Massachusetts cop with body-cam searches middle school for LGBTQ-themed book: report
Massachusetts cop with body-cam searches middle school for LGBTQ-themed book: report
A cop's decision to sport a body camera and search a Massachusetts middle school for a book has raised serious concerns among civil liberties experts, a new report shows. The Berkshire Eagle reported Wednesday on mounting fears after the Great Barrington plainclothes police officer who entered an ei...
A cop's decision to sport a body camera and search a Massachusetts middle school for a book has raised serious concerns among civil liberties experts, a new report shows.
The Berkshire Eagle reported Wednesday on mounting fears after the Great Barrington plainclothes police officer who entered an eighth grade classroom at W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School.
“Police going into schools and searching for books is the sort of thing you hear about in communist China and Russia," Ruth A. Bourquin, senior and managing attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts, told the local news outlet. "What are we doing?”
For their part, police say they were obligated to investigate a complaint about the book "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe, a memoir about gender identity that contains sexually explicit illustrations and language, the report notes.
But Great Barrington Police Chief Paul Storti said in a statement, “Because this complaint was made directly to the police department, we are obligated and have a duty to examine the complaint further."
I call bullshit, and would like to see the law and/or court rulings that support this assertion.
Because if cops have no duty to protect the public, then in what sense do they have a duty to take this complaint seriously?
161You are right they have no duty to protect the public, their job is to maintain the status quo and defend capitalist interests. Two guesses into which category searching for this book in a middle school falls under.
56When people say police have no duty to protect the public, they are talking about a legal affirmative duty to act.
Usually the law does not impose a duty to act. If you see someone drowning, it's not negligent to NOT jump into the water and save the person. You can stand there and watch your neighbor's kid drown and you're neither breaking the law nor being negligent. Even if your neighbor's kid screams for help and looks right at you and says please help me, it's legal to do nothing: there is no affirmative duty to rescue.
It's the same for police. The exception are when there is a fiduciary relationship, if you created the peril, or if you start rescuing someone you can't leave them worse off. Usually these exceptions don't apply to police, even if you call and ask for help, they have no duty to act. That doesn't mean they won't show up and do their best. Just means you can't sue them for negligence if they fail to save you.
Therapists, doctors, lawyers, architects, have legal duties to act.
25
Anyone who has had their bike stolen or car broken into or otherwise be victim of a crime the police don’t really care about knows this is not the case. You’ll be told to come in and fill out a form, or if you’re lucky you might have someone call you and fill out the form for you. They’re not going to send a cop out for that, and the form doesn’t really get acted on, it’s just for records keeping.
45The full news article states that they do not have that authority, this is just ass covering by wanna be heroes of oppression.
This "report" was done anonymously probably for the reason they knew it was BS, and just looking at the report should have been enough to dismiss it. At the very most a phone call to see if the school wanted to handle it, but sending an officer should get all involved parties suspended without pay. That principal should have also called bullshit and never escorted a cop to a classroom to search for a book. They should also be suspended and the policy gone over again on what to do with these bullshit book banning "reports" (deleted/recycled).
Edit - extra shit
19The problem with the principal refusing to escort the officer is then they are obstructing a police investigation, and that is a crime. It isn't fair to put this burden on them, the blame lies squarely with the police chain of command.
In fact the root problem of all things police is that once police decide to do something, even if that thing is illegal, interfering is a crime.
This is how we end up with people being charged with resisting arrest, and no other crimes that would warrant an arrest. This is also how we end up with a bunch of people live streaming George Floyd's execution, because stopping a cop from killing someone is a crime.
12
Because this complaint hurt little piggy's feelings.
16Yeah I don't believe it either. The courts have agreed the cops don't have to help anyone.
9Yeah, but that's because they don't want to help people. They actively recruit cops who hate the communities they're going to police.
So it's never an issue when they're asked to do harm. That's why they became cops.
