Why I Feel Bad for the Pepper-Spraying Policeman, Lt. John Pike - Polidicks

[release]A regular guy named John Pike has become the new face of evil among people following the Occupy protests around the country. The UC Davis police officer's matter-of-fact pepper spraying of seated, obviously peaceful students has provoked justifiable outrage. James Fallows summed up the situation with his usual precise moral compass. "This is what happens when authority is unaccountable and has lost any sense of human connection to a subject population," he wrote. "That's what I think here." Many are calling for Pike's firing, or worse. He certainly doesn't present a sympathetic figure. What kind of person could do this? Thinking about the outrage of friends and colleagues, a James Baldwin passage that I've read many times came back into my mind. Here's what he had to say in the New York Times about Jim Clark, an Alabama sheriff and staunch civil rights opponent whose state troopers viciously attacked peaceful protesters. [Clark] cannot be dismissed as a total monster; I am sure he loves his wife and children and likes to get drunk. One has to assume that he is a man like me... Something awful must have happened to a human being to be able to put a cattle prod against a woman's breasts. What happens to the woman is ghastly. What happens to the man who does it is in some ways much, much worse. Baldwin recognized that Clark was merely the endpoint of a system that shaped the sheriff just as it shaped the people the sheriff attacked. Structures, in the sociological sense, constrain human agency. And for that reason, I see John Pike as a casualty of the system, too. Our police forces have enshrined a paradigm of protest policing that turns local cops into paramilitary forces. Let's not pretend that Pike is an independent bad actor. Too many incidents around the country attest to the widespread deployment of these tactics. If we vilify Pike, we let the institutions off way too easy. That these changes in the police force have occurred is not in dispute. They've been sufficiently open that academics can write long papers detailing the changes in police responses to protests from the middle of the 20th century to today. They are described in one July 2011 paper by sociologist Patrick Gillham called, "Securitizing America." During the 1960s, police used what was called "escalated force" to stop protesters. "Police sought to maintain law and order often trampling on protesters' First Amendment rights, and frequently resorted to mass and unprovoked arrests and the overwhelming and indiscriminate use of force," Gillham writes and TV footage from the time attests. This was the water cannon stage of police response to protest. ... 9/11 put the final nail in the coffin of the previous protest-control regime. By the time of the Free Trade of the Americas anti-globalization protests in Miami broke out eight years ago this week, an entirely new model of taking on protests had emerged. People called it the Miami model. It was heavily militarized and very forceful. The police had armored personnel carriers. This is what it looked like on the ground in Miami in 2003. Occupy protests have shown that variations on this unprecedented show of force have now become commonplace. Brooklyn College sociologist Alex Vitale, who has specialized in tracking police tactical changes, found that the the "broken windows" theory of policing, which was introduced to a national audience by this very magazine, has also had a major impact on protest policing. As we wrote in 1982, broken windows policing did not attempt to directly fight violent crime but rather the "sense that the street is disorderly, a source of distasteful, worrisome encounters." As Vitale would put it, the theory "created a kind of moral imperative for the police to restore middle class values to the city's public spaces." When applied to protesters, the strategy has meant that any break with the NYPD's behavioral preferences could be grounds for swift arrest and/or physical violence. Vitale described how the theory has been applied to Occupy Wall Street: Consider what has precipitated the vast majority of the disorderly conduct arrests in this movement: using a megaphone, writing on the sidewalk with chalk, marching in the street (and Brooklyn Bridge), standing in line at a bank to close an account (a financial boycott, in essence) and occupying a park after its closing. These are all peaceful forms of political expression. To the police, however, they are all disorderly conduct. Add up all these changes in the training paradigms and outlooks of police departments and you have an entirely different kind of policing than we knew during the Reagan and Clinton years. Scholars identified this new approach's salient features in 2007, adopting the name "strategic incapacitation":[/release] Its an editorial, but it raises good points. Instead of just going after pike and leaving it there, the system that put him into the position and the system that trains officers needs to be re-evaluated. He's still a scumbag though. [url=http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/why-i-feel-bad-for-the-pepperspraying-policeman-lt-john-pike/248772/]Source[/url]

I can't call him a scumbag. I don't know the guy but I doubt he's 'evil' through and through. He did something extremely stupid in the heat of the moment and probably thought that as pepper spray only has effects that last 30-45 mins, nobody would make a fuss. How wrong he was.

While I fail to see why he felt the need to pepper-spray them, the protesters did break the law. [quote]Police pepper sprayed the protesters after they refused to move. [/quote] I'm sure that he could have easily gotten them to move using something less.. painful.

I inhaled pepper spray after inadvertently walking through a cloud of it. It feels like pins attacking your respiratory system. It really hurts.

Pepperspray isn't even the bad stuff that some departments (Like Nashville) get to use. They got stuff that makes pepperspray seem like water

[QUOTE=TheTalon;33392746]Pepperspray isn't even the bad stuff that some departments (Like Nashville) get to use. They got stuff that makes pepperspray seem like water[/QUOTE] Mace?

I wish we were all like birds. We wouldn't be affected by Capsaicin. Maybe someday I will become a scientist and genetically modify my TRPV1 Receptor. Then pepper spray would be useless.

[QUOTE=Dark-Energy;33392832]I wish we were all like birds. We wouldn't be affected by Capsaicin. Maybe someday I will become a scientist and genetically modify my TRPV1 Receptor. Then pepper spray would be useless.[/QUOTE] The experiment could go horribly wrong and you would become BIRD MAN.

If there is one thing that become obvious to me thanks to occupy it's that policing is broken. Their violence against protesters just makes me hope for a more forceful protest to set an example. Aka riot.

