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[Followup] Deputy charged with murdering Black woman allegedly told partner not to give aid
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2024
281 points (99.6% liked)
THE POLICE PROBLEM
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The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.
99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.
When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.
When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."
When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.
Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.
The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.
All this is a path to a police state.
In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.
Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.
That's the solution.
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• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
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• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
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• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
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• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
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do people become cops because they know they're too fucking stupid to do anything else? or just because it means they get to shoot black people? or because they have a severe inferiority complex?
Applicants can be legally rejected for having too high IQ. Wouldn't want the piggies to become self-aware.
https://aele.org/apa/jordan-newlondon.html
https://www.wirthlawoffice.com/tulsa-attorney-blog/2013/07/court-okd-citys-too-smart-to-be-a-cop-rule
that doesn't surprise me in the slightest
D) All of the above
Pigs are just a fraternity, intellect has zilch to do with any function of their agency. Most are in it because they think it makes them look cool. Others join because it makes them feel powerful and superior to others. Then there are genuine evil people, like the above shitbucket, who wear the badge specifically to hold the firearm.
Even the ones that join to protect their "community" are, more often than not, passively protecting a status quo instead.
this woman called 911 for HELP, and the fucking pussy cop felt threatened because she had a pot of hot water?
the problems run much deeper than the bottom rung chimpanzees they hire for beat cops. this douchenozzle should have never been hired in the first place. by anyone.
But then how are the police supposed to hire all these low-functioning racists?
Not to dilute the ACAB vibe but a couple of quarts of boiling water thrown on you will irrevocably and painfully change your life for the worse for years to come.
If only there were some way to avoid a thrown pot of water, like, I dunno, maybe by teleporting out the door? Calling the eagles to get carried 6 feet, and out of range? Using the freeze-breath super-power? Sprouting housefly wings and flitting away? Sadly, there's absolutely nothing realistically that a buff, 6'3", 220lbs. cop could possibly have done to move himself out of danger of flung hot water, 72 long inches away, so shooting her in the face (after she put it down) was of course the only proportionate response. /s
Idk being shot in the face sounds just a little worse. That might just be me though.
You could always, you know, ask them to step away from it.
Let's not forget the extra-added bonus of "Badge Bunnies/holster sniffers" if you're into that sort of thing
Yes.
I had considered joining the police here in the UK. The pay is okay, the pension is fantastic, and it felt like something you'd do to help people. For all the shit police get, when you're in a horrible situation like a family member dying at home, or a violent break-in, having the police there to help pick the pieces up and guide you can be great.
The problem is that the reality of the job is endless paperwork, having hardly any training for the job that you do, having a public that (rightly) hates you, and you're put in positions that you can't really win.
IMO the police shouldn't be defunded. They should get far more funding, in return for FAR more training. Their unions should be responsible for ensuring their members are fully trained and able to act on their training, leaving the role if they can't. Those that can't keep up should be retrained in other fields, like mental health work, the law, or social support.
But to answer your question, I think those that don't join the police see the hypocrisy of joining a force that actively does the opposite of what you want the police to be. Those that do are ignorant to it, or apathetic to its presence (e.g. not all cops).
Defund the police generally means two things, first cut the police budget to essential police functions only, and second build a new agency in its place.
The problem is the entire cat and mouse model of policing. In that model, it's nobody's job to address the causes of crime. That's where we should be spending money, not chasing people that already did a crime.
E: I don't fully believe that all police agencies in America traced their lineage to slave patrols, as some modern thinkers say, but when they say that what they mean is that the cat and mouse model of policing in America arose from slave patrols. Defund police means to abandon catch and capture policing in favor of a model of prevention and protectection.
Obviously, essential police functions sometimes include sending armed men to capture dangerous bad guys. That function of policing will never go away.
I considered becoming a cop before ACAB was a popular slogan, and my reasons for considering it were: 1. Good pay 2. Good benefits 3. Less likely for people to pick a fight with you 4. Complimentary access to a good gym
My motivations had nothing to do with starting fights, escalating fights, discriminating, intimidating regular people etc. Maybe that's why I didn't go for it.
ACAB dates back to the 1920’s and has been a popular slogan since then. The trope of cops being dumb, corrupt, and sadistic dates back to at least the 13th century (Sheriff of Nottingham, etc).
There’s no way anyone goes into law enforcement and is surprised by what cops are unless they come from a police family and are brainwashed from a young age. I just don’t buy it.
Eh, I didn't really understand ACAB until I was in my early 20s, and I don't think I was any more brainwashed than the average UK child.
I can see an alternate world where someone like me, who had a strong sense of justice, might have wanted to join the police because of believing that the police can or should be a force for good.
Even though I was pretty solidly leftist in university, I still held the view of "oh come on, all cops are bastards? That seems extreme" and I thought that ACAB was mostly a cathartic but needlessly inflammatory slogan. It wasn't until I actively sought out opinions and writing from people who earnestly believed ACAB that I actually understood that it's not a comment on individual cops, but on the system itself which basically precludes the existence of non-bastardy cops
Fair enough. I’m glad that you made the right decision!
It has become much more popular in the last 10 years than it was before that (perhaps in my region, if not everywhere). Also, as a kid I saw the Sheriff of Nottingham as an individual, not a stereotype. My family isn't a "police family" but we're also not a "constant run-ins with the police" family either.