Philip Brailsford: Killer Cop
BY Herschel Smith
7 years ago
See WRSA for the details. I knew the video was out there, but I just couldn’t stand to watch another killer cop execution. I watched anyway.
Good Lord! What kind of imbeciles are they hiring to be cops anyway? Both hands up and crawl towards me. What kind of set of commands is that? Crawling necessitates that hands be on the floor.
Honestly, the only time I feel uncomfortable and unsafe is around cops. I’ve walked straight through gang members before, boys whom I knew for a fact were Bloods or Crips. I was carrying, but I wasn’t worried. For the most part, gang members still have some sense of avoidance of consequences to their actions.
This is true for black gang members, but as best as I can tell, not for Latino gangs like MS-13. I place cops in the same category as MS-13. MS-13 just doesn’t care. Neither do cops, but for a different reason. Cops know that the courts have their back.
I try to treat them as psychopathic, ticking bombs. It helps me to navigate their presence – sort of.
On December 10, 2017 at 9:59 pm, Milton Stanley said:
It’s not that they’re hiring imbeciles or psychopaths so much as that they’re intentionally training police to treat people this way. Brailsford’s defense was that he was following his training, the same training that police all over America are receiving on use of force. And he is correct that that is how police in America are now being trained. It is now standard procedure for police to be drilled on the necessity of shooting a citizen on the mere possibility that he might have a gun and might possibly be reaching for it. In other words, the slightest possibility of risk to a police officer is considered infinitely more important than the certain death of a citizen. The problem is much deeper than a few idiotic or evil cops. Most Americans just haven’t realized it yet.
On December 10, 2017 at 10:14 pm, Herschel Smith said:
But it takes a certain kind of psychopath to pull that off.
On December 10, 2017 at 11:34 pm, Sgt.BAG said:
Shiney badges do grant extra rights.
I believe the moniker LEO should be replaced with Cart Blanche Killer.
On December 11, 2017 at 9:16 am, Houston said:
Brailsford may have shot him, but the commands were from an obviously incompetent sergeant on the scene. So you are dealing with a drunk individual in a stressful situation and you send out a string of conflicting commands, do you expect compliance? This was a CF from the beginning by the Mesa PD. I have read the sergeant retired very shortly after this happened and moved to the Philippines.
On December 11, 2017 at 9:46 am, George said:
I am a retired LEO (Border Patrol and ICE) and I can tell you that this type of thing was unheard of in my day, at least where I worked. For one thing the tactics used were stupid to say the least. I was in many situations where people refused to follow commands as given and a LEO still needs to see a real threat to shoot someone. This idea that because you THINK a person may have a weapon so you kill the person is total crap and should be dealt with in the harshest fashion. Cops volunteer for the job. No one forced them to be cops or agents. If they consider the job too dangerous then they should find other work.
Also while keeping this brief. There is some evidence that the police are now actively excluding those with above average IQs, It is said they want people who will just follow orders and not think for themselves.
On December 11, 2017 at 11:07 am, Pat Hines said:
I still can’t work up the stomach to watch that murder by cop.
My question is, “when do the reprisals begin?”
On December 11, 2017 at 11:33 am, Matthew Wilbanks said:
Milton and George are completely correct. This type of training is now pounded into cops heads from the academy, through FTO and at every step along the way after that. I don’t have the experience George does, but I was a reserve officer for a short time and have been in private security for 12 years working very closely with the local PD.
In fact, a good percentage of the cops at that PD have previously worked for my employer. One of my former officers is currently in FTO with them right now.
Herschel commented that “it takes a certain kind of psychopath to pull that off” but that’s completely untrue. That’s the same attitude that claims Nazi’s or Bolshevik’s were some special kind of evil. A few were, but most of them were average people caught up in something they didn’t have the IQ to understand or the balls to resist. These are mostly normal people who are having bullshit training pounded into their heads day after day. I know, because they told me the same things…
“You do anything to go home safe at the end of your shift”
“You need to view every single person as a threat”
“Make sure you yell ‘stop resisting!’ so everyone can hear it”
On the surface all this stuff seems to make sense, until you realize they provide next to no training on how to deescalate a situation. Everything they tell you eventually trains your mind to think it’s “me and my brothers in blue against the world”.
