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NYPD is hiring "Homeless Services Police" and ramping up "enforcement" against the unhoused. Just got this email from NYC HRA.
(lemmy.world)
this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
46 points (96.0% 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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Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.
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ALLIES
• r/ACAB
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INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
• Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• Killings by law enforcement in the United States
• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
• Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.
• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
• Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street
• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
• When the police knock on your door
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Sounds like they're doing better in New York than California. Our governor has decided just to lock everybody up.
NYC is the best place to be poor and/or unhoused. New Yorkers - despite the reputation for being assholes - actually care about their fellow New Yorkers. I’m proud of that.
Yes, it could always be better, and there are plenty of bad actors who try to sabotage efforts at helping, try to shame us all for caring… but, despite our gruff exterior, New Yorkers are good people who want better for everyone. Just look at the outrageous taxes we’re (mostly) happy to pay— because we see every day how it helps everyone.
FYI, most people think we’re assholes because we’re always running late and stressed out.
Pro tip: are you at Times Square and want a pic taken? Are you in the LES or SoHo and a bit lost? Make sure the person you ask for help is NOT walking by at Mach 3. They’re running late, and it’s rude to hold them back. But there’s always plenty of people standing/sitting around who will gladly (and politely) take your group photo, provide directions, even help navigate the subway. The key is “don’t bother/stop people who look like they’re in a hurry.” Plenty of others are around and happy to help.
California has a veneer of progressive politics.
The California government does just enough to not upset Californians who are detached from reality and satiate Californians that have money and hate the former.
Tax surplus from weed sales? Refund instead of address homelessness in any meaningful way. Build a homeless shelter? Vocal voters say no, so we won't. You can't afford to take your car to a shop? You can't work on your car in your driveway because we love the ~~GDP~~ environment.