- May 12, 2011
- 3,277
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Smfh. Dude gets to enjoy the holidays with his family while MBs family has their first holidays without him
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Now its time for the protests to get more disruptive.
Naw i wasnt trolling at all. Im black myselfWhat do people get off trolling threads like this? Is your life that pitiful?
Prosecutor gives St. Louis Grand Jury until January 7th to decide on Darren Wilson. They want to outlast our anger. http://m.stltoday.com/news/local/cr...54c9-8316-76c4867dea48.html?mobile_touch=true
January 7th
Wheres the Department of Justice now?
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Tens...ficers-union-over-body-cameras-275346191.html
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) – Tensions are bubbling up between St. Louis Police and the officers’ union over the possibility of officers wearing body cameras.
St. Louis Police said it would cost around $1.2 million to outfit all 1300 officers with body cameras. The police union said it must agree to any policy covering body cameras before a policy is adopted.
“They can’t employ this equipment without violating the union contract they signed,” said Jeff Roorda with the St. Louis Police Officers Association.
Union representatives told News 4 police and the union must forge an agreement on what the recordings will be used for before any decision is made on whether to use body cameras.
“This gotcha discipline that we have with the dash board cameras is what we’d be afraid of,” Roorda said.
Public Safety Director Richard Gray said an individual camera would cost $300-$700 but may round out to $1200 once accessory and data and storage costs are added. Other local police departments have told News 4 their cameras will cost around $400 a piece.
“What they have is an incomplete process. The cameras would cost that, but they also need to store the information, charge the product, the camera itself,” Gray said.
After initial start-up costs, Gray said the department would have to increase its annual budget by $800,000-$900,000 to maintain the cameras and their data. Gray said no decisions have been made about how such an effort would be funded.
“I think it’s a good tool and whatever it costs probably is a fraction of the cost to our greater community to have that broken trust,” said 21st Ward Alderman Antonio French.
[/quote][QUOTE url="[URL]http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Tensions-between-St-Louis-Police-officers-union-over-body-cameras-275346191.html[/URL]"]
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Tens...ficers-union-over-body-cameras-275346191.html
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) – Tensions are bubbling up between St. Louis Police and the officers’ union over the possibility of officers wearing body cameras.
St. Louis Police said it would cost around $1.2 million to outfit all 1300 officers with body cameras. The police union said it must agree to any policy covering body cameras before a policy is adopted.
“They can’t employ this equipment without violating the union contract they signed,” said Jeff Roorda with the St. Louis Police Officers Association.
Union representatives told News 4 police and the union must forge an agreement on what the recordings will be used for before any decision is made on whether to use body cameras.
“This gotcha discipline that we have with the dash board cameras is what we’d be afraid of,” Roorda said.
Public Safety Director Richard Gray said an individual camera would cost $300-$700 but may round out to $1200 once accessory and data and storage costs are added. Other local police departments have told News 4 their cameras will cost around $400 a piece.
“What they have is an incomplete process. The cameras would cost that, but they also need to store the information, charge the product, the camera itself,” Gray said.
After initial start-up costs, Gray said the department would have to increase its annual budget by $800,000-$900,000 to maintain the cameras and their data. Gray said no decisions have been made about how such an effort would be funded.
“I think it’s a good tool and whatever it costs probably is a fraction of the cost to our greater community to have that broken trust,” said 21st Ward Alderman Antonio French.
They are talking about money, but have the finances to have and maintain military weaponry?
Okay ferguson
I know, rightThey are talking about money, but have the finances to have and maintain military weaponry?
Okay ferguson
Must've forgot about this chick...http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...county-michael-brown-militarization/15736907/
CHICAGO - St. Louis County's top police officer said on Tuesday that the heavy-armored trucks and some of the military-style equipment used by police in last month's unrest in Ferguson helped keep civilians and law enforcement officers safe.
Col. Jon Belmar's defense comes as the actions of his officers in Ferguson have been broadly criticized and spurred a national debate about the militarization of local law enforcement agencies. The military build-up began after the federal government doled out increased funding in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"I think we have to look at this from another vantage point," said Belmar, in an interview with USA TODAY after addressing 200 top law enforcement officers from across the country gathered in Chicago by the Police Executive Research Forum.
"Had we not had the ability to protect officers with those vehicles, I am afraid that we would have to engage people with our own gun fire. I really think having the armor gave us the ability not to have pulled one trigger…I think the military uses armor to be able to provide an offensive force, and police departments use trucks like that so they don't have to."
St. Louis County Police Department led the law enforcement response during the first week of protests following the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
But the agency eventually relinquished the lead to Missouri State Highway Patrol at the order of Gov. Jay Nixon as county officers faced criticism for its handling of the unrest. The Justice Department announced earlier this month that it would conduct a review of the St. Louis County Police Department, as well as the Ferguson Police Department's response to the protests.
Belmar noted that during the protests, his officers used heavy-armored equipment to help retrieve a gunshot victim. The county chief also noted that there were five shootings in a six-block area near where the protests occurred, and there were several incidents where police and armored vehicles were struck by gunfire during the unrest.
"I don't know how we can responsibly as police administrators not provide our young officers some protection," Belmar said.
"Does it look right if we have armored trucks in the West Florissant corridor in the Midwest United States," Belmar added. "Does it look right if we have TAC guys who are wearing military style fatigues. Is that appropriate? I think the answer is that we can provide explanation on why in certain circumstances that equipment is used."
Since the Ferguson protests, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and other lawmakers have questioned how the federal government goes about distributing more than $1 billion a year to police departments across the country in equipment and grants.
Last week, during a hearing a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, federal officials who oversee the programs testified they had no way to track any military-grade equipment supplied by the government, or purchased with federal dollars.
"How in the world can anyone say that this program has one lick of oversight?" McCaskill said, referring to a Pentagon program that gives surplus military equipment to local police at little or no cost.
In the closed-door session in Chicago about the Ferguson response that was led by Belmar and St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson, there was consensus that police departments need to establish strict guidelines for when and how military-equipment is used, said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum.
"When there is a Virginia Tech, when there is a Beltway sniper, when there is a Mumbai, the first responders are going to be American police and they need to know what they are doing with that stuff," said Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn. "That is going to remain a tension in this business that's not easily solved by knee-jerk responses to terms like militarization."
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey raised concerns that the national conversation is shifting to an "all-or-nothing" frame.
"You can't make the argument that you need zero equipment other than a patrol car and a baton," Ramsey said. "At the same time, the issue is around policies and training and it's about justifying. And in the end, there is probably some military equipment we don't need."
Anyone gonna be out thurr the weekend of the 17th?
Gonna visit STL and told the wife I want to go to Ferguson.
@Cobra Kai
will you still be there?
Good looking.Been out this thread for a minute since school started back up, graduating November 22 with my masters.
I'm planning on going back sometime in October to shoot another piece. Don't know exactly when, though.
If I end up going, I'll def drop my contact info in here and link with anybody who will be in town.