Texas Governor Greg Abbott Makes Big Move Against Black Lives Matter Movement

[Face McShooty]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Lone Star State lawmakers are cracking down after recent recent attacks carried out against police officers.

 

Abbott on Monday announced the Police Protection Act, which
 aims to strengthen penalties for crimes committed against police officers.

 

“At a time when law enforcement officers increasingly come under assault simply because of the job they hold, Texas must send a resolute message that the state will stand by the men and women who serve and protect our communities,” Abbott said in a news release, according to KTBC.

 

Abbott said that while Texas and the nation continued to mourn the heroes lost in Dallas, it was time for Texans to unite and say no more.

 

“The men and women in uniform risk their lives every day to protect the public, and it is time we show them the state of Texas has their back,” Abbott said in the release.

 

“Texas will no longer tolerate disrespect for those who serve, and it must be made to clear to anyone targeting our law enforcement officials that their actions will be met with severe justice.”

 

The Police Protection Act will extend hate crime protections to law enforcement officers and increase criminal penalties crimes committed against law enforcement.

 

The act also aims to create a culture of respect for law enforcement that includes organizing a campaign to educate youth on the value police officers bring to their communities.

 

Currently, assault with bodily injury to a public servant is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor. Under Abbott’s proposal, the penalty against such an assault would increase to a 2nd degree felony.

 

The measure has been met with approval form several law enforcement organizations. Ray Hunt, President of the Houston Police Officers Association, said he was encouraged by the legislation. Ron Pinkston, President, Dallas Police Association, said the Dallas Police Association applauded the governor. Grimes County Sheriff Donald Sowell, president of the Sheriff’s Association of Texas, said his organization was pleased to see the governor move to protect law enforcement officers.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

This is good funking news

[Face McShooty]

This is good f***ing news

Hopefully other states follow suite

[Brinolovania]

This is good f***ing news

Gotta agree with you there. I know there have been instances of overzealous cops, but the response to that has been a HUGE overreaction, to put it lightly. Shooting more people doesn't decrease the violence in the world especially when the vast, vast majority of those people are good cops.

[Makο]

...

 

Now, don't get me wrong when I say this. My Dad is a police officer, after all, and the soon-to-be-classified-as domestic terror group BLM is doing a lot of real bad in the world.

 

But I feel like enacting these sort of legal measures is the wrong way to go about this. Increase awareness, sure, but the police are still civilians, just like you and me. Giving them extra special protections and super harsh punishments to those who assail them places them into a different class, and that's not exactly good. They already have a "we must protect our own" mentality that often does more harm than good, and this could only increase that.

 

The way police are being treated nowadays is awful, but going the exact opposite way and making resisting police and cardinal sin is just as bad.

[Resident Fascist]

Except it's not really putting police in a different class. Taking precautions to stop abuse of police is not going to turn every officer into an jabroni. Honestly teaching people their rights when dealing with the police would make both civilian and officer lives easier.

[Slinky]

This has a lot of things that aren't properly covered, but it's a solid start.

[Mutant Monster RAEG-HAPYP]

Louisana did a similar thing a while back IIRC.

 

Let's see how this goes.

[Dad]

Well, resisting was already punishable by death. Let's see what happens now.

[Aerion Brightflame]

I wonder if they'll ever realise the fact that officers do get such exemptions from the laws that affect every other civilian is part the reason they are getting targeted. 

 

You know if they weren't free to beat and shoot and arrest and steal from others with no punishment or real consequences maybe there wouldn't be cultures developing that treated them like dirt and wanted them dead. 

 

Maybe if they just realised that respect is earned, not demanded they could avoid a lot of the sheet targeting them. Oh well, just give them more powers in the meantime I'm sure that will work out well. 

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

I wonder if they'll ever realise the fact that officers do get such exemptions from the laws that affect every other civilian is part the reason they are getting targeted. 

 

You know if they weren't free to beat and shoot and arrest and steal from others with no punishment or real consequences maybe there wouldn't be cultures developing that treated them like dirt and wanted them dead. 

 

Maybe if they just realised that respect is earned, not demanded they could avoid a lot of the sheet targeting them. Oh well, just give them more powers in the meantime I'm sure that will work out well.

 

Seems awfully like you're trying to lend credence to cop killers there mate....

