SFist: SFPD Video Scandal

chuck

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 20:18:32 -0800

I would be, like, sooo embarrassed right now if I was that one cop in the video wagging his tongue. What a bunch of dorks. Too funny.

raymond

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 18:41:09 -0800

Yeah, we all have our little problems at work, and i am sure everyone like you and me finds way to coup with it. I understand that being a police officer must be a high stress job, and racist or not, it wasnt meant to be seen; in other words, it wasnt meant to be offensive anyways. No one bothered to impeach our president when we pull out ONE of his numerous middlefiger halftime show, so why pick on these guys. Who knows, may be H. Fong's got her little office secrets too. asian american student @ SJSU

morey

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 18:10:07 -0800

I loved Newsom's comment on TV paraphrasing the officer's response: "He still thinks this is much todo about nothing..." Maybe Newsom's family bought his way through school.

KWillets

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 17:09:10 -0800

He's correct to focus on Fong's overreaction. I would be as dumbfounded as he is, to be publicly branded a racist and sexist by his own superiors, over video that doesn't even approach Everybody Hates Chris. It would be one thing if Newsom and Fong made a few objections to the humor, doing it on company time, etc., but that's not what they did. They immediately condemned 20 officers just for allowing themselves to be videotaped and edited into a video. What are they going to do, arrest the homeless woman too? Is she too "stereotypical" for being what she is? That's the kind of patronizing crap that keeps people from truly respecting or understanding each other. San Francisco deserves better than these hair-trigger attention whores.

JW

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 16:38:33 -0800

The videos are lame and offensive. When there is a parody on other people based soley on sexual/racial identity, then yes, it is offensive. How common and petty officer Cohen's reaction is to his suspension. When a child does something wrong, isn't the common reaction to blame something or someone else? In this case he is focusing on Fong's behavior and not his own. Maybe his behavior and the behavior of his co-workers wouldn't have reached this point if someone had called them out on their "lame office humor" when it first reared its ugly head.

KWillets

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 15:11:21 -0800

I can't figure it out -- what was offensive to Asian-Americans? People doing Tai Chi? Jesus H. Christ, next they'll be eating Sushi. Unlike SFist I actually watched the videos, and I get the feeling that I'm being lied to by the media and the Heather and Gavin show.

Julia

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 13:24:52 -0800

*shaking my head* Enough with the stupidity!!! The sad thing is that those 20 officers make SFPD look bad in general...BUT I know there are kind, hardworking, and intelligent officers in SFPD that we're working with to find Jerry Tang. I've been mugged before and 2 really cool officers helped me and I'm a Asian American female. It makes me mad that there are officers out there are just suck and shouldn't be carrying guns to protect us. Murder rate is at an all time high and these 20 idiots from Bayview station made this video. Maybe they should try out for the 49ers team after they get fired???

kevin

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 10:45:29 -0800

A: The videos definitely are more lame than they are offensive. However, using the homeless to make fools out of themselves for all of your buddies shows exactly how they are handling the problem of chronic homelessness and just how much respect they have for them. B: If I used company property to make America's Lamest Home Videos, while on company time, AND posted it for all the world to see, my ass would be fired in a hot minute. Why aren't we holding these jerks up to the same scrutiny? C: Funny how early this morning when SFGate posted their poll about the videos, hundreds of "voters" overwhelmingly, in a small period of time, voted for the SFPD sympathetic option. Odd, considering that the SFGate poll is usually pretty liberal. Anyone wanna bet on how many of those voters were SFPD or SFPD-related themselves?

lola lola

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 10:08:02 -0800

Aside from the offensice factor which should not be overlooked), what employer would tolerate the fact that employees used company equipment, (police cars, police uniform, police station)in a non-work way, probably on company time? Also, what idiot doesn't know that posting on the Internet about your employer also leads to termination? These people are authorized to use firearms?

KWillets

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 09:48:48 -0800

If you want racism and sexism, yeah, Sofia Coppola sucks. But this is nothing but lame office humor. I heard more offensive stuff at a baby shower yesterday (hint: skip the Lewinsky jokes when parents talk about passing out cigars, OK?). It's time for Heather to go, and Gavin is starting to look the same way. Management by photo-op is getting really, really old. Gavin promised all sorts of structural changes to the department that never happened, and now he's being bitten in the ass by the same press machine on which he built his tenure.

Sarah

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 09:41:56 -0800

Hmmm... The refrain from a certain NWA track from the late '80's magically popped into my mind while reading about these a**holes. Tai chi this, Officer Cohen!