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Swedish cops quitting in droves due to job stress and low wages

Swedish police
© AFP 2016/ Christine Olsson / TT NEWS AGENCY
The Swedish police force, which has experienced a deep crisis exacerbated by underfunding and the raging migrant crisis, is plagued by severe staffing problems. If personnel loss persists at the current rate, Sweden could lose up to a fifth of its police force, which may render the Nordic country helpless against organized crime and terrorism.

Today, it is estimated that three Swedish policemen quit each day, mostly citing low wages, excessive workload and job-related stress. According to Police Federation chairperson Lena Nitz, decisive action is needed to guarantee people's security, rebuild confidence in the top management and make the police profession attractive again.

"So far this year, almost three police officers per day have left the profession. At this rate, a fifth of the force will be gone by 2020. To stop the serious crisis, there must be a real investment in police and higher wages for the hard-pressed police corps," Nitz told Swedish trade newspaper Proffs.

Arrow Up

Case of Florida woman charged with police battery dropped after video proves cop was the aggressor

florida cop beats black woman
© hope goodman / YouTube
The case of a Florida woman charged with battery of a law enforcement officer has been dropped after video footage shown in court revealed "over aggression" from the officer during the alleged incident.

Paige Taylor, 26, from St Petersburg, Florida was charged for allegedly shoving a cop in March. However, her case has been dropped by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, Bay News 9 reports.

Around 9.30p.m. on March 25, Deputy Wayne Wagner pulled over a truck that Taylor was traveling in for having the wrong license plate attached. The driver, Gage Moore, 25, switched seats with passenger Taylor because he was driving on a suspended license. Moore was arrested at the scene and the vehicle impounded.

Fire

Major fire breaks out on Belfast's Victoria Street

Fire
© sandra_abellan / Instagram
A large fire has broken out on Victoria Street in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Firefighters are at the scene to tackle the blaze.

Eye 1

Disgusting: Alabama Pastor says players who won't stand for national anthem 'should be shot!'

 Colin Kaepernick
An Alabama pastor caused controversy at a local high school football game, saying players who don't stand for the US national anthem should be shot. His remarks come in the wake of US sports stars' protests against police brutality.

Pastor Allen Joyner made the remarks as he addressed the crowd at a Friday night football game at McKenzie High School in Butler County.

"If you don't want to stand for the national anthem, you can line up over there by the fence and let our military personnel take a few shots at you since they're taking shots for you," the announcer said at the game, according to Denise Crowley-Whitfield who posted what happened on Facebook, the Alabama-based publication AL.com reported.

His remarks led to "crazy cheering" from the stands, as the local fans seemed to endorse his statement. However, not everyone was as enthusiastic regarding Joyner's advice to those unwilling to stand during the national anthem.

Comment: Good old-fashioned 'American values' include racism, genocide, and calling for the murder of those trying to exercise the slightest amount of their 'freedoms'.

Also see:


Eye 1

9/11 and the breakdown of Western society

9/11 rubble
© beforeitsnews.com9/11, what are its secrets?
Western government manipulation and deception around the events of 9/11 have created a cynicism and degree of mistrust in the West which is the terrorist attacks' most profound legacy.

This month witnesses the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Whilst many will rightly be mourning the loss of civilian life (though the West ought not to forget about Iraqi, Syrian, Donbass or Libyan civilians), many more will come to the realisation that the biggest long term casualty of 9/11 is the death of trust.

Governments have been lying to the public since the beginning of the notion "modern government", and far from being an exception, late-modern America is a prime example of this. Yet 9/11 was something of a watershed in the breakdown of trust between government and citizen not just in America but in much of Europe as well.

Arrow Up

Can the 'Ferguson Effect' explain the "real and nearly unprecedented" spike in homicides around U.S.?

Ferguson Effect
We have frequently written about rising violent crime around the U.S. with an emphasis on the soaring homicides in Chicago which are up nearly 50% YoY (see recent posts here and here). Now it seems as though others in the mainstream media are starting to take notice.


Comment: YOY or Year over year is a method of evaluating two or more measured events to compare the results at one time period with those of a comparable time period on an annualized basis.