[QUOTE=sami-elite;33392896]If there is one thing that become obvious to me thanks to occupy it's that policing is broken. Their violence against protesters just makes me hope for a more forceful protest to set an example. Aka riot.[/QUOTE] Rioting is the WORST that could happen.. Are you even sane?

is this article literally a "blame the system" piece? wowowwwowowwwww

Pah. May the internet hate machine feast upon the bones of his career and social life That's all I care for his plight.

i think the system is fucked and yeah something needs to be done about that, but i also think that basic human decency is one of the things that would keep someone (especially someone whos sworn to 'protect & serve') from pepper spraying a bunch of students who aren't even being violent or anything

[QUOTE=Laferio;33392956]Rioting is the WORST that could happen.. Are you even sane?[/QUOTE] Keep up with the ineffectual protests that just end up with severe physical harm from law enforcement officials, or give the Right ammo to reduce credibility of the peaceful protests. It's a lose/lose situation.

[QUOTE=Memobot;33392350]He did something extremely stupid in the heat of the moment[/QUOTE] That was no heat of the moment act. Did you even see the video? [editline]22nd November 2011[/editline] also the guy is fat so thats another thing to feel bad about why is he so fat?

[QUOTE=sami-elite;33392896]If there is one thing that become obvious to me thanks to occupy it's that policing is broken. Their violence against protesters just makes me hope for a more forceful protest to set an example. Aka riot.[/QUOTE] The current police mindset towards these protests is treating it like a riot waiting to happen, and a riot would only further convince them that said mindset is the one they should bring to these protests.

An agent of the system still has the power to stop and say 'Fuck the system'.

That poor, poor police officer Can you imagine the trauma he went through spraying people in the fucking face

[QUOTE=Kopimi;33394673]That poor, poor police officer Can you imagine the trauma he went through spraying people in the fucking face[/QUOTE] Probably none. Now he is going to get fucked over thanks to the system that told him that it was OK to do though. More importantly, we need to stop this happening again.

[QUOTE=Mattk50;33394706]Probably none. Now he is going to get fucked over thanks to the system that told him that it was OK to do though.[/QUOTE] nah hell get bailed out [editline]22nd November 2011[/editline] JUST LIKE THE FUCKING BANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM THE (9%(%

[QUOTE=Mattk50;33394706]Probably none. Now he is going to get fucked over thanks to the system that told him that it was OK to do though.[/QUOTE] It's his own fault for being so morally weak and easily swayed that he actually made the decision to pepper spray innocent protesters just because his boss said it was OK Once again, and I cannot stress this enough: [b]Getting paid to do bad things does not excuse you from judgement[/b]

I respect him. What he did is definitely not as bad as what other cops do. He had to show that the cops were in charge.

[QUOTE=OogalaBoogal;33392518]I inhaled pepper spray after inadvertently walking through a cloud of it. It feels like pins attacking your respiratory system. It really hurts.[/QUOTE] BUT ITS JUST FOOOD RIGHT? HURR. stupid news peoples and there not knowing what pepperspray is. And yeah, Just becuase his boss gave him the ok, I dont feel sorry for him becuase he peppersprayed a line of peacefull protestors with a can of mace that you would use on a bear or a wild animal or something >:O

[QUOTE=Kopimi;33394756]It's his own fault for being so morally weak and easily swayed that he actually made the decision to pepper spray innocent protesters just because his boss said it was OK Once again, and I cannot stress this enough: [b]Getting paid to do bad things does not excuse you from judgement[/b][/QUOTE] Im not saying it does, but you are missing the point. Humans are only human, and we cant expect all police to do exactly what we consider to be morally and practically correct if we train them to do the exact opposite.

i can understand why someone would want to make a point about not hating the police officer, but why would you feel bad for him? is he even in a situation where you can feel sympathy for him? in what way has he been hurt or wronged?

[QUOTE=Jo The Shmo;33395137]i can understand why someone would want to make a point about not hating the police officer, but why would you feel bad for him? is he even in a situation where you can feel sympathy for him? in what way has he been hurt or wronged?[/QUOTE] he's being judged for his actions i know, i was shocked when i found out too i hope he finds the strength to make it through this time of difficulty

[QUOTE=Dark-Energy;33392832]I wish we were all like birds. We wouldn't be affected by Capsaicin. Maybe someday I will become a scientist and genetically modify my TRPV1 Receptor. Then pepper spray would be useless.[/QUOTE] Are you telling me the best feature of being bird-people would be not tasting spicy food? Not...flying?

[QUOTE=W00tbeer1;33394994]I respect him. What he did is definitely not as bad as what other cops do. He had to show that the cops were in charge.[/QUOTE] Yea, those protesters were being so violent and rebellious. Just had to be contained, right?

[QUOTE=Jo The Shmo;33395137]i can understand why someone would want to make a point about not hating the police officer, but why would you feel bad for him? is he even in a situation where you can feel sympathy for him? in what way has he been hurt or wronged?[/QUOTE] You would feel bad for him because he has been taught that what he did was OK, and as a result he will suffer for it. Same reason i feel bad for religious fanatics. As for "judgement", we are currently in a society thats supposed to punish for crimes, and if we are to be fair, he should be as well, regardless of any pity (which he wont be, because police are immune). I do think rehabilitation is better than a punishment system though. If you see fit to bypass the system to achieve your goal of justice with internet vigilantism, then you accomplish less than actually changing everything to make sure it stops happening. Im not trying to say that you shouldn't or am defending him as you seem to think i am, but it will accomplish less. You need to understand why you are doing something, not just that you should do it. Holy hell, you people are dogmatic.

[QUOTE=Ripvayne;33395336]Yea, those protesters were being so violent and rebellious. Just had to be contained, right?[/QUOTE] They were blocking the pathway and refused to move. It's not like he just went up to them without warning and sprayed. They consistently asked them and even tried to move them.