Brickbat: Last Words

Dorsey Photography / Flickr

Chicago police say they are sorry they destroyed the final messages Nicole Porter wrote to her parents before committing suicide. Police sent the parents copies of two notes Porter wrote to them but kept the originals as part of their investigation. They promised to give the notes to the parents after the investigation was over but destroyed them instead. "It was the last 'I love you' she ever said to us. It's the last physical thing she ever left for us," said her mother.

Comments

[Adans smith]

Look,they have so many videos and other evidence to hide and or destroy,sometimes mistakes are made.

[UnCivilServant]

Well, whenever someone usually wants evidence from them, it's to sue some officer, so the procedure is to make sure there's nothing to hand out.

[UnCivilServant]

Procedures were Followed!

[kbolino]

Procedures were Followed!

In fact, they probably were. Better to destroy the evidence than be held liable for violating a privacy law.

The funny thing is, laws that were "designed" to protect the people almost always seem to be used to protect the institution.

[thrakkorzog]

Damn, even by Chicago PD standards that's cold.

[Rich]

They probably figured she had posted the *real* notes to Facebook, as is the modern custom.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And then CPD shot them.

[Pompey (91% LOLLOLZ)]

Ted S.|6.14.16 @ 7:35PM|#

What they want is LETELU: Looks exotic, thinks exactly like us.

I would propose to amend that as follows - LETELUEIIKU: Looks exotic, thinks exactly like us, even if it kills us.

[Eman]

hey everybody doesn't flip out when a wal mart employee makes a simple mistake. exactly the same situation.

[UnCivilServant]

You've clearly never worked retail.

[Rufus The Monocled]

What an utter lack of humanity.

You mean to tell me not one person looked at that and concluded maybe - just maybe - the family would want that note?

Awful.

[Rufus The Monocled]

My God some of these comments. Never mind there are some that actually wonder why the family want the note. Who are these assholes?

"Moonbuzz June 10, 2016 0:12PM
A cop will at least TRY to help society.? Where's the good of all of US if we have to rely on criminals instead of them?

A response to a comment:

Tamir Rice was aiming said bb gun at people at the park, and had removed the orange safety device that makes it clear it's a toy. The dispatcher did not pass on the callers note that he didn't think it was a real gun. Given this, the police saw him point a gun at them, and responded appropriately. Being young does not mean police have to risk their lives for you. Your parents are the ones responsible for making sure you're not in situations like this. They failed him."

[kbolino]

So close...

the police saw him point a gun at them

No, they did not.

This is what bothers me about the case. Everybody seems to have a need to misrepresent some fact of it. Rice was pointing the gun at people on the street. If one of them had shot him, they would have had cause.

Rice did not point the gun at the cops. In fact, he didn't have even enough time or space to do anything with the cops except the contextually ambiguous act of "furtive movement" under which pretense he was shot.

The problem with Rice being shot is not that he was an innocent angel who gave no one reason to shoot him. It's that the people who shot him had questionable reason to do so and moreover aggravated the situation by driving into the middle of a fucking park within feet of him, most likely barking incoherent and contradictory instructions at him.

This is a case of negligence and recklessness.

[kbolino]

Given that Cuyahoga County declined to indict the cops involved, and it seems unlikely that the DOJ is going to take up the case, it looks like the only accountability, if there is going to be any, will have to come from the voters of (East?) Cleveland.

One of the mutually exclusive goals of "public service" and "labor rights" is going to have to give way.

[Drake]

"Dear Mom and Dad, I love you so much that I'm going to kill myself and make you miserable for the rest of your lives."

[Rufus The Monocled]

The selfish side of suicide.

[Groovus Maximus]

Her body, her choice, correct?

[UnCivilServant]

No, no, that's only when murdering the unborn.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Yes, I'm just repeating how some people view it.

An act of selfishness which points to Drake's comment.

[Groovus Maximus]

No Rufus, it's just an act.

[Bra Ket]

Selfishness AND cowardice. She subjected those that love her to a life of grief.

Don't do it kids.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Absolutely, people who are so unhappy with their lives should be allowed to kill themselves. It would be an interesting study to see how many people despise suicide but are fine with abortion though.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Then again, and I may be mistaken, don't people who try to dissuade suicides tell the person 'think of the people you will leave behind'?

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

Sometimes. I don't think it's necessarily wrong to try to convince someone not to, that life is a greater good than death, but someone who is absolutely determined will find a way and should be allowed to. And then everyone can move on.

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

It says the police sent copies of the notes to the parents. What's the big deal?

[UnCivilServant]

Do you really think a distraught and greiving parent thinks it's the same thing as the object the self-offer actually wrote on before self-offing?

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

The parents got an exact duplicate of the words their daughter wrote. Why does it have to be the exact words on the exact paper?

[UnCivilServant]

You're thinking rationally.

Lets also turn that question around - why should the CPD be destroying evidence at all?

[Free Market Socialist $park?]

They shouldn't, but that's a whole other kettle of fish. Police are generally assholes, that's not really new information.

My bewilderment was over the ghoulish need to keep mementos, especially the last note/recording/bloody scrawl, of a dead person simply because they're dead. Are they planning to build a shrine with the letters, needle, and bottle of insulin? I'll bet that was their plan. Way to not let it go.

[Bra Ket]

Originals are always worth way more than prints.

And the copy was probably a horrible copy off some ancient state copier machine that costs 1000x more to maintain than to replace.

[Danny Rand]

Not outraged.

[jackrose]

nice post thanks admin