Reply #100: dancing, congo beating, singing

[not systems]

All reasons to open up a can of whoop ass on
people exercising their right to protest.

The policy of the police was changed because unlike
you, many rational people can recognize excessive
force and admit mistakes and make changes rather
than defend the indefensible.

I guess we can see where Texas "justice" gets it's reputation.


Not by the book
Oakland cops violated their own rules at port protest
http://www.sfbayguardian.com/37/29/news_oak.html

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According to documents obtained by the Bay Guardian, the weapons are generally supposed to be aimed at the thighs and buttocks, or "skipped" off the pavement at an angle so they ricochet toward the legs of the crowd.
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In the opinion of Frank Saunders, a former Santa Monica cop and an expert on police practices, the OPD "was using those weapons inappropriately and indiscriminately. You can't just fire at anything that moves."
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OAKLAND
Police restrained at protest
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/08/BAGKQ622AA27.DTL

...
But instead of helmeted police armed with weapons, Oakland police stayed out of sight Wednesday except for 10 hostage negotiators acting as liaisons to protesters.

"We're trying to emphasize changes in our policy," said Oakland police Officer Danielle Ashford, department spokeswoman. "For the most part, our officers will be out of sight, out of mind."
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The BUMP squad
Wanna run over protesters?
Join the Oakland Police Department
http://www.labournet.net/world/0307/oakland1.html

Lawsuits generated by the already infamous police crackdown at the Port of Oakland are starting to flood the courts. So far, at least 46 people have sued the Oakland Police Department, accusing Oakland riot cops of quashing the April 7 antiwar protest with unnecessary and unreasonable force.

One internal OPD document that’s sure to be discussed in federal court is Special Order No. 7088. The order, which has been obtained by the Bay Guardian, lays out the department’s policy of steering police motorcycles into throngs of protesters “to physically push people.”

Running over people with motorcycles wouldn’t appear to be a terribly enlightened form of crowd control which is probably why other big-city police departments we contacted specifically ban the practice.
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