Cop asked to leave cafe because he made a customer "uncomfortable"

[gimmethesimplelife]

What do you think about people that feel the same way towards Blacks, Hispanics, gays?

I'll grant you here that on the surface you have a very valid point - especially given that I am in one of the three groups you mention. The only problem is that I have not seen any blacks, Hispanics, or gays wearing a badge, sworn to protect and serve, paid via taxpayers, and collecting a generous pension after X number of years of service brutally and illegally assault my Guatemalan neighbors = I have only witnessed the Phoenix police engaging in such an activity. Dig a little deeper than the surface and perhaps you'll see my point?

I mean no rudeness when I say what I am about to say.....seriously. I often wish I could live on the surface and not dig deeper than your above statement about blacks, Hispanics, or gays. I'd be willing to bet life would be easier for me if I could but I am unable to live that way. No fault of yours, that's just how I'm wired I guess. Once again, I'll even agree that on the surface only you have a very good point. Rob

[bae]

How do you know the police officer involved in the assault you witnessed was not gay?

[gimmethesimplelife]

Rob says "of course my meal was ruined" by a police officer simply and politely sharing a restaurant with him. An officer who every day likely puts his life, health, and sanity on the line to protect people like Rob from terrible terrible things done by terrible terrible people.

I almost don't understand why police even bother to show up in neighborhoods full of Robs.

Bae, the problem with your statement here is that police misdeeds = such as the police brutally and illegally attacking my Guatemalan neighbors = such behavior has consequences. And not just the large settlement my neighbors were able to get = I am now unable to trust the police period. If asked questions by a police officer, I will show ID as I am legally required to do - and then will refuse to cooperate stating that I am afraid of the police and continually asking Am I free to go after repeating that I have nothing to say and that I don't care to speak.

The police have earned my non-compliance. Period. No one here seems to understand this. For me to cooperate with the police having seen what I have seen is to approve of their brutal and illegal attack on my neighbors and I won't live with that - I deserve better. Period. To cooperate with the police in my case is to also state that the illegal attack on the elderly man from India in Alabama was acceptable, or the illegal attack and murder of a homeless man in Albuquerque by the Albuquerque police was acceptable. It isn't to me and I won't condone such, I couldn't live with myself if I did. By extension to cooperate with police is to condone the arrests and prison sentences of people who were innocent and who have served long prison terms for crimes they did not commit who have been released via DNA evidence. I can't condone this either.

Point being - in my case the police have very much earned my non cooperation. I and my neighbors in this corner of the world deserve better than always being a potential victim of the police and of the revenue hungry "justice system". Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

How do you know the police officer involved in the assault you witnessed was not gay?

I don't know this. I'll give you that. If he was gay, he still was/is a Phoenix police officer who brutally and illegally attacked my Guatemalan neighbors. Police officer comes first over being gay in this case as most gay men are not wearing a badge and sworn to serve and protect. Rob

[bae]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttra...tress_disorder

[gimmethesimplelife]

And profiling!

Here's a case of racial profiling in action. In 2007 I took a trip down to Nogales, Arizona, by bus and walked across the border to Mexico to save a boatload of cash on dental work. On the way back, on the US side, there is a checkpoint some number of miles into the US. The Border Patrol agents wanted all the passengers to get off the bus at this checkpoint. They had the drug dogs enter the bus and they checked everyone's paperwork very intensively expect mine and one other passenger's.

So - here's the $64,000 question - what was the race of the two people whose ID wasn't even looked at/asked for? Bingo - I and the other passenger were Caucasian. When the Border Patrol Agent approached I had my passport ready to show him and he said, "You're OK" and didn't even look at it, not even a quick glance. I can not begin to express how disgusted I am with America over that - I only wish certain posters here could have experienced this first hand as I did. Racial profiling is real and does indeed take place. My question is - how does one forgive America for it's hypocrisy in regards to this? Rob

[LDAHL]

One man patrols neighborhoods where he is often despised, accepting risk, insult and an immense apparatus of formal and informal second-guessing for decisions he must make quickly under pressure.

