238
this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2023
238 points (98.8% liked)
THE POLICE PROBLEM
2523 readers
56 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
• r/ACAB
♦ ♦ ♦
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
♦ ♦ ♦
ORGANIZATIONS
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Hey, some of us were born here and have no way of getting out. That’d be the vast majority of us that live in the metro areas.
Maybe you are not a Texan in your heart?
I don't quite get why you can't get out though. There is freedom of movement among all states of USA AFAIK.
I understand if you want to stay close to friends and relatives, but surely the possibility exist to move to a less dystopian state.
But as long as you are there, be sure to vote against the Republican insanity.
It can be a pretty big financial undertaking to uproot your life and move to another state. Not everyone has the savings to do that without severe risk to their basic needs.
Also it can be emotionally challenging to move away from your friends/family.
Ding ding ding, we have a winner!
Yeah, I’m broke. I had to wipe out what little savings I had just to move to another apartment down the street. There’s no way I could move elsewhere without the support of my family.
OK, I've been at the bottom here in Denmark, and I've moved twice across the country during that period. But in Denmark we get help you probably don't get in USA.
I seriously hope things improve in USA, because it's ridiculous that people have to struggle like they do in one of the worlds richest countries.
Across the country of Denmark lol. Well done.
Lmao right? Texas alone is 3 times as wide as Denmark. If you were to move from say Dallas to Los Angeles, you'd be moving about 1500 miles, or 6 Denmarks.
Blue states need to setup refuge camps for people like you rather than have states fight over who can give billion dollar businesses the best tax break.
Red states couldn't outcompete and brain drain is a longer term strategy than corporate welfare.
People can escape North Korea but you can’t get out of Texas?
A person can escape out of North Korea, but not their family. People are tied to places for more than just their own lives being stuck there. It takes quite an incentive for most to move away from those they care for and who care for them.
No, I think it’s incredibly difficult which is why I know people in Texas have it comparatively easy and can’t use the excuse of there being “no way of getting out”.
Money, bruh, and not nearly enough of it. I have trouble paying rent, much less moving to another state.