Police Brutality

I Was On sbsun.com, Which Is A Local Newspaper Where I Live, And Came Across This Article:

Man whose beating by SB police was caught on videotape is released from custody

Written By:

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer

Posted: 10/24/2009

Read: 10/25/2009

Heres The Link:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_13635405

The Writer Does A Good Job Of Describing Both Sides Of The Story Which Is Something That I Really Liked From The Article.

The Article First Caught My Eye Because I Thought Immediately Of Rodney King And His Police Beating, As Well As It Being Caught On Tape.

What Person Wouldn't? Anytime There Is An Issue Involving A Police Beating With A Black Man...You Automatically Think, "Rodney King".

It Speaks Of A Black Man Who Was Beaten With A Baton And Had A, "broken right hand and bruises and cuts from head to toe,..." And Was Caught On Cell Phones By Two Civilians.

This Man Was Taken To The Hospital For Recovery After The Beating Which Was On A Monday (10/19).

On Friday (10/23), While Recovering In The Hospital, Sheriff's Deputies Themselves Went Into The Man's Room And Revealed He Was Released From Custody.

They Gave Some Reason For Why He Was Released, But I Think They Only Released Him Because They Felt The Man May Have Had A Case Against Them And The Cops Could Have Gotten Into Trouble Yet Again.

If You Read The Article, The Black Man Was Booked On, "suspicion of resisting arrest, transportation of cocaine and possession of cocaine."

That Sounds To Me A Good Enough Reason To Keep This Man Behind Bars. But What I Take From Their Lame Reasoning Is That The Cops Obviosly Feel They May Have Been In The Wrong And Did Not Act And React As They Should Have.

If You Ask Me...Something Sounds Fishy For Letting This Man (Who Should Be Behind Bars) Be Free After The Charges He Was Booked For.

I Guess We'll See What Becomes Of This "Rodney King-Like" Story In The Near Future.

Will Gun Ammo Restrictions Really Matter?

I Recently Found An Article In My Local Newspaper's Website Having To Do With Upcoming Gun Ammunition Restrictions.

It Was Entitled:

"Gun Stores Preparing For Ammo Restrictions"

By: James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/17/2009

Read: 10/18/2009

Here Is The Link To The Full Article:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_13588077

As Of Today Anyone Of Age Can Walk Into Any Gun Store, "pick up a box of .22 caliber rounds, walk to the checkout counter, pay and leave".

That Will All Change Come February 1, 2011.

The New Law Will Entail "anyone purchasing handgun ammunition provide his or her name, address, phone number and thumbprint. Gun stores will have to keep those records - which also include the type, brand and amount of ammunition sold to customers - and allow police to go through them".

The New Law That Will Be Coming Into Effect In The Near Future Have Many Disagreeing Whether Or Not This Law Will Make A Difference. Including Even Officials From Law Enforcement.

The Article Written, Plainly States What The Law Is For As Well As Comments From California Assemblymen And Law Enforcement Officials Who Are Either For Or Against It And Why.

One Official Summed Up How I Felt About This Topic. Assemblyman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale (Also A Former Los Angeles Police Officer)

Stated: "The bad guys don't typically go into Wal-Mart and pick up their rounds".

This Is So True. I Look At This New Law As Just A New Way To Waste Money.

Criminals Are Going To Get What They Want Regardless Of The Law And Even Create A "Black Market". Its The Same Case With Illegal Drugs.

No Matter The Law, Illegal Drugs Are About More Than Ever.

Another Example I Think Of Is Prohibition In The 1920's. The 18th Amendment Made It Illegal To Import, Export, Transport, Sell, And Manufacture Any Intoxicating Liquor.

If Anything, The 18th Amendment Caused More Problems Than It Solved. It Created A "Black Market" For Liquor Back Then. And This Is When Crime Rates Actually Went Up.

I Believe That The Same Thing Could Actually Happen With This New Law.

It Will Create More Problems Than Solve.

I Believe That These Gun Ammo Restrictions Will Not Change Anything Other Than Create More Problems For The General Public Trying To Purchase A Gun.

Were They Just Doing Their Job?

On sbsun.com I Came Across An Article That Got Me Thinking About Police Officers And If All That They Do Is Actually Necessary When Doing Their Jobs.

The Article Was Titled:

"SB Man Dropped Gun Before Being Shot By Police; Officers Cleared"

by Stacia Glenn

Posted: 10/08/2009

Read: 10/08/2009

Here's The Link For Your Viewing:

http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_13513954?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com

A Man Named Christopher Mason Was In A Denny's Parking Lot Where He Was Fatally Shot May 2, 2009 By A Pair Of San Bernardino Police Officers.

A Waitress First Spotted Mr. Mason "Showing His Gun Off To A Group Of Friends", And So She Decided To Call The Cops.

Mr. Mason Was Spotted "Fumbling Around His Shirt In His Waistband" By The First Officer On Scene.

He Then Went Behind A Ford Expedition That Was Parked And Continuously Was Checking Where The Officer Stood.

While He Was "Bobbing" Up And Down...That Was When The Gun Clattered To The Ground.

The Officer Fired Two Shots In Fear That Mason Would Reach For The Gun.

Mason Then Ran To His Girlfriends Parked PT Cruiser And Failed To Follow The Cops Orders And Show His Hands And Thus Prompted The Officer To Fire Another 7 Rounds. As Well As Another Officer Firing 3 More Times.

