Years ago, when I worked as an editorial writer at The Washington Times, I got to know the curmudgeonly – and brilliant – writer Sam Francis. One of his most astute observations was that we suffer under a system of anarcho-tyranny. He meant by this that the government does as it pleases, regardless of “the law” (including the Constitution, which is supposed to be the law) Â while viciously persecuting ordinary people over even trivial infractions of law.
This neatly describes the reason for the increasingly public and general dislike of cops – who are the government’s enforcers (their own term).
But it’s not the enforcement, per se, that enrages.
It’s the double standard. Â Â Â
Another example of this hit the news recently when a brutal Dover, Delaware cop was awarded a quarter-million dollar pension and four months of full salary (and benefits) on top of that as his “punishment” for kicking a man in the face as hard as he possibly could – breaking the man’s jaw.
The man – Lateef Dickerson – was walking down the street when the squad car rolled up and Corporal Thomas Webster and his partner exited the vehicle, guns drawn, barking orders.
Dickerson may or may not have been involved in a fistfight at a nearby gas station. His chief crime was that he “fit the description” of one of the men involved.
Maybe, maybe not.
The relevant thing is that Dickerson was clearly not aggressive toward the cops when they pounced on him like hyenas.
In the damning dashcam video that resulted – eventually – in Webster’s slow-motion dismissal from the Dover Police Department, we see Dickerson ( a slightly built black man) raise his hands in the “I surrender” pose and begin to “get on the ground” as ordered by Webster and his partner. As Dickerson is assuming the position – and again, not resisting, not attempting to get away and certainly not a “threat” to the “safety” of the two armor vest-wearing, heavily armed cops – Webster very deliberately and utterly gratuitously delivers a Clockwork Orange-style ultraviolent kick to Dickerson’s head.
This could have killed him.
Luckily (if that’s an appropriate word) Webster’s brutal kick to Dickerson’s head only broke his jaw.
Of course, Webster was not immediately arrested by his partner – who witnessed the assault. So much for enforcing the laws against assault.
Dickerson was later awarded a settlement of $15,000 – paid for out of the taxpayers’ pockets, not Webster’s – which maybe paid for a portion of his hospital bills,
Webster, meanwhile, was eventually awarded $230,000 as well as being given another four months’ pay and benefits (through June 30 of this year) even though he will not be “on duty” during this time. In effect, four months’ paid vacation on the taxpayers’ dime … for breaking a man’s jaw on purpose (Webster didn’t slip; the kick was not accidental).
Originally, after the video was viewed by local prosecutors, Webster was  charged with a minor felony – second degree assault. But a cop-centric grand jury failed to indict. This was in May of 2014. In December of 2014, another attempt to prosecute was made. After five days of testimony, the jury failed to convict despite the video evidence, which is pretty damning. Webster was back “on duty” for another year-plus while the “separation agreement” that awarded him $230,000 in pension plus four months’ pay and benefits was hammered out.
Webster walks away rich – or at least, pretty comfortable. And worst of all, he is free to resume his profession anywhere except Dover …Â like a kid-touching priest shuttled from one diocese to the next. Wherever he goes next, the populace will have no idea who they’re dealing with. And will probably end up on the hook paying off his next victim.
It’s insufferable.
Had the roles been reversed – had Dickerson kicked Webster in the head and broken his jaw – is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that Dickerson would at this moment be serving at least five years in prison for felony first-degree assault? He would then be an unemployable convicted violent felon for the rest of his life. His felony record would follow him everywhere, forever. 
And it goes without saying that Webster would have had the law at his back had he defended himself from such a vicious, unprovoked and unjustifiably violent assault. But had Dickerson so much as raised his hands to ward off the potentially lethal, potentially brain-damaging kick of Webster, it would have constituted “resisting” and a “threat to officer safety” – and could very well have ended Dickerson’s life right there.
Webster would likely have drawn his gun and executed Dickerson.
And no indictments would have been forthcoming.
Anarcho-tyranny.
They get to do whatever they like to us – while we had better damn well do exactly as they say.
And even then, it’s no guarantee we won’t get a kick in the head.
