FORBES: "Make No Mistake, The Powers Of The Police In This Country Have Grown Out Of Hand"

[kpete]

.......................


Events like the one in the above video have been far too common in the police response to Occupy protests across the country. I do believe that Occupy Wall Street is at a tipping point, and that it must grow beyond and evolve away from the tent city occupations, but this police response is absurd and excessive.

Arrests exceeding 250 people followed protests in New York City yesterday. All across the country, cops are cracking down on protesters with force. I may be a critic of Occupy Wall Street, but the police are public servants, and public servants have no business treating the public this way.

By and large, Occupy has been a peaceful affair. Certainly pepper-spraying protesters while they sit calmly in a row like this is a gross abuse of power. It should have our collective blood boiling, whether or not we even agree with the protesters themselves. What was meant to be a protest against economic equality quickly morphs into a protest against the police state.

And make no mistake, the powers of the police in this country have grown out of hand.

MORE:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/11/19/police-response-to-occupy-wall-street-is-absurd/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/19/1038140/-When-Forbes-Magazine-Blasts-Police-Brutality-Against-OWS,-You-Know-the-Game-Is-Changing?via=siderec

[aquart]

1. I'm stunned.

Brokers have kids at UC Davis?

[EFerrari]

12. Yes and if they can't get into UCSF for pre-med, and relatively few do,

they go to Davis.

[chill_wind]

2. Forbes, incredibly. NOW is it "safe" for cowering, ass-covering politicians

to speak up?

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Especially the POTUS!

[Enthusiast]

17. Yup.

[Rex]

4. Yawn...

oh did someone just wake up to the New Good News? :eyes:

[n2doc]

5. Wonder what lil Stevie Forbes thinks of this piece? n/t

[jwirr]

6. It is not just the police who have problems Mr Forbes, corporations

are also out of control.

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. Thanks for the story!

[Martin Eden]

8. It's not the Police who wield the power.

It's those who decide how the police shall be used.

[phasma ex machina]

9. Re: "police are public servants." Surely even the most brainwashed dullards now perceive how

jack-booted thugs ultimately serve only the fascist psychopathic powers-that-be (central banksters).

[aquart]

18. Wow. Contempt in two directions at once.

But thank you for your concern.

[WillyT]

10. Humongous K & R !!!

:kick::kick::kick:

::kick:

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. CRACK!

[Swede]

13. K&R

[procon]

14. This isn't actually a Forbes op-ed...

I wish it was, but it's getting trickier to tell the difference now that so many websites also host "citizen journalists" like this. Forbes allows outside writers to park their own commentary under the Forbes umbrella as separate "contributors"... and so can you:

http://blogs.forbes.com/help/


Not to minimize his efforts, but the writer isn't a Forbes columnist or employee, he's just one of the many independent contributors. He identifies himself as; "I write about nerd culture, games, fantasy, TV and craft beer." and he posts the same commentary in his separate blog:

http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/kain/

[meow2u3]

15. The police state and economic disparity go hand in hand

The police state serves as the enforcer to keep the economic disparity intact.

[A Simple Game]

16. I'm not sure how to get them started but the answer is

civilian review boards.

The police will not police themselves.

[TheKentuckian]

19. They exist and are populated by those between sympathetic and enthralled.

The start is to de-construct the police culture and rebuilding it based on service and maintaining the peace.