Police recruitment videos from different cities reveal astonishing differences in attitude

Police recruitment videos from Decatur, Georgia (top), and Newport Beach, California (Bottom). I wonder if the differences in attitude here reflect real differences in the quality of police service.

Two Videos, Two Cities, Two Attitudes

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Antinous / Moderator

Wow, Newport Beach really has a stick up its ass.
- Mister44
  
  Yeah – but they have some nice toys.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    If your idea of play is intimidation, torture and murder.
    - benher
      
      I think the idea of play is the cos-play part where you snap on all the clips, buckles, and weapons like Ah-nold… The intimidation, torture, and murder parts are actual work.
      - vinculture
        
        It’s practically gun worship, isn’t it?
- http://rightcrafttool.blogspot.com/ Sign Ahead
  
  This is like a Coen Brothers movie: “Keep your ugly f%*^in’ goldbrickin’ ass out of my beach community.”
  - chaopoiesis
    
    This is not “like” a Coen Brothers film – it *is* a Coen Brothers film:
    
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-_U1Z0vezw
- SomeGuyNamedMark
  
  I was expecting things to be reversed. I expected Newport Beach to be laid back (lots of clips of tourists and such). I wasn’t expecting a MMA video. Certainly puts Decatur in a better light.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VTMUNEIFSXMSDTDAUFOZKPQ73U C
    
    Time to update your stereotypes. It’s not the 60′s anymore (19 or 18). But I guess 1st impressions are hard to change, especially when movies and TV use a strong Southern accent as shorthand for “evil”, “stupid”, or both.
- nachoproblem
  
  Stop resisting!
  - SomeGuyNamedMark
    
    Stop hitting yourself!
  - http://twitter.com/HopeComplex Travis Burkett
    
    I was actually tackled at the NB pier by an officer Satin, who arrested me for resisting arrest & never read me my rights. After hiring a private investigator I was able to have all charges dropped, but was cautioned that to hold them responsible for abusing the law would be impossible, as their judges here blindly support their police.
Henrix Gudmundsson

‘Enforcing a higher standard’ – it seems that’s not just empty words from Decatur.
- rtb61
  
  Excuse me but the message that needs to be hammered home in the idiot thugs heads is the police do not under any circumstance enforce the law, that is the job of the courts, the police assist the public in upholding the law.
  So both police forces made the same mistake, it’s just that Newport was truly horrific in the extent of it’s error, their message, Newport police, judge, jury, executioner, no courts, no justice, it played more like a crime gang recruitment video.
  - http://twitter.com/blmbmj Brenda Malone
    
    Umm, well, yeah, they actually ARE supposed to Enforce the Law. They are Law Enforcement Officers.
    “Although the term may encompass entities such as courts and prisons, it is most frequently applied to those who directly engage in patrols or surveillance to dissuade and discover criminal activity, and those who investigate crimes and apprehend offenders”
  - http://profile.yahoo.com/TURUV2YLDEZQOL3BR5NZIF2L2M Rich
    
    Well they are called Law Enforcement. I would assume that they are supposed to enforce the law. Which they do. They enforce. There might be some protecting of the public when people ask for help but the majority of the time they are responding and reacting to perceived threats not assisting us. If you ever try to take law enforcement into your own hands the first thing the police tell you to do is stand down and let them do their job. And the courts just decide if they have done it correctly. The courts don’t enforce they uphold the law by deciding the punishment for those that have been accused of criminal activity.
  - DDayDawg
    
    The courts interpret the law. The police enforce the law. You are failing Civics 101 here…
    - rtb61
      
      You go to court, evidence is presented, your guilt or innocence is decided and the law is enforced ie you are penalised if you are guilty. You fail to understand the police have no place in government and the separation of powers.
      Police have no additional powers under any countries ‘CONSTITUTION’ only courts do, you have utterly failed Civics and bought into mass media and their false depiction of police activities.
      - Antinous / Moderator
        
        Police have no additional powers under any countries ‘CONSTITUTION’ only courts do, you have utterly failed Civics and bought into mass media and their false depiction of police activities.
        
        Did you want to provide some citations to back up your claims?
      - DDayDawg
        
        Seriously? Police powers fall under the executive branch. On a Federal level this is handled by the Department of justice which controls the FBI, DEA, ATF, etc. On the state level it falls under the Governor of the state (State Police / Highway Patrol) and at the local level under the Mayor (municipal Police Department).
        
        Courts do NOT enforce the law. Once someone has been caught by law enforcement the court hears evidence and interprets the law to determine guilt or innocence. Once you are sitting in a jail cell the law has been enforced at that happens before you ever get the judicial branch involved.
        
