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Murder victim Kelly Wilkinson repeatedly visited police in fear. They said she was ‘cop shopping’
(www.theguardian.com)
The police are worse than useless.
this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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Nooo. Like their cars say, they're there to protect and to serve and-... Oh, I see how they may have slipped up on this one. And maybe in a few other incidents... Regularly... All the time...Okay, you have a point.
They should change it to "reject and swerve".
Protect capitalist interests and serve the capitalist agenda. Steal from a wal mart? Multi unit response. Shoot up a school, light your wife on fire so she burns to death horrifically? Not worth the effort
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"cop shopping" is also known as "finding a needle in a haystack" or "the one cop that will do the minimum of their job".
At the beginning of April 2021, police charged Johnston with four serious domestic violence offences against Wilkinson. He was given watch house bail.
In the weeks that followed, Wilkinson attempted to speak to police “almost every day” about her concerns in relation to Johnston, her sister, Natalie Wilkinson told the Gold Coast Bulletin in 2021, including allegations he had breached the conditions of his domestic violence order.
Another sister, Danielle Carroll, said at that time that Kelly had told police, “I am scared for my life, I am scared for my children’s life. We are not safe”.
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When I tried to report my suspicions that my ex was abusing my kids, I was told by DCFS to stop stirring up trouble or I would lose custody.
Years later, my kids are old enough to be listened to, and the DA office still chose not to prosecute because it's he-said-she-said. Both kids have mental health issues stemming from child abuse that I have to deal with on a daily basis, all while trying to juggle my mental health as a previous abuse victim from the same man.
And then they say that victims fail to report. Well, duh. It's often safer not to.
My sister ended up losing custody for the same thing.
I begged her not to do it because I knew exactly how it would go. I said, “Seriously, you’re in a custody dispute. They’re going to treat you like you’re making this up. Wait. Be patient. I know it sucks. It just isn’t the right time for it.”
The kid is very autistic and he sits and yells at himself now, “You’re just bad Adam! You do this on purpose Adam! That’s for girls Adam! You’re not a girl Adam! You’re just a troublemaker Adam!” I wish I could remember what my mom told me he was yelling at himself about the other day, she was in tears.
I don’t know. It’s a sad situation. Her ex definitely has better resources for dealing with him (financially, which is a lot with autism as bad as his) but I can’t imagine him yelling criticisms at himself all the time if my sister didn’t lose him. He was allowed to express himself and dance and play dress up before. He don’t have that any more. Because he likes Disney princesses a lot and she had photographed him playing with dolls and things, they made a big deal about that in this small town.
Sad situation.
I wasn't even in a dispute. I had full custody, and he had minimum visitation, which was still half the kids' free time. And he had been convicted of domestic violence.
That poor, sweet child. We are failing our children in the guise of parent's rights.
My sister has been through it, she really has.
The guardian ad litem hates her guts and has practically dragged her through hell.
When Adam was about 3 it really became clear that something was off with him. You couldn’t get his attention unless he wanted you to have it. He’d run in circles for long periods of time. I joined him once and I started running in the other direction and he lost his shit.
He started taking shirts and using them like wigs and singing Disney songs, and it was a huge leap in his development so my sister got him some wigs. It wasn’t just princess wigs, he had a bunch of them. Short hair, long hair, Halloween costumes as Batman, but he really gravitated toward the princess stuff. She didn’t put a limit on him or encourage one thing or the other. The ex said, “you’re gonna make him gay letting him wear that stuff.” My sister’s response was, “He isn’t going to have much of an opportunity for a sexuality, you’re overreacting.” And in truth, I can’t see him ever having a life where he’s going to be dating and things like that. It just isn’t going to happen. He communicates his needs, but he isn’t ever going to be able to be independent.
And even if he could, he makes his own decisions. When it’s time to pick out his clothes, he doesn’t try to wear dresses. It’s just an outlet for him while he plays. He understands that he’s just reenacting what he sees. He likes what he likes.
