The assorted gangs should have a field day with this advice.

Who made this mess? Not the gangs.

Maybe not Jack, but parasites will take every advantage afforded to them.

Maybe if the police stopped thinking of people as parasites, they'd stop needlessly brutalizing and killing them.

That's very quick of you Jack, but your assumption about who were the parasites made an, ah never mind.

I was referring to the gangs as parasites.

We are living under an ever increasing authoritarian government. At the same time, we are seeing a revolt against authority, the Teabagger Movement is just the beginning..

The Patriot Act has made us all into potential terrorists. That is the bigger picture of what these local incidents are projecting and as Jesse Jackson noted in todays Oregonian article, these type shootings/incidents are increasing nation wide.

Just wait until the economy decays even further and watch how the police/military respond to an even more defiant citizenry. From what Ive heard, many on the police force are concerned that martial law will be in place sooner than later.

What causes martial law to be implemented? Many things.. but in the case of the current conditions in our country, a loss of respect for the people who are supposed to be the examples of what ethical behaviour is supposed to look like.. Look at the financial instutions and how their failure at protecting their very institutions has been met with ongoing rewards in the form of bonuses worth billions of $$$...

One time when the company I worked for was being downsized I was given a bit of advice by my regional manager who was just terminated with a nice for the time golden parachute.. He said "keep your head down"...At that time it was a safe choice. Is it still good advice?

What does this all have to do with Aaron Campbell, Jesse Jackson, the police, this blog site and in particular a growing sense that something is terribly wrong in America?

If minorities are the first victims of an ever increasing authoritarian corporate state, when will you become the next group to be targeted? Do you think that people who post on blogs or send letters to the editor or call into talk shows might be the next group to be targeted?

From what Ive heard, many on the police force are concerned that martial law will be in place sooner than later.

Well, then it must be true if you've heard it.

Now now...don't start talking about armed resistance to an illegal, abusive, militarized police force. That's illegal. Hell, everything is illegal these days, as near as I can tell...that which is not compulsory, of course.

But hey, people reach a point where they will not take it any more, when they have very little to lose.

And the police...especially the PPB...stopped being "peace officers" in favor of the approach of a heavily militarized occupying army ages ago.

It began under the "War on Drugs." How are we doing with that one ? Are we winning ? As it was declared around the time I was born, I tend to forget.

Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia, Jimbo.

That's very quick of you Jack, but your assumption about who were the parasites made an, ah never mind.

I was referring to the gangs as parasites.

Yeah, I think everybody gets who you were referring to. What you don't get is that it isn't a far jump to going from thinking of gang members as parasites, to sooner or later thinking of everyone (not on the force) as the same.

We are told incessantly that police must think of every interaction with the public as possibly adversarial. In other words, to a cop, until proven otherwise, everyone is a bad guy. If you think one group of bad guys are parasites, why wouldn't all bad guys be too?

Hence the problem. As Jack stated.

BTW, since the local cops first tased, then shot to death a severely injured car accident victim they found sitting catatonic in the road - Fouad Kaady - here nearly five years ago, I have told my children and their friends to never call the cops if they or a friend are in crisis.

Well, you probably shouldn't call the police if the person in question says they want to commit suicide by cop.

In other words, to a cop, until proven otherwise, everyone is a bad guy.

That's explicitly what PPO president Scott Westerman said after the grand jury returned its verdict.

The public expects the officer to wait until they see a gun.

Well, duh, yeah. Otherwise you've got hundreds of armed officers running around the city with basically the same "one percent" doctrine that got the US stuck in Iraq. Anything that an officer might possible perceive as a threat to someone somewhere becomes an actionable target, whether there's any reality to the perception or not.

Darrel, in 1995 my car was stolen while it was parked in NW PDX. When I called the police I was told if Im making a false report what OR Criminal Statutes would be filed against me. That was the first thing I heard when I called the police.

Then to add insult to injury, I called my insurance company and got the same treatment. I not only had to provide a verbal accounting of what happened, I had to write one also..

The theives were caught in my car later that evening. They were juveniles. I agreed to mediation and the kids were supposed to pay me back. When I went to the Juvenile Court somewhere on NE 57th, I had to wait in the lobby with the posse of the kids who stole my car. They called me every name in the book.

Then when I went into the room with the referee, 3 of the 4 kids were there and only one set of parents.. There was no compulsory requirement that the parents attend..

The kids were supposed to pay me back. The kid with the parents paid me there share of losses within a week. The other kids didn't pay.. That was 15 years ago.

Last week I recieved a check from the Multnomah Circuit Court. It was the share of my loss for the kid that never showed. Apparently the state might have witheld the money from his tax return.. Im not sure how they got it from him.. but that was my experience with the police in Portland. I still prefer there presence than not...and the other two thieves owe me there share.. So yes, apparently we are always guilty before we prove ourselves innocent.. scary...