It would explain a lot.
Yes, obviously, that’s why people do it. It’s not out of a sense of altruism to petty criminals.
People who try to ovserve the world as it is rather than pretend it’s otherwise? Pretty fucking stupid company, then. Or, far more likely, they are trying to screen out the actual criminals, not foster a culture of mistrust and hatred. You know who expects people to turn in their co-workers, neighbours, and such? Fascists, communists, and other totalitarians.
But this is what this thread is ultimately all about. You, and others, just fundamentally don’t trust people. Most people, whether cops, you, or me, are mostly decent people who want to get on with their lives, without worrying about others petty misdeeds, or having theirs worrried about.
They certainly try to. Maybe read some of the reports in this thread where exactly that thing happens…
Holy fuck. Are you real?
Kicking someone in the head is a “petty misdeed”?
Seriously?
I trust my friends and my co-workers. Your “gang” mentality and constant name-calling of anyone with higher morals/ethics than you makes me glad I neither work with you, nor count you among my close acquaintances. Where the fuck were you raised-in a prison?
Is it? I thought the thread was about law-enforcement interactions with civilians that were controversial. And ways to minimize the number of civilians who get shot, kicked in the head while handcuffed, or otherwise mistreated by the police.
I wasn’t aware that I was discussing this with someone who thinks only fascists turns in people who assault others. What a strange way of thinking. Good luck with that.
While the police union as a labor organization might not be fully complicit in illegal activity, the “union” as an organized group of people with an antagonistic stance towards management shares in some of the blame. If nothing else, it elevates the common “us vs. them” attitude of many cops, adding management to the “them” category. It seems to me that Steophan’s comments about “having their back” very clearly illustrates that protecting other LEOs is more important than being ethical or weeding out psychopathic and violent coworkers. Disgraceful.
And on the issue of unions, I’ve seen the same pattern with teachers unions, where the union is very quick to support teachers who under-perform, and even those who demonstrate very questionable ethics. Protecting union members is of considerable greater importance than improving the quality of the workforce. Note that I’m stopping just short of protecting teachers who have sexual relations with students. Both unions and management too often seem willing to protect those teachers, mostly by letting them quit and go somewhere else.
I sure hope your neighbors aren’t running a meth lab. Or dealing drugs in general. Your strange non-fascist code would prevent you from calling the cops.
It’s all perfectly OK if they were afraid of being poor, thirsty or whatever.
“First they came for the thieves…”
Yes, that sounds horrible. For robbers, murderers, drug dealers… and for you obviously.
Just want to throw out that another explanation may be that they don’t want to end up like Serpico. I think that along with facing accomplice charges from failure to report, they also need some absurdly strong whistle blower protections as I’ve read some horror stories of retaliation over the years.
Meth lab? Maybe. Simply dealing drugs? Obviously not, and I don’t for a fucking moment believe that no-one but me in this thread has ever bought drugs. Not that it’s anyone’s business, unless you have a government that’s heading towards totalitarianism by deciding for people how they may enjoy themselves without hurting anyone.
Now, if the drug-dealing leads to violence or major disturbance, that’s a different issue.
As for if I saw someone being kicked in the head? Odds are I’d step in and try to stop it, one advantage of being a big bloke is that it’s not too hard to move other peopel if necessary. I’ve done this before, but now that I’m not out getting drunk every weekend it happens much more rarely. And 90% of the time that’s all that needs to happen, things get stopped and people get on with their lives.
But hey, enjoy spending all your life watching for minor transgressions and calling the cops. I hope, by the way, you’re not one of the people who’s constantly said in this thread that certain groups of people get hassled too much by the cops. If so, remember that it’s because someone is bringing those people to their attention.
Are you counting alcohol and tobacco as drugs? If not, then no, I’ve never bought drugs. I’ve been in the military and I have a security clearance that’s worth more than getting high on weed.
How’s it a different issue? You said you wouldn’t rat on your neighbors. What does violence have to do with it? What if your neighbor drug-dealer kicked a prone man in his head? That’s violence, right? Would THAT be a different issue?
I’m pretty sure it’s the color of their skin that is bringing “those people” to their attention. But thanks for trying. Amusing how far you go with ludicrous thoughts instead of saying “yeah, those cops should have filed a complaint against the cop that kicked the guy in the head. since that guy makes them look bad too. And he committed assault that was on video”
It’s a shame, really.
You’ve already exposed yourself for what you are-doubletalk and backpedaling isn’t going to change it.
It is a minor workplace issue. Like taking a pad of Post-It notes home from the office.
I’ve not “exposed” anything. You talk like I should be ashamed of observing how people act, and basing my responses on that, rather than holding them up to some phony ideal that nobody lives up to.
What I’m not, and I’m fucking proud of this, is the sort of petty, hypocritical busybody who’d drop someone and call the police if they found out that a friend occasionally dealt drugs or got into fights at the weekend. If they get caught I’m not gonna say that they shouldn’t be dealt with, but I’m not going out of my way to make it happen.
Your analogy is flawed. It’s not like he occasionally dealt drugs or got into a fight.
A better analogy would be if your friend tied his wife’s hands behind her, laid to the ground, stepped away, ran up and kicked her in the fucking head. Would you still call this person a friend?
And ‘not going out of my way to make it happen’? Going out of their way to make it happen is the cop’s job description. It is their sworn duty. It is what they are paid to do.
So it seems that according to Steophan it’s petty to call the police for any crime. But, after the cops have arrived, it’s OK if they kill the suspect.
Not controversial in any way? So you think all the other cops in the video acted just fine? You’re okay with them not reporting the assault by a fellow officer? That’s acceptable, in your opinion?
Can we get a cop to kick Stephy in the head or did that happen already and that is why he is so fucked up?