Guest Post by Eric Peters
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) 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.
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 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.
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 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, Webster had been charged with a minor felony – second degree assault. But a cop-centric grand jury failed to indict and the charge was reduced to second-degree assault. This was in May of 2014. In December of 2014, after five days of testimony, the jury failed to convict despite the video. 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 is free to resume his profession anywhere except Dover … 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.
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? And remained an unemployable convicted violent felon for the rest of his life? 
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.
Eventually people like this run across the wrong person and their career comes to an end as the result of it.
This is very unusual; hard to believe; cam footage must have been altered.
To Protect and Serve.
Black people have been complaining about the police for years.
Now with videos from citizens and police cams I have to admit they were right all along.
Sad thing is , this guy should consider himself lucky. With all that gun possession blather on the radio , it’s like teasing a pit bull with raw meat.
My buddy said, if it’s one cop your cool.
Two cops, your going to get an ass beating.
Three cops, your going to get killed.
The first cop will claim you attacked him, the second will swear to it and the third will corroborate.
Dis Nigga, been the lone White guy in a Racist Black Gang attack and the same thing you say about Cops applies to the Black Racist. If the glove fits…
Bob, I was only repeating my buddy’s view of things. At last count, I have 7 relatives in law enforcement.
I am not a nigga but I play one on TV, TBP, I mean.
I guess we can say that this copfuk does not subscribe to “black lives matter” or “protect and serve” or “do unto others” mantras.
At the risk of defending a dindu, this dude posed no threat to the copfuks based on this video. It looks like his entire body weight was being supported by his toes and hands when his skull got punted. Prior to that he was hands up, hands on head and willingly and actively submitting to them. The cops couldn’t stand back and wait for a few seconds longer while he laid down face first before they just cuff him?
And cops wonder why people are now actively hunting cops in some locales……..wonder no more! If there are any good cops left they need to get out front of this shit before the country breaks bad otherwise being a current or former LEO is going to shorten their life spans.
Not really. When the populace burned the police station in Juarez to vent their frustration with ineffective security in the city, the government responded with martial law.
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
Animal control is a very stressful job.
Hillary thinks they should be brought to heel. OR did she say brought to HEAL, meaning given free health care for the rest of their lives?