St. Louis Vs. The Police IV: Now It Gets Real!

What part is bad about remaining respectful, polite, obedient, and calm, when dealing with a police officer?
That is the summary of my advice.

I think you're lost in the discussion. It's not whether or not it's good or bad, it's that things that work for you may not necessarily work for others. You give your advice, then ponder why people don't just follow your example to stay out of trouble. It's only later that you admit your advice may not actually work. From there, I think we're back at square one, as if nothing I said in the last few hours sunk in. That's not to say you must agree with everything I said, but at least acknowledge it so we don't talk in circles like this.

The largest town in the county I'm in has a population of just over 44,000.

That municipal puts out over 3,000 warrants each year. This includes parking warrants which are not an arrestable offense. That's more than Boston according to Huffington Post's claims.

Now, if someone knows different about Missouri please correct me, but speaking from Oklahoma municipal judges do not sign warrants that pertain to anything other than municipal offenses. State charges require a District Judge that sits for the state in each county.

So, for offenses that are actual misdemeanor and felony (serious offenses) that are routinely served by various agencies you'd not find those in the municipal's records, that would be county.

It's entirely plausible that Ferguson would have a lot of municipal violations, maybe more so than Boston considering a lot of small town agencies receive a majority of their funding from citations.

From this I would gather that Huffington Post is sensationalizing the statistics in order to incite outrage.

Edit: Also, here's something to consider. Ferguson, according to 2010 census, is comprised of 67.4% African American and 29.3% White. So, with those percentages it stands to reason that the majority of arrests would be African American.

A 20-year-old man was charged on Sunday with first-degree assault in last week's shooting of two policemen during a protest rally in Ferguson, Missouri, a crime that shocked a city that has been devastated by months of racial strife.

The suspect, Jeffrey Williams, has admitted to firing the shots that wounded the officers early on Thursday, said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch.

The gunfire rang out just after midnight at the end of a rally to call for sweeping reforms in Ferguson, where an unarmed black teenager was shot to death by a white officer last summer.

Eighteen-year-old Michael Brown's death touched off months of protests against law enforcement's treatment of minority groups, in Ferguson and around the country, and led to a U.S. Justice Department probe that found pervasive racial bias on the part of the city's mostly white police force.

Williams was arrested after a massive manhunt, with the help of tips from the public and video evidence, McCulloch told a news conference.

An African American who had been on probation for possession of stolen property, Williams told investigators that he was not targeting police but was shooting at someone else, McCulloch added.

A county police officer, 41, suffered a shoulder wound and a 32-year-old from a nearby police department sustained a facial wound in Thursday's shooting. Both were treated and released by a local hospital.

Williams, whose bond was set at $300,000, appears to have fired a .40 caliber handgun from a car, McCulloch said.

A handgun was recovered in his residence and matched shell casings found at the scene, according to McCulloch, who said that although Williams appeared to be the only shooter, other people may be charged as the investigation continues.

"This arrest sends a clear message that acts of violence against our law enforcement personnel will never be tolerated," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

The shootings took place just hours after Ferguson's police chief resigned in the wake of the scathing U.S. Justice Department report. Chief Tom Jackson's resignation followed the departures of the city manager and a municipal judge.

News of Sunday's arrest was greeted on the streets of Ferguson with a mix of relief and a sense that the protests would not fade away.

“I just hope they got the right guy, and that he gets what he deserves,” said Gussie Klorer, a 60-year-old professor at St Louis University, adding she thought the arrest would have no bearing on the street demonstrations.

“The protests seem to have a life of their own,” she said.

But the news also prompted a show of support for Ferguson's beleaguered police force. Dozens of people gathered in front of police headquarters, many of them holding signs reading "We Support the Badge" and "Thank You Police."

The Justice Department report said Ferguson police overwhelmingly arrested and issued traffic citations to African Americans to boost city coffers through fines. That helped create a culture of distrust that exploded in August when city police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown.

An African American who had been on probation for possession of stolen property, Williams told investigators that he was not targeting police but was shooting at someone else, McCulloch added.

why would anyone defy a police officer anyways?

If I give you an order to drop your weapon and stop, but you continue to advance towards me or another person with weapon in hand, guess what punkin, I'm justified in using lethal force. So yes, by breaking a law and failing to comply with a lawful command is justification to use lethal force. It's all about circumstances.

That is a specific circumstance that does not encompass every, or even close to every, interaction people have on a daily basis with police officers.

If a guy is going for his gun when you command him to put it on the ground sure...

If you tell an unarmed man to put his arms on the vehicle or to get on the ground and he doesn't are you going to shoot him? No, and there is no reason to.