>a situation where segments of the population are advocating killing cops. And, in fact, cops have been killed just sitting in their cars doing absolutely nothing more than existing.
[...]
>They are very concerned that every time they put on their uniform they become targets for maniacs. They'd love to be able to walk around without their guns when in uniform but, today, in the USA, that would be suicidal. And today, in the USA, for a cop to approach contact with a civilian not prepared for the potential of a gun being pointed at them would be just as dangerous.
That comes with the territory of participating in a violent criminal gang. Perhaps if, collectively, they behaved more like police instead, it wouldn't be as risky for them. Unfortunately, the cops have been giving people lots of good reasons to be defensive and/or seek vengeance, and their actions have eroded trust and respect even in those who aren't their usual victims.
It may be a small percentage of cops that are bad while the rest just support them, but because their coworkers don't bother to stop them, and they are unaccountable and immune to any form of punishment for violating the law, and they take advantage of that to victimize the citizens, they (and their fellow gang members) are naturally going to be at risk of their victims fighting back. When their victims can't get justice through the justice system, it is going to be messy frontier justice.
> form follows function
And effect follows cause. We should address the cause.
Stop letting police commit armed robbery under the fancypants name "civil asset forfeiture" and start holding them accountable for behaving properly and respectably. Teach them that throwing flashbangs at babies, shooting at protesters, stealing from people, and randomly arresting people for not being white are not proper respectable behavior. Teach them about the constitution and the laws of our land. It'll be a long and difficult change, but de-escalating (something police are supposed to do) sure beats the alternative of escalating further.
Hundreds of years ago, we had problems with corruption in law enforcement. That's why we have explicit laws against this: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated [...] nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation"
While the police are acting as a violent criminal gang, they will be perceived and treated as such. When they stop doing that, or at least justice occurs, then the problems will be greatly reduced and the police themselves will be much safer.
I am not going to dispute your points. I'll just say that painting all cops with the same brush is as fair as painting all Muslims as terrorists. Which is to say it isn't fair at all.
Their jobs are unimaginable to most of us, particularly when they work difficult areas. One of the cops from my Aikido dojo is in a gang task force. One day he entered this room (I can't give too much detail) and had a full clip emptied in his direction just as he closed the door. To this day he has no clue why not one bullet hit him.
Not one of us outside law enforcement or military service is equipped to understand what it would mean to wake up every day and go to work doing THAT job. It's far too easy to be angry at videos on youtube from behind a keyboard.
Again, I am not pushing back on anything you said. Your opinion could be exactly on point. I don't know and I won't take sides other than to say, perhaps take the time to go talk to a cop or two human-to-human in order to understand their plight. Buy them a cup of coffee and tell them there are a few things you'd like to understand. You know, they are sons, daughters, fathers and mothers, they are people, just like you and I. And yes, there are assholes in there just like in any other population.
I am not defending the assholes, but, yes, the vast majority of good cops out there deserve our thanks and respect for doing a job most of us might not want to do. Let's walk in their shoes a bit and avoid lumping them in with the assholes you see on youtube.
I agree. One of my family members is now retired law enforcement and the stories that he has to tell are incredible (and sometimes hysterical). And of course the job affected his wife and kids - sometimes he would get called away on the weekend and they wondered whether he'd come back.
But my point is that, while most cops have good intentions, instead of punishing and removing the few assholes so that people can feel safer with cops around, we're rewarding them, giving them heavier weapons, institutionalizing their assholery, and possibly turning good cops bad by encouraging them to do unethical/immoral/illegal things. That makes people feel threatened by cops, and that makes it more dangerous for the cops. Citizens and police should not be an adversarial us-vs-them relationship.
That comes with the territory of participating in a violent criminal gang. Perhaps if, collectively, they behaved more like police instead, it wouldn't be as risky for them. Unfortunately, the cops have been giving people lots of good reasons to be defensive and/or seek vengeance, and their actions have eroded trust and respect even in those who aren't their usual victims.
It may be a small percentage of cops that are bad while the rest just support them, but because their coworkers don't bother to stop them, and they are unaccountable and immune to any form of punishment for violating the law, and they take advantage of that to victimize the citizens, they (and their fellow gang members) are naturally going to be at risk of their victims fighting back. When their victims can't get justice through the justice system, it is going to be messy frontier justice.
> form follows function
And effect follows cause. We should address the cause.
Stop letting police commit armed robbery under the fancypants name "civil asset forfeiture" and start holding them accountable for behaving properly and respectably. Teach them that throwing flashbangs at babies, shooting at protesters, stealing from people, and randomly arresting people for not being white are not proper respectable behavior. Teach them about the constitution and the laws of our land. It'll be a long and difficult change, but de-escalating (something police are supposed to do) sure beats the alternative of escalating further.
Hundreds of years ago, we had problems with corruption in law enforcement. That's why we have explicit laws against this: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated [...] nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation"
While the police are acting as a violent criminal gang, they will be perceived and treated as such. When they stop doing that, or at least justice occurs, then the problems will be greatly reduced and the police themselves will be much safer.