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THE TOP PROSECUTOR in the US city of Baltimore has announced six police officers will face criminal charges.
The announcement from State Attorney Marilyn J Mosby’s office comes nearly two weeks after the death of Freddie Gray, which sparked riots in the eastern city.
Mosby announced the charges just hours after she had been given the results of a police investigation into the arrest and death of Gray, who suffered a fatal spinal injury in custody.
The stiffest charge – second-degree depraved heart murder – is laid against the driver of the police van. Other officers face charges of involuntary manslaughter, assault and illegal arrest.
The officers failed to get medical help even though Gray requested it repeatedly after he was chased down and pinned to a side-walk on 12 April and hoisted into the van. At some point while he was in custody, he suffered a mysterious spinal injury and died a week later.
The announcement prompted whoops, hollers and shouts of “Justice!” in the streets of Baltimore.
Mosby said the switchblade which officers accused Gray of illegally carrying clipped inside his pants pocket was in fact a legal knife, and served as no justification for his arrest.
“No one is above the law,” Mosby said at a news conference.
A union representing the officers defended them, saying that they were “diligent” the whole time.
The biggest issue lies in the fact that they are never retested once they get in, so they can spend the next 30 years growing to the size of a small house and nothing is done about it.
@The Firestarter: that wud be body shaming..
@Stiles: wouldnt care about body shaming…how are you going to catch anyone if you cant run after ten seconds cause your overweight….the gaurds should have a rigourous fitness test like d army annually to maintain a high standard of fitness
@The Firestarter: if you can’t lifter, you don’t shifter
@kaidon sharkey: and a rigorous spelling tests for dummies on here…
@kaidon sharkey: OK let’s just agree that any garda, or ban garda, has the right to not be body shamed by any man, or woman, but they in themselves have the right, to be a fat man, or woman, and have babies..
@Stiles: house shaming, even
@P. V. Aglue: That’s sound advice, thank you!
@Stiles: people can do whatever they want…but to be a garda you should be able to be quick on your feet be fit enough for the task at hand…if i was a criminal and the chase was on…i would rather run against the overweight garda then the fit one because i know my chances of getting away would be increased
@kaidon sharkey: but in the interest of diversity .. we need to make sure every dynamic from our society is represented in our force…. that wud include male and female fattys wud it not? or are you for exclusion of the fat minority ?? oh … youre not raycist of sumtin are ya… ?
@Stiles: you need to lay off the drugs lad…harsh reality lad overweight people are not good for policing…alot of fitness involved in that and some people just dont have it…who cares about representation? the best people for the job should be always be ahead of the que no matter what background they come from…for example you hardly expect a 5 ft 6 skin and bones lad to lift a 6ft tank of a man out of a burning house if he was a member of the fire birgade?
If a 55 year old politician can do then I’m more than satisfied it’s up to scratch..
@common sense: and getting easier!
@common sense: The army has an annual fitness test which personnel must pass, and it’s a bit more than a few press-ups, they’re just doubling down on the DEI stuff!
@Brian Hunt: the cult has a new buzzword, DEI. One of the proofs to indicate a person is in a cult is that all cultists ape the language of the cult leader. You’ve passed!
@Brian Hunt: DEI? Can you do no better than parroting irrelevant Trumpisms?
@Brian Hunt: how embarrassing to be you,DEI,BAWHAHAHAHA,CHICK TUNT trump lackey XD
@Brian Hunt: I always confuse DEI and DIY. But I support both.
@Frank Dunne: the world’s strongest man, Tom Stoltman, is autistic and would be a DEI hire. Also, the Israeli IDF deliberately hires autistic people into FIDF, many end up in signal intelligence, mapping, computer security and cryptography…
https://www.fidf.org/news/spectrum-of-talent-soldiers-on-the-autism-spectrum/
What if a garda fails the fitness test, is the option there to repeat?
It’s just over the last few years I’ve noticed more members of the force getting quite portly.
Getting easier, you just couldn’t make it up.
5 pull ups
5 push ups
5 sit ups
You have now passed , and became a tough protector of the Irish law.
@Lei tatt: better than no one
Getting easier, and not a fan of O’Callaghan, but fair play that he can do it.
Doing everything they can to get anyone iinto the job except, improve pay and conditions ,
You just need a pulse.
@GERRY MURPHY: to use PULSE
If someone wants to be a guard surely they should be very fit ? And able to handle themselves physically?
The fitness test and videos they’ve released is a joke.
How about pay them more and demand high fitness levels
Ffs it should be made more difficult. If anything, they could relax the aptitude tests and make the fitness test more stringent.
Wait for the this clip to be put to the rocky 4 trading music,
Lowering standards to increase engagement is not the answer – that’s not just for the Guards. That applies to every job. Make the job more attractive or make the actual attractiveness of the job known to potential applicants. Attracting poor/unsuitable candidates is a recipe for disaster.
Danny running into the fence in Hot fuzz comes to mind, we need less Danny’s and more Nicholas types
In all fairness, how strenuous can it be operate a speed camera or checking car tax/insurance
@Brian Molloy: ok…. Till it hits the fan and you’re out of breath after 20 yards
And what about the 3 gaards that could’nt handle that dirtbird with the sword in tallaght
Surely there’s a weapon in the Garda car to handle this crap. Where’s the batons gone
Don’t drop the standard,just give a decent wage, and you will get the right people to apply. It’s simple,pay peanuts and you get monkeys
Desperation is setting in.
It must be a great comfort to the denizens of Mount Joy who make use of the exercise yard to know that they’ll be in far better physical shape than their Garda adversaries.
Must be a lovely feeling for a Garda entering into a hostile and violent situation knowing that their younger colleagues can’t even do push ups or sit ups.
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