Thursday, July 24, 2008

Abetting Police Aggression: The "COPS Effect" (William Grigg)

William Grigg says that shows like "Cops" contribute to the increasing militarization and aggressiveness of the police:

They really didn't have to wreck the house, but they did it anyway.

There was no tactical advantage to be gained by perforating the house with tear gas grenades (one of which remained, for a long time, embedded in an attic vent), blowing out five windows, leaving part of the ceiling collapsed and the whole house inhabitable because of the suffocating residue left by the gas attack.

As the residents of the home on South Oak Cliff drive in Dallas insisted, the murder suspect sought by the SWAT team -- 18-year-old Cristobal Jaimes -- wasn't there. As Cristobal's father Francisco pointed out to the local ABC affiliate, the family cooperated fully with the SWAT team, consenting to a search of the home and staying out of the way.

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