Or perhaps worse.
Will it ever change? Only if the laws do. And only if cops are held to at least the same standard we’re held to.
Wishful thinking.
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Please take some time and read this message from John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute:
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/jackboots_in_the_morning_no_one_is_spared_from_this_american_nightmare
That’s a good link; thanks for sharing!
Anarchyst brings up a great point. Why not at least remove some of the “immunity” from such cases by taking the funds paid out in civil litigation due to police misconduct from the police pension fund?
If the individual cannot be held accountable and it must be a collective responsibility, at least make the cost be borne by the collective that perpetrates these events. This would eliminate the burden from the taxpaying public and maybe make their brethren be a bit more mindful.
“Had the roles been reversed – had Dickerson kicked Webster in the head and broken his jaw – is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that Dickerson would at this moment be serving at least five years in prison for felony first-degree assault? He would then be an unemployable convicted violent felon for the rest of his life. His felony record would follow him everywhere, forever.”
It is even worse than that Eric. ‘had Dickerson kicked (A POLICE DOG) in the head and broken his jaw – is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that Dickerson would at this moment be serving at least five years in prison for felony first-degree assault (OF A POLICE OFFICER)?’
Basically we’ll have to act like citizens in most other countries – avoiding police interactions at all costs.
E.g., south of the border if you’re involved in a traffic accident the smartest thing to do is flee the scene before the policia arrive.
Ever notice that police unions are “fraternal”? This should tell you something. The “thin-blue-line” is a gang, little different than street gangs–at least when it comes to “covering-up” questionable behavior by police.
In today’s day and age, “officer safety” trumps de-escalation of force. This, in part, is due to the militarization of the police along with training in Israeli police tactics. This becomes a problem, with the “us vs. them” attitude that is fosters, along with the fact that Israel is a very different place, being on a constant “war footing”, and by necessity, its police tactics are very different.
There are too many instances of police being “given a pass”, even when incontrovertible video and audio evidence is presented. Grand juries, guided by police-friendly prosecutors, quite often refuse to charge those police officers who abuse their authority.
Police officers, who want to do the right thing, are quite often marginalized and put into harms way, by their own brethren…When a police officer is beating on someone that is already restrained while yelling, “stop resisting” THAT is but one reason police have a “bad name” in many instances…
Here are changes that can help reduce the police-induced violence:
1. Eliminate both “absolute” and “qualified” immunity for all public officials. The threat of being sued personally would encourage them to behave themselves.
2. Any public funds disbursed to citizens as a result of police misconduct should come out of their pension funds–NOT from the taxpayers.
3. Regular drug-testing of police officers as well as incident-based drug testing should take place whenever an officer is involved in a violent situation with a citizen–no exceptions.
4. Testing for steroid use should be a part of the drug testing program. You know damn well, many police officers “bulk up” with the “help” of steroids. Steroids also affect users mentally as well, making them more aggressive. The potential for abuse of citizens increases greatly with steroid use.
5. Internal affairs should only be used for disagreements between individual officers–NOT for investigations involving citizen abuse. State-level investigations should be mandatory for all suspected abuses involving citizens.
6. Prosecutors should be charged with malfeasance IF any evidence implicating police officer misconduct is not presented to the grand jury.
7. A national or state-by-state database of abusive individuals who should NEVER be allowed to perform police work should be established–a “blacklist” of abusive (former) police officers.
8. Get rid of police unions. Police unions (fraternities) protect the guilty, and are responsible for the massive whitewashing of questionable police behavior that is presently being committed.
9. Most people are unaware that police have special “rules” that prohibit them from being questioned for 48 hours. This allows them to “get their stories straight” and makes it easier to “cover up” bad police behavior. Police must be subject to the same laws as civilians.
10. All police should be required to wear bodycams and utilize dashcams that cannot be turned off. Any police officers who causes a dash or body cam to be turned off should be summarily fired–no excuses. Today’s body and dash cams are reliable enough to withstand harsh treatment. Body and dashcam footage should be uploaded to a public channel “on the cloud” for public perusal.
