Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

Denver Public Schools Show Video Telling Kids to Avoid Police “as Perpetrators of Violence”

Some advice given to students was to not report attacks to the police.

There is a controversy in the Denver Public School system as students were shown a video telling them not to call police if they see a violently racist or homophobic incident because police are perpetrators of such violence. What is particularly shocking, however, was the response of the school district to the showing of this insulting and dangerous film. The district said that nobody at Denver South High School actually watched the video before showing it to the students under their charge.

The video titled “Don’t be a Bystander: 6 Tips for Responding to Racist Attacks,” tells students what to do if they see a racial attack. It states that “in our current political moment, White supremacists and White nationalists have been emboldened, and as a result, public attacks are on the rise.”  It then gives tips on what to do including do “not call the police” because it “escalates, rather than reduces” violence.  It explains “[b]ecause police have been trained to see people of color, gender-nonconforming folks, and Muslims as criminals, they often treat victims as perpetrators of violence. So, if the victim hasn’t asked you to call the police, do not — I repeat, do not — call the police.”

It is a dangerous message for children not only in getting them to view police as threats but not to report racial incidents to the police to allow rapid intervention.

What really stood out, however, was this line in the coverage: “A district spokesperson told Fox News Digital the video was chosen because of its title and theme, but no one viewed the video before it was shown to students.”

This makes “the dog ate my homework” look perfectly credible. I am not sure which is worse: watching and assigning the video or assigning a video without watching it. Notably, to download the video from YouTube, the school official would have seen this description directly under the video:

Created by BCRW and members of Project NIA, this video offers an abolitionist approach to bystander intervention that does not rely on the police.

We have all been burned by videos in social media where you think you are sending a funny or relevant video but fail to watch the whole thing to spot foul or offensive content. However, posting a video for school children to see is a bit different from an errant tweet.

It hardly conveys the seriousness of this anti-racism program that the teachers do not even watch the videos being assigned or posted.

The school district offered little beyond a shrug and did not indicate any degree of discipline for the posting of this offensive video.

There is also little response from the Barnard Center for Research on Women which posted the video to YouTube in 2017. It has posted this video for years.  The group’s website displays a series of posts on abolition and “Defund the Police” measures.

122 thoughts on “Denver Public Schools Show Video Telling Kids to Avoid Police “as Perpetrators of Violence””

  3. On one hand, I can see someone just showing the video to students without pre-viewing it themselves.
    Just, oh, such and such a person sent this to me, so it is all good.

    On the other hand, I can see someone showing it knowing full well of the message, then feigning ignorance of its content.

    Regardless, “Hey! Dont call the police if those three young men are beating the crap of that seemingly Asian college student!” is that the message we want to send to kids?

  11. Ex-Minneapolis police officer sentenced to 57 months in the killing of a 911 caller.
    MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman after she called 911 to report a possible rape happening behind her home was sentenced Thursday to nearly five years in prison — the maximum allowed for manslaughter after his murder conviction was overturned.
    https://www.npr.org/2021/10/21/1047986308/mohammad-noor-sentenced-minneapolis-police-911-australian-caller

  14. I lived in the USA for 5 years during my MA and Ph.D. years. Was stopped several times for speading in my MG. Every time police officers were kind and considerate. I have nothing but best memories during these encounters. I think STUDIORON 1 is lying.

  15. DeFund Parenthood

    Parenthood has become completely; bazaar, ludicrous, ridiculous, and unsustainable.
    It’s not just the Money, It is the cost of ‘privileges’ that Parents take for granted,
    that the Childless People PAY for. In forms of: Work-Speed-Ups, Productivity Delays, and On the Job Inefficiency
    of which Childless People are taxed for.

    And as a result We have Children raising Children, the Devolution of America.

    Enough. You keep expanding the Population and we will end up with a Caste System Society. Much like India.

    Kids: Stay away from your: Parents, Adults, and Media that tells you how to live your life.
    You were born with what you need to know. Trust Yourself, be Strong, THINK.on your Own.
    You’ll be fine, Discover It. Life !

    New estimate projects cost of raising a child at $310K
    https://thehill.com/policy/finance/3608647-new-estimate-projects-cost-of-raising-a-child-at-310k/

  16. Colorado used to be a great place to live, but the lefties are determined to turn it into the same cesspool that they left in California.

    I live 50 miles from Denver, but my only contact is when I drive by on my way skiing.

    Unfortunately Monument is attracting a lot of Californians drawn by the lifestyle.

    And so the cycle continues.

    1. you need to move to red state Kansas and out of Blue State colorado……….I love hearing conservatives whine about living in Blue State Colorado.

      1. studioron

        Just like a lefty.

        You sit in your pile of goo and want to tell me what to do.

    2. Can you rigorously refute this statement, as unfounded in any truth? Do you feel that you have sufficiently refuted it in your article? You quote it, then leave it, as though its absurdity is immediately apparent. It’s not. In fact, there is undoubtedly sufficient evidence to present it as a valid statement, albeit over-generalized. “in our current political moment, White supremacists and White nationalists have been emboldened, and as a result, public attacks are on the rise.” It then gives tips on what to do including do “not call the police” because it “escalates, rather than reduces” violence. It explains “[b]ecause police have been trained to see people of color, gender-nonconforming folks, and Muslims as criminals, they often treat victims as perpetrators of violence. So, if the victim hasn’t asked you to call the police, do not — I repeat, do not — call the police.”

  17. Teaching kids to be vigilantes is a new low even for America’s woke schools. This clever video manages to set up the vague and ideological categories of “White supremacists and White nationalists” as bogeymen; frame the police as their handmaidens; and claim victim status for all “people of color, gender-nonconforming folks, and Muslims.” US public schools are looking more and more like fanatical madrasas. Different ideology, same methodology.

