Not important, but I feel like saying this anyway.
Lately, I keep hearing more and more stories or news reports about police abusing their power or crossing the line, or what have you.
I know the response will be that the majority are good and only the bad cops get press, but from the tiny things like cops not ticketing other cops for speeding, or the blue wall of silence whenever a scandal hits, to crap like this, it just gives the feeling that overall, cops believe that they can do whatever they want, and if they do it while performing their duties, that makes it OK. Kind of like Nixon’s “If the president does it then it’s not illegal.” mentality.
And as for the video I linked to, yeah, the guy isn’t innocent and emotionally it might make some feel good to see that happen, but these are supposed to be professionals, and to kick someone in the face after they give up and offer no resistance isn’t right. But videos of cops beating up suspects keep coming out on a regular basis. Who knows, maybe putting up cameras in public places like they do in the UK will be a good thing if they can will make a cop think twice before punching or kicking an unarmed and non-resisting suspect, or if they do it anyway, then there will be evidence to use against the cop in court.
A professional and neutral police force is a very difficult thing to achieve, and very easy to lose once it is achieved. For the police, it’s all too easy to slip permanently into the Thin Blue Clique; the job entails being suspicious, and some people are out to get you.
This is why it pisses me off when the police, or their bosses, abuse their power and lose the people’s trust. It breaks something rare and precious. Every time the powerful take refuge in ‘us versus them’, civilization–the ‘we’–dies a little.
A guy leads police on a high speed chase. He goes most of the way the wrong way on a one way street. He starts to lose control, hits a park car, gets out and starts running through the yards of some houses. He then runs into a bunch of fences and has no recourse but to give himself up. He lays down in the grass with his arms spread. The first officer who shows up kicks the guy in face before arresting him.
I think you meant to say LOSING your respect for the police. To “loose” something is to free it or set it forth, as in, “the king loosed a pack of vicious dogs upon his captive arch-enemy.” It’s sort of an arcane usage but you still see it sometimes. It’s more common to see the word “loose” without the “ing,” in which case it means that something is loose (as in, not tight.)
Crap. I know the difference between the two words. Guess that’s what happens when you let your emotions get the better of you. If a mod could fix the title, I’d appreciate it.
Well sure, but look at the example that’s been set by the military and the CIA. Those guys are supposed to be trained professionals too.
When the Feds torture, it’s unreasonable to expect the local boys not to get ideas. That’s just part of the price some want us to pay for our freedom.
There have been plenty of cops like this before the Bush administration.
And mentally I know that I shouldn’t paint all cops with such a broad brush, but when I keep hearing and seeing things like this (or other things, some better, some worse) over and over again, emotionally I feel like this is a big problem and not just a few bad apples.
I couldn’t help but notice the kick in the face cop soliciting a high five from the canine cop who allowed his dog to nip the harmless prone and subdued suspect.
As for the video, my favorite part is when the chopper reporter seems genuinely thrown off…but still intuitively ‘covers’ for the cop by calling it a “kick to the ‘shoulder’”. Funny.