        I will link to this Wikipedia article:
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers_under_the_United_States_Constitution
        although this is a basic US principal. The relevant section is: “By law (Section 2.) the president… and “…take care that the laws be faithfully executed” (Section 3.) By using these words, the Constitution does not require the president to personally enforce the law; rather, officers subordinate to the president may perform such duties. The Constitution empowers the president to ensure the faithful execution of the laws made by Congress.”
Elly

I know which town I’d rather visit.
- Ultan
  
  I live in Decatur. The cops I have talked with here really are as nice as they seem in the video.
  
  Decatur is a nice place to live, with a thriving downtown restaurant scene around the old courthouse, which is right next to the end of the line for the east-west Atlanta subway. Very good library about a block away, too. Even living about half a mile away from downtown towards Emory University, nearly everything I need is in walking distance – supermarket, takeout places, even a used bookstore. My old but well-maintained apartment with cool yet quiet neighbors is remarkably cheap, half what it would be in most big cities.
  - http://www.facebook.com/ted.brzinski Ted Brzinski
    
    I used to live in Decatur as well, for 12 years. For 4 of those I worked in the bike shop that serviced the police department’s bikes. Every encounter I’ve had with the Decatur Police (even the ones I’d rather not recount to my parents) was a positive experience. It’s one of the only places I’ve lived where police officers got to know my name just because they talked to the people in the community that they saw every day, not because I was a witness to a crime or had to call in a complaint. It’s much easier to “serve and protect” when you engage and communicate.
    
    I live in Philadelphia now, where my interactions with police have been hit-or-miss. In one instance I was the victim of a hit-and-run, but was informed by the officer that came to the scene that “it wasn’t a crime because you were on a bike.” I’ve seen people illegally detained, and I’ve heard police use abusive language. I’ve even had friends who’ve been the recipients of unwarranted use of force, to the point of being stomped on while on the ground – something I couldn’t imagine happening in Decatur. To be fair, I’ve met some very good police officers here as well, and the population size and demographics here are very different, but so are the priorities of the police department, and I think that is a big part of why you see such different relationships between communities and their police. That, training, and budget. Decatur is a good place for all three of those factors.
  - kjs3
    
    I live in Decatur as well, on the other side of town from Ultan. Seconded on all counts.
http://twitter.com/rodgillespie Rod Gillespie

Holy shit, Newport Beach is terrifying.
- http://twitter.com/AnonKopimi Anon Kopimi
  
  It’s a rich white christian male paradise – go figure.
  - euansmith
    
    You make that sound like its a bad thing…
    - MB44
      
      You make that sound like it’s not a bad thing.
      - euansmith
        
        The original statement struck me as being wealthist/racist/religionist/sexist in that it seemed to implie that Rich White Christian Males are bad and that their Paradise is naturally a bad place.
        
        I’m not rich, but not am I poor. I am White according to the anthropological convention. I was raised a Christian and turned my back on the One True Faith. I am Male. The bit of the world I inhabit is not a Paradise, but it is pretty darn good. It is also home to a wide cross section of other economic groups, races, religions and sexes. That is part of what I like about it.
        
        If I were rich and a Christian, I would hope that my idea of Paradise would include all of these other people.
        
        Of course, my original post was just a throw away joke; an ironic statement to under score the implications of Anon Kopimi post, so thanks for getting me to look at my own assumptions. Maybe the Anon Kopimi’s post would have been better if it had read, “It’s a bigots paradise – go figure.”; that way we could all have made our own assumptions about the inhabitants of Newport Beach.
        
        Based on the name, I’d assume that the inhabitants were all Deep-One Hybrids and worshipped Dagon; but that’s my world view.
      - retchdog
        
        @euansmith:disqus well, i hate to break it to you, but don’t get used to seeing other religions around in what you consider Paradise. as a christian, there won’t be many around where you’re (presumably) going…
        
        edit: oh, you’re not. good for you and i feel a bit silly now.
Tommy Timefishblue

Wow, they even got in the “stop resisting” catchphrase!
- http://twitter.com/AnonKopimi Anon Kopimi
  
  I’ve had the misfortune of their attention.
  NBPD is chock full of fascist racist dickhole thugs.
  - bcsizemo
    
    From their video it seems like they only accept the “best”…
    - http://twitter.com/AnonKopimi Anon Kopimi
      
      For Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, that is what they consider “best.”
      
      Ask to see their ankle tattoos – half of the cops in those cities are STILL in white supremacist gangs.
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Aaron-Wallace/513446402 Aaron Wallace
        
        As a dude who grew up in HB, the above is dead true. They love to hire skinheads without records.
  - SomeGuyNamedMark
    
    They are just mad that they joined the force hoping for shootouts and beatings every day and instead ended up doing traffic enforcement.
- pjk
  
  “stop hitting yourself! stop hitting yourself!”
- retchdog
  
  and, with it, a clue: i wonder if “tapping out” like that would make them stop choking you in real life. muscle memory and all.
  
  probably just for a second, and they wouldn’t be happy once they realize they’ve been had…
- benher
  
  I think I know what you’re suggesting – someone needs to reverse the audio on these so that hilarity may ensue.
- euansmith
  
  “You have 20 seconds to comply…” obviously didn’t fit their mission profile and, “You’re shit out of luck!” had already been taken by that model of Law Enforcement rectitude, Inspector Harold Francis Callaghan.
  