  18. Turley lives in DC where he should be concerned about what DC police are doing to his neighborhood, instead of Denver. Turley obviously doesn’t know jack diddly about Denver, because if he did, he would be praising Denver instead of selecting this anomalous stupid video event to highlight. Denver is the model for how a City deals with 911 emergency calls and police misconduct. I live in Denver and I can tell you that anyone from Denver reading this is laughing at Turley for straining himself trying to find something to criticize Denver for.
    Hey Turley, you ever heard of Denver’s STAR PROGRAM? It’s the most successful emergency community response program in the United States: Turley’s crime-laden City of Washington DC https://www.fox5dc.com/news/mayor-police-chief-face-questions-after-12-people-shot-in-dc should be studying and modeling Denver’s programs. https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/star-program-reducing-crime/73-508ba303-fa78-4c19-9c56-04f4bcaf5cfb

    by the way, law enforcement personnel are members of a high-risk group for violence, abuse and murder, so yes young people should avoid interacting with police as much as possible.
    I could post HUNDREDS OF CASES where police were called for assistance but ended up killing the person who summoned police. Virtually every black person in America knows this fact oh too well, but not Mr. White.

    1. studioron1: (1) I’m wondering how all those “HUNDREDS OF CASES where police were called for assistance but ended up killing the person who summoned police” didn’t make headlines in mainstream media sources?
      (2) As to your other statement that you ” live in Denver and I can tell you that anyone from Denver reading this is laughing at Turley for straining himself trying to find something to criticize Denver for,”- I just spoke to two different persons who live in Denver (one of whom I awakened!). The first one was laughing at you, not the professor. The second referred me to the FBI’s Denver crime rate (published in April 2022). I did.
      Denver’s crime rate is “134.72% higher than the national rate of 2,346.0 per 100,000 people and 69.08% higher than the Colorado total crime rate of 3,256.9 per 100,000 people.”
      Perhaps you should look it up.
      Yours truly, lin.

        1. RE: “Nothing like coming to the conversation with facts,” That ‘Bronco’ may turn out to be more ‘interesting’ than our ‘Jeff of blessed memory.’

          1. Ron Harold (studioiron1) is a hard core believer in his religious beliefs. He has already made 10 altar calls / (spamming this blog) from within his Denver home by 8 AM MST (10 AM EST). He will likely fall to the floor like a Pentecostal, convulse, followed by spitting and foaming at the mouth uncontrollably given he is arguably speaking in unrecognizable tongues and alienating everybody on here.

            Pearls. Swine. You get the picture.

            How Politics Replaced Religion in America – The Atlantic
            https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/america-politics-religion/618072/

            if secularists hoped that declining religiosity would make for more rational politics, drained of faith’s inflaming passions, they are likely disappointed. As Christianity’s hold, in particular, has weakened, ideological intensity and fragmentation have risen. American faith, it turns out, is as fervent as ever; it’s just that what was once religious belief has now been channeled into political belief. Political debates over what America is supposed to mean have taken on the character of theological disputations. This is what religion without religion looks like.

            1. RE:”Ron Harold (studioiron1) is a hard core believer ..” He certainly appears to quite a comprehensive data base to draw from. Were it only child pornography we could have the police on his case in short order with the fond hope that he would not become one of his own statistics as a result of resisting arrest.

              1. Studioron has no savoir faire or understanding of the topic under disccussion. My guess is he will be gone shortly.

                    1. from the link:

                      It asserts thirty-nine claims for relief against twenty defendants.

                      This explains everything

            2. “Ron Harold (studioiron1) is a hard core believer in his religious beliefs.”
              That right there!
              That is exactly what wokeism looks like! A radical cult of leftists. When they come across something that offends them, which is dang near everything they,
              “. . . convulse, followed by spitting and foaming at the mouth uncontrollably given he is arguably speaking in unrecognizable tongues and alienating everybody on here.”
              Spot on.

          2. RE:” Good things are worth repeating!! “https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/myths-and-realities-understanding-recent-trends-violent-crime

        2. Studioron, how many blacks are killed by police without cause? How many policemen are killed by criminals? Look at the numbers because the police have a higher risk.

          It is tragic when anyone is killed, even if that person is a criminal. What you forget are the victims, including those killed or whose lives have been destroyed by criminals. What you also neglect are the neighborhoods destroyed by criminals, and those neighborhoods include many children whose lives will be destroyed as well.

          You live in a two-dimensional world forgetting the other dimensions. That makes what you say anecdotal and useless.

    2. RE:”Denver is the model for how a City……Denver metro around 3 million, DC metro around 6 million, NYC metro around 19 million. I suppose it will be AOK for Denver until it isn’t. Waiting on the outcome of your pending ‘no cash bail’ voting. Thanks for sharing.

        1. RE:”Keep your ignorant ass away from Denver. You probably live in Texas. You’ve struck out on location. As to not finding my way to Denver anytime soon, the statistics quoted above by ‘lin’ should guarantee that. Once your no cash bail policy goes into effect it is likely that you will continue to feel great comfort living in Denver.

            1. RE:”Are they going to go down the route of NYC…. …..and Portland, OR for that matter. If they do, it would be a case in point for him.

    3. “but not Mr. White.”

      Racist much?

      Thank you, though. Now I can dismiss without consideration anything you spout, as racist garbage.

  19. Start with a lie, then make a movie out of it. And showing students a movie without knowing the content is educational malpractice. Somebody should be held accountable.

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