Another man dislikes the first on sight despite knowing nothing about him, and has made clear he would under no circumstances do anything to cooperate with him as he attempts to protect his life and property.

Who is the better man?

[gimmethesimplelife]

One man patrols neighborhoods where he is often despised, accepting risk, insult and an immense apparatus of formal and informal second-guessing for decisions he must make quickly under pressure.

Another man dislikes the first on sight despite knowing nothing about him, and has made clear he would under no circumstances do anything to cooperate with him as he attempts to protect his life and property.

Who is the better man?

Given what I have seen with my own eyes that the police are capable of, I'd have to say I couldn't make a blanket statement either way. I'd have to do this one on a case by case basis. In some cases, the cop would be the better of the two, if they were in it for the right reasons and not abusing their power/crossing the line into illegal behavior and feeding the terror so many have of the police. In some cases, the person who refused to cooperate with the cop would be the much better person, especially when dealing with a power tripping cop that is crossing the line into illegal and questionable behavior. Once again, life is complex - I can't do a simple blanket answer on this one but would need to review this on a case by case basis. Especially with some high profile cases recently where officers have been arrested and charged for their illegal behavior in their dealings with the public. Certainly trash exists on both sides of this equation, and I believe there is decency in a few scattered cops out there so I'd have to say there is some decency on both sides of this equation too. Rob

[Yossarian]

No one here seems to understand this.

It's not a matter of understanding, just agreement. I saw a waiter drop food and put it back on the plate and serve it to people. I've heard about waiters putting unsavory things in food to get back at customers (don't ask what's in the cream of mushroom soup). But I am still capable of giving each waiter I work with the benefit of the doubt, am not traumatized to the point of neurosis by the sight of them, and don't run around like chicken little saying everyone should video record every interaction with a waiter to be sure they don't **** up your order and make equivocal statements that maybe just maybe there could be a decent person who works as a waiter somewhere. You really need to seek help.

[gimmethesimplelife]

It's not a matter of understanding, just agreement. I saw a waiter drop food and put it back on the plate and serve it to people. I've heard about waiters putting unsavory things in food to get back at customers (don't ask what's in the cream of mushroom soup). But I am still capable of giving each waiter I work with the benefit of the doubt, am not traumatized to the point of neurosis by the sight of them, and don't run around like chicken little saying everyone should video record every interaction with a waiter to be sure they don't **** up your order and make equivocal statements that maybe just maybe there could be a decent person who works as a waiter somewhere. You really need to seek help.

Waiters can't arrest you, haul you in to jail, shoot you and kill you and possibly get away with it. Waiters tend not to carry guns (at least in the workplace) are constantly and continuously vulnerable to any perception or issue a guest has, whether it's true or not. Dealing with a cop, the cop is in charge and expects to be in charge of the situation - a waiter truly is at the public's mercy. You can complain about your waiter to a manager and get the waiter in trouble - a cop is going to be shielded from public complaints more often than not. There are huge differences between dealing with a waiter and a cop, seriously.

Though to be fair, litigation when a cop goes too far will tend to yield you much more money and publicity then litigating against a waiter or a restaurant chain. So there's one plus.

About needing help.....As I keep saying, I'm not the only one out there who thinks this way. Perhaps in your life my beliefs are out there - where I live it's pretty much expected that you think this way - the police have a reputation of corruption and illegal behavior that precedes them to this level of distrust from those they "protect and serve" - sarcasm very much intended.

I find it amazing that some of the posters here seem to be fine accepting brutally illegal behavior on the part of the police but when someone like myself sees it completely differently after seeing first hand what the police are capable of - I'm the one who's wrong, or off, or my beliefs are not valid. Pretty scary stuff in a time when officers are even starting to be arrested and charged for going too far - yet the tendency to believe the police are right continues.....I'm glad I don't think that way is all I can say. Seeing the police brutally and illegally attack my neighbors ruined the ability to ever trust the police for life. This to me seems very logical given what I have seen and experienced. I'm only responding to the reality of police misbehavior that I have witnessed. To let it go would be to condone it, and no way am I going to live with that. I care about people far too much to ever condone brutal and illegal police behavior. Rob