Police brutality

pochercoaster · 08-01-2011, 02:26 PM

This is extremely upsetting even though it's unsurprising. Nothing excuses that kind of force, but society is all about band-aid solutions (more police to "fix" crime) rather than taking the time to come up with solutions to complex social problems.

And no one cares about homeless people or the mentally ill. They are stigmatized and blamed for circumstances and problems that are beyond an individual's control. If they can't get the professional help and support they need they end up either on the streets or in prison.

There was an article in the Toronto Star a couple days ago about how numerous youths (kids under 18) in Ontario with mental health problems were shunted off to prisons that didn't have the necessary care workers and ended up killing themselves. These kids weren't even homeless in the first place but the system failed in so many ways that it just made things a whole lot worse for some kids who just desperately needed some help.

I don't even know what else to say, it makes me so angry. There is so much corruption going on here, among the police, among the government for cutting spending towards programs that would help disadvantaged people, among the general populace for its bootstraps attitude towards the homeless, among corporations for running prisons. It's disgusting and depressing.

Edit: Which is to say, an approach to "solve" police brutality, which is in itself is completely inexcusable, has to be multi-faceted. There won't be an improvement in this area until there's an improvement made in other areas as well. Particularly with the whole affordable and accessible support for disadvantaged people.

08-01-2011, 02:26 PM	#2
pochercoaster rollerpocher tycoon Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,808	This is extremely upsetting even though it's unsurprising. Nothing excuses that kind of force, but society is all about band-aid solutions (more police to "fix" crime) rather than taking the time to come up with solutions to complex social problems. And no one cares about homeless people or the mentally ill. They are stigmatized and blamed for circumstances and problems that are beyond an individual's control. If they can't get the professional help and support they need they end up either on the streets or in prison. There was an article in the Toronto Star a couple days ago about how numerous youths (kids under 18) in Ontario with mental health problems were shunted off to prisons that didn't have the necessary care workers and ended up killing themselves. These kids weren't even homeless in the first place but the system failed in so many ways that it just made things a whole lot worse for some kids who just desperately needed some help. I don't even know what else to say, it makes me so angry. There is so much corruption going on here, among the police, among the government for cutting spending towards programs that would help disadvantaged people, among the general populace for its bootstraps attitude towards the homeless, among corporations for running prisons. It's disgusting and depressing. Edit: Which is to say, an approach to "solve" police brutality, which is in itself is completely inexcusable, has to be multi-faceted. There won't be an improvement in this area until there's an improvement made in other areas as well. Particularly with the whole affordable and accessible support for disadvantaged people. Last edited by pochercoaster; 08-01-2011 at 02:38 PM.