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Police blogwars
By adamg on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 11:33am
Looks like the Boston Police are investigating a blog called Badgewars.com that might paint them in a less than favorable light.
The Massachusetts Liberal is glad to see that things in Boston are now quiet enough for the police to investigate a blog:
Yeah, Badgewars is pretty nasty stuff. Just the sort of thing we should be defending in a society that values free, frank and open discussion. I seem to recall a line from childhood too:
Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never harm me.
Bullets and knives on the other hand. ...
Lewis Forman wonders why he didn't think of such a site:
... It's about time that the fraternity known as the Boston Police Department are called to task on their behaviour while our tax money goes to their ever ballooning pensions and salaries. But for the department to go after a site that uses free speech to bring light to their shortcomings? Please. Spend your time more wisely by putting the force on diets and see if they can run down a felon in a 100 yard dash...
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Comments
why Boston Police is flipping out...
Not a single officer or employee is permitted to speak to the media without authorization from Media Relations...
DoS
I don't understand why people are getting all bothered about some silly website that reads, quite simply, "Service Unavailable".
Cool
Next time I see the cops at the Kendall Square Dunkin' parking at the Broadway street bus stop I know where to send the pics to now.
I'm all for this sort of everyman journalism to watch the watchers. The guy in NYC is a little over the top, but usually dead-on correct when he puts those vids up on YouTube. If they don't want the site to exist, then all they have to do is get the cops to fly right.
So in your spare time, I
So in your spare time, I assume you take loaded guns away from 15 year olds, right? Your family knows that when you leave the house in the morning, you may not ever come home, right?
What exactly is your point?
That because the job of police officer carries an inherent amount of risk, they should be allowed to do whatever they want, without any oversight and immune to criticism?
Because that's just stupid.
you're generalizing
when people like you hold police in such high regard, doesn't it make it all the worse when you find that they've broken the law, taken advantage of others or done other things that haven't deserved to be held in such high regard?
the webpage is shut down
the webpage is shut down now, anyway
no, it's not...
Maybe their main site is overwhelmed with traffic, but their blog is just fine:
http://badgewars.blogspot.com/
Also, I just hit the site and it works fine. A bit slow, but working.
Main site
Thanks anon. Couldn't get to it from the server directly, which was linked in the posting.
So, you're rationalizing bad behavior?
Let me make sure I'm hearing you right. It's OK to screw off, shirk your responsibilities, abuse your power, etc. because you have a dangerous job?
Look, no one, especially me, is saying that all cops are fuck offs. Far from it. But when you habitually do any or all of the above, it's time to be thinking about a new career. Do your job, that's all I'm asking.
Fun fact about police officer mortality rates
Your family knows that when you leave the house in the morning, you may not ever come home, right?
Ah, yes- the "killed in the line of duty" trump card that cops love to trot out. When you're not touting in front of our faces how (supposedly) likely you are to get shot, you make the life of a Boston PD officer sound like NYPD- drug busts, car chases, etc. Too bad it's mostly parking tickets, domestic disputes, and construction details.
The murder rate for police nationally is ONE THIRD THAT OF THE GENERAL POPULATION. That's right, motherfucker. Cops are LESS likely to be murdered than us average Joes.
All you need to do is look at this year's stats for Boston. Number of members of the public shot: several dozen. Shit, almost half a dozen this week alone on the 4th, while all you cops were out getting paid double-secret holiday overtime and a half, Guardin' The Homeland from Terr'rists.
# of cops shot or killed this year: ZERO.
Seriously?
What if I'm a cop too? Maybe I've been looking for an outlet to rat out cops that just don't follow the rules because I'm a by-the-books kind of guy, but I know that snitching to IA over the little things, like parking violations or misuse of the lights and siren, will eventually get me shitted on around the precinct. What of it then, tough guy?
And now, what if I'm not a cop? Any difference as to whether you think I should have an outlet for pointing out when cops abuse their powers? Cops outing cops is okay, but citizens outing cops isn't? Nobody, not even other cops, should out cops doing illegal things? Which is it: either everyone can out bad cops, only cops can out bad cops, or nobody can out bad cops?
Seriously, what I do (in my spare time or not), shouldn't even come close to mattering in this discussion. But while you bring it up, I park illegally in the fire lane and eat donuts in my spare time. You figure out whether that makes me a cop or not when I'm not here questioning your logic.
Unjustified action
From a quick look at the posts, I don't see anything that would prompt a suit for defamation or release of confidential information. (I haven't read the comments, but they aren't the blog author's responsibility.) In the absence of anything in those categories, the cops have no business demanding the identity of the blogger or conducting an investigation.
Please use my tax $$$ to fight crime
Site's up and running. It's even gotten some fan mail:
www.badgewars.com gone - name no longer resolves
Site gone.
www.badgewars.com
This page is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com.