This is your war on drugs; ongoing and completely untrammeled by the Sequester. There will ALWAYS be money to chase drug users.
Before I get to the story, let me say I read the story a couple times and as is usually th case all drug reporting is essentially propaganda as the actual m"drugs' referenced in the story are never really clearly spelled out. When that happens you can be almost totally assured we're talking about a small amount of marijuana. Marijuana is referred to as infrequently as possible in the conservative media, preferring to use the word "drugs" or "narcotics' to make the story more scary, as if something bad (marijuana is not bad and most people know it and that's why we are changing the laws) had happened.
Feds To Investigate Cleveland Police After 137 Shots Fired In 59-Car Chase
On November 30, 2012, what began as a routine police drug patrol in Cleveland, Ohio ended in an unauthorized 59-car police chase in which 137 shots were fired and two unarmed individuals were left dead. The department-wide malfunction has prompted an investigation by the Department of Justice into the city police department’s use of excessive force and the “the adequacy of CPD’s training, supervision, and accountability mechanisms.”
YOUR War on Drugs has transformed the American policeman from somebody who writes traffic tickets and busts real bad guys into these amped-up armchair imitation commandos who think a hail of gunfire saves lives and is A-OK when 'druuuuuuuugs' are present. It is a direct result of decades of anti-marijuana propaganda and general war on drugs horseshit. So many times cops have killed innocent people in a totally unrestrained spasm of gunfire, to recieve little more than a slap on the wrist.
It began as a traffic stop for a taillight issue, but the driver sped off and the ensuing police decisions ignored policies and training and all the other unprofessional things cops do when they get all a-twitter about either drugs or car chases. Their training goes straight out the window. And people uncharged with crimes end up dead.
During the pursuit, many of the officers had not followed instructions about switching their radios to the main communications channel and therefore did not hear orders to discontinue the chase. In a state report investigating the incident, officers described a scenario in which bullets were flying all around them, several officers had not put on their bullet-proof vests and one described it as the “scariest thing that I’ve seen in my whole life.”
Pros.
In announcing the investigation, DOJ Civil Rights Division head Thomas Perez made clear that the investigation is civil, not criminal, looking at system-wide reform of a department that has facilitated violent and uncoordinated practices. Poor practices like these can lead to over-policing of drug and other crimes and end in more violence than that they are trying to prevent.
"How can we cut down on rogue police activity without totally reforming the constabulary as they need to be?" That seems to be the question being asked.
Your war on drugs has directly created this situation. You have paid hundreds of billions of dollars to get it just like this. You have funded decades of hateful anti-marijuana propaganda that excuses violence against 'drug users' as if they are somehow a separate invasive species fit for extermination and not you friends, neighbors, loved one, doctors, lawyers and teachers.
And we have the Big Banks laundering the money for the drug cartels
"If you're caught with an ounce of cocaine, the chances are good you're going to jail. If it happens repeatedly, you may go to jail for the rest of your life. But evidently, if you launder nearly a billion dollars for drug cartels and violate our international sanctions, your company pays a fine and you go home and sleep in your own bed at night.”
Wall Street is getting little more than a slap on the wrist for facilitating the businesses of the cartels. Innocent people are shot and killed by the police who are not investigating the big crimes.
Take those 59 cars and all those bullets and go to Wall Street. Enforce the fucking law.
Leave the common folk alone.
Enjoy your war on drugs: it's paid for.