'Blue Lives Matter,' police and supporters say at Hollywood rally

[alp227]

Source: LA Times

Waving American flags and holding up signs that read “Blue Lives Matter,” about 100 Los Angeles police officers joined members of the community at a rally in Hollywood on Saturday intended to show support for the department at a time when crime is spiking and the ambush killings of police officers in cities elsewhere have left authorities across the nation feeling under siege.

The demonstrators gathered first in front of the CNN building on Sunset Boulevard and later at the nearby Hollywood Community Police Station. Motorists, including patrol officers and firefighters, expressed their appreciation by honking horns and sounding sirens.

Among the demonstrators was Annie Bergin, 34, of Los Angeles, who held up a poster that read, “They bleed blue.”

“There’s something weird and scary going on right now – police are being assassinated,” she said. “I’m here to show that I strongly support the LAPD and law enforcement officers everywhere who risk their lives each to keep us safe.”

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-police-community-rally-hollywood-20150926-story.html

[tomm2thumbs]

1. I would have picked a different phrase

It only reminds people of the other phrase, black lives matter, which reminds them of why there is that phrase in the first place, and doesn't seem to be a smart minded move.

Oh well, never claimed they were smart in the PD

[99th_Monkey]

11. It's dog-whistle blaming BLM -- and all blacks by inference -- for murders of police, which is total bullshit.

i'll have no truck with such nonsense.

[brer cat]

14. It is deflection of the worst kind,

and stirring up hatred once again.

[davidpdx]

13. Very true

As much as I hate to weigh in on these type of matters, I think the police using "blue lives matter" is tone deaf.

[redruddyred]

20. no it's purposefully offensive even

they think that black people have it out for them, it's fucking ridiculous

[katsy]

2. Can we dig up some stats

to go with those assertions please?

[Human101948]

34. Cops are whiney babies...their profession is much less deadly than people think...

The 10 Deadliest Jobs:

1. Logging workers

2. Fishers and related fishing workers

3. Aircraft pilot and flight engineers

4. Roofers

5. Structural iron and steel workers

6. Refuse and recyclable material collectors

7. Electrical power-line installers and repairers

8. Drivers/sales workers and truck drivers

9. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

10. Construction laborers

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/08/22/americas-10-deadliest-jobs-2/

[katsy]

36. Yes they are

And their whiny outcry in the face of the death of so many unarmed poc is shameful.

[SusanCalvin]

3. Give me a $@#=ing break.

Way more people killed by cops than cops killed by people. Cop nowhere near most dangerous job. (Links upon request in AM - I'm bed and I wanna go to tired.)

Not that it's a job I'd want, and I appreciate the good ones.

But.
http://chainsawsuit.com/comic/2014/12/08/all-things-considered/

[Igel]

22. Cops are people.

Not a good slip.

[SusanCalvin]

25. Of course they are.

And I appreciate the good ones, and mourn the slain ones.

Nevertheless, it's safer, in general, to be a cop than to be a young black male.

And I'm not sure what you mean by "not a good slip." I made no slip; I said exactly what I meant.

[Orrex]

4. If you say "Black Lives Matter," then the answer is "All Lives Matter."

And the same people who insist that "All Lives Matter" are the ones chanting "Blue Lives Matter."


Hmm...

[SusanCalvin]

5. Not sure of your pov here, but I repeat...

http://chainsawsuit.com/comic/2014/12/08/all-things-considered/

[Orrex]

8. My pov is this:

When the claim is "black lives matter," then some people feel compelled to respond "all lives matter."
But many of those same people will also say "blue lives matter," meaning that it's ok to distinguish some lives from "all" lives.

Meaning, in turn, that blue lives matter more than black lives.

[SusanCalvin]

26. Yes, I think that is what the counter-chanters mean, all right.

That was never what Black Lives Matter meant. I never saw the word "only" in there, and I don't think anyone meant it that way.

[Eric J in MN]

6. 2015 one of the safest years for police in US history

According to data available from the “Officer Down Memorial Page” on the annual number of non-accidental, firearm-related police fatalities, 2015 is on track to be the safest year for law enforcement in the US since 1887 (except for a slightly safer year in 2013), more than 125 years ago (see top chart above). And adjusted for the country’s growing population, the years 2013 and 2015 will be the two safest years for police in US history (see bottom chart above), measured by the annual number of firearm-related police fatalities per 1 million people.

https://www.aei.org/publication/is-there-really-a-war-on-cops-the-data-show-that-2015-will-likely-be-one-of-the-safest-years-in-history-for-police/

[Chakab]

9. You'd think that a functioning news media would counter the blatant misinformation that's been

repeated ad nauseum on this issue with facts.