11. All interrogations must be video and audio recorded. Police should be prohibited from lying or fabricating stories in order to get suspects to confess. False confessions ARE a problem in many departments. Unknown to most people, police can lie with impunity while civilians can be charged with lying to police…fair? I think not…
12. Any legislation passed that restricts the rights of ordinary citizens, such as firearms magazine capacity limits, types of weapons allowed, or restrictive concealed-carry laws should apply equally to police. No special exemptions to be given to police. Laws must be equally applied.
Police work is not inherently dangerous…there are many other professions that are much more dangerous.
A little “Andy Taylor” could go a long way in allaying fears that citizens have of police.
That being said, I have no problem with police officers who do their job in a fair, conscientious manner…however, it is time to call to task those police officers who only “protect and serve” themselves
“I have no problem with police officers who do their job in a fair, conscientious manner”
I could agree with that if I ever saw one single example of such a unicorn. Face it, a cop like you describe is a fuckin’ unicorn. You hear about them and some people believe they’ve seen one, but there’s actually no such thing.
…you are correct. Truly “good” cops are as rare as “hen’s teeth.
Regards
I agree with all but a small portion of #11 – the officer’s lying in order to get a confession, it’s a somewhat dirty, but harmless way to elicit a confession. Since it’s not true coercion, I think most, if not all, confessions obtained in this fashion are probably reliable. Conversely, it’s bullshit that a citizen no longer has the same right.
Criminals know how to “game the system”…as such, they KNOW that cops lie. It is the non-criminal that gets “caught up in the system” that is unaware that cops lie, and as such are susceptible to being coerced, if only to get the cops to leave them alone…
Lying should NEVER be allowed. All interrogations should be videotaped…every time.
I agree wholeheartedly on the video/audio tape. There is no good excuse to not doing that in this day and age. A confession that isn’t video/audio taped should be inadmissible.
Exactly, Anarchyst!
Like the Martin Tankleff case. at 17 years old, Tankleff finds his mother and father murdered! Imagine being in his shoes, and at only 17. You’d hysterical, right? So the pigs take him in as a suspect, and then lie to him and tell him that his father had regained consciousness in the hospital and “said that you did it”. Hysterical Tankleff says “Well then, I must have done it”- and those words, without an iota of any other evidence, sent him away for 17 years, for a crime which he didn’t commit. (And had he not been from a rich family, and had the money to keep lawyers working to bring the injustice to light, he’d still be rotting in jail).
The only good thing: The piece-of-crap detective who was the main perpetrator of this frame-up, died recently, within a few years of retiring, so he won’t be enjoying his lavish Suffolk County NY police pension.
But this is how these lying scumbags operate. Framing vulnerable children at their weakest moments; and the idiotic juries go along with it.
Presented well in “My Cousin Vinny.”
While interviewing the kid, the sherriff says, “That’s when you shot the clerk.” To which the young guy says, “_I_ shot the CLERK?” (Incredulous, voice rising at the end? with a loud SHOT in the middle, as if saying, WtF?!)
But, reading back the transcript at court, the sherriff repeated things quite nicely: “He said, ‘I shot the clerk.’ ” Intoned as if the “perp” had been claiming he’d had a soda, or such – nice and easy, just a casual admission…
Because HOW you say it is just as important as what you say.So they wanted to punish someone. Not necessarily the guilty – no, they’re not the Punisher, not even Knight Rider, they’re Law Enforcement, and it’s more important to confirm LawN Order than to find the guilty party. Reassure the citizens that someone will pay. Whether they’re guilty is immaterial.
BTW, you left out the coerced confessions of mentally incompetent, and of children, and then we could address the “no guilt needed” issues, too – but that takes more time and thought than I have tolerance for today.
And I live in an area where the piggies seem OK, so far – except for ignoring the 4th and 5th amendment (search and seizure, they have random searches at T stops. Oh, for a grenade, incendiary preferred… The T would smell like bacon forever!)
“it’s a somewhat dirty, but harmless way to elicit a confession.”
