This amuses me. Our society crumbles farther every passing day. The police officer should feel that her god was smiling on her that day. I wonder if she feels that the broken nose was worth it? I also wonder if she will ever try to stop anyone from smoking again unless she has her pistol aimed at the perp, safety off and 4 squads and 2 k-9 units coming as reinforcements? Woman arrested after alleged assault on Duluth officer A Duluth woman is in custody after allegedly assaulting a police officer who attempted to enforce the smoking ban at the bus stop in front of the Holiday Center on Saturday. The female police officer, 40 years old and a 15-year veteran of the department, was taken to a Duluth hospital, where she was treated and released for a broken nose and concussion, Duluth police said in a news release. Police did not release the officer’s name. The alleged assailant, a 37-year-old woman, was taken to St. Louis County Jail, where she is being held pending formal charges. The Duluth News Tribune does not generally print the names of people accused of crimes until charges are filed. The assault occurred at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, according to a news release from the Duluth Police Department. The suspect was smoking near the bus shelter in the 200 block of West Superior Street. The suspect struck the officer in the face, sending the officer falling to the pavement. The suspect then pulled out two knives and began swinging them toward the officer. The suspect then fled on foot. Police took her into custody a short time later in a nearby alley, the news release said. The City Council passed the ban on smoking within 15 feet of outdoor bus shelters in late January. It’s the first such ban in the state and one of only a handful in the country. The investigation is continuing, police said. Police believe there may be witnesses to the incident they haven’t spoken to, and are asking anyone who may have seen the assault to contact investigators at (218) 730-5050.
Okay Necroticpus, let me get this straight: the police officer should feel lucky that a person didn't assault her gravely for attempting to do her job by enforcing some minor code? Why do you assume that the officer was in full agreement with the smoking ban and was thus culpable in whatever grand conspiracy you imagine was afoot to deprive you of your smoking rights? Whether she was in agreement or not personally, she would still be duty-bound to uphold the law as a sworn officer. A law enforcement officer being assaulted doesn't amuse me in the slightest, and frankly I'm concerned that it amuses you. Are you really serious that it does?
It certainly doesn't bother me in the slightest. Should it have happened to her? I don't wish her any harm but that's the the profession she chose. She knew the risks going into it. She filled out an application. The highest honor a cop can get is dying in the line of duty to protect and serve the citizens of the community. She made a huge mistake. She tried to write another ticket for her monthly/daily quota and paid the price for it. In all seriousness, she should've used better judgment. There's killings and whatnot going on here and they want to write tickets for smoking and littering and unattended parking and not wearing a seatbelt? Why make a potential confrontation over something so very trivial? If I were a cop, I wouldn't have cared in the slightest about it, unless they were doing something significantly more disturbing than just smoking. If I were to jump into the middle of a knife fight in order to break it up and both combatants turned on me and stabbed me 70 or 80 times in the eye, would you say I got what I deserved because I was being foolish or would you weep and wail for me, feeling that what happened to me was a wrongful act? I believe most everybody would say I got what I deserved for being dumb. Now, granted, the story doesn't go into detail of what really happened before these events took place so the imagination is left to fill in the details. I feel there was more to the story than some whack job being asked to put out a cigarette and going all Hannibal Lector/Leatherface on the cop. But again, that could be exactly what happened. The world may never know. I am utterly desensitized to these minor lapses of common sense among people. There really is nothing for it but to sit back and watch the circus go by. Until people everywhere on the earth start thinking once again like we used to 30+ years ago, more of the same and worse will continue in frequency and seriousness. There's no reason to read the Enquirer or World Weekly News anymore. Just pick up the local paper and get all the news to confuse.
The perp was crazy. Interacting with her was bound to be problematic. The smoking ban issues weren't really the problem. Forcing the police to enforce a smoking ban just adds to their workload. Instead, allow people annoyed by public smokers to use whatever force they deem appropriate as long as they clean up the mess afterwards.
No matter what, GA always confirms my belief in man somewhat. A man after my own heart. This is exactly what I'm talkin bout. Let the people TCB and I bet there would be less instances of all kinds of foolishment around. Even free up some time and energy for the cops to shoot serious criminals down in the streets. Peace through superior firepower! If a smoker lit up at a place where a smoking ban was in effect, they might think twice or four times if they thought 'hey, I might get strung up here for not following the code".