Too bad the US doesn't have one.

[reddread]

17. it functions perfectly fine

just not in our interest, nor to inform.

[SusanCalvin]

27. Bingo. nt

[katsy]

12. ^^^ this

That's the stat I was looking for.

So they are lying and trying to justify the spike in murders committed by cops. This group disgusts me.

[Igel]

23. Both sides rely really crucially on anecdotes.

Has there been a spike in unarmed deaths by cop, or just a spike in coverage?

Keep in mind that one confound is the underreporting of such stats in the past that was a huge media concern in the last year or so, so what looks like an increase might just be more complete stats. Don't want to base a statistical trend on an artefact of bookkeeping, do we?

[Dawson Leery]

15. Deplorable propaganda is what the Blue Lives Matter mob is using.

They are the same people who do not see any brutality on behalf of the police, ever.

[redruddyred]

19. there was a big thing on twitter the other day about some houston cop

#bluehouston
the second most corrupt police force in the country, any discussion regarding them has to start with this
never met a helpful one in all my time there ever. they were all shit.
I was shocked when I moved and suddenly there were reasonable cops who you could say things like "I'm disabled and my family abuses me" and they'd actually share some sympathy, or relevant phone numbers.

[SusanCalvin]

30. They tried to manufacture a connection to BLM, but

The guy who shot him, I believe, was known to be mentally ill. Sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence.

[redruddyred]

39. "mentally ill"

overused term, esp in these contexts
not all bipolar people take their moodswings out on others for example
just the ones who also happen to be assholes

[fasttense]

24. It is safer to be a police person than to be a farmer

Police is one of the safest professions in the US. Farming and Construction Worker have more fatalities in a year than do cops.

No one is shooting at cops if they have fewer fatalities than a farmer.

[weissmam]

7. and yet

the number of law enforcement killed on duty continues to drop

[blackspade]

10. Pathetic

LEOs have never been safer.

The same cannot be said for our follow AA citizens and increasingly the rest of us as well.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

28. +all.

Somebody needs to hand them all flyers of that chart showing that it's safer than ever to be a police officer, despite the media sensationalizing the few attacks on police that have occurred.

[reddread]

16. holy shit

this would be a national intelligence coordinated event.
lets hear it for the united states firm stand on race issues
and those pesky protestors!

[sudenlyseymour]

18. Well, DUH! Of course Blue Lives Matter.

Police, for the most part, are good people.

If anyone wishes them death that is so very wrong.

[Skittles]

38. you're failing to see the issue

the intent of such a name is to DIMINISH the goals of the original name/group

of course all lives matter, and violence against ANYONE is wrong, but black folk feel the need to POINT OUT that their lives matter because SO MANY PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK OTHERWISE

[Taitertots]

21. "Risk their lives to keep us safe". Get the barf bag.

I risk my life everyday so you can have a car...

Oh wait that sounds insane despite the fact that my job is more dangerous. America needs to get over the Hollywood fantasy that the police are John Mclane, stuck in a perpetual battle with evil personified.

[Dawson Leery]

33. If police are being trained to keep themselves safe first,

they are putting very little risk of their own lives at stake.

[Earth_First]

29. If 'Blue Lives Matter' to these LEO's...

There are options to create a safer (-not even ranking in the Top 10 most hazardous work environments) work environment.

Body cameras, restorative conflict resolution training, civilian review boards, and a host of training that creates a less hostile perception of law enforcement is key to creating relationships with their respective communities which in turn creates a safer patrols for law enforcement officers.

If they feel so compelled to claim that they are exposed to such an environment of occupational hazard; make changes to how the system operates with the public instead of being opposed to training which creates a dialogue with the members of the community in which they serve.

The problem lies in that these solutions expose a very nasty culture of corruption and deeply rooted disdain for a demographic in which 'Blue Lives Matter' is outright mocking by law enforcement and the unions backing them...

[underpants]

31. So do Blue Actions

[ShrimpPoboy]

32. I don't think they understand

why BLM is a thing. It's not just the killings. It's the lack of justice after they occur.

When cops get killed the whole system kicks into high gear to go after those responsible. No one needs to be told that their lives matter. The opposite seems true for too many AAs, like the system is actively working against them. Hence the protests and movement.

[SusanCalvin]

35. Bingo. nt

[JI7]

37. LAPD are such victims

What a joke