Comments on: “Guys in Jail Are Going To Rape You”

By: “Guys in Jail Are Going To Rape You” Update: NYPD Says Guy Who Treatened Cameraman Doesn’t Work for them

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:01:17 +0000

[...] camera operator and told him, “Guys in jail are going to rape you,” (which I blogged about here) is not a member of [...]

By: “Guys in Jail Are Going To Rape You” Update: NYPD Says Guy Who Treatened Cameraman Doesn’t Work for them | The Agitator

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:33:32 +0000

[...] operator and told him, “Guys in jail are going to rape you,” (which I blogged about here) is not a member of [...]

By: Rod Flash

Rod Flash — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:58:53 +0000

“He seemed wasted to me…”

Good call. NYPD is claiming he’s not one of theirs. Could be a cover up for an undercover, but with all the coverage I’m sure we’ll find out eventually.

http://gothamist.com/2010/08/20/nypd_thats_a_drunk_guy_not_a_cop_in.php

By: flyingsquirrel

flyingsquirrel — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:07:24 +0000

#22 Bill:

“The real question is why that doesn’t happen to cops who threaten the people they “protect and serve” with putting them intentionally in harm’s way.”

Answer: Because most people are wimps.

By: parse

parse — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:59:58 +0000

My limited experience (6 months jail, in the aggregate; 4 years in prison in one stretch) is that Windy’s observation is correct: prisons are safer than jails. Qualifier: I was in a medium security prison, not a max. And several of the jails I was in were notorious for their conditions.

By: pam

pam — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:36:02 +0000

cinesimon, I thought the same thing. Telltale signs

By: pam

pam — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:27:10 +0000

Feel free to jump to paragraph 4:

http://www.nems360.com/view/full_story/7981146/article-Group-to-file-complaint-against-Lee-County-sheriff

Best Gag-Me Line:

“I’m not going to be harassed or intimidated by anyone to do anything that I don’t believe in,” said Johnson. “My stance has not changed.”

This county jail is so below standards, it is not on the approved list for accepting state inmates. . The sheriff has said he doesn’t care about that. Apparently, he doesn’t need no stinkin’ money from the state, that way he can run it his way!

Children as young as 13, 14 & 15 are detained here if charged as an adult which is next to the juvenile detention center run by the same sheriff. Yes, there are rapes…

Read more: NEMS360.com – Group to file complaint against Lee County sheriff

By: cinesimon

cinesimon — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:20:47 +0000

He seemed wasted to me…

By: Sinchy

Sinchy — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:43:32 +0000

I think the rape threat while offensive is not really the worst part of the video. I think anyone who is threatened with arrest would contemplate the prison rape scenario but I doubt the cop would be able to make it actually happen.
The big problem I have with the video is that the cop is acting so immature.
He is taunting the guy and girl with the cameras instead of being clear and direct. Obviously there was police business going on and he should have clearly articulated why the camera people should move away and give clear parameters as to the distance. Instead he is just provoking a confrontation.
Whether or not he was violating their rights or not he was not performing his duties in a safe or effective way. Bad police work, terrible public relations, and an attitude which flies in the face of “courtesy, professionalism, respect.”
Also if he was indeed “undercover” and not just plain clothes then provoking a video confrontation was a good way to blow your cover. He should have just told the uniformed cop to do the talking for him.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:34:26 +0000

I wonder what would happen if one were to explain to a cop like the one above that if anything bad were to happen to you while in jail, “certain people” might take it upon themselves to track him down and rape his freshly dead body. After all, I’m not really threatening him, I’m just telling him what might happen.

Full disclosure: I really don’t wonder what would happen; I’m pretty sure I know. The real question is why that doesn’t happen to cops who threaten the people they “protect and serve” with putting them intentionally in harm’s way.

By: Pablo

Pablo — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:09:59 +0000

The common attitudes toward prison rape are one sign we have a long way to go before becoming a truly civilized society. The saddest aspect is that it is largely preventable and it isn’t a matter of money. Prisons and jails are the one place where the authorities have complete control. It should be automatic to evaluate inmates for risk (both of being a rapist and a victim) and segregate accordlingly. The literature on the subject is full of instances of sociopathic guards placing vulnerable inmates in the same cells as notorious predators, either because they don’t care or actually want to see the inmate raped. There is a special place in hell for such animals.

By: BoogaFrito

BoogaFrito — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:35:14 +0000

“The question would be: is there any plausible way to get legislatures or courts to actually rein in this kind of lawlessness among police?”

Only if the victim themselves is a legislator.

By: Windy

Windy — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:28:00 +0000

Mike, I know someone who was incarcerated in the local county jail for 71 days. He witnessed a rape while there (among other atrocities and crimes committed by both inmates and guards), of course he kept quiet about it all (you do NOT report ANYTHING while in jail). Those kinds of things do not only happen in prisons; in fact, some of the other inmates had been in prison (they were in jail awaiting trial on new charges) and they told him conditions (and food and leisure activities) are better in the prisons than in the county jail. I’m sure there are some jails that are better than some prisons, but this one was not.

jppatter, I also know someone who is a victim of male rape. It didn’t happen in jail (this person has never been in jail), it happened in the rest-room of a gay bar in a big city. He was just 21, newly out of the closet, and highly naive. He is HIV positive due to that rape.

Rape has become an even worse violation than it used to be, because now one can contract a killer disease from it. I suspect the kind of rape my friend’s son experienced is likely less common than prison rape, but all rapes are violations of the victims unalienable rights, and being incarcerated (especially for a non-violent crime), should not result in a death sentence from some dread disease.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:11:57 +0000

I’ve twice been threatened with arrest and rape in jail both during traffic stops. Once for refusing to consent to a vehicle search and once for refusing to tell an officer where I had been and where I was going. One of the reasons why I now have my vehicles wired for video and audio. Next time I’m going to have evidence and an attorney.

By: Woog

Woog — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:30:02 +0000

With so much material, its hard not to wander into cop-bashing territory.

18 USC 241 and 18 USC 242 as applicable: threatening to deprive someone of their civil rights under (false) color of authority is a crime punishable by death in the event of rape, etc.

The more folks wake up to the fact that such “cops” are nothing more than criminals in funny clothes, the less this sort of B.S. will be tolerated. Hopefully merely by firing the police chief, city council, etc.

By: Kevin Carson

Kevin Carson — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:16:31 +0000

Wunder: Gosh, no, we didn’t throw the Constitution away! We kept the Bill of Rights around as an example of good penmanship.

By: JOR

JOR — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:57:46 +0000

Attitudes towards even female rape victims can be pretty barbaric. But the typical attitude towards male rape victims is just horrifying; it’s like everything out of the most deluded tribalistic feminist’s fantastic hyperbole about patriarchal rape culture, made real and directed at male rape victims.

By: jimn

jimn — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:05:17 +0000

I think it’s worth noting that the Glass Bead Collective was one of the first police targets in the run up to the 2008 RNC convention in St. Paul.

They also created the documentary “Terrorizing Dissent,” which shows the disturbing footage of police abuse against the protesters during the convention.

http://minnesotaindependent.com/tag/glass-bead-collective

By: Duncan20903

Duncan20903 — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:51:33 +0000

Life imitates art. The police in fictional crime dramas have been doing this for decades.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:40:47 +0000

Sadly that could be a statement of fact.