"Mason Fell To The Ground"

Investigators Found The Gun Behind The Ford Expidition As Well As Some Ammunition.

Autopsy Results Showed Mason Had An Alcohol Level Of .12%

He Was Shot In The Forehead, Chest, Abdomen And Ligament Near The Groin.

Mason's Family Filed For A Wrongful Death Claim Against The Police Department.

Was The Cops Doing Their Jobs? Or Was What They Did, Way Out Of Line And Uncalled For?

Could This Death Been Avoided?

Many Questions Are Asked And Thought About Whenever It Comes To The Death Of A Civilian And A Police Officer Is The Cause Of It.

What Gives The Cops The Right To Kill Anyone?

Is It Because They Have A Badge And Feel That Whatever They Do Is Warranted?

Who Gives Them That Right?

It's Always Tough To Believe A Story Like This And Know Who Was In The Right And Wrong.

The Cops Say That Mr. Mason, "Had A Duty To Submit To Orders Of The Officers And In Failing To Do So Escalated A Detention Into A Deadly Encouter"

And The Family Says That It Was A Wrongful Death Claim, And So They Therefore Hired An Attorney.

One Word Against Another's.

Its Always Hard To Choose Between Who To Believe.

Families Don't Know How They Would React If They Were In The Same Position.

Whether They Were In The Cops Or The Deceased Family Members' Shoes.

I Say It Is Unfair To Have Judgement. Especially When You Don't Know And There Is No Factual Evidence Of What Happened On That Night Of May 2, 2009.

So What I'm Just Trying To Say Is...Don't Believe Everything You Read And Don't Pass Judgement Too Quickly.

I'm In Neither For Or Against These Cops That Took A Civilian's Life.

I Have No Clue What To Believe. At Least Not Until I Have All The Facts.

So I Leave You With The Question:

Were They Just Doing Their Job?

Think About It First.

There Are Still Heroes

On cnn.com I Found A Story That Instantly Caught My Eye When I Read The Headline.

The Headline Read: "Flood Rescuer Repeats Father's Heroic Actions"

By: Jessica Ravitz

Here's The Link In Case You Want To Read The Full Article:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/02/father.son.flood.heroes/index.html

Date Updated 9:23 a.m. Fri October 2, 2009

Date Read: 8:00 p.m. Sun. October 4, 2009

What Interested Me The Most Were The Words "Rescuer", "Father" And "Heroic".

So I Had To Read The Article To Figure Out What Happened.

On September 22, 2009, A Young Man By The Age Of 37 Named Zack Stephney Put His Life On The Line For The Sake Of Another In Georgia.

This All Coming 30 Years After His Father (Tommie Stephney) Had Died After Trying To Save Others As Well From The Same Fate.

30 Years Prior, Tommie Stephney Was Able To Save 2 Lives After Diving Into The Chattahoochee River In Atlanta, Georgia.

But With The 3rd....He Was Unsuccessful.

The 3rd Person Had Panicked From All The Commotion From The Flooding And Pulled His Rescuer (Tommie) And Himself Into The Rushing Waters To Their Deaths.

Zack Stephney Had Lived His Life Not Really Knowing His Father, Just From Pictures He Had Seen And Very Distant Memories He Had Carried With Him For 30 Years.

And Of Course....His Father's Death.

Zack Stephney Knew That Something Had To Be Done In Order For This Woman's Life To Be Saved. He Knew That He Would NOT Suffer The Same Fate Of His Father.

"Certainly not this day. It was his mother Eva's 72nd birthday. Lord knows she didn't deserve news like that."

Zack Stephney Saw The Woman In Her Car Being Swept Away By The Current And Knew He Had To Be The One That Would Have To Jump Into The Rushing Water, Due To His Smaller Frame And Build.

He Knew Had He Not Reacted With The Help Of Others...The Woman Would Have Drowned In Front Of His Eyes.

Mr. Stephney Was Just An Average Man Putting His Life On The Line For The Sake Of Another.

Although His Father Had Died Attempting The Same Thing...He Reacted With No Hesitation. Fully Knowing That It Was Very Possible To Suffer A Similar Fate.

He Thought About His Father After He Was Able To Save The Woman's Life. And Ran Through The Same Possible Scenarios That Could Have Played Out As Did With His Father.

He Was A Father of 3 With His Wife, Leaquarius. And I'm Sure While He Was Swimming To The Woman To Save Her Life, He Was Thinking About His Wife, Kids, Mother And Father.

Tommie Knew He Must Succeed In Order To Not Put His Family Through The Same Tragedy That His Family Went Through 30 Years Earlier.

He Knew That Failure Was Not An Option.

I Like This Story Most Of All, Due To The Fact That It Has To Do With An "Average" Man Saving The Life Of Another.

This Man Just Happened To Have A Story To Tell.

This Story Proves That There Is Still Good In People And That One Does Not Have To Be A Proclaimed Hero, In Order To Actually Be A Hero.

Heroes Are Born Everyday, And They Always Come Out In The Worst Situations.

Tommie Save The Life Of This Woman In Order To Become Famous. He Did It Because It Was The Right Thing To Do.

"Because It Was The Right Thing To Do"

An Attitude Alot Of People Should Have, But Sadly Forgotten And Only Look Out For Themselves.

This Story Proves That Everyone Can Be A Hero And That There Is STILL Good People On This Planet We Call "Earth"

Its Just Your Choice When It Comes To What One Wants To Do With Their Life.