Iris lilies, how are things in your hood?

[gimmethesimplelife]

Lasting economic damage....

Did you take Econ 101? Who pays that settlement? Where do they ultimately get that money from?

What's the nexus between the $50 million figure you pulled out of your...hat, and direct influence over the behavior of an individual officer?

I'd rather see the officer thrown into prison for assault/battery if that's what he indeed did, pour encourager les autres.

Bae, something I learned my sophomore year in high school - often the only way to effect change in America - at least as far as laws and institutions go - is to affect lasting economic damage. I would not say this is the case 100% of the time but I believe this holds true more often than not. Sad but life has taught me this is true. But I also agree I'd love to see the officer thrown into prison for assault and battery ON TOP OF a huge settlement, too. Rob

As far as where does the money come from - I'm hoping the community in question has insurance for such. If not, I guess bankruptcy with a great deal of nastiness ensuing that could have been avoided had the police not acted as if above the law in the first place. This nastiness of course will entail more negative publicity and quite likely more litigation - my hope is that the terror of bankruptcy would spread throughout American communities putting more pressure on creating real and much needed reforms needed to flatten the police - by flatten I mean make them behave as if not above the law via fear of some kind of loss. I can't come up with anything else that might work - at least not in this country. Rob

[Packy]

I believe $5,000, plus medical expenses for the citizen & disciplinary action for the cop would've been sufficient. Q: What money would I get if some Thug assaulted littlebittymee? A: Nothing. Prolly, as soon as she has gone through the money that she receives(after her Lawyer grabs his fee, etc.), she, or someone just like her, will be back out in public, trying to bait a cop into assaulting her again, for another fat settlement at Taxpayer expense. It isn't the last we'll see of her. Just Betcha. I think I'll have some T-shirts & bumper stickers printed up that say "King Me--I need the money!" Sorry to be so cynical.

[bae]

As far as where does the money come from -

So, no, you didn't take Econ 101. Got it.

Your "lasting economic damage" and "terror of bankruptcy" fall upon the community being oppressed by the police, not the police. Beating Peter to pay Paul. Insurance companies don't change the equation, they simply further spread the responsibility to other parties not involved in the incident, further removing incentives for behavioural change.

[Packy]

Big payouts don't solve a problem--they seem to worsen it. A substantial part of the general public resents it, and opportunists are going to exploit it, with copy-cat incidents. Analogous to this, financial gain is why otherwise "disadvantaged" people turn out for contact sports, or engage in risky illegal enterprises. Well, isn't it? There has got to be a better way to deter these incidents; but a lottery jackpot is not the answer.

[Teacher Terry]

I would say that 50 million would be excessive. Too bad the officer did not go to prison.

[iris lilies]

The economic impact hit my neighborhood this week when thugs dropped by to rob, "in the name of Michael Brown,"a group of people leaving our neighborhood restaurant.

What a fine protest, Dr. ML King would be proud.

http://www.kmov.com/news/crime/Thiev...275945191.html

This is the restaurant where we have every major celebration: birthdays, anniversaries, going away parties, whatever.

[Packy]

The economic impact hit my neighborhood this week when thugs dropped by to rob, "in the name of Michael Brown,"a group of people leaving our neighborhood restaurant.

What a fine protest, Dr. ML King would be proud.

http://www.kmov.com/news/crime/Thiev...275945191.html

This is the restaurant where we have every major celebration: birthdays, anniversaries, going away parties, whatever.

Oh, yeah--yeah. Eleven Eleven. I go there all the time, when I'm in town on business. I ask the server for the usual---a bottle of two buck chuck, and an extra-large pepperoni & sausage pizza piled HIGH with oooey-gooey Mozzzarelllie cheeeese! Dessert: Glass o' water with Baking Soda. But, one o' these days, mark my words, I'm gonna order the "Poached Pear & Fig" Pizza, baked over an oak-fired oven; I'll ask Scott, the Wine Director, for that $400 bottle of Vino De La Snoote' they've been saving for their elite Patrons, such as littlebittyme. I'll drink the whole thing, and throw the bottle against the fireplace mantle. Them thugs--well, I got a surprise for them. Ha. Just gonna tell 'em summa my JOKES, and they'll go running and never come back! Thank Me.

[dmc]

I read where the looting continues in ferguson due to a memorial catching on fire. Didn't anyone steal a garden hose? Why would any business stay there?

i guess Robs wish of economic ruin will be working out for Ferguson. I'll bet property values crash and the majority of the 30% of whites flee the city. The slums of north St. Louis are just expanding to north county.

[dmc]

Part of my stance may be due in part to the fact that I live in the inner city very close in to downtown - it seems to me the tendency here is to use excessive force and ask questions later as the belief seems to be that the cops are safe in doing so as people here can't afford to litigate. It warms my heart that my Guatemalan neighbors were able to successfully retaliate in court - they are considered heroes in the neighborhood and are very much looked up to for this. I feel fortunate living next door to them, I really do. In English you'd say my kind of people. But I digress. I do believe in "better" areas and in small towns you tend to get a different kind of cop as there would be more likely consequences for misbehavior and certainly more risk of litigation/negative publicity/job and pension loss. This is why I feel so much joy when people sue the police in legit cases of brutality/misconduct/excessive force - it's the people's way of fighting back and in a way that really does hurt. Rob

Were your neighbors able to move to a better area after their windfall? What is the crime rate for the area? I wonder how many are assaulted by police compared to the local thugs.

How much money did they get?

[CathyA]

Like I've said before........I'm sure these police have had to deal with LOTS of crime and irrational/violent/hateful/unscrupulous people for a long time. One's patience can wear thin.
Have you heard about the white state trooper shooting the unarmed/innocent black guy whom he pulled over for a seat belt offense? After seeing the video I was outraged.......as were most people. They got it on the cop's cruiser camera. This was cut and dry.
The trooper was fired immediately. Thankfully the young man he shot is recovering. He did everything right. The cop was absolutely wrong.
If it hadn't been on camera, who knows what the story would have been. Cameras in the cruisers and on the police are absolutely necessary.
I guess my point is, the Ferguson shooting wasn't easy to figure out. Plus.......so many of the protesters are still behaving in a way that only hurts their cause.

And Rob..........I think you could go on forever with the same response. I feel you should either take a more active role locally/nationally in this, or just quit talking about it here. Arguing with people on this forum isn't going to change anything. And I have to admit, some of your comments about you feeling good about certain things is fairly strange.

There's just no changing your mind, so give it a rest.