Posted on 08/19/2014 3:11:59 PM PDT by Little Ray
Politicians like Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) who have supported the militarization of police but have found it politically unfeasible to do so now have been looking for a way to square their support with a little bit of politically-motivated outrage. Clay, whose district includes Ferguson, the town that helped catapult the issue of police militarization into the national news cycle, defended his vote, saying he only disapproved of the use of such police forces for crowd control in his district.
But while their presence at protests may be the most prominent manifestation of militarized police, the problem is endemic. Perhaps Clay and the rest of them ought to subscribe to Reason to inform themselves better.
Earlier this year, we brought you the story of Baby Bounkham, who was severely injured after a Georgia SWAT team threw a flashbang grenade that landed inside Bounkham's crib—cops were serving a drug warrant based on information from a confidential informant about a small amount of meth. The raid yielded no drugs and no suspect. Cops insisted they did what they could to prepare and didn't know there were children in the house, two seemingly contradictory contentions. The sad case illustrates the interplay between the war on drugs, militarized police, and police brutality.
The story didn't elicit national outrage, and a friend of the family raised just $38,000 in two months to cover Boumkham's medical bills. They're going to need more than that, as the county government has ruled it would be a "violation of the law" for it to pick up the medical costs their officers created the necessity for.
WSB-TV reports:
Habersham County's attorney provided the following statement, saying: "The question before the board was whether it is legally permitted to pay these expenses. After consideration of this question following advice of counsel, the board of commissioners has concluded that it would be in violation of the law for it to do so."
The attorney for Boo Boo's family insists that is not good enough.
Those not discussing serious changes in the laws that protect cops and create situations like this, where a government can say it's against the law for it to pay the medical expenses created by its officers violent actions, ought to be ignored as the noise over the Michael Brown shooting continues. Police violence is not just a problem in Ferguson, not just a problem during protests, not just a problem for young black men, but a problem with the laws cops enforce, the tools they're given to do so, the erosion of our rights in the name of public safety, and the protections cops enjoy when they're wrong
h/t pdogg
I believe the officer’s are under the umbrella of the County Sheriff’s Department. It is a county issue.
File a claim with the county’s insurance and head to court. That’s where it would end up anyway even if the county paid the medical bills.
When there is no accountability fir the action of all involved those involed will smile, shrug their shoulder and go safely home to their families while others are left to bear the pain of those actions.
Ping!
The county government trusts those people to do their jobs with due diligence and are therefore culpable.
Why does the US Military fighting overseas have Rules of Engagement and yet the police do not when using the same weapons on the citizens?
Why is a mother arrested for child engagement for letting her seven year old play in a park, but the police can use weapons of war on babies with no recourse?
is this the country we want?
Have a job, work hard, have property? Then you are responsible. Have nothing but an ETB card or a government job, and then you can do whatever you want!
Keep it up........
All the cops involved went home safely that night. That’s the only thing that matters. Do I really need a sarcasm tag?
It’s way past time for suing counties and municipalities. Judges who approve these ridiculous warrants and the cops who serve them need to be on the hook personally.
Strip them of their indemnity for gross incompetence and sue them into bankruptcy. Leave them, their wives, and their kids broke and shivering in the streets.
Perhaps they need a judgment before they can legally pay. I wouldn’t expect Reason or any other news outlet these days to make an effort to research the facts.
Not so sure that is fair, but this is a Georgia County matter.
As a General printable i think police militarization is nothing more than provoking Americans with the ever increasing reality that the police force is now starting to look and function more and more like a regular army of occupational, rather than an interactive civilian response force.
This I think is a very much un-american if not alarming trend. Police officers are not suppose to act or be armed like military soldiers. Police officers are suppose to be interactive members of the community, not distant and disengaged observers only concerned with their Government’s will, and not the community around them, that is the historic position of a soldiers not a police man.
Thus as our police forces start looking as well as acting more and more like occupying soldiers, they not only become less effective as police officers but more a threat to their community.
Whenever the Local Government is in need of an army they should rely upon the State National Guard. That is no small part of the reason we have such a military force.
There is no legitimate excuse for building an army out of the police force. Police men must know their community personally, not simply carelessly patrol it.
“That’s where it would end up anyway even if the county paid the medical bills.”
Yeah, there’s got to be a little more detail than this. Their agents and employees caused this child’s injuries, even if those agents were 100% in the right with their actions and this was just an unfortunate mistake, clearly the child is blameless and his injuries are on them.
It may well be that the family has already filed suit and they are unwilling to pay these bills because that would, understandably, be treated as admission of culpability.
My guess is, in the end, they are going to pay, a tad over the hospital bills in fact.
The parents should just say “No habla Inglis” and the county will cover it all.
Their risk management team has more than likely has advised them that if they pay the bills now it’s an admission fault and will set the stage for the pain and suffering lawsuit, which is most likely going to result in a multi million dollar judgement.
They are playing the long game with hopes if settling out of court for way less money
just wrong.
this is why people aren’t going to help cops in the shtf.
it’s why people assume the cops they are dealing with are assholes. you’ll end up dead if you don’t.
if the board can vote to not pay it, they don’t need to wait for a judgment
Ping!
You are probably right. Lawyers are a cagey bunch.
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