Police cultural awareness

[lighthorseman]

Police in Utah used pepper spray to disperse a group performing the haka at a high school football match after supporters refused to make way for players leaving the field.

The group had travelled to the small town of Roosevelt, 200km east of Salt Lake City, to support a relative who was playing in the match on Thursday, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

The team had not won a game the entire season and the group of Polynesian men and boys wanted to perform the traditional Maori war dance to lift their spirits.

But the gesture backfired when police attempted to move the performers on, despite assurances from officials and spectators that everything was fine.

Zack Aguiniga, who was at the ground watching his brother play in the match, said those performing the haka probably couldn't t hear the police demanding they move.

"As we're there watching, we could hear the cops say, 'make a hole', " Aguiniga told the Tribune. "But they were in the middle of their dance, and if anyone knows the haka dance, they're loud and talking in unison."

Unable to disperse the group, two local officers deployed pepper spray in an act considered excessive by those nearby, some who were also hit by the spray.

"I've never seen anything like it," one observer, Jason Kelly said. "It was totally unprovoked."



news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8364463/cops-use-pepper-spray-on-high-school-haka

Clap. Clap. Clap.

[largeham]

Amazing. Investigation my arse.

[ironbite]

So what exactly are you trying to say there LHM? That this is some nation wide problem of police getting pissed off at people preforming the Haka and that the police should just be disbanded and the rest of society should be left to fend for itself? I mean, that's what you want right?

In reality, here's what'll happen. The officers who did this will be placed on administrative leave(with pay), the incident investigated, they'll be ordered to apologize and make restitution, and that'll be the end of it.

Ironbite-I know you're country was founded as a penal colony but not every cop is this stupid.

[Smurfette Principle]

Oct 24, 2011 2:01:16 GMT -5 ironbite said:

So what exactly are you trying to say there LHM? That this is some nation wide problem of police getting pissed off at people preforming the Haka and that the police should just be disbanded and the rest of society should be left to fend for itself? I mean, that's what you want right?

In reality, here's what'll happen. The officers who did this will be placed on administrative leave(with pay), the incident investigated, they'll be ordered to apologize and make restitution, and that'll be the end of it.

Ironbite-I know you're country was founded as a penal colony but not every cop is this stupid.

Geez, ironbite, calm the fuck down. Sometimes police are dipshits. It is, in fact, possible to post about the police being dipshits without making it inclusive of all police officers, just as it is possible to post about any other group being dipshits without assuming that everyone else of that group is the same. Calm. The Fuck. Down.

and use "your" correctly

[Admiral Lithp]

Fine, I'll bite.

What DO you expect us to say, LHM?

What route of conversation did you hope this thread would go down, specifically?

Is there an interesting controversy you would like to highlight? Is there some kind of regional issue? Do you just want to say, "Hey, police corruption exists?"

Because, if it's the latter, I think we'd already know that.

Still, information beyond "Clap. Clap. Clap." would be a big help.

[Mlle Antéchrist]

Oct 24, 2011 2:01:16 GMT -5 ironbite said:

So what exactly are you trying to say there LHM? That this is some nation wide problem of police getting pissed off at people preforming the Haka and that the police should just be disbanded and the rest of society should be left to fend for itself? I mean, that's what you want right?

In reality, here's what'll happen. The officers who did this will be placed on administrative leave(with pay), the incident investigated, they'll be ordered to apologize and make restitution, and that'll be the end of it.

Ironbite-I know you're country was founded as a penal colony but not every cop is this stupid.

I don't believe I've ever seen LHM say that he wants the police disbanded...

[Art Vandelay]

Oct 24, 2011 2:48:42 GMT -5 Admiral Lithp said:

Fine, I'll bite.

What DO you expect us to say, LHM?

What route of conversation did you hope this thread would go down, specifically?

Is there an interesting controversy you would like to highlight? Is there some kind of regional issue? Do you just want to say, "Hey, police corruption exists?"

Because, if it's the latter, I think we'd already know that.

Still, information beyond "Clap. Clap. Clap." would be a big help.

I'll wager it's for the same reason all the other "someone does something epically wrong" threads that make up around 70% of Politics and Government and Religion and Philosophy. It's not to induce some sort of world-changing discussion but rather to simply share a an interesting news story.

Also Ibs, if you're going to go on an emotional rant like that, at least try to dial down the killing of innocent strawmen.

[Mlle Antéchrist]

Oct 24, 2011 2:53:43 GMT -5 Art Vandelay said:

I'll wager it's for the same reason all the other "someone does something epically wrong" threads that make up around 70% of Politics and Government and Religion and Philosophy. It's not to induce some sort of world-changing discussion but rather to simply share a an interesting news story.

This.

Honestly, this knee-jerk hostility towards everything LHM posts is getting very annoying.

[Admiral Lithp]

Most people who post a thread like that in one of those forums DO do what I just said. They make some kind of elucidation of their viewpoint. They don't just go, "Look at this!" which, I agree with Ironbite, reeks of trolling for a particular opinion.