3
And furthermore, what exactly are they really protecting the public from? A book that talks about queer identities? Instead we should put bibles into every kids hands, bibles only contain rape, incest, murder, and genocide on a global scale. Nothing that would warp a kid's brain. (Rolling eyes).
5
Life pro tip: In the middle of a school shooting? Call the cops and say that the gunman is giving away books with gay characters! They would ram and arrest him without hesitation.
67"ThErE aRe DrAg QuEeNs ReAdInG tO cHiLdReN. PlEaSe HuRrY!"
25
in communist China and Russiaor in the history of many US States...
59Republicans talk about China so much because they envy their Authoritarian power over the people...
20The attorney for the ACLU said it.
5
also, russia is not communist, lol
6in {communist China} and {Russia}
7I think that's a reference to when it was, not someone saying they are at the moment.
5No one is saying Russia is communist today but they were communist.
4Neither is China, despite them repeatedly saying they are.
But I think the comment is referring to the past when they were, as opposed to now.
2
in {communist China} and {Russia}
2
For their part, police say they were obligated to investigate a complaint
Police have wide discretion about how much effort to put into any particular investigation. This is how it should have been handled:
"Hello Mr. Principal. This is the police. We have a complaint about a book called Gender Queer, which allegedly contains obscenity. Do you have that book in your library? You do? Okay, in your expert opinion, as a teacher and principal, do you believe that this book is obscene? No? Okay then, have a nice day."
Notes made in the database. Investigation fllagged as complete. Complaint unfounded. The school takes responsibility for the content. The parent who complained can take it up with the school board.
Instead the police took it upon themselves to get into the business of determining whether a school library book is obscene. What a stupid quagmire to wander into. Clearly, someone in the police department lacks good judgment.
30Okay, in your expert opinion, as a teacher and principal, do you believe that this book is obscene?
lol, imagine a cop recognizing outside expertise and working to deescalate a situation. We can still dream...
Of course, this runs up against the fact that cops are lazy fucks who want to get out of doing paperwork as much as possible. Clearly this particular cop could've dropped the issue and expended a minimum of effort on a cursory report, but the fact that they (the cop was unnamed in this article, which seems like important information to include, especially considering all the names of educators that were listed) made it a mission to go full sherlock on this issue indicates that they have an axe to grind about it.
14police say they were obligated to investigate a complaint
Are police obligated to do anything? Like... literally anything?
It's my understanding that it's up to the department how police conduct themselves. If the department doesn't do anything about their behavior and the community keeps funding it, then why would cops change?
3
ACAB
28I'm calling the cops!
2
W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School.
What do we want to bet a school with a name like that has a significant majority of black students? And what do we want to bet that's why the cop went there?
25I live in the area and while I dont have the exact numbers, Great Barrington and the surrounding towns are very predominantly white. The school is named because WEB Du Bois was born in Great Barrington
13Dubois is a French Canadian name, the same French Canadians that moved all over North Eastern USA in the late 19th/early 20th century because their life expectancy back home was about the same as it was for black people in the African colonies at the time...
-5W.E.B. Du Bois is a famous black sociologist
10
Land of the free, as long as you are a fascist
22“A book is a loaded gun." - Fahrenheit 451
20“If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none." - Fahrenheit 451
7This was supposed to dystopian fiction not a fucking playbook.
I need to reread this but it will likely just depress me.
2
Oh my fuckin' LORD no, NO!! Not "GENDER QUEER!" OH MY GOD, some kid might actually SEE THAT!!! (Screaming as loud as possible). This is a national emergency of biblical proportions!! Get the stones ready! Won't someone please think of the children!!!! They're so much better off not knowing about the existence of queer people, of others who are different. They just don't know how lucky they are to have good christian values to lock their brains into braces and blind their eyes for their own good!!!
14A cop's decision to sport a body camera and search...
Why was it his decision to make?
13That's the kind of shit you'd read about in a young adult novel
12Permanently Deleted
3Well as a new Englander this is barely concerning.
Something tells me that officer should move if he values his personal property. Massholes earned their name.
1