[quote]vroom wrote:
I’m too lazy to reread it again, was he actually blocking traffic or are we just inferring that?
[/quote]
Police were responding to a call about traffic being blocked at 2:51 a.m. outside the Snatch Rock & Roll Bar and Lounge.
Thanks man. I’m suprised he didn’t just get out of the way when asked… 
[quote]spartanpower wrote:
KBCThird wrote:
WHat bothers me is not the fact that he was arrested, but the fact that, besides AceQHoundog, everyone is justifying it SOLELY by virtue of the fact that they were cops. You mean no cop has ever given an order that constituted an abuse of power? Please, cops are as human and as fallible as the rest of us, and they have no more inherent authority than anyone else.
Police have no authority? Since when? Society gives police this very authority in exchange for protection.[/quote]
Since forever. You yourself say in your previous post
[quote] I find it hard to believe that he acted so stupidly as to force an arrest.
Unfortunately, some cops don’t need much of a reason for you to end up in handcuffs. If they can arrest you, alot of the time they will.
[/quote]
Thats an abuse of power! Maybe the problem is we’re just getting hung up on semantics. Yes, they are GIVEN authority, but then again, Saddam Hussein was teh authority in Iraq. That doesnt make it right.
[quote]
Ace, on the other hand, pointed out that there were people going about their business, whether going home, going wherever, who were being inconvenienced by the tomfoolery. THAT is a good reason to get out of the street, NOT because a police officer told you to. Was arresting him a valid response instead of finding out if someone could take him home? Dunno, thats a judgement call, not gonna guess at it.
Being told to do something by the police is ALWAYS a good reason to do it, as you may have to find out the hard way. Arresting him was a judgement call that ONLY the police have the power to make. [/quote]
Again, this may be semantics. Police telling you to do something may not JUSTIFY it, but it usually is expedient. I just think that justification - not expediency - is a prerequisite to something being a good idea. And I agree that the arrest was a judgement call, i said that in the post.
He was NTA’d (Notice To Appear)
Since I work with south florida cops, daily, I’l tell you how it went.
They put him in the back of a car, told him he should have just listened then had him sign a piece of paper that notified him he needs to appear (usually a month or two in the future) at the courthouse. They then found someone to take him home.
Total time in custody depended on how soon they could find someone to take him home. But I’d say 30-45 minutes tops.
And to the guy saying Miami cops would react to a big black dude with locks…have you ever been to Miami? Seriously, big black guys without dreadlocks are the exception rather then the rule.
[quote]KBCThird wrote:
Thats an abuse of power! Maybe the problem is we’re just getting hung up on semantics. Yes, they are GIVEN authority, but then again, Saddam Hussein was teh authority in Iraq. That doesnt make it right.
[/quote]
I agree 99%. I wouldn’t compare the cops to Hussein, but I get you.
Yup, semantics are a pain in the ass sometimes, but I think we’re in agreement that this was not racially motivated, that the cops were within the law, and that they didn’t HAVE to arrest him. Good enough for me.