What does that have to do with whether or not you were amused by her being assaulted? If you were amused by another person being assaulted, police officer or no, you've got issues. On the contrary, if you were a cop and you expected to remain one for very long, you would soon realize that it is your duty to enforce the law, period. Your implication that there is wide discretion in the application of enforcing laws is a bit naive, particularly if you've just been instructed by your chief to make a show of enforcing the smoking ban since it was just enacted. To do otherwise would be willful disobedience, and while I know you revel in that sort of thing, people in law enforcement typically don't. Furthermore, unlike you and I, they take an oath to uphold the law, which means discretion goes out the door. They may prioritize the "killings and whatnot" over the "smoking and littering and unattended parking and not wearing a seatbelt" if presented with the choice, but they don't disregard violations when they come upon them. And thankfully so, because one day it might be your car that's being stolen instead of someone smoking illegallly, and you wouldn't want them to ignore that, would you? You might have been well advised to use better judgement, but not the cop. We rely on these people to maintain law and order, and your cavalier comparison to average Joe not involving himself in someone else's problems to his own detriment is inappropriate and offensive. Think of it this way: if the cop's not there to put a stop to the knife fight, then eventually it's going to be up to you if you want to be able to walk your streets without fear, unless you're going to hide in your house the rest of your life. The illegal smoker falls under that umbrella too, inane as it may sound (though it sounds less inane when you add the assault part to the story). The cops maintain law and order for you, and oftentimes it can be dangerous. Therefore they deserve your respect. You still haven't shown that a law enforcement officer carrying out his or her duty is a "lapse in judgement," and until you do you would do well to withold commentary, particularly of the insensitive kind. And for the record, I don't buy your "utterly desensitized" bit. People who are desensitized don't carp about it all day. It's the people whose feelings have been hurt and who still have feelings to be hurt who complain, and who often then make such a large effort to convince everyone of the contrary for fear of being seen as fragile. I know you've got your axe to grind with life, Necro, and we've been happy to let you grind it here even though you've walked close to the edge at times. But you shouldn't assume that everybody here agrees with your complaints against humanity all the time and that they're waiting and eager to lap it up whenever you post it. Your tone always suggests just that.
I think most people (at least people my age) are under the impression that they 'hate cops' without any good reason. The media perpetuates this notion; think of cops in any new comedy. ill be the first to admit I used to think of cops as assholes with nothing better to do than to chase stoners out of parking lots and break up house parties. Funnily enough, getting arrested completely changed my mind. I got arrested for shoplifting when I was 18 and throughout the whole process (being handcuffed, getting into the system, court) I was treated fairly, even kindly. The state trooper who arrested me and the judge of my town court encouraged me to learn from my mistake. It's a terrible misconception that cops are bitter pigs. There's people in every line of work who are jaded toward those they deal with on a regular basis but I don't think I'd be wrong in saying the majority of cops are among the most good hearted people. After all, they risk their lives every day for people they don't know. Laws are made to protect us and people who choose to become law enforcement do so because they genuinely care about protecting the rest of us. They deserve our thanks and our respect, but more often than not they are the butt of some jerk's joke.
from the looks of things, first off, the suspect was obiously a nut - pulling knives, thats a bit in excess, secondly the smoking ban is within 15 feet of the bus stop, thats like 5-6 steps, the cop coulda asked them to just move, or if the suspect wasn't a nut coulda just smoked 5-6 steps away. I've only ever met one bad cop, I got an offical warning for something with an air rifle; I stoped at a friends house on my way home cos I needed to use the toilet, while I was there the cop rolls up and I get in trouble for one of kids who was at the house shooting the neigbours chimney before I got there.
I can understand Necro's desire to return to simpler times, when if you caught some kids in your apple trees you let rip at them with a 12 gauge loaded with rock salt secure in the notion that when they dragged themselves home their fathers would beat the tar out of them. But unfortunatly when people operate outside the law they place themselves outside the law and you end up getting mob violence where people riot and attack strangers for fun, a riot is an ugly thing ... or make a tragic mistake. Also as we can see from Latin America using death squads to clean up problems caused by social deprivation is very ineffective. I think the ideas Necro puts up here are challenging and raise issues which are worth discussing even if he sometimes grinds your gaears.
QFT. The police put their lives on the line, they don't write the ridiculous laws, and the same folks who complain about them are often the first to vote for idiotic ideas like "zero tolerance policing" that produce outcomes like this (present company excepted of course, I am not trying to put words in the mouth of anyone here). Plus when the police drag crims in and book them, said crims often get let off by gutless magistrates (at least here, thats what happens). For all we know (based on what Necro posted) the police officer may have just been giving the woman an instruction to move along, not necessarily booking her.
Exactly. Seen it a million times. Some turd doesn't care that other people have to be around what they are doing AND refuses to obey a police officer's lawful order to cease and desist. The police officer has to deal with the situation so you don't have to. I have the luxury of surviving most of my encounters with this filth because I don't work by myself. I am patrolling with people who have been trained to handle the situation, and if nesessary, become very violent very fast. We call a lone Guardian Angel a "Suicide Patrol". Seven Angels have died this way. Police Officers and regular citizens do this all the time. Support the police officer. Otherwise, YOU will live in a crappy place and YOU will get killed trying to do something about it.