Well, once the guardian ad litem heard about that, it was 100% what she focused on. She said in court that my sister was encouraging him to be a girl and confusing him. She went in and photographed his costumes, purposely leaving out the cowboy and superhero stuff, the pompadour, the ninja turtles. She photographed the princess stuff and the dolls.
It’s a bummer. I’m not gonna lie, the first time I seen him twirling around singing “Let it Go” in a blonde wig, it made me uneasy. But seeing him smile and laugh when he usually sits expressionless was huge.
It sucks that we put so much into our roles in this world that a happy kid has to question his happiness when so many doors are closed to him already because of his condition. It really does.
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"Cop Shopping" is a gross term for them not doing their job. They never prevent or protect anything.
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“She reported breaches to the police five times in the week before she was murdered and all but one officer told her to basically go away and don’t come back and just come into the station once a week because you’re coming in too often to report breaches,” criminologist Kerry Carrington told the inquest.
"Stop being a victim of crime! It's annoying!"
Johnston tied Wilkinson to a clothesline and set her on fire on 20 April 2021.
Holy fuck what a monster.
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Days after Wilkinson was killed, Johnston’s lawyer told reporters that “obviously, no one expected this to happen”.
This fucking nonce's very existence is an insult to all mankind.
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A court has previously heard that Johnston tied Wilkinson to a clothesline and set her on fire on 20 April 2021.
Holy shit, I assumed it was an impulsive murder (not that that is good). But doing that to her? What a total piece of shit.
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The system is designed to fail the vulnerable. Cops are domestic abusers, racists, and fascists. We need to develop ways to protect ourselves and our community. Wilkinson should have had an option other than the cops. She needed people who had been victimized in the past or at least would believe her and stood to protect her. Folks who would take turns keeping watch over her or give her and her kids a safe place to stay.
I don't think the cops can be reformed but that doesn't mean we can't keep each other safe.
I suppose holding law enforcement to a higher standard than the rest of us would be a good start. Heck I'd settle for the same standard as the rest of us right now
That would be nice, but how? They have 50 years of excellent, unearned, PR. 20% of scripted television is about unrealistically wonderful cops. When a local government has a problem their first response is always to throw cops at it. Any time they get the slightest pushback they threaten to stop doing all the things the municipality thinks they're doing. Every time a cop's ability to do whatever they want, including nothing, is threatened a massive media reaction rises up to defend them.
That's why I think we need alternatives. We need to replace cops. The people who solve problems cannot think of themselves as sheep dogs protecting the sheep from the wolves. Someone protecting a potential DV victim from assault might need a gun but someone handling traffic enforcement does not. People running welfare checks don't need guns. People responding to a public mental health emergency almost never need guns.
Citation needed and Behind the Bastards cop episodes are excellent background if you'd like to know why I'm so jaded when it comes to cop reform.
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"our job is to harass brown people, not to protect the public"
It’s disgusting as I had to do something similar in Australia before I could find someone to take my domestic violence case serious. Australia cops are a fucking sham when it comes to domestic violence. “Cop shopping”. I hope they rot for coming up for a shit term they coined for boasting about their incompetence. Fucking losers.
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The cops don't exist to protect people.
They exist to protect businesses.
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a friend of mine did the same thing before her domestic murder. the police (who are well funded in this town) did not want to take her seriously, and they did nothing. another friend helped her out and was subsequently murdered too.
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I fucking can't man. This poor woman. What a horrible and terrifying way to die.
What the fuck is "cop shopping"?
"Please officer, please help me. Please do literally anything consistent with the stated role of your profession!"
"No"
"Ok, I'm going to ask this of a different officer."
"What do you think this is? A Walmart?!"
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I hope the police and everyone who ignored her pleas are reminded of her death everyday of the week. Name names.
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Man, dude set her on fire...I bet those cops sure feel foolish. Oh well, we all make mistakes.
The cops almost certainly don't feel anything lol. They decided it wasn't their problem.
Sorry, this is the police, you should call the fire department. Have a nice day!
I guarantee part of the reason why she was repeatedly ignored was because her husband happened to be a marine.
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When seconds count police are ~~only minutes away~~ not coming to save you.
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