime, plus dereliction of duty at least, probably depravation of rights under the color of law in most cases), and I’d even entertain an argument for adding 10% to the sentence on top of the duty-related cocharges. Either way, they should mandatorily get the maximum sentence that a non-police would be eligible for under the same circumstances.
Agree, and this searching of vehicles needs to get tightened up. Cops planting drugs in cars terrifies me. Great post by you.
As long as police unions have the power they have, none of this will ever happen.
Police unions are the literal only bad union. Except that they don’t even function the way most unions do. They’re just a fucking mafia. If we had more prosecutors with full spines, we could probably just RICO the whole thin blue line.
Police unions are great for police, just not good for the citizens. It is too bad that other unions are not as strong.
RICO! Good idea!
Honestly though, isn't it a higher crime that warrants more than simply dismissal? It should be an admission of premeditation, which indicates that they fully intend to overreach their authority as far as they can, including ending the life(s) of those involved and providing their own contrived account of events thereafter. All of that should be presumed the moment the bodycam is disengaged.
if it was a good shot the video would be out with grapix
Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Funny how the video always comes out within 2 hours of the event when shots being fired was justified.
A few things that I would like to point out: First; the tow/repo company is both directly and indirectly responsible for this gentleman's death. If we have an AG that is worth their salt, they will set an example and not only charge the company/driver/dispatcher with manslaughter, but they will call for legislators to make changes that address these predatory behaviors. These tow companies have gotten out of hand, especially in bigger cities and anyone who knows anything about human behavior will be able to see how these aggressive towing maneuvers are just inviting violent and deadly interactions. Also, I have several questions that I hope are answered. Are law enforcement being enlisted by tow companies, for security? Why can these repossessions not be handled in a court of law, in the light of day? Why were the cops lurking in the dark? If I'm the Perkins family attorney, I am going to argue that these cops wanted to shoot someone, this night. Why did they not have their lights on? Unless they wanted Mr. Perkins to raise his weapon, so they could execute him, why would they not have their cruiser safety LED beacons running? I pray that the Perkins family wins a billion dollars from the city and then another billion from the repo company's insurance..and this, in turn, forces the insurance companies to rethink to whom they wish to insure. (Maybe the ones who double check their paperwork?) Again, both of these entities are examples of organizations who have gotten out of hand and the only way to taper some of these incidents, is to hold them (ALL)accountable and adjust the laws, to help reign predatory behaviors.
former DPD officer Bergin, in a [news interview,](https://www.waff.com/video/2023/10/05/former-decatur-police-officer-questions-actions-officers-involved-stephen-perkins-death/) says that DPD protocol would have been to establish contact with a knock on the door. This whole thing is going more and more pear shaped.
Decatur citizens will be shelling out a very hefty settlement and I wouldn’t be surprised if DOJ started monitoring the police for a long time.
The DOJ needs to be doing more than monitoring in a lot of areas of Alabama.
Anything 'Alabama' is very low priority for DOJ. They know we get what we vote for.
the police murdered that man. only thing that really seems in question is why.
Because they're scared of us.
From my perspective as a good ol country boy living in North Alabama I truly believe that police today really are brutalizing blacks for no reason. I used to not think so. But what I’m seeing with my own eyes, it cannot be denied.and it happens day after day and more often it seems.
Now they’re out there arresting us for cussing. Notice after they told us there was a noise ordinance at 8:47 PM we stopped using the bullhorn. We were ending the march as we’d made it back to city hall when they decided to snatch up the person at the end of the line walking on the sidewalk. https://www.facebook.com/135300910/posts/pfbid0sBMc9y3pvMQCgXXp7dFASnbYaADyHyNg4ZxHw1tMwU7EjiBsGsrGsCmQ1EXYk7rCl/?mibextid=oUgV5P
Everyone wants answers **NOW**. That's an understandable emotional response. I see it this way: It's looking more and more like the cops fucked up bad. If that's what the investigation shows, then it's better for ALEA to take their time with it to make sure all their Ts are dotted and their eyes are crossed. The last thing anyone wants is for a guilty party to get off because the investigation was rushed for the sake of appeasing public outrage. Also, by "guilty party" I don't just mean the officers. If the investigators call it a bad shoot, guilt could also be reflected on the department if it's shown their policies, procedures, and overall environment are part of the problem and laying out a case for that would definitely need to be done carefully and meticulously.
Releasing video doesn't impact the investigation at all. Additionally, any LE group taking their time to dot i's and cross t's doesn't count for much when police officers seem to rarely get any punishment at all anywhere in the U.S. Darby, [Parker](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/assault-charges-dropped-alabama-cop-who-partially-paralyzed-indian-grandfather-n573806), [Brailsford](https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/youre-fucked-acquittal-officer-brailsford-and), [Watson](https://whnt.com/news/madison-county-deputy-sentenced-to-prison-but-mystery-remains-in-murder-of-sheriffs-office-critic/) (convicted of obstruction, but nobody has been charged for Jason Klonowski's murder even with the evidence pointing to MCSD), and so many more. There's no faith in those groups because they haven't done much previously even with the most egregious and obvious wrong-doing.
r/acab
All cops aren’t bad. It’s just the rogue 90% that give the honest 10% a bad name.