I can’t begin to see it that way, Doc. Cops lie to get a confession. Cops lie ABOUT getting a confession. Cops lie to a jury to get a conviction. Cops lie to avoid prosecution for their own crimes.
Are all of these examples “dirty but harmless”? My view is that no lie is harmless in any process involving a person’s life or liberty.
I agree with lying only as a tactic to elicit a confession. Every other form you reference is perjury by their rules and should be prosecuted if caught. I know it doesn’t happen this way, but it should. As an aside, I love fighting traffic tickets, I never outright pay them and I’ve even gotten quite good fighting them. It can be fun to get a cop on the stand and watch him lie to bolster his case, then figure a way to make him swallow his own words further down the road. I’ve had them literally disappear on lunch breaks during trial and not return since the jig is up. Fun way to win a dismissal. They get cocky and step on their own dicks.
“I agree with lying only as a tactic to elicit a confession. ”
Then you agree with lying to elicit a false confession. Cops lied to a mentally handicapped teenager in the West Memphis murder case and led him into a false confession, and the result was three wrongfully convicted teenagers who spent decades in prison before finally being exonerated. Three young lives ruined, and the murderer(s) are still free.
Cops and prosecutors lie and suborn perjury every day. It’s routine. I don’t agree that any good can come of it.
Agreed, Ed.
Cops lying is another example of the double standard. It also encourages other, worse actions. If lying in the name of some greater good is ok, then whey not stealing, too?
Agreed on all counts, although I’ll say this about the very last paragraph: If there were any cops who did their jobs in a fair and conscientious manner we’d hear them objecting to having to work alongside sadists and bullies. I haven’t heard of any–and I spend a good 3 hours a day reading news sites–and from this I conclude that the entire orchard bears rotten fruit. They’re either sadistic bullies or pussies or both.
The only good cop is an ex-cop.
That’s because “good cops” never remain cops.
They are either drummed out by corrupt “brother officers”, or drop out in disgust.
NB: Strictly speaking even “good cops” were not really “good”, if one factors in taxation and the NAP.
No, the only good cop is a dead cop. At least they do some good, then, by providing a grave upon which to dance and urinate.
I would also add that all cops and those being hired in, be required to undergo psyche testing before being allowed to continue.
Those who fail need to be removed and black listed. The American people do not need to suffer form psychopaths on the police force.
Stop the militarization of America’s police! No more military weaponry, no more dressing like it was Beirut or Iraq. No more of sending cops to Israhell to teach them to treat Americans like Palestinians. No more us and them attitude , no more acting like soldiers in a combat zone.
Hi John,
Many police recruitment ads glorify violence and show wanna be military actions, which attract psychos.
“No more us and them attitude , no more acting like soldiers in a combat zone”.
Returning soldiers are given preferential hiring treatment, the “Rise of the Warrior Cop”, is not an accident, it is policy.
BTW, if you are interested in this topic, look into Radley Balko (author of the above noted book) and the late, great William Norman Grigg.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Ahh, the great William Norman Grigg! RIP.
Check out John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute:https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/jackboots_in_the_morning_no_one_is_spared_from_this_american_nightmare
RIP :Justin Raimondo of Antiwar.com
Is it known if this head kicking fiend has steel toed shoes/boots?
The reason he was probably not convicted of anything was because people are conditioned to seeing someone who didn’t submit er comply fast enough. Now of course had he complied more quickly instead of moving in slow motion they might have shot him because he moved too fast. That too would be ruled acceptable. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
That’s only half of anarcho-tyranny.
1. Anarcho- The state ignores, or excuses as exceeding their manpower capabilities, any, all, or more of the following: (a) violent crime; (b) property theft or damage; (c) rape; (d) hoaxes or false accusations; (e) violations of the right of free association. The exceptions are limited to those cases in which a prosecutor sees a name for himself to be made.
2. -tyranny: The state vigorously enforces or prosecutes, without mercy, and particularly against the ordinarily law-abiding: (a) petty violations (jaywalking, running a light, stickers on one’s car, etc); (b) violations of tax, fine, fee, or other penalties that, if left untouched, would deprive the state of revenue; (c) violations of political correct speech codes; (d) violations of the edicts of various government departments that do not constitutionally have the force of law (EPA, etc).
