this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
737 points (98.7% liked)
THE POLICE PROBLEM
2547 readers
301 users here now
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.
♦ ♦ ♦
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.
♦ ♦ ♦
RULES
① Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.
② If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.
③ Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.
④ Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.
Please also abide by the instance rules.
It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.
♦ ♦ ♦
ALLIES
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• r/ACAB
• r/BadCopNoDonut/
• Randy Balko
• The Civil Rights Lawyer
• The Honest Courtesan
• Identity Project
• MirandaWarning.org
♦ ♦ ♦
INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Adultification
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Don't talk to the police.
• 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
• So you wanna be a cop?
• When the police knock on your door
♦ ♦ ♦
ORGANIZATIONS
• Black Lives Matter
• Campaign Zero
• Innocence Project
• The Marshall Project
• Movement Law Lab
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Say Their Names
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Never👏
Call👏
The👏
Cops👏
🚫🐖🚫
I am all about not calling the cops, but is there a good alternative for someone to call for situations that need deescalated before people get hurt or worse? I keep getting awful neighbors. Had to call CPS on the first family for extreme negligence and they had their kids taken away the same day I reported them. The last ones were selling drugs, but were mostly quiet with an occasional super loud dispute that would honestly scare me. Didn't know they were selling drugs until their house got raided, though. The new ones are VERY quiet and don't seem interested in even properly introducing themselves, so I'm hoping they're cool, but with the track record of that place... I expect bad times to come. I would love to know what services I could utilize if things escalate to the point where I become fearful of being outside or whatever
The service is "talk to your neighbors, find out who has what skills and resources, and share an investment in your community." If everyone sucks... try to leave. But with the police being what they are it's not more dangerous to posse up and give the Neighborhood Watch some teeth.
My only good neighbor weighs almost 400lbs and has ruined knees and a fucked up spine. Wish there was a neighborhood watch, but most of my town is impoverished, so there's a lot of shitty people. The town is nice overall imo, but the shitty people definitely bring it down when they start their shenanigans. The small police force is very active and most criminals are taken into custody peacefully, but ACAB and it's just a matter of time before they start killing folks. I do own a gun and know how to use it, have two very loud dogs, and my house has a good alarm system and the fenced in yard has a gate that confuses a lot of people. I'm not afraid of anyone breaking in to hurt me or whatever, but I don't want to get dragged into anything if I'm outside at the wrong time, especially if my dogs are out because they are liable to get shot with how much they want to see people and how loud they are.