  And, apparently, it hurts less is you relax your sphincter and “stop resisting…”
  - SomeGuyNamedMark
    
    Warning, groaning in pain and asking to be taken to a hospital constitutes resisting arrest.
Boundegar

Join the Newport police force! Beat people! Shoot them! Sic vicious dogs on them!

This is horrifying.
- euansmith
  
  Yeah, why should the Police have all the fun?
http://www.twitter.com/eselqueso eselqueso

One is a call to service, the other is a teenage boy’s GTA jackoff fantasy. Wow.
Mr. Son

I don’t even want to watch the Newport Beach video. The preview still looks like a screencap from an action movie! An ominously-shaded closeup of a firing gun? Brr… I like guns, but that’s a creepy thing to have in this type of video. And I live in California! Double brr!
Svenn Diagram

http://www.clrsearch.com/Decatur_Demographics/GA/Crime-Rate?compare=Newport+Beach%2C+California
- http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
  
  Wouldn’t sway me from preferring Decatur to Newport Beach as an address…
  
  It’s not fun to worry about your security, but it’s nonexistent if you have to worry about the cops.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PB24LUM2B6YXF4DNSBV4KQ4VQQ DarenW
  
  These stats are deceiving, and something of an irritant for city of Decatur residents. A search for “Decatur GA” will also pull up large swaths of unincorporated Dekalb County as well as the actual city, which is just four square miles. While the “City of Decatur” is not immune from crime, it is relatively safe.
  How serious do the Decatur Police take crime? I once had an iPod stolen from my car, and the police came and dusted for fingerprints. I got two follow up calls.
  - Cassie Smith
    
    I live near Decatur in East Atlanta which is City of Atlanta, but also Dekalb County. I’ve heard horror stories from fellow neighbors about their homes being broken into and little police involvement. City of Decatur is such an amazing anomaly in Dekalb County.
    
    I haven’t been able to find a teaching job in metro Atlanta and after watching that video I’m highly tempted to become a Decatur recruit!
- http://www.facebook.com/ecoyle Ed Coyle
  
  Decatur, GA is not City of Decatur, GA. Your crime report is picking up other areas of Dekalb County. Dekalb county is served by the Atlanta PD, while the city of Decatur is served by the Decatur PD that you see above. Decatur’s high school was just named to Newsweeks list of top high schools in the country, and for the proximity to Atlanta, is an amazing place to live.
penguinchris

Wow – I saw this make the rounds a day or two ago but forgot to go back to actually look. Having lived nearby and knowing what it’s like, I had assumed that the Newport Beach video was going to be the good one.

This is the town that shows like ‘Arrested Development’ and ‘The OC’ are set in. Wealthy and very safe – certainly the ritziest town in Orange County, by far, and maybe even all of SoCal. If you go out by the pier there are a lot of drunk college students and douchey bar-goers (it’s one of the dumpier Orange County piers actually), and there are definitely some low-rent districts further from the beach… in neighboring Costa Mesa. Nothing that justifies anything remotely like that sort of attitude from the police.

I’d like to think they’re just overcompensating because they don’t actually have any crime to fight. Not sure.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000127879279 Chip Daniels
  
  I live adjacent to NB, and agree; I think they feel like candy asses, since the worst crime they ever have is the occasional drunk frat boy.
  - http://twitter.com/AnonKopimi Anon Kopimi
    
    ”Well…
    that drunken fratboy COULD have been a terrist!”
    - penguinchris
      
      Cracking some drunken fratboy skulls would certainly make Newport Beach more pleasant, but they don’t even do that, late at night when the bars by the pier are busy they just sit in their cars and watch… because even the drunken fratboys don’t commit any crimes.
Quinteaux

“Have a nice day” vs. “Make my day”!
steve_wildstrom

The irony is that Decatur, a close-in suburb of Atlanta, probably has some actual crime to deal with. I wonder if the Newport Beach police use those swat tactics to deal with cars parked at red curbs, because that’s probably what the cops mostly deal with.
- zombiebob
  
  ha, so basically perhaps they are BOTH bullshitting, GA saying, “hey things are touchy feely here” while realy it’s part shoot em up. While newport beach gets all 70s cop show, and really it’s all helping dementia stricken elderly people realize that the middle of the street is NOT their kitchen.
  - steve_wildstrom
    
    I think Decatur is a lot closer to the truth. It’s basically a college town, home to Emory, Agnes Scott, and the Centers for Disease Control–the sort of place that likes its police touchy-feely, even if there is real policing to be done.
    
