MUST-SEE Texas cop saves woman from path of speeding train

[Evergreen Emerald]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/texas-news/bfont-color000000MUST-SEEfontb-Texas-police-officer-saves-woman-from-train-264338361.html

Dramatic video shows a Richmond, Texas police officer risking his life to save a woman who was sitting on railroad tracks.
The images show the warning lights flashing and the gates lowering early Sunday morning just as Officer Ramon Morales pulls up to the scene.
His dash-mounted camera shows him running to the woman and dragging her out of the speeding locomotive's path to safety... just 12 seconds before the train would have hit her.
The woman was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

[tblue37]

1. Many cops do heroic things. But even those who do such things

typically participate in the police culture that allows and covers up for police brutality and lawlessness. Even if a cop does nothing brutal or lawless himself, as long as he helps cover up for those who do, or remains silent while watching others do so, he is participating in that lawlessness and brutality.

I actually understand why some otherwise fine police officers remain complicit by silence--or even by active participation in coverups. I once tutored a student in a sociology class that studied such things. Some of the cops interviewed for one article said they had to behave brutality when questioning or apprehending suspects because if they didn't, they would never earn the respect of their fellow police officers. Female and minority police officers especially admitted to behaving with unnecessary brutality in oder to "prove" themselves worthy to their fellow officers.

And several interviewees said that if they in any way rocked the boat about a coverup of another officer's illegal behaviors, they would be left hanging in dangerous situations in a way that could get them killed--and some actually admitted that they feared begin taken out by their fellow officers if they broke ranks about such things.

Thus the culture in many police department, and in US policing generally, doesn't just encourage good cops to participate in coverups or to remain silent about them--it actually forces them to do so, by threatening their livelihoods and even their lives if they do not. No matter how idealistic a person might be when he or she joins the force, he or she will be influenced and coerced by a sufficiently corrupt system.

Furthermore, even a brutal, lawless cop can be capable of heroic actions. In the movie Crash, the racist cop played by Matt Dillon outrageously abuses an affluent professional Black couple during an unjustified (DWB) traffic stop early in the film--and he even sexually molests the wife during an unjustified pat-down--but then later in the film he risks his own life to save the same woman when she is involved in a horrific traffic accident.

In real life people are seldom purely evil or purely good. The problem with our country's police culture is a problem of the culture itself and of its systematic disregard for the law and for the rights of citizens. Even cops with an inherent tendency toward bad behavior could be screened out if the departments cared to screen for such tendencies, and they could be kept in check if those in power considered it truly important to reign them in.

But since TPTB want a police force that has the equipment and the mindset necessary to keep a restive population under control while they loot the economy, I doubt that we will see much change in the way the police in general operate, even though there is no doubt that some police officers mean well and are often downright heroic--and that even some cops who are generally brutal and corrupt probably sometimes (or even often) do good things and brave things as well.

[Ron Green]

4. +1

A very fine post. Thank you.

[frylock]

2. yes, this was posted a week ago during the previous positive police story PR blitz

[DisgustipatedinCA]

3. Sometimes cops bring milk instead of beating the shit out of you.

Being white helps your chances, of course.

[Savannahmann]

5. Another Must See

#t=15

Great cops doing a great job!

[Savannahmann]

6. Some more great cops in action!

Denver Sheriff Department has 114 open internal affairs investigations, seventy from this year alone, and 1/3 of them allege police use of unnecessary force.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26042095/denver-sheriff-blames-stress-jail-guards-misconduct

The embattled Denver Sheriff Department has 114 open internal affairs investigations, with nearly a third of those involving allegations of excessive force by deputies, city records show.

Denver Sheriff Gary Wilson said Thursday that he is addressing the issue of deputy misconduct by introducing new training and other resources to help deputies deal with stress. The plan includes mentoring for recruits, a new chaplaincy program and an evaluation of shift and work hours.

Way to go Sheriff, that's the way to get on top of the misconduct and abuse. New training and help the deputies deal with stress. Here's an idea, put them in a line of work that they appear suited for. Help them retrain for their new career by practicing this phrase they should be saying. "Do you want fries with that?"

[Savannahmann]

7. Or how about this one?

A police officer suffered the punishment that is almost intolerable. After refusing to call off a pursuit that was going past departmental guidelines, the officers actions led to a death of a man. http://www.bothell-reporter.com/news/264919711.html

His punishment? One day suspension. That's right, a single day for a reckless pursuit that resulted in a death.

Great cops in action!

[Savannahmann]

8. Broward County Deputy fighting to get his job back.

Another great cop in action!

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/BSO-Deputy-Fights-for-Job-After-Lewd-Joyride-264308611.html

This great cop was just cruising around with a couple friends and was fired for no reason. I think this great example of law enforcement should have his job back.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. I hope that same heroic cop again risks his life and turns in his buddies on the force

when he knows they are lying on the witness stand, when he sees them shake down a small merchant or a prostitute for cash, when he sees them beat up a guy to make him talk or for the fun of it, when he sees them take a cut of a drug dealer's action in exchange for silence. You don't think police engage in broad corruption involving multiple officers? Just look up the history of the police force of any major U.S. city, like Chicago for instance, from the Summerdale scandal in which the police had organized their own burglary ring, to the unprovoked hunting down and murder of members of the Black Panther party.

You want to read stories that absolutely boggle the mind about police misconduct, read about the raid involving 31 officers on the home of Donald P. Scott by the Los Angeles County Sherrif's department in 1992. They broke into his house without warning and shot him to death. The District Attorney;s office officially determined that the Sherrif had concocted a scheme to catch Scott in the act of growing marijuana so he could profit from the confiscation of his 200 acre property. No drugs were found. The story sickens me to this day especially because the police got away scott free (no pun intended).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Donald_P._Scott

"...Early on the morning of October 2, 1992, 31 officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Border Patrol, National Guard and Park Service entered the Scott's 200-acre (0.81 km2) ranch. [2] They planned to arrest Scott for allegedly running a 4,000-plant marijuana plantation.[1] When deputies broke down the door to Scott's house, Scott's wife would later tell reporters, she screamed, "Don't shoot me. Don't kill me."[3] That brought Scott staggering out of the bedroom, blurry-eyed from a cataract operation—holding a .38 caliber Colt snub-nosed revolver over his head.[4] When he emerged at the top of the stairs, holding his gun over his head, the officers told him to lower the gun. As he did, they shot him to death. According to the official report, the gun was pointed at the officers when they shot him.[1]

Later, the lead agent in the case, sheriff's deputy Gary Spencer and his partner John Cater posed for photographs smiling arm-in-arm outside Scott's cabin.[4]

Despite a subsequent search of Scott's ranch using helicopters, dogs, searchers on foot, and a high-tech Jet Propulsion Laboratory device for detecting trace amounts of sinsemilla, no marijuana—or any other illegal drug—was found.[5] ..."

(...)

"...Michael D. Bradbury, the District Attorney of Ventura County conducted an investigation into the raid and the aftermath, issuing a report on the events leading up to and on October 2, 1992.[1] He concluded that asset forfeiture was a motive for the raid.[6][7]

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department issued their own report in response, clearing everyone involved of wrongdoing while California Attorney General Dan Lungren criticized District Attorney Bradbury. Sheriff Spencer sued D.A. Bradbury for defamation in response to the report.[4] The court ruled in favor of Michael Bradbury and ordered Sheriff Spencer to pay $50,000 in Bradbury's legal bills.[8] ..."