Sometimes Police Dress Like Civilians, Sometimes Civilians Dress Like Police

Courtesy of Radley Balko's twitter comes the latest dodgy-sounding police shooting: A Manhattan man who was shot in a scuffle with an undercover cop on Tuesday has now died:

According to police, an unidentified detective tried to arrest a 23-year-old man selling drugs at 26 Post Avenue by Dyckman Street shortly after 5 p.m. Somehow John Collado, Sr., the shooting victim, got involved. NYPD sources tell ABC 7 Collado was part of the drug deal, but his son tells DNAinfo he just happened to be walking by, saw his friend getting assaulted, and tried to help.

"My dad's not a moron," John Collado, Jr., 21, says. "If [the officer] would have identified himself as a cop, my dad would have stopped." Collado reportedly had the officer in a chokehold and during the struggle he was shot. Speaking to NY1, his son said, "He got shot in the stomach, trying to stop an unidentified cop in a scuffle with a civilian, a kid I grew up with, my dad's neighbor.

The police stace is that the officer (who was in plainclothes) identified himself, but this seems like a good time to point to a sample of headlines from the last week which deal with people accused, arrested, or convicted of impersonating police officers.

Reason on police.

Comments

[Solanum]

Luz Derne Bermudez, vice president of the 34th Precinct Community Council, said she didn't buy the son's story.

"I don't believe it," she said.

"That area is infested with drugs," she said. "We need more police walking up there."

DIAF, cunt.

[Sy]

Exactly. Yet the cop's testimony will be treated as the word of Jesus. "uh. yeah that's right. I said 'hey I'm a cop'"

[Fist of Etiquette]

You doubt the cop's story? Maybe you all are part of the drug deal, too.

[Grey Panther]

This is just another example of the violence that surrounds drug dealing. And to think that people on this website, and in this country want to legalize "weed"? How much more drug violence will that create? People in that neighborhood should be glad there was a police officer who was trying to stop the violence. Too bad the other citizens don't care what happens in their neighborhood.

[Billy]

Stupid is as stupid posts.

[SugarFree]

It's particularly dry sarcasm.

[tarran]

It is? There I was thinking that Grey Panther was another sockpuppet in the tradition of Neil.

[SugarFree]

Sorry, I mean that "Grey Panther" is sarcasm. In other words, we agree.

[Copernicus]

As I was reading it, I was thinking "this is the best sarcasm I've ever read, please let it be sarcasm."

[Sparky]

"Now you see the violence inherent in the system!"

[Copernicus]

"You can't claim to be king just because some watery tart chucks a scimitar at you" (paraphrase)

[Zeb]

I will just assume that this is a joke. Even people who favor prohibition aren't this stupid, are they?

[##]

That's right. Just look at all the dead bodies littering the streets around every Walgreens and liquor store. The shootouts between police and pharmasists at the drive through windows are reaching epic proportions. Idiot.

[Mark Draughn]

That cops in these situations "identify" themselves is a damnable lie. The cop may very well have said "Police!" or even "I'm a cop!" but that't not identifying himself as a police officer, that's claiming to be a police officer. Anybody can do that. It's insane to insist that an American citizen should immediately give up all resistance just because a random stranger claims to be a cop.

[Hank]

Excellent point.

[Hank]

The phrase "Excellent point" is evidently spam, so let me rephrase:

You, sir, make an excellent point in your comment just above this one. Cheers.

[Sy]

"^^THIS^^" would also be perfectly acceptable.

[tarran]

I think the solution is to disarm the police. We can't get rid of them, but take away their guns, and they'll be much more circumspect and polite.

If they get into a situation needing a weapon, they can always ask citizenry that are not in the employ of the state for help.

For scenarios like the North Hollywood bank robbery, they would get it. But when it comes to harassing people peaceably plying an honorable trade like drug-dealing,not so much.

[Zeb]

Or at least undercover cops should be unarmed. If you are undercover, the idea is to convince people that you are not police, right? If that is the case, how can you expect people to immediately accept your word that you are police when you have just been trying to convince them that you are not?

[Tulpa]

Undercover cops sure as hell shouldn't be making arrests while out of uniform. I don't have a problem with them being armed and defending themselves if necessary.

I don't get why they can't just have a uniformed cop hiding down the street somewhere who can swoop in and make the arrest when the time comes.

[johnl]

It's undercover cops that should be banned. They have 0 deterrent value, and they are a menace.

[Almanian]

And nothing else happened?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Does this mean that in addition to to "Stop resisting!", we now need to add "I'm a cop!" ?

[Yawn]

Perps are always innocent!

[B?nzli]

*until proven guilty.

There, i fixed it for you. Now go back to sleep Pawn.

[Juice]

POLICE ARE CIVILIANS.

[Tulpa]

And as we all know, muggers and other criminals are incapable of identifying themselves as cops to prevent bystanders from causing trouble.

[Copernicus]

But if they pull this cowardly trick, they'll get in big trouble later I can tell you.