W Kamau Bell - The Department of You Ok?...

[SidDithers]

Link to tweet

"BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DEFUND THE POLICE?"

"Hi, Mr. Brooks. I'm w/ The Dept. of You OK? So, you OK? Looks like you fell asleep in your car. Lemme get you a ride home. I'll be by your home tomorrow to check on you. Here's my number. Looks like your ride's here. Good night, sir."

So much this.

Sid

[brush]

1. Yep, just a little compassion and human decency. That's all that was needed.

Take his keys, let him call an Uber or a relative to pick him up.

No need to go furhter, no arrest, no hassle. Easy peasy.

[BusyBeingBest]

2. Well, if we don't give a shit about impaired/drunk drivers at all anymore, to the point of

decriminalizing it, I'm not interested in that. You can believe that this guy shouldn't have ended up dead and at the same time believe the police did have a legitimate reason to respond and question him.

[ArcticE]

3. Mr. Kamau Bell is a comedian

I certainly can not claim to speak for Kamau Bell, he is far more eloquent than I could ever be. However, he is a comedian and oftentimes comedians say things to make a point. They are generally not policy makers. The point is that there is something else that can be done besides what police are already doing. My hunch, based on nothing more than listening to Mr. Bell over the past decade is that he would take drunk driving seriously. Just not shoot someone in the back serious. I do understand your point about being able to hold two opposing views simultaneously and I can guarantee Mr. Bell can do that. Have you ever seen his comedy routines or his shows? Serious question, he's a pragmatic, sensible man who has held discussions with the KKK even. He seems to revel in nuance and personal growth. If you have not, I highly recommend checking him out on the youtubes.

Even if I take Mr. Bells tweet literally, I would still suggest his form of resolution is WAY better and deserves some consideration as a place to start from or point of reference than many of the measures we see from police on a daily basis of immediate escalation.

I will close by saying I mean all of my comments to be sincere. Discussion can oftentimes come across as disparaging and I am not in any way disparaging your comment. In general, I agree with your sentiment. I just think you might be taking this comedian too seriously.

Best to you.

[BusyBeingBest]

6. Yep, I've seen his comedy special and his short-lived TV show.

I like him, I'm not really picking on him here. It's just that I've seen this sentiment posted here and elsewhere--the "why didn't they just drive him home" and I wasn't aware that that was the norm for people caught behind the wheel drunk. I always assumed they were either arrested and/or taken to a medical facility or holding cell for observation. Obviously, what happened to Mr. Brooks was a situation that spiraled out of control, but it's weird that people think that impaired driving is so trivial all of a sudden.

[maxsolomon]

4. We used a sledgehammer on drunk driving - and it worked.

but a sledgehammer is imprecise and sometimes breaks things that don't need breaking.

No one said "decriminalize drunk driving", but that's what you took away from this tweet.

[mcar]

5. It was quite discouraging reading here yesterday

some talking about Mr. Brooks as "dangerous."

All they needed to do was call him a cab and keep his car keys.