[Aerion Brightflame]

All I'm saying is I understand where the attitude comes from - Cops have more rights than they should. And despite the number of videoed shootings and instances of police brutality you see nowadays, you almost never see corresponding punishments. So it looks like cops are free to shoot and steal and main anyone whose not politically connected without any punishment. 

 

You see the unions close in (I'm a huge fan of unions as a concept, I think they need to exist, the police unions in America just tend to be on the awful side. I think it's fact it's the union of a publicly owned institution that plays a part), and paint the cop as a saint the victim as scum, and then the officer gets back into working duty after paid leave for a few months and carries on in most cases. And for all the comments about good cops you never see them protesting to get bad officers out. Hell, even investigations into bad officers get paid for with the money of the taxpayer. 

 

All the police have to do is teach it's applicants how to de-escalate situations, and hold it's officers f***ing accountable for there actions, and this attitude starts to die down because it no longer feels like it's 'One rule for cops, one rule for everyone else'. But instead you've given cops more powers against the people, and that's wrong, they are there to protect us, not to be protected from us. 

 

It's just not a hard attitude to understand as to why people go out and shoot and kill cops. Especially when the defence against that attitude is that 'cops are heroes' or 'not all cops are bad' - There's still utter scumbags within the profession, and it should be there duty to root them out, not to protect them or to encourage them. 

[Mutant Monster RAEG-HAPYP]

All I'm saying is I understand where the attitude comes from - Cops have more rights than they should. And despite the number of videoed shootings and instances of police brutality you see nowadays, you almost never see corresponding punishments. So it looks like cops are free to shoot and steal and main anyone whose not politically connected without any punishment.

 

You see the unions close in (I'm a huge fan of unions as a concept, I think they need to exist, the police unions in America just tend to be on the awful side. I think it's fact it's the union of a publicly owned institution that plays a part), and paint the cop as a saint the victim as scum, and then the officer gets back into working duty after paid leave for a few months and carries on in most cases. And for all the comments about good cops you never see them protesting to get bad officers out. Hell, even investigations into bad officers get paid for with the money of the taxpayer.

 

All the police have to do is teach it's applicants how to de-escalate situations, and hold it's officers f***ing accountable for there actions, and this attitude starts to die down because it no longer feels like it's 'One rule for cops, one rule for everyone else'. But instead you've given cops more powers against the people, and that's wrong, they are there to protect us, not to be protected from us.

 

It's just not a hard attitude to understand as to why people go out and shoot and kill cops. Especially when the defence against that attitude is that 'cops are heroes' or 'not all cops are bad' - There's still utter scumbags within the profession, and it should be there duty to root them out, not to protect them or to encourage them.

You do realize that violence in response to violence only makes things worse, right? While police in the U.S. are in dire need of reform, and police unions are definitely part of the problem, attacking and killing police officers will only cause it to become worse. The whole reason why this new law is there is because some guy decided to shoot 11-12 cops.

 

So don't try to justify that kind of attitude. After Dallas, people, including some in power, immediately pointed the finger to the BLM movement, with some even wanting it to be declared a terrorist organization. The anger over excessive force by police is understandable, but that attitude and the violence is hurting what is overall a noble cause for change, and that's not good for anyone.

[Aerion Brightflame]

You do realize that violence in response to violence only makes things worse, right? While police in the U.S. are in dire need of reform, and police unions are definitely part of the problem, attacking and killing police officers will only cause it to become worse. The whole reason why this new law is there is because some guy decided to shoot 11-12 cops.

 

So don't try to justify that kind of attitude. After Dallas, people, including some in power, immediately pointed the finger to the BLM movement, with some even wanting it to be declared a terrorist organization. The anger over excessive force by police is understandable, but that attitude and the violence is hurting what is overall a noble cause for change, and that's not good for anyone.

 

I'm not advocating for violence. It is a poor choice, but you can understand why people do it. It's a very clear problem. And that's the whole point - How long has this been an issue now, and we've seen no real progress towards resolving it in the direction we want? People will get frustrated, and lash out. And violence is a form of that given that protests didn't work, marches haven't worked. You'll get people who decide to use violence instead. 

 

We've probably seen more progress in the direction of the police than in the direction.of the people the police are hurting. And that's wrong, the police are public servants. They should be adapting to our needs, not forcing us to adapt to there's. 