    If I were a Newport Beach politician, I’d be upset at a police recruiting video that makes a pleasant, peaceful, and very prosperous town look like a war zone.
    - malindrome
      
      It doesn’t just make the city look like a war zone – it makes it look like Newport Beach wants soldiers, not “peace officers”.
      - euansmith
        
        ”Service grantees citizenship!”
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=677609068 Jack White
    
    zombiebob, I literally laughed out loud reading the last sentence.
  - kjs3
    
    No, Decatur is not bullshitting. That’s pretty much how the PD is. We have some amount of spillover property crime from City of Atlanta and the rest of DeKalb County, but definitely no shoot em up.
- http://www.facebook.com/diane.loupe Diane Loupe
  
  Nope, I live in Decatur, and we don’t have a crime problem. I’ve lived here 20 years and I can only remember one murder within my city limits. Our police force is awesome. They dust for fingerprints when there’s a car breakin.
  - peterkvt80
    
    You don’t have a crime problem? There is one in the Decatur video at 0.41. Georgia law forbids cyclists from using the sidewalk.
- lewis_stoole
  
  i would figure it to be noncompliant skaters in “no skateboard” zones
RJ

I live on the north side of Decatur, which is a pretty good neighborhood. Even still, I’ve had one car stolen and my house has been almost broken into three times in the past ten years or so. The ghetto scum is out of control here.

This is just speculation, but maybe the Decatur video presents a pleasant “community” approach because no one in their right mind would sign-up to chase ultra-violent hood rats all day and night, on a shoestring budget that guarantees a poverty-level paycheck for the duration of your career (read: until you get shot).

In contrast, the Newport Beach video is probably trying to get all the Barney Fife types on the force, to swagger around with their thumbs hooked over their belts, putting up a good visual presence but not really needing that bullet in the shirt pocket.
- bcsizemo
  
  I feel your pain. I don’t live in a bad part of town my any means, but it does sit on the edge of our downtown area and there are certainly pockets of low cost/government assisted living areas around. A house is broken into in my neighborhood typically once a month (usually like 4 in a two week period then they get caught and things die down for a couple of months.) Fortunately we bought the “fixer upper” and it uh…still looks like a fixer upper… You’d think some really poor white trash lives in my house…if they could only see the inside. I’m guessing that’s why I haven’t noticed anything suspicious. -technically the poor part is right.
  
  (Had someone steal my license plate last year… Asked the woman at the DMV if that was common, and her response was “Oh yeah, we get people in here a couple times a day for stolen plates…” Whaaa..)
  - RJ
    
    Jeez, I haven’t even thought about plates. That hasn’t been a problem around here yet. In Atlanta, the cops exist mainly to harass old people and secure crime scenes while the coroner cleans up.
- http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
  
  People in ghettoes aren’t scum; they’re dregs.
  
  Scum rises to the top.
  - malindrome
    
    Yeah, poor people suck! I hope the police punch them HARD. /sarcasm
  - occupyordie
    
    as someone who has lived in ghettos in south louisiana, i would like to offer you a hearty “fuck you, asshole”.
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      I think that you’ve confused a linguistic bon mot with an insult.
  - RJ
    
    Scum DOES something (whether it’s getting a job or knocking old ladies over the head for their purses), while the dregs just lay there, waiting for someone else to expend effort on them. Of course, we’re splitting hairs here, but I’d hate for you to think I’m ignorant of the people being derided.
    - http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
      
      Oh FFS you lot.
      
      Is it possible to speak of scum with sympathy?
      
      Well, how about dregs?
      
      ‘Scum’ is not the appropriate term for those who’ve settled to the bottom of the socio-economic strata.
      
      FYI, I don’t exactly hail from the leafy suburbs myself.
      
      So, you know, get stuffed for not putting your brain in gear before having a go. (Prolly should have been in reply to malindrome or occupyordie.)
      - RJ
        
        Just to be clear, I was making a fairly dry joke about the difference between lazy poor people and the actively criminal ones. I see it didn’t translate well to text, especially in light of those earlier trolls.
      - http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
        
        Yeah, only saw your angle after I replied… NM
- http://www.facebook.com/ted.brzinski Ted Brzinski
  
  “I’ve had one car stolen and my house has been almost broken into three times in the past ten years or so. The ghetto scum is out of control here.”
  
  Wow, our definitions of “out of control” are very different. 4 incidents of nonviolent crime in 10 years in the metro area of a major city wouldn’t be fun to live with, but certainly wouldn’t be in line with what I think of when I think of police departments that have “lost control.” Maybe that just comes from living in Southwest Philly for half a decade.
  