I’m glad to have the private security experience that I do, because I don’t have the deadly force options that cops end up using as a crutch. No gun, no taser, no OC spray, just a collapsible baton that I haven’t had to pull a single time in the 8 years I’ve had it. Would I prefer to have a gun just in case? Absolutely. Some shit just can’t be solved without one. On the other hand, not having one is kind of like being a blind person. Your sense of hearing becomes acutely refined. Talking with another person like a human being will get you out of 95%+ of situations.
I’m ashamed what modern cops have become, “law enforcement” instead of “peace officers”. I love police work and investigations in general, solving problems, but I gave up my goal to become a cop because I refuse to be indoctrinate into their twisted little tribe.
I have friends who are cops, I’m not going to disown them because of that, but I also know that if it comes down to doing the right thing or saving their job, most will choose the latter.
On December 11, 2017 at 1:48 pm, Will said:
I watched that over at WRSA and was beyond horrified. There were multiple opportunities for one of the cops to walk down that hallway and cuff the guy when his hands were up in the air or on his head. They basically executed him. Absolutely disgraceful. I hope his family sues the crap out of the Mesa PD and wins millions.
On December 11, 2017 at 2:34 pm, moe mensale said:
Once Shaver was proned out on the floor with his hands in front clearly empty, he should have just refused any further commands to make any further types of movement. Just play dead, don’t move and let the cops come and cuff him. Those stupid commands did nothing except set him up for execution. A far more serious form of those useless “field sobriety tests.”
On December 11, 2017 at 3:10 pm, Curt said:
I don’t believe any other excuse, other than this cop SET UP Daniel Shaver deliberately, and purposely, for failure. And the cop got to “wet” his personal “You’re Fucked” M4.
I was thinking yesterday the same thing Moe mentioned above. There was absolutely no reason for the cop to not move forward and handcuff Shaver when he was prone on the floor, and his hands behind his head. Shaver should have (and you should too), stayed right there.
And, someone mentioned “training”. Don’t think for a second that some of these cops will not use their “training” in their favor as an excuse to shoot, tase, beat the hell out of someone.
On December 11, 2017 at 6:52 pm, TheOtherGeorge said:
Saw that this was one of the links over on Drudge for ONE day, then “poof” disappeared into the ether. Was this carried on network TV? I have to ask because I stopped watching TV years ago, but my wife who does watch says she didn’t see it.
So there was no reaction to this murder by cops of a White man at all. Nothing similar to what happened when that gang banger Michael Brown was shot (no, I don’t expect White people to burn down their own neighborhoods like Blacks do but… nothing -no reaction, Nada?).
I have to wonder whether those Mesa, AZ cops would have shot Shaver if he was Brown or Black? Nah… I don’t think so. The courts won’t have their backs to the same degree in that situation, now would they?
On December 11, 2017 at 9:25 pm, TheAlaskan said:
Why? That man…father…was not a threat. OBVIOUSLY, not a threat. His actions in that hallway were obviously benign and nonthreatening and those LEO new it.
The “early retirement” of the “voice’ in the video, demonstrates that fact. “You’re fucked” on the deployed dust cover translates to “we fucked up.”
The young man who killed that innocent father, will forever be looking over his shoulder for that citizen, or that brother, or that patriot, or..that..father, who has seen how his son was murdered by stupid people who get their rocks off with intimidation…per video.
If I was that Father….
On December 11, 2017 at 9:32 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@Wilbanks,
It doesn’t matter how much my college tried to teach me to be a communist (like all colleges do). I have morals. It shouldn’t matter how much police academies try to turn their graduates into unthinking, unfeeling, immoral goobers.
You’re ignoring the personal, moral element here. You’re treating men as a tabula rasa, subject to all of the instruction that goes into their head and nothing else.
On December 12, 2017 at 12:21 am, StillSworn said:
I’m with TheAlaskan. If I were the father of that young man, ALL in my future would matter not.
On December 12, 2017 at 1:42 am, Matthew Wilbanks said:
Herschel,
You couldnt be further from the truth. I dont believe in blank slate theory at all. If I did I would be one of those idiotic post-modernists.
I believe just like you, that we are born with an old sin nature and a conscience that constantly fight against it. We have an inherent knowledge of right and wrong but it is easily overcome by our fallen nature, especially when one receives no positive reinforcement from parents, teachers and other mentors.