Don’t vote, says Doug Casey. Here’s why.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/doug-casey-dont-vote/
How about George Carlin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxsQ7jJJcEA
Why I don’t Vote!
I don’t know who’s more contemptible: the sadistic pigs, the ‘good apples’ who don’t object to their sadist co-workers, or the copsuckers on these grand juries who refuse to indict.
Like some of us say regarding elections – the lesser of 2 evils is still evil.
Agreed on all counts, Paula.
The cop in this case is – by his actions – a typical bully-thug. Probably a former fuuuhhhhhhhhttttttttball “hero” in high school, too.
Eric – here’s what may be some good news about fuuuuuuhhhhttttball.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/robot-football/
Then maybe next we could get robot pheroes.
Or is that what we consider redlight and speed cameras?
I was a fuuuhhhhhtball player in highschool and beyond. We aren’t all dictatorial, bully buffoon motherfuc**rs…….at least I try not to be.
Football is a fine enough sport. It is the deification of the players starting from high school through “college” and the NFL that bothers me. Also the way violence is becoming the highlight of the game, with microphones strategically placed to capture the sickening crunch of helmets crashing into bodies, people literally baying for the opposing team’s blood and the overall mob mentality in stadiums and sports bars. The parallels drawn to Roman circuses are apt.
Beins from Tx. I rarely hear about “that” sport. Everybody who played high school _________ will bring you to tears reliving a past that never was. Coulda, shoulda, woulda one after the other. Say homes, ifn’ yall be so gud, why you have such a shitty record? Oh man, coulda, shoulda, woulda. Yeah yeah yeah, heard it all before ad infinitum, per vomitus. I say Reg…..Oh Reg…..OH REGGIE….ah hell, he can’t hear, got hit in the ear. What a trophy……a class of war heroes……
“a class of war heroes……”
Exactly right, 8. That’s perfectly descriptive.
Agree, Escher (and got the mail – thank you!)
The deification of sports/athletes is a way to channel the interests/emotions of men especially in a harmless direction. Get them to talk incessantly about “the game” rather than anything important, like the political or economic situation they’re in. Have them memorize their favorite team/athletes’s stats rather than read history or philosophy.
When I hear men talking, it’s almost always about some got-damned game.
Here is a story that proves that the glorification of team sports overrules true justice.
In Texas, football is looked upon as being next to God, country, mom and apple pie. Many Texas public high schools have sports facilities that rival college and professional facilities.
A number of years ago football jocks from an Amarillo Texas high school torment and eventually murdered a “goth” kid. This youth was harassed without end (for being “different”), while school officials turned a blind eye to what was going on. These jocks (football heroes?) ended up murdering this youth by running him over with a car. The “goth” kid was from “the poor side of the tracks” while the jocks were all relatively wealthy (spoiled POSs).
When the case came to trial, the jocks were acquitted. You see, the “big football championship” was scheduled for the following week, and the jurors felt that their players would be needed on the field, rather than incarcerated (where they really belonged).
The good side of this story is that the ringleader of the jocks was eventually prosecuted for other crimes, committed a few years after the murder.
So much for sports “teamwork” building values…
Eric, just as worse is the rampant militarism displayed before each and every game, with an honor guard, the glorification of troops who murdered people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, the jets flying over in a display that Americans 70 years ago looked upon in amazement at the displays of the German national Socialists or those in Red Square.
The Daytona 500, the other day was indeed the apex of the glorification of the military.
tRump’s military parade is an indication as to where this country now stands: a dictatorship.
There’s MORE…the sports organizations require the U S government (taxpayers) to pay for the “privilege” of allowing the military to do their “half-time” shows.
Hi anarchyst,
I’m pretty sure that program was developed by the DOD and presented to the NFL. I don’t say this to defend the NFL’s loathsome participation in such government worship services but this practice is an example of paid government propaganda.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Yes. The DOD pays the NFL to promote it.
Amen, John.