  More to the point, what can you say about your interactions with the Decatur Police in the aftermath of those incidents?
mutatron

I see Kurt Russell reprising his role as Snake Plissken along with Bruce Willis as John McClane in the new apocalyptic thriller “Escape from Newport Beach or Die Hard”. Too bad Charles Bronson is dead.
- euansmith
  
  Being dead never stopped Charlie appearing in movies – he actually died back in 1973 and Michael Winner employed a voodoo priest to raise Bronson from the dead. Fortunately, this had no effect on his screen presence or acting style.
Labbit

Rule #1: When there’s a gate, vault over the wall instead!
Ms. Anne Thrope

Visited Decatur, GA, (an Indian food Mecca) today and actually noticed something different about the cops while I was there. A Decatur officer was pulled off a 4 lane road sitting there, no lights. I assumed he had just pulled someone over for speeding. GA Law says you move over one lane when there’s an officer/EMT/etc on the roadside so all the traffic had shifted to clear the lane nearest him. He eased onto the road, waved thanks, gestured to move over into traffic and only then when he had entered the flow, he hit his lights. He had been tagging speeders, found the offender, then hit the lights and eased the guy off all in a couple of hundred feet, crossing 4 lanes. The traffic was thick with speeds averaging 55-60, but the traffic never slowed, never halted. Most GA cops seem to hit the lights as soon as the radar pings and tear out into traffic. Everyone hits the brakes, fearing their own speed. Panic ensues. Not so with this cop. Laid back. In control. Didn’t hit the light until he was behind the speeder who was whipping down the farthest lane. Saw several other Decatur cops and all seemed laid back but aware of their surroundings.
- http://twitter.com/AnonKopimi Anon Kopimi
  
  Levelheaded confidence: there is no substitute for it in police work.
  
  When police WORK and do it smart, they deserve all our admiration.
  When they’re a bunch of jumped-up militarized GOONS, they deserve nothing but our opprobrium and derision.
  - http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
    
    It sure would be nice if a few more authoritarian dickwads could appreciate such a distinction.
- RJ
  
  Next time you hit Decatur for Indian food, try Zyka (Indian) or the Imperial Fez (Moroccan). If you want something more casual, there’s Luqma (Indo-Pak). All three are within a mile of each other on Scott Blvd., and they’re all very tasty. If you take Scott to Lawrenceville Hwy, cross over N. Druid Hills Rd and then turn right into the strip mall. There’s Bollywood Cafe and a Hindu vegetarian joint whose name escapes me right now, but they’re also both very good (if y0u haven’t tried them yet).
  - Ms. Anne Thrope
    
    We just went to Mysore Woodlands buffet in Patel Bros. Center. Fabulous Indian food with perfect raita, naan, dosas and sambar every time. The entrees vary and we were very pleased with 2 for under $20. It replaced Udipi buffet, another fab-o place. Chappatti’s is also good, cheaper, and diner style. Mostly an international crowd at Patel Ctr who know what the real stuff should taste like. The strip mall on Druid Hills has dried up to nothing, but the German Bakery on the far side road of the mall is to die for–Better than Dekalb FM. Indian buffet first with German pastries for dessert. Yes!!
    - BunnyShank
      
      omg, ethical police force and good indian food. Why have I been led astray staying in california
    - Ultan
      
      Udipi was great, but a bit of a drive from where I am at Clairmont and Decatur Rd, which has over 20 places to eat within a 1 block radius. The Bhojanic Indian place next door to me looks good, but way too expensive for take-out.
      
      The best food for the least money nearby has to be the Mediterranean Grill – I always get the shish kebab pita sandwich with Greek salad – under $7 with tax. Their calamari is great, too for about the same price – much better deal than Athens Pizza (Greek diner) across the street. The buffet at the health food store a few doors down from the Med. Grill is probably the best deal for vegetarians.
      
      The Imperial Fez isn’t on Scott Blvd, but rather in Buckhead/midtown on Peachtree next to the creek. Not cheap, but everyone should get to have a Moroccan banquet while reclining on cushions and watching the belly dancers. The place on Scott Blvd. is Cafe Istanbul, which I haven’t tried. I understand they have belly dancers, too.
      
      The Dekalb Farmers’ Market is worth mentioning again. For anybody visiting Decatur, it’s a must. It’s an international and gourmet supermarket as big as the biggest big-box stores, always thronged with customers and staff from all over the world, with a good bakery, coffee roasting, bulk spices, bulk staples, fine wines, cheeses, meats and seafood and a produce department bigger than some whole supermarkets, which has many vegetables most Americans have never even heard of.
  - http://www.facebook.com/ted.brzinski Ted Brzinski
    
    I thought Bollywood Cafe burned down. Did they relocate?
  - http://mychemicaljourney.blogspot.com The Chemist
    
    You guys are making me miss Atlanta so much right now! :_(
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      With a sash and tiara?
Frank Diekman

The Decatur video sounds like it got its music from Walker Texas Ranger, but the Newport Beach looks like the place Chuck Norris would be most at home in.
Frank Diekman

Did the NBPD hire Crystal Method to do the music for their video? I’m not sure that’s the best use of taxpayer funds.
nulloman

