Call the police and now you have two problems. You better be sure.
This is a especially sad however because I can’t say that I wouldn’t have called for help either, and they weren’t even trying to request police.
this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
375 points (99.5% liked)
THE POLICE PROBLEM
2468 readers
34 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
I’m very curious why that one officer showed up to a request for medical emergency, like wtf?
I would think that basic first aid is something cops are trained in. That way if it's taking time for an EMT to arrive but they're close they could render aid. Now I would never want a cop in a medical emergency, but I imagine this is the reasoning.
I think you are right about the stated reasons, but I suspect the actual reason is so that cops get more overtime and the additional opportunities to harass targeted populations.
It's funny to see cops complain about how they're supposed to show up for non cop stuff, and then when you tell them: good news, we'll shift some funding to EMT/fire/education/homeless shelters so you don't have to deal with this stuff, suddenly they're against it.
No work, only funding.
We live in a small town with a volunteer fire department and skeleton crew EMS. If it is a serious issue, often the cops will be the fastest ones on scene, and just hand off to EMS when they get there.
Ah ok, that makes sense! TY!
I'm not sure if it's like this everywhere in the US, but in the rural part of Georgia I'm from when 911 is called it is required that the police (or deputy), an EMT, and firefighters/first responder all show up to be prepared for any type of emergency. Doesn't matter what's reported to the dispatcher, it's kind of an all hands on deck until someone's on the scene and the situation is assessed. Not commenting on whether this is the best system, but just an observation that might help answer your question.
It sort of makes sense because in theory a cop could administer CPR and do basic first aid. But obviously in practice they go into every situation guns blazing, so this is how you get shit like this.
Appreciate the info, thanks! Def sheds more light on how emergency ops work in diff areas.
What the fuck, why were the police involved at all?
Sincerely,
A paramedic
Edit: ahhh, read it again, she said he wasn't breathing, so the officer may have been intending to perform CPR until Fire/EMS arrival. Still don't understand how tf you bungle a situation like this so badly.
Still don’t understand how tf you bungle a situation like this so badly.
Step 1: Assume the person is intoxicated
Step 2: Do whatever you want because you're a cop and you don't consider drug users people/"something something fentanyl"
Read the article, sounds like he was combative post-ictal. I'm not excusing the officer; it's a thing, not the most common, but I've definitely had my share of dudes that would just hulk out after a seizure. There's no real reasoning or logic to it, they don't mean to be combative. I think it's down to the lights being on while monke brain is down for the count, so lizard brain senses all the hallmarks of a fight or flight situation in the wake of the seizure and decides "fuck it, we ball". This is definitely a situation that needed medical professionals. We've always managed these situations without bringing the patient to any harm, all while still protecting ourselves. Cops aren't taught those skills, especially not since the war on drugs and war on terror allowed them to tell themselves that they're the warriors on the Frontline, the thin blue line that seperates the good from the wicked, yadda, yadda, yadda. When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail, etc. The smart thing for the cop to have done would be to listen to the wife and remove himself from the situation until EMS arrived.
Gotta love warrior training tracing cops across the map to shoot before they’re even done assessing the situation. They got rid of all that pesky responsibility the job had before.
You're absolutely right. I tried to flee after my seizure, and the paramedics still got me to the hospital without anyone beating me or otherwise causing me harm. The police screen for people who actively want to hurt others and amplify that impulse.
Officer: I'll give you something to seize about
"Reason" is a terrible source.
Here's the source in the picture: https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-anselmo-man-tased-by-police-during-seizure-alleges-cover-up
"No one needs a gun! Call the police!"
Also,
"The police will kill you and your dog!"
Guns are for someone who has broken in your home, who you have positively identified as unidentified. Cops are for mischief outside your home. If you call the cops, the situation should be well beyond your control, expect violence. And once violoence is on the table, expect anything.tl;dr: If they're not throwing lead or Texaco cocktails, call the the po-po.
Anyway, why were cops responding to a medical call? We have got to get American society off this idea of cops as saviors. "Defund the police" is literally the dumbest slogan I've ever heard, yet carrying a powerful message.
Liberals: Try again. PLEASE. Try again with a better slogan.
"Retrain the police. Also they don't need tanks probably."
Hold police accountable.
Or how about:
End "qualified immunity".
Though that's probably too complicated for a lot of people.
“Demilitarize the police”
"There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state. The other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people." - Commander Adama, Battlestar Galactica
Yes, it’s a quote from a Sci-fi show - but it’s hard to disagree with its reality. Yet there are still those in the US that would like to see the Police become even more “mighty/militarized”. Those people are fascists, and will be until the day comes that these so-called Protectors knock down their door. Only then will they realize, and it’ll be too late.
"Stop. Baby. They're trying to help you," Alice Frankel repeats. That was her second mistake.