The New York Times recently compiled data from around the country and found there were nearly 6,700 homicides reported in the 100 largest cities in 2015, a YoY increase of 950 or roughly 17%, with nearly half of the rise — 480 of the 950 — coming from seven cities. Their study is tied to a June 2016 report published by the National Institute of Justice in which Richard Rosenfeld, a criminology professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, declared that "the [2015] homicide increase in the nation's large cities was real and nearly unprecedented."

People

Hundreds of thousands rally to push for Catalonia's independence from Spain

Catalan separatist
© Albert Gea / ReutersPeople hold Catalan separatist flags known as "Esteladas", during a gathering to mark the Catalonia day "Diada" in central Barcelona, Spain, September 11, 2016.
Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets of five Catalan cities for rallies aimed at speeding up the process breakaway from Spain, local media reported.

Demonstrators carried national flags with some of them wearing traditional Catalan clothes or T-shirts bearing pro-independence slogans. Rallies spanned Barcelona, Salt, Berga, Lleida and Tarragona, Catalan News Agency reported on Sunday. A mass rally for Catalonia's national day, "Diada," expected over 340,000 people , according to AFP.

This year's event differs from the previous ones by its "decentralized" character which means the demonstrations which were previously held only in Barcelona have now reached other cities as well.

"Each year we try to come up with something new... this year we wanted to show that Catalonia is a diverse country and we walked away from being focused on Barcelona. We want to show the world that we are diverse, but united. We are a lively country, on the move, and we are standing on the threshold of turning into a new state," Natalia Estevez, vice-president of Catalan National Assembly, told RIA Novosti.

Butterfly

Kaepernickan moment: High school football players across the country take to knee for National Anthem

US soccer star Megan Rapinoe
US soccer star Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem before her team’s September 4th game in a show of solidarity with San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Rapinoe told American Soccer Now that the gesture was a “little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. “I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.”
High school football players across the US followed San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's lead and declined to stand for the national anthem Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

It appears that Kaepernick has started a movement with his silent protest during the national anthem during a pre-season game on August 26. Kaepernick said his "taking a knee" was to protest racial oppression and police brutality in the United States.


Light Saber

They're "spreading war on our communities": Protesters take aim at 'Urban Shield' police/military arms expo

protesting 'Urban Shield'
© Julia CarrieActivists gather to protest the Urban Shield military weapon and SWAT training expo in California on Friday.
Nearly two dozen arrested for protesting 'Urban Shield'—the military and police expo in California

Hundreds of people gathered in California on Friday to protest Urban Shield, the annual expo showcasing police and military weapons and offering SWAT training in the Bay Area.

At least 23 people were arrested as protesters from a wide swath of civil and human rights organizations locked themselves to the entrance of the Alameda County Fairgrounds, where the convention is taking place from September 8-12.

Critics say the event promotes violence and police militarization, particularly in minority and low-income communities.

Pirates

Germany's interior minister declares its number of potential terrorists at an all-time high

German policeman
© Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters
There are more people in Germany who could potentially commit terrorist acts than ever in the past, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told German daily Bild in an interview, adding that the terrorist threat in Germany is "very real." More than 520 people in Germany are capable of committing "unexpected" and potentially "high-profile" terrorist attacks inspired by Islamism, de Maiziere said in the interview, published on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US. He also added that the current number of potential terrorists in Germany is at its highest in history.

The minister also warned that, along with potential Islamist attackers, there are also about 360 people who are "closely affiliated"with them and could lend assistance in preparing an attack or "provide logistical support" to the assailants. He added that such people usually belong to potential terrorists' "inner circle".

De Maiziere emphasized that "today, the threat comes from both hit-teams [arriving in Germany] from abroad and radicalized lone wolves in Germany. Both threats are now very real," he added. He said that the hit-teams "are secretly smuggled into Europe and prepare their actions without being noticed, as we saw with the attacks in Paris and Brussels."

Comment: Ah yes, the enemies without and within. It makes it harder to keep track, but then the whole Islamist/Muslim/Radical/Western/NATO/ME/Daesh/Moderates...et al...factions in the global community are exceedingly complicated and confusing. For individuals teetering on the edge, coming to a personal definition is necessary -- even if it is one that is diabolically opposed to a peaceful and productive society or the higher morals of mankind. Thus definitions change, mandated by circumstances or by choice, often by fear and manipulation -- rarely for better, mostly for worse.