Newport Beach looks like it’s recruiting for a fascist military force, not civilian police. There’s something seriously rotten with their management.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Max-Clifton/1034683460 Max Clifton

and obviously people of color and women are not welcome in the Newport force!
- euansmith
  
  Obviously! :D
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ERNJARBFNLIFXDNFDPC57OG37I Grue

Did Newport Beach need a license to use Rob Beschizza’s ‘Commando’ loop, or was it released under Creative Commons?
- http://redesigned.com redesigned
  
  my guess is that they stole it, everyone knows cops are above the law! ;-P
Daneel

I guess Decatur cops are better than the rest of the police in DeKalb county then?

http://boingboing.net/2012/05/10/dekalb-county-officers-charged.html
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PB24LUM2B6YXF4DNSBV4KQ4VQQ DarenW
  
  The City of Decatur police are a completely different entity the DeKalb County. They get their coffee at the same Starbucks, but that’s about it.
  
  The most recent local dust up about abuse of power with City of Decatur police involved an officer that was checking for unlocked cars and left a note inside a vehicle warning them that leaving their car open like that attracted criminals.
  
  By the way, that nifty aqua bandstand that’s in all the shots shows up in Zombieland, too. They shot much of that here in town.
  - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
    
    I was going to watch Zombieland, but I saw yesterday that it’s in the imdb bottom 100, so have since put off these plans.
    - Daneel
      
      No it isn’t. It has a high 7s rating. Are you confusing it with Zombie Nation?
      
      Watch it, it’s great fun (and has the best cameo appearance ever).
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        Oh, it sounds like I might be!
    - euansmith
      
      Zombieland… good…
  - Daneel
    
    Sounds a lot nicer than the cops down at the opposite corner of the state.
    
    http://www2.wsav.com/news/2012/jun/27/afather-and-witness-young-man-didnt-have-die-port–ar-4050686/
    
    What scares me the most are the people down here that support this kind of response.
- Ultan
  
  The county police are a much bigger force than the city of Decatur, over 1,100 officers. The county police department has instituted an interactive community policing policy, for whatever that’s worth.
  
  Their recruiting video is closer to the Decatur video than the Newport Beach video for the first half – it shows a female instructor giving classroom training and officer interview bits emphasize helping people in the community. They show recruits doing physical training, but in civilian clothes, with little militaristic tone.
  
  The second half is like the Newport Beach video. The section on their “special operations units” is over-the-top millitaristic, and focuses on the SWAT team doing building-storming/ target practice with pistols and machine guns, though they do mention that the motorcycle and traffic cops are under the same division, along with the helicopter and K-9 units (they show the dogs being trained to attack).
  The video is here: http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/DK_Police/video/recruitment.wmv , but it is on a slow server and runs to 40MB – trying to stream it may drive you nuts.
  
  The DeKalb county sheriffs department has also had problems for a long time. They run the jail, a 9-story brutalist fortress holding over 3,500 inmates. There was also a bit of a scandal back in 2000:
  
  Sidney Dorsey (born February 23, 1940, in Atlanta, Georgia) served as sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia from 1996 to 2000. Dorsey was the first African-American to serve as sheriff of DeKalb County and was married to Atlanta city councilwoman Sherry Dorsey (1954–2006). He was defeated in a 2000 runoff by challenger Derwin Brown, whom he had murdered shortly thereafter.
  
  (Wikipedia)
  The assassination was carried out by a sheriff’s deputy. Dorsey has been serving a life plus 23 year sentence since 2002.
hellishmundane

http://www.nbpd.org/crime/statistics/crime_by_year.asp
http://www.decaturga.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=3280
might as well throw some real information into the comparison here. Newport Beach has a significantly greater amount of crime to deal with…
although in my opinion Orange County seems to have many police forces populated with ruthless thugs. for instance the Huntington Beach police pulled a gun on my friend while stopping us for loitering.
- http://twitter.com/AnonKopimi Anon Kopimi
  
  One of HB’s cops got busted for placing a gun on a suspect he wanted to frame.
- Nate Steiner
  
  Yes! These are the appropriate stats for Decatur. As another Decatur resident I’d like to vouch for the excellent job the police are doing. You can sign up online and they will check your house while you are away, very preventative. If they notice your car door open, they will knock on your door to let you know. Once someone broke my back car window to try to steal a pair of jeans, within minutes of reporting I had three cop cars including the Chief ready to help and advise me. It’s so much easier and nicer to work with Police that you can respect.
http://twitter.com/katherinesmith Katherine Smith

Orange County, **facepalm**.
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/KHUGSYMRDZ635QMFO5P6UA5MTM nunya

Newport Beach looks more like a gang recruitment video.
- Hakan Koseoglu
  
  If it was shot by middle eastern people with beards, by now a cruise missile of two would be falling on them and people watching the video charged for aiding terrorists.
http://twitter.com/LennStar_de LennStar

You made an error. The second one is the recruiting video for the next Rambo film, where Rambo works undercover in the police ;)
bingobangoboy

Any coincidence that the civilized video shows blacks & whites working together, while the savage one consists entirely of white men beating shit up?
- Petzl
  
  No, no coincidence at all– I mean, Yes, yes of course, it’s a complete coincidence.
Petzl

Apparent Newport Beach Police motto:
“To Serve and Protect, Ourselves, From You”
http://www.facebook.com/marko.raos Marko Raos

christ, what assholes
http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

Even if Decatur are embellishing the truth, at least they’re putting out the right message. Acts as a great ad for the town, as well as the force.