It’s only a matter of time before a latter-day Speer creates a “cathedral of ice” for the Leader to bask in.
I keep hoping there’s going to by a knock on my door one of these days… I’ll answer it… and it won’t be AGWs. It’ll be an emissary of the real John Galt, inviting me to get on Galt’s FTL-drive ship and get out of here…
“or the copsuckers on these grand juries who refuse to indict.”
You forgot the morally retarded prosecutors who won’t even bring charges against a squint-eyed, inbred looking asshole like Webster.
The reason cops are never treated as the criminals that they are is because they are the bodyguard cadre for scumbag prosecutors and judges – who are just smart enough to realize that they would much rather have these psychopaths protecting them (from the hordes of citizens they’ve fucked over) than having them as their enemies.
Hi Lib,
Yep. Also, there is the fact that the public has been very effectively conditioned to literally worship cops (e.g., “New York’s Finest”) as “heroes” … this ludicrous image of a cohort of Spartans staving off the ravening hordes. When in fact the typical cop is a lazy job holder, at best morally indifferent to spending his days handing out tickets and putting people in jail for “crimes” that have no victim … and at worst, a thug given legal sanction to brutalize people.
Most of us have never hurt anyone in a criminal sense, yet almost all of us have been hurt in a criminal sense by a cop. This perhaps sounds harsh – not to those who are regulars here, of course. But, consider: An armed stranger uses force or its threat to literally take your money. What is that, if not theft? And is not theft criminal?
The cop apologist will say – but it’s the law! The cop is not taking your money; he is issuing you a fine, punishment for having broken the law.
Said another way: It’s ok to take someone’s money using violent threats provided it is done “legally.” Logically, then, theft is not a wrong thing as such. It is merely a question of the law. If the law says this form of taking is permissible, then it is also moral. If, on the other hand, the law says that form of taking is not permissible, then it is immoral.
But theft, as such, is not a moral absolute.
And by inference, neither is murder – which the state also does “legally” by calling it another thing (e.g., collateral damage, acceptable losses).
“there is the fact that the public has been very effectively conditioned to literally worship cops ”
Yes, and the military as well. The conditioning is mainly accomplished through a TV screen since most people can’t be bothered to read anything.
When I talk to a TV addicted zombie about anything their conditioning has covered, I can see their eyes glaze over as boredom overwhelms them at being subjected to any speech that isn’t set to the rhythms of a TV news reader.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jszKbJhx9I#t=40
Larkin Rose on Tom Woods.
“they are the bodyguard cadre for scumbag prosecutors and judges ”
True, that. Prosecutors control the processes of indictment and judges control the issuance of warrants. When the rare case against one of their praetorians comes to court, they work together with the FOP defense attorneys to produce an outcome favorable to their system.
When a cop goes far over the line _and_ it gets into the public eye they are forced to do something _and_ then only if the public keeps putting pressure on is there even a chance of more than a slap on the wrist. If they don’t the whole system crumbles.
As to the cop worship it was hilarious early this year when a cop got killed on duty and all the cop worshipers came out of the woodwork. And of course the lockdowns and over the top response looking for the perp. Then it turned out the cop was dirty and he committed suicide faking it as a murder. But did the cop worshipers learn their lesson? No.
Brent, it’s the reason there are so many of that clique, cops, judges, pols, trying to get video of cops banned. Without the video, it wouldn’t even have been a blip.
It was less a case of forgetting than of being afraid I was going to stroke out if I dwelt on it any longer. The prosecutors and judges are equally culpable, though: You’re right about that.
Don’t stroke out, Paula. 😉 There’s one other aspect of grand jurors failing to indict; some are scared of being assaulted, killed or falsely arrested if they dare to indict a scumbag like that inbred looking fucker pictured in the article.
Sorry, it’s no laughing matter, but the phrase “Ain’t that a kick in the head?” comes to mind.
btw, have you seen that the Michigan shooter, always described as an Uber driver, was also a police academy washout? Which one of those was more likely to have taught him to shoot (assuming he didn’t already know)?
You don’t expect Yellow cab and their media cronies to let a good crisis go to waste, do you?