 

Don't confuse me understanding where the violence comes from as being an advocate for the violence. But I will say violence will continue until either the police back down and actually have proper reform (And violence will continue in the wake of that but it's a start) or until the police have all the power and there is nothing to be done to stop them. 

[Mutant Monster RAEG-HAPYP]

I'm not advocating for violence. It is a poor choice, but you can understand why people do it. It's a very clear problem. And that's the whole point - How long has this been an issue now, and we've seen no real progress towards resolving it in the direction we want? People will get frustrated, and lash out. And violence is a form of that given that protests didn't work, marches haven't worked. You'll get people who decide to use violence instead.

 

We've probably seen more progress in the direction of the police than in the direction.of the people the police are hurting. And that's wrong, the police are public servants. They should be adapting to our needs, not forcing us to adapt to there's.

 

Don't confuse me understanding where the violence comes from as being an advocate for the violence. But I will say violence will continue until either the police back down and actually have proper reform (And violence will continue in the wake of that but it's a start) or until the police have all the power and there is nothing to be done to stop them.

National change has yet to happen, but if you think not a single ounce of change, nor any sort of dialogue has happened in any department, then you are very misinformed. Here are a few examples, but iirc, there's quite a few out there. They're a pain to find, but it was worth it.

 

Omaha: http://m.ketv.com/news/we-feel-well-ahead-of-the-game-on-police-reform-omaha-police-chief-says/40784362

 

Baltimore: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-police-use-of-force-20160629-story.html

 

Nassau County, NY: http://lawofficer.com/2016/07/nassau-police-revamp-use-of-force-policy-focus-on-de-escalation/

 

Phoenix: http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/phoenix-police-meet-with-black-lives-matter-organization-in-effort-to-bridge-divide

 

Even what Wichita police did, while not a policy reform, had a barbecue with BLM: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/black-lives-matter-protesters-have-cookout-with-wichita-police/

 

Chicago and Denver are working on it, at least that is what is implied from news articles. LAPD's Chief actually met with Snoop Dogg and The Game, who let a peaceful march. Dallas police were also supportive of the protest, which was peaceful until the shooting.

 

Will any of this work? Yet to be seen. However, it's a start, and it should be recognized, and maybe more departments will see this, hopefully see a positive effect, and implement the changes themselves. There is still the issue of the lack of accountability, and I honestly think the police unions MIGHT have something to do with that, seeing how they always defend bad cops, and probably have more power than they should.

[Aerion Brightflame]

The first link is nothing. It talks of training to deal with extremists but that's not the issue at hand. It also mentions them walking alongside the BLM protest marches, but that's nowhere near enough progression. It shows support for the movement sure, but it's not anything close to advocating for change. 

 

Baltimore - Good. It's technically not in effect yet, but it's good. On the other hand it does nothing to deal with lethal force - In fact the requirement that officers report when they hold firearms or tasers up without firing that the change institutes doesn't exist for lethal force. It's still good progress but it doesn't cover enough. There's also that look ignorable - As in we 'Advise' you to do this, but we are requiring you to do this. 

 

Nassu is a similar story to baltimore, but it's a little worse I think since it still relies on the department to adequately punish offenders. Which is part of the problem. 

 

Then Phoenix and Witcha are non stories again. 

 

And none of these address the issue of accountablity, which is probably a bigger issue. Because it all relies on the departments holding officer accountable to there actions when it matters. They almost never do - and you don't need written legislature to make that happen. Departments could be doing it already. But somehow in most cases the cop who shot or beat the man gets away without any real punishment. 

[Mutant Monster RAEG-HAPYP]

I already acknowledged that accountability is still an issue, ftr. I mainly wanted to show that some are at least trying. How is Phoenix not a story? Dialogue is also very important if change will happen. Actions speak louder than words, but it's still unfair just to dismiss it.

Though, I would like to point out that you only see police unions come in when an officer is involved in some sort of misconduct, and they always defend it. I have yet to see any police union commend an officer when a good deed goes viral. I have never seen police unions commend anyone higher up for taking a step, when some have. That is very concerning to me. You would think they would praise the ones who do good, but nope. All they do is protect bad officers, and maybe that could be a reason why accountability is still lacking.

I think this is worth a read: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/how-police-unions-keep-abusive-cops-on-the-street/383258/

 

In any case, I'm pulling out, before I start to lose my cool. Make of that article in any way you want.