I started a 12 hour fast about an hour and a half ago. Not that I would normally be eating at this time anyway, but the fact that I can't is irritating.

The Guardian has a database of people killed this year by police in the US.

Wow. Yeah, fascinating and depressing is a pretty good assessment.

I think I need to go look at all those pretty casserole dishes that I don't need.

"I have seen the video. I don't want to comment on the video today. I think it would be premature to interject my feelings given the sensitive nature of what's in the video, because what has happened and what could happen in our community. It's not a good situation, I think that's clear. And it will become evident once that video is shown. We're just trying to do our best to be prepared for whatever might come out of it. We are asking people here to be mindful of our policing strategy and platform that has existed since the collaborative.

In other words -- "The officer was wronger than a wrong thing going the wrong way on wrong street. Please don't riot because one guy was an idiot."

but I think what I should do is have a gin and tonic while watching an episode of Bob's Burgers and then go to bed.

One of my favorite outro combinations for a day.

Do they get that the protests and the riots and especially the protests that are called riots to justify the riot gear are about accountability? That if police chiefs would come out and say, "Yeah, this cop fucked up badly enough to lose job and pension for sure & we're cooperating with the DA to bring appropriate charges because if we won't let you all do this to us, we for damn sure don't let us do this to you," there would be a lot less protest? It's not about the bad apples, it's about the good ones willfully rotting in place to force people to pretend that the rot is right and good.

Oh man. Boil water and police shootings leading to riots both sound pretty awful to me.

Sounds like the breakdown of civilization to me. Local authority can't provide basic services or control its police? Cracks in the foundation. I'm not building a bunker or anything (I rent), but it's a bit worrisome.

Someone--Mother Jones, maybe?--had an article on what can happen to cops who do push back against departmental corruption. Two cops were highlighted; one was on a review board that, until he joined, convicted one out of hundreds of allegedly abusive police officers. He started upping the numbers, refused to change his decisions, and got fired. The other was a whistleblower, I believe, and he was also fired.

I've had several encounters with police. I've been pulled for speeding and given warnings. And I turned in a credit card that I found on the street and called the police when someone busted into my landlord's storage shed. They were all respectful and positive interactions. I live in a small, liberal hippie town where the expectations for police behavior is high, and I'm a middle class white woman. I think both play a part in how things go.

Every "business" encounter I personally have had with police officers has been fine. However, I know several officers, due to where I've worked and where I live, and I wouldn't trust most of them not to use excessive force in any sort of volatile situation. I'm pretty committed to watching and witnessing any sort of police interaction I see.

Do they get that the protests and the riots and especially the protests that are called riots to justify the riot gear are about accountability? That if police chiefs would come out and say, "Yeah, this cop fucked up badly enough to lose job and pension for sure & we're cooperating with the DA to bring appropriate charges because if we won't let you all do this to us, we for damn sure don't let us do this to you," there would be a lot less protest? It's not about the bad apples, it's about the good ones willfully rotting in place to force people to pretend that the rot is right and good.

I think if the grand jury indicts the officer, it will go a long way toward keeping any protests from turning into riots. I want to believe that what's on the video footage is definitive enough to get an indictment, but then I think of Eric Garner.

I am in training. I have always been in training. My life stretches before me, a series of 6:30 and 7AM meetings.

I was pulled over for a brake light out about a month ago and I was shaking and almost in tears. The officer ended up not even getting my insurance, he took a step back from my car once he had my license and let me go with a verbal warning. I wasn't afraid of anything happening to me in broad daylight in a busy area, but I guess because of all my concerns wrt Mac and possible police interactions my body just reacted.

That makes sense, msbelle. It's terrible, but it makes sense.

I was driving on the highway a few days ago and saw a cop had pulled over someone and I kinda slowed down and was relieved that the arm I could see was white. And then I was all, well, what would you have done otherwise? Not like I could pull over and observe the traffic stop (I, um, have been instructed to move along before so I know that doesn't fly)

Someday your training hell will end, Dana. I have faith.