What I didnt say above was that morality in policing has gone down hill parallel with the destruction of moral training of our children. I still stand by my claim that Brailsfords behavior is not particularly abnormal or more evil than the majority of police officers of this generation. The guy isnt Hitler, he is totally representative of people of his age elsewhere in society.
Youre absolutely right its an issue of morals, its just that 90% of people these days dont have any.
On December 12, 2017 at 2:31 am, Dan said:
Conduct like this happens routinely in America. And the badgemonkeys routinely get away with it. We ALL saw the video of thug Michael Slager EXECUTING Walter Scott by shooting him in the back as he ran away. And Slager walked out of that South Carolina courthouse a FREE MAN. The ONLY reason Slager is being punished is the FEDS took him on and put him away for violating Scotts civil rights. Otherwise he’d be wandering the streets free to murder again. And we see this here….the state put on a clusterfuck of a trial and allowed the defense to bullshit this away. I have no doubts the DA wasn’t trying and allowed the defense to pack the jury with people who would never convict.
People ask when this type of conduct stops. The realistic answer is simple.
When people like Slager, Brailsford and the countless other criminals pinned to badges are routinely found swinging from a used rope in the middle of the night…… All the civil suits in the world have zero effect on this conduct because taxpayers foot the bill. Till the penalty for this type of criminal misconduct is meted out on the guilty parties they have ZERO motivation to change a damn thing.
On December 12, 2017 at 8:14 am, Randolph Scott said:
Brailsford is a rabid dog and needs to be treated exactly like a rabid dog. Executed and the head cut off so that it can be examined to see what caused him to be the violent criminal he is.
On December 12, 2017 at 10:33 am, Ned said:
So the “rule of law” maintains a civil society. Bullshit.
On December 12, 2017 at 11:49 am, Scott said:
No discussion of the idiots on the jury?
Yeah, the cop was a psychopath and his superior was Himmler.
But at least the prosecutors did charge him, not to long ago the local DA would have ruled the shooting “justified” out of hand.
So we charge him and then the jury lets him off?
If the people themselves won’t hold the cops accountable what can be done?
On December 12, 2017 at 2:10 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@Scott,
Yes, you’re right about everything you say, and the last question is troubling. If not, then whom or what?
That said, and while the same set of thoughts occurred to me, here’s why I said nothing (yet) about it.
First, it usually takes a unanimous jury to convict for a capital crime. Otherwise, it’s a hung jury. It’s hard to get everyone to agree on anything.
Second, if anyone is to blame for this, it would be the judge who barred the video from being seen by the jury (as best as I am aware). Or did he only bar it from being seen by the public?
If it’s the later rather than the former, then I’m all in. Shepple and communists on the jury. Nothing more, nothing less.
On December 12, 2017 at 2:48 pm, Leo said:
Thought y’all should see this:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/12/sandy-hook-anniversary-time-for-insurance-so-gun-owners-bear-the-true-cost-of-gun-ownership.html
On December 12, 2017 at 3:07 pm, Scott said:
I didn’t see the video till after the verdict Herschel nor much other else about it.
But I am certain I would not have found the cop not guilty of murder merely based on the scanty discussion I’ve seen in the AZ press.
Just as I would not have let Yanez off for murdering Castille.
The judge is not the (only) problem.
Stupid jurors who are willing to let off a cop who said his “training” to murder a man excuses him from murder are the problem.
As were the stupid jurors in the Castile murder that said “being scared” justifies murder by cop.
I don’t believe that there are now a majority of Americans who have the intelligence to understand that.
On December 12, 2017 at 7:34 pm, Eduardo said:
That persson was killed like we kill the cows. With the only difference that when we kill the cow it is for eating, and when he killed that guy was just for been the man who could do it, and get free with that.
I really don´t know what was that moved him exactly to do that. But for sure he was not scared that night. No, he was more like the man in charge. The man who could decide who lives, who die. Perhaps in past he was a scared guy, may be at school, in his neigborhood. And that night he tried to change that.
It is be3cause of that what I say that in a non rotten judicial system, that officer would end up into jail for that action. In a non rotten country, that judicial system should have been deposed.
And as Edward R. Murrow said once, good night and good luck. Americans.
Eduardo A. Páramo Medín