"Person doesn't wanna go to jail, fine, just leave them be." So by this argument you believe anyone could commit a non-violent crime with no repercussions?
I agree with you that many police are power-hungry and the system is set up that they can get away with violent crimes. I don't know what it's like to be a police officer.
But then what is your suggestion for enforcing non-violent crimes? If someone refuses to pay a ticket or go to jail, then what? We just leave them be?
Depends on what is the crime. If there is no victim, then it's not really a crime. Just because it is illegal, doesn't mean it's immoral.
Example: Eric Garner. He was selling untaxed loose cigarettes on the sidewalk. Big whoop. Apparently, some landlord in the area didn't like men like Garner hanging out on the street in front of his building all day selling cigarettes and filed a complaint with 311, in turn they put pressure on the police department to do something about it.
For a lot of these guys, selling loose cigarettes is a livelihood. You drive to a state like Virginia or go to a Native American reservation to buy cigarettes at low or no tax, then you come back to NYC and sell them for $1 each versus if you go to a store, you have to spend $10+ on pack of cigarettes. This tax was put into place by Bloomberg to get people to quit smoking by making it an expensive habit.
Who was the victim? The state not getting their share of the tax money? The landlord who thinks guys hanging outside drops property value? The convenience store owner who is their competition? It's not something you should have to go to jail for.
Maybe eliminate some of these bull**** laws that only exist to generate revenue.
Another example, say you are walking to work and you apparently fit the description of a suspect. You know you didn't do anything wrong. Police approach you and tell you to freeze and show ID. In my head, my answer to that is "what did I do? am I being detained?". Show too much attitude and next thing you know they tell you to place your hands behind your back. **** that, I'm walking away. Next thing you know they are grabbing you, you're struggling with them, and then you get shot. A lot of poor people in NYC don't even have ID. What does that mean when you fit the description and don't have ID on you? They are probably gonna take you into custody, meanwhile now you are worried about getting to work on time.
Half the time the cops don't even tell you why you've been stopped. If you didn't physically see me do the crime, then you have no basis to inconvenience me. When I was working at the independent pharmacy, I was outside cutting cardboard boxes. 2 random plainclothes cops come up to me and start asking me about my knife, telling me it's illegal, etc. I told them I work in the pharmacy. They only let me go when the tech came outside and said there was a doctor on the phone with a question.