The ads for the army in the UK are less action packed than that second video; have these officers ever even heard of ‘keeping the peace’?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BTXGTMKPAYOZSRIAPRSCB2LWIQ willam

Newport Beach….come on vacation, leave on probation.
jbwillard

The first video made me want to thank a cop in person.
The second video made me want to listen to MDC.
urizon

Newport Beach cops were a bunch of fascists when I lived there 25 years ago. I see nothing has changed.
biosonar

The Newport Beach PD video makes them look like a paramilitary, not a police force.
diginferno

Just my two cents here, I think the difference reflects actual differences in local crime rates as well as the mentality of the police heads.

Again, Newport Beach has about 4 times the population of Decatur, Georgia – more people, more headaches. Also, it is a beach city with more recreation targets than Decatur, and IMO that creates more opportunities for crimes of various natures.

Yes, there is a clear difference between the two approaches, I think that the folks who created the ad for Newport Beach exaggerated a lot, they weren’t supposed to create an ad for “Terminator”. I wouldn’t want to live in a city that looks like it’s ruled with the muscles, forget about applying to a job at their PD.

And no, I am not an U.S. citizen, just voicing an opinion about the two ads.
http://pattib.org Patti

Try the Oakland Housing Authority PD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9P-m6HOCJA

Lots of guns, lots of aggressive music… and then a segment about procedures and paperwork. ”Work for us! You have to fill out the paperwork in a specific way.”
chell830

I am also a Decatur City resident and thought the video was well done. Our city is incredible. My kids stroller had more mileage on it than my car. Most everything I need is in walking distance. Alas, the stroller is now retired. We love and support our businesses and schools. We also will have a festival for anything :) Come and drink the Decatur City kool aid!
- euansmith
  
  You had me up until the Kool Aid; time to call in Jones Town PD.
  - chell830
    
    The Kool aid thing was not the right thing to write. Something said verbally can come across very different in print. I am sorry. Lesson learned.
    - euansmith
      
      Sorry if I caused any distress. I “liked” your original post. I was just yanking your chain. We don’t have Kool-Aid over here in the old country, so my only point of reference for the product is Rev. Jim Jones and fate of his unfortunate settlement.
      
      By the way, the cake is a lie.
http://tacmedia.wordpress.com/ Tim Burrows

One department seems to get the new reality and the other seems stuck in the world of a dying solution. One is fixated on making life better for their community and the other committed to themselves.
Community oriented problem solving and shared responsibilities for quality of life improvement is the present and the future. Catch the bad guy and scare your public is expensive, inefficient and just not working anymore.
Prevent crime from occurring is the only sustainable future.
http://tacmedia.wordpress.com/ Tim Burrows

Wow. I know which city I would rather live in.
As recruiting videos, I know which department I would also rather have representing my interests and the quality of life that my community could enjoy.
Catch the bad guys or prevent the crime? I’ll take prevent the crime any day.
Hire the jacked up adreneline junkies or the people committed to a better life for the community…not much of a decision.
http://twitter.com/anAngryFellow angryfellow

WTF Georgia? Leading the way? Who knew that was in your repertoire?
CognitiveDissident

I did a little research, Newport Beach is a conservative town in a liberal state, Decatur appears to be a liberal town in a conservative state (Dekalb County swung Democrat in the last election).
Newport Beach is obviously recruiting people with an Authoritarian mindset, but is Decatur recruiting people with an Anti-Authoritarian mindset? I’ve never related to Authoritarians who simply think “law and order” will make things better without addressing the underlying corruption of business and government. Who wants to live somewhere that fear is the weapon of choice? I think that Newport Beach ad is pathetic.

I’d rather live somewhere where the cops shake (your hand) first, then somewhere they shoot (the taser) first!

http://www.theauthoritarians.com
- retepslluerb
  
  The reverse of Authoritarian law enforcement isn’t anti-authoritarian, but cooperative.
Santos Halper

Obligatory image of LAPD “MACHO” billboard from a Dead Kennedeys Pamphlet that was included in the “Give me convenience or give me death” album.
http://i.imgur.com/wixTi.jpg
jimbo1111

I’m from Newport. The cops here really are horrible. They have nothing to do, so they basically make it their business to pretend they’re macho and to stop anyone from enjoying themselves. Newport actually just passed a law saying that if the police see 8 people gathered in the same house, they can give every individual there a fine and require that the house be branded with what is basically a scarlet letter. It’s very similar in many ways to the Riot Act. And they passed it to try to stop 4th of July celebrations. Irony much?

