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 BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle

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Peanutbutter
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Korash

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PostSubject: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeFri Jan 09, 2009 2:53 pm

On New Years day, January 1st 2008, Oscar Grant was shot in the back as he lay face down on the ground in a transit station in Oakland California. The 22-year old later died as a result of the injury he sustained.

The preceding two sentences could be the beginning of a news story associated with a lot of different headlines, like "Gang violence claims young man's life", "Mob Hit on the Subway", or "Serial Killer Strikes Again". If this story was associated with any of those headlines it would be a tragic blip on the local news and the community at large, while sad, would go on about their lives in much the same way.

However, this is the story of a white police officer who killed a young black man in Oakland, a city with an unfortunate history of community/police relationships. The officer in question, Johannes Mehserle, was assisting another officer in the handcuffing of Oscar Grant. Mr. Grant was lying face down on the pavement with an officer's knee on the back of his neck and Officer Mehserle on his legs. The video shows a slight struggle on the part of Mr. Grant but certainly does not rise to the level of resisting arrest by any civilized definition. Then, inexplicably, officer Mehrserle pulls his gun from its holster and fires a single shot into Mr. Grants exposed back causing the fatal wound. It is clear from the reaction of the other detainees and the assisting officers that they are shocked and disturbed by what has just occurred; clearly they did not expect the young man to be shot.

What happened next was predictable; public outrage, political damage control, calls for calm, and the statement that the incident is "being investigated". Meanwhile officer Mehserle went home.

Then, also predictably, the public outrage became riots, destruction born out of frustration at the apparent lack of justice and the feeling that a young black man just isn't worth much to the police. During these riots many lives were endangered, including those of officers sent in to try to bring order to the chaos that had been created, and as the city burned the politicians apologized and said they were sorry this had happened. But this was avoidable, and should never have happened.

The standard procedure in matters of this nature is to put the officer on either paid or unpaid suspension while an investigation is conducted into the matter. The argument for this procedure is that Police Officers are sanctioned by the State to use deadly force when necessary and since we don't want to unduly limit an officer’s ability to defend themselves we refrain from jumping to conclusions when a deadly shooting occurs. Simply arresting an officer before the investigation is complete renders moot the state sanction on deadly force and would result in more officer deaths since they would think twice before trying to defend themselves. The police exist to protect and serve the public, to ensure the safety and security of the citizenry and their property. Arresting the offending officer in these cases, over the long run, runs counter to that goal.

This argument makes sense and is the way things should be done...in nearly all cases. However, the problem with absolute axioms is that they do not exist; there are always exceptions that can and should be made. If the goal of the police is to protect and serve the plurality of the citizenry then when NOT arresting the officer is likely to cause outrage, riots, destruction and death to that citizenry then this axiom must be ignored.

Arresting officer Mehserle immediately and walking him in front of cameras, in handcuffs, would have defused the anger and injustice felt by the Oakland community. He needed to placed in "protective custody" for his own safety anyway; this can be done in a jailhouse where he has his own cell or secured room. The important thing is for the image of him in handcuffs to be visible to allow the community to feel like justice is being done rather than a "good old boys" police cover-up.

That Mr. Mehserle is guilty of criminal negligence is clear, so arrest him on that charge and continue your investigation. This will protect Mr. Mehserle from bodily harm and prevent further violence from erupting on the streets.
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Vaslant

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeFri Jan 09, 2009 4:22 pm

Korash wrote:
On New Years day, January 1st 2009
Fix'd.

IMO: Tragic. But... maybe he was tired of his day-in and day-out of chasing purse snatchers down the street and wanted something exciting for once? Not justifying his actions, but it's definitely a thought that may have gone through his head. Ionno.

~ Sean
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Xeos
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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeFri Jan 09, 2009 4:30 pm

WTF...he left witnesses

In all seriousness though this does not sound unlike what happened to that black teenager in the south that was posted here not to long ago. Good cops, bad cops; Just people doing a job, the good alongside the bad but these guys get to carry guns.

It all reinforces the fact that I do not trust police officers just because they are police officers. Respect em sure. Do what they say because we have to, sure. Trust em' just because of their badge and the academy that they went to? Hell no.
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grak

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeFri Jan 09, 2009 11:00 pm

+1 respect to Xeos
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Peanutbutter

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeSat Jan 10, 2009 2:21 am

Are you from the Bay area, Korrash? I read the story when it originally happened and thought it was tragic enough. I didn't watch the video, but I suspect the reporting about it is fairly accurate.

The real important thing here is, however, to not jump to conclusions. They have to follow the standard procedure to suspend him with pay and review the case. If it appears to be a legitimate criminal issue, they can proceed. I don't know if you're saying that they didn't act fast enough to appease the public.

I've worked with Law Enforcement for the past two and a half years and I can say that there are a LOT of good guys out there who just facepalm at this kind of stuff. Every now and then you get a yahoo who thinks he's going to be a hero and engineers scenarios where that is likely. Maybe this guy had a bad experience when he was younger, roughed up by a gang or whatever, and had some kind of paranoia about blacks that caused him to go off like that. Who knows?

But the important thing here is that while you and I can speculate, we MUST presume innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, even if there is evidence to the contrary. We can't just take a tape and call it legit evidence and go from there. Yes, I agree that the guy was killed and because of that it is unlikely the event was staged, but I can't just go and make a fuss because someone wants to review the tape first.

