I joined the march, thinking the goals were to march against police immunity

Which I do think is a problem in the US - It's very difficult to give a police officer a fair trial by jury, even if their actions are heinous

and police departments shouldn't be able to investigate themselves.

police -immunity- would be a problem, yes

and yes, investigation one self is... absurd...

Well, I mean, think about it, a community at large is expected to be able to trust a police officer to make the correct decision

to vote to convict a police officer, you have to de-elevate the police force to do so.

There's also the fact that actions in the line of duty may not be -criminal-, but may be irresponsible

i trust the police to act in... fuck... how to say it in inglish... in good faith...? but i only have to deal with german police so... yeah...

Ahh, well, I'm talking about American problems, largely.

i know... and i'm fully aware that you have to take societal differences into account

But yeah, one instance is Philando Castile. He was shot because the police officer couldn't tell the difference between a gun and a wallet, after Philando announced that he was a licensed concealed carry.

He got off with a not guilty verdict, and I understand why

But he very clearly should not be operating in the capacity of a police officer as a result of his actions

yeah... i actually agree with that verdict as tragic as the event was, and yes the officer not being "in the street" is also something i would agree with

But with the court system, there's no way of assuring that.

You either send a cop to jail - which generally doesn't end well

or you let them go free - and they're free to join a different police force

from an outsiders perspective... i'm happy that i don't live in the US because while there are a lot of great things about the country there is so much f'ed up shit, i rather pass.

in germany the cop would probably be doing office work until he retires

Incidents like these are rare, though.

somewhat.

i'm sure they are... but i really prefer to chit chat with a police officer during a traffic stop 😄

But, I mean, most people do.

News only reports bad things.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/homeland-security-to-compile-database-of-journalists-and-media-influencers/

https://reason.com/blog/2018/04/06/my-familys-peashooter-is-an-now-an-illeg

Also, it's really one of those situations where it's easy to *say* "oh I can see that he's just bringing out a wallet", and actually being there in-person.

There's a reason you're instructed to not do anything such as make quick movements for your pockets in front of police officers.

When you're pulled over, don't move around a lot and just keep your hands on the steering wheel, etc.

And yeah, when you actually see the video that was taken, you'll see that he was clearly freaked out. He was clearly not ready to be out on active duty yet.

He was not. He said for the guy to get his wallet then freaked out when he did as asked.

I don't know how to respond to that other than to say that no, he was?

He clearly was if you saw that video.

Unless you're trying to say he was putting on some kind of act?

When in doubt, say specifically what you're going to do, then do so, slowly. If that isn't good enough, get out of the car.

Ask before you do anything.

I agree it shouldn't be this way, but this is more a matter of police training than it is anything else.

Indeed, the fact that officers in the US only get half a year's worth of training before they hit the streets is absolutely incomprehensible to me.

Becoming an officer over here is literally getting a Bachelor's degree, and takes at least three years.

same here... and one of the hardest jobs to get.