The video, and the impressions you are all getting from the video, are spot on. Fuck NBPD.

And no, I’ve never been arrested for anything, nor have I gotten a ticket for anything. I’m just realistic. They suck.

edit: a story! Some kids on my block were having a party once. It wasn’t bothering anyone, I could barely even tell it was happening. Then the cops came, there were something like 10 police cars on the block, and when the first cops showed up, I heard one of them say “just like roaches, they all scatter…” when he got out of the car. Considering the citizens you’re supposed to “protect and serve” as roaches? Yup, that’s the NBPD.
- IronEdithKidd
  
  This new, demonstrably unconstitutional law just passed in NB, can we assume it’s only enforced on the young, the poor and people of color?
  - jimbo1111
    
    Nah, it’s just enforced on the young. Newport Beach doesn’t have any poor or any people of color.
    
    Okay, now that the flippant answer is out of the way: yeah, basically. It’s targeted at renters who live in West Newport. Generally young, mid-20s folks who do, admittedly, throw a fair amount of parties and sometimes they get out of hand. However, there’s already laws to cover those sorts of things, and the new law (it’s called the loud and unruly gathering ordinance) is not necessary and is entirely broad. I think it could go either way on the Constitutionality front (most likely violates the 4th, or due process or something), but it’s certainly not in the spirit of America, given the similarity to the Riot Act. Anyway, the law was originally going to be even worse than it is now, but all the rich people, the property owners, went and complained that they were too liable, so they relaxed the law so that it protects the owners and just punishes the renters, as long as the owners can demonstrate they’ve tried to do something to stop the parties (i.e. kick people out after first warning or whatever). This is basically how law works in Newport – police overreach, rich people complain, they add protections just for the rich people, and nobody gives a shit what any non property owner thinks.
    
    Of course, I guess I can’t say they’re straying too far from the founding fathers’ vision of America, since property ownership was originally a prerequisite for voting….they certainly do seem to be trying to bring that sort of thing back.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1301384253 Spencer Ho

This is just one REALLY big good cop/bad cop routine.
fmfats

Decatur finally became paradise when Sunday sales passed last year. Now if only there was a package store in the city…
- Ultan
  
  It’s on the west side of Clairmont, about 150 yards south of the Decatur Rd. intersection. (Next to the vet, across from the banks.) Noted for its collection of bitters and also lambics, but also a good selection of wines and liquors and a fair selection of beers. Prices are a bit higher than at Tower, but it’s a small store with three knowledgeable staff on duty.
  - fmfats
    
    Decatur Wine and Spirits is a fine store and I know it well. It is just outside the city limits of Decatur, however, in unincorporated DeKalb County. Had Herb been located a few hundred feet to the south on Clairmont, he could have opened on Sundays late last year when City of Decatur was quick to implement Sunday sales.
electronicnonsense

Didn’t we see some stories recently about the Dekalb County PD (where Decatur is) involved in. Oh yes. Officers kicking pregnant women in the stomach and the department stating it was part of normal accepted procedure. Also, the newly elected sheriff was gunned down on his front step after the previous sheriff put a hit out on him.

http://boingboing.net/2012/05/10/dekalb-county-police-its-wi.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derwin_Brown

So the answer here to your question is, NO.
- kjs3
  
  Except the Dekalb County PD and the City of Decatur PD are completely different agencies. But facts are hard, and for some, knee-jerk condemnation is so much more satisfying. Thanks for playing.
http://twitter.com/wi_ngo wingo shackleford

LOTS of police in SoCal are basically thugs – indistinguishable from gangs. Culver City, LAPD Hollywood-West Div, and LAPD Rampart Div. to name a few. Big, angry, ripped dudes with shaved heads and neck tattoos that are just dying for someone to ‘resist’ them so they can pull their MMA moves. Indimidating, mean, and violent.

I once got in a car accident in Hollywood (car was nearly totalled), and the LAPD assholes pulled up, jumped out of the car like they were going to stomp somebody, yelled at me to “get that fucking car out of the road!”, and then jumped back in the car and peeled out and left. Didn’t make a report or even ask if anyone was hurt.

So basically, no surprises on the HB video.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PB24LUM2B6YXF4DNSBV4KQ4VQQ DarenW

A heinous crime that may change Decatur’s stance on this matter.
http://decatur.patch.com/articles/pops-and-robbers-on-decatur-square
- Justin Colussy-Estes
  
  really, Daren? Trying to smear our fine town with stories of robbery? The funny thing about the article is how the thief talked up the King of Pops employee. Even our criminals are social!
Frank Diekman

2 more things about the NBPD video:

1. It should start with a gravel voiced narrater saying “In a world…”

2. at some point Axe Cop should show up.