His family deserves justice and I do not want to appear harsh when I say that it is important that they be patient as this story unfolds.
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Honed




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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeSat Jan 10, 2009 9:28 am

Peanutbutter wrote:
Are you from the Bay area, Korrash? I read the story when it originally happened and thought it was tragic enough. I didn't watch the video, but I suspect the reporting about it is fairly accurate.

The real important thing here is, however, to not jump to conclusions. They have to follow the standard procedure to suspend him with pay and review the case. If it appears to be a legitimate criminal issue, they can proceed. I don't know if you're saying that they didn't act fast enough to appease the public.

I've worked with Law Enforcement for the past two and a half years and I can say that there are a LOT of good guys out there who just facepalm at this kind of stuff. Every now and then you get a yahoo who thinks he's going to be a hero and engineers scenarios where that is likely. Maybe this guy had a bad experience when he was younger, roughed up by a gang or whatever, and had some kind of paranoia about blacks that caused him to go off like that. Who knows?

But the important thing here is that while you and I can speculate, we MUST presume innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, even if there is evidence to the contrary. We can't just take a tape and call it legit evidence and go from there. Yes, I agree that the guy was killed and because of that it is unlikely the event was staged, but I can't just go and make a fuss because someone wants to review the tape first.

His family deserves justice and I do not want to appear harsh when I say that it is important that they be patient as this story unfolds.

I, like PB have also had the experience of working with some damn good cops in the past. I agree with pretty much all of what he said and would be interested in seeing what the op's opinion is on the topic. I assume that you believe that the officer should have been jailed.
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Dimidréas

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeSat Jan 10, 2009 10:33 am

Honed wrote:

I, like PB have also had the experience of working with some damn good cops in the past. I agree with pretty much all of what he said and would be interested in seeing what the op's opinion is on the topic. I assume that you believe that the officer should have been jailed.

If there is a tape that is legitimate and shows a man being shot in the back as he's being held on the ground I would be of the mind that the officer in question should be arrested.
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Honed




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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeSat Jan 10, 2009 10:37 am

Dimidréas wrote:
Honed wrote:

I, like PB have also had the experience of working with some damn good cops in the past. I agree with pretty much all of what he said and would be interested in seeing what the op's opinion is on the topic. I assume that you believe that the officer should have been jailed.

If there is a tape that is legitimate and shows a man being shot in the back as he's being held on the ground I would be of the mind that the officer in question should be arrested.

If this were some random street fight in which the cop was off duty then yes. Unfortunately(or fortunately for him) this happened during an arrest and must be investigated before he is jailed.
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Dimidréas

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeSat Jan 10, 2009 10:41 am

[quote="Honed"]
Dimidréas wrote:

If this were some random street fight in which the cop was off duty then yes. Unfortunately(or fortunately for him) this happened during an arrest and must be investigated before he is jailed.

Don't doubt that that is the way it is, just stating my opinion of how I believe it should go. Killing someone in the name of the law is one thing. Murdering them is entirely different.
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Honed




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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeSat Jan 10, 2009 11:07 am

[quote="Dimidréas"]
Honed wrote:
Dimidréas wrote:

If this were some random street fight in which the cop was off duty then yes. Unfortunately(or fortunately for him) this happened during an arrest and must be investigated before he is jailed.

Don't doubt that that is the way it is, just stating my opinion of how I believe it should go. Killing someone in the name of the law is one thing. Murdering them is entirely different.

I understand what your opinion is, what I'm telling you is that your opinion sucks donkey balls.
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Dimidréas

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeSat Jan 10, 2009 11:22 am

[quote="Honed"]
Dimidréas wrote:
Honed wrote:
Dimidréas wrote:

If this were some random street fight in which the cop was off duty then yes. Unfortunately(or fortunately for him) this happened during an arrest and must be investigated before he is jailed.

Don't doubt that that is the way it is, just stating my opinion of how I believe it should go. Killing someone in the name of the law is one thing. Murdering them is entirely different.

I understand what your opinion is, what I'm telling you is that your opinion sucks donkey balls.

So does u'r mum but you still love her =p
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thereclaimer

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeMon Jan 12, 2009 1:08 am

Korash wrote:
Then, also predictably, the public outrage became riots, destruction born out of frustration at the apparent lack of justice and the feeling that a young black man just isn't worth much to the police. During these riots many lives were endangered, including those of officers sent in to try to bring order to the chaos that had been created, and as the city burned the politicians apologized and said they were sorry this had happened. But this was avoidable, and should never have happened.

Uh, there were no riots... There was like 20 people being loud in front of city hall. I rofl'd when they showed the protests, there were 2 people with signs... One was a white guy and another looked like she grew up by skyline (the rich part of town). I assumed the rest couldn't spell/write because of their top-of-the-state East Oakland education. Truly a /b/tard moment.

Anyway... It made the 5 o'clock local news over here + a front page headline in the oakland tribune (san francisco gave it part of a front page too...) but then no one cared beyond the hand full of protesters. Most of the noise is coming from abroad/from the media... When I see riots, I'll shit bricks. Only reason why this police shooting got any attention is because they had lacked the foresight to shoot him after the train left the station.
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Reckface

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeMon Jan 12, 2009 1:34 am

BART is gay. ALWAYS fucking busy to Giants games. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

oh tl;dr btw. I saw that idiot get lolowned on local news though.
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Korash

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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitimeWed Jan 14, 2009 11:42 am

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/14/BART.shooting.arrest/

They arrested him anyway, they should have done so as soon as the video hit the internet and they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble and bad PR.
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PostSubject: Re: BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle   BART Officer: Arrest Johannes Mehserle I_icon_minitime

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