Also, look at the thread title: "Police cultural awareness." Are you telling me it's an unfair assessment to read that as "Police are generally culturally ignorant & even intolerant?" Regardless of whether or not that's what the title's supposed to mean, my point here is that LHM's less-than-stellar communication skills aren't doing him any favors.

[Art Vandelay]

Oct 24, 2011 3:05:14 GMT -5 Admiral Lithp said:

Most people who post a thread like that in one of those forums DO do what I just said. They make some kind of elucidation of their viewpoint. They don't just go, "Look at this!" which, I agree with Ironbite, reeks of trolling for a particular opinion.

I believe the "clap clap clap" was supposed to be a text version of the sarcastic slow clap, which I believe indicates Lighthorseman's opinion well enough (if I were to take a wild guess at it, I'd say it's disapproval). So yes, he has mentioned his views on the matter and that's all that's required for the thread like this.

Also, trolling is not simply making half-assed threads, it's doing anything that's intended to piss people off for the poster's amusement/compensation for a small doodle. While you could argue that Lighthorseman has his moments of idiocy, it's still not trolling unless it's actually malicious.

Oct 24, 2011 3:05:14 GMT -5 Admiral Lithp said:

Also, look at the thread title: "Police culturalawareness." Are you telling me it's an unfair assessment to read that as "Police are generally culturally ignorant & even intolerant?" Regardless of whether or not that's what the title's supposed to mean, my point here is that LHM's less-than-stellar communication skills aren't doing him any favors.

I'd say it's more that these particular cops are and it has negatively effected their conduct as police officers quite dramatically. That said though it's ultimately subjective until Lighthorseman actually states what he meant by it.

[sylvana]

To be honest, it does not surprise me much.
America is not exactly a rugby nation, while they took part in the world cup that ended recently, I doubt all that many people were really interested. As such, I doubt many Americans least of all people in Utah to have much knowledge and exposure to the Hakka.

However, I would say that the use of pepper spray was a little on the overbearing side. There must have been alternatives to making the supporters at the very least stop momentarily for the players to leave the field. Using pepper spray just seems a little too forceful. On the other hand, the Hakka itself is a pretty forceful and it can be very intimidating to others especially those who wouldn't know about it.

[lighthorseman]

Oct 24, 2011 2:01:16 GMT -5 ironbite said:

So what exactly are you trying to say there LHM? That this is some nation wide problem of police getting pissed off at people preforming the Haka and that the police should just be disbanded and the rest of society should be left to fend for itself? I mean, that's what you want right?

In reality, here's what'll happen. The officers who did this will be placed on administrative leave(with pay), the incident investigated, they'll be ordered to apologize and make restitution, and that'll be the end of it.

Ironbite-I know you're country was founded as a penal colony but not every cop is this stupid.

Yeah... THAT'S what I'm trying to say (rolls eyes)

Congratulations to everyione except ironbite and lithp fior having a basic understanding of... well... English, basically.

I'll wager it's for the same reason all the other "someone does something epically wrong" threads that make up around 70% of Politics and Government and Religion and Philosophy. It's not to induce some sort of world-changing discussion but rather to simply share a an interesting news story.

I believe the "clap clap clap" was supposed to be a text version of the sarcastic slow clap, which I believe indicates Lighthorseman's opinion well enough (if I were to take a wild guess at it, I'd say it's disapproval). So yes, he has mentioned his views on the matter and that's all that's required for the thread like this.

I didn't really think it was rocket surgery, but thank you for understanding my intent and meaning perfectly and explaining it to the "special" children.

I'd say it's more that these particular cops are and it has negatively effected their conduct as police officers quite dramatically. That said though it's ultimately subjective until Lighthorseman actually states what he meant by it.

Once again, A+++ for basic reading comprehension.

[lighthorseman]

Oct 24, 2011 4:03:59 GMT -5 sylvana said:

To be honest, it does not surprise me much.
America is not exactly a rugby nation, while they took part in the world cup that ended recently, I doubt all that many people were really interested. As such, I doubt many Americans least of all people in Utah to have much knowledge and exposure to the Hakka.

However, I would say that the use of pepper spray was a little on the overbearing side. There must have been alternatives to making the supporters at the very least stop momentarily for the players to leave the field. Using pepper spray just seems a little too forceful. On the other hand, the Hakka itself is a pretty forceful and it can be very intimidating to others especially those who wouldn't know about it.

Have South African cops ever pepper sprayed fotball supporters for anything like this?

My point is that if your local cops are less tolerant and more trigger happy than South African riot police (who have been known to be somewhat... zealous) your local cops possibly need to take a moment for calm self reflection.

[ironbite]

Yes because "*clap, clap clap*" says so much and is soooooooooooooooooo deep.

Ironbite-have you ever listened to yourself?

[lighthorseman]

Oct 24, 2011 5:37:42 GMT -5 ironbite said:

Yes because "*clap, clap clap*" says so much and is soooooooooooooooooo deep.

Wasn't intended to be "deep". Art, Sylvana, Mme. AC and Largeham seemed to get it without a problem.

Ironbite-have you ever listened to yourself?

Yep. You ever listen to YOURself?