This is my pet peeve when it comes to cops, at least here in NYC. The police are (or at least were, under the last two administrations in this city) under considerable pressure to produce numbers showing that crime is down.
So what happens is that they simply will not take reports of crimes. They’ll respond to 911 calls, sure, but if you go to your local precinct house to report that your apartment has been robbed, or your car broken into, or your house vandalized, or that you were mugged on the street, or even assaulted and beaten (but not badly enough to have to be hospitalized), you’ll be told “hey, we’re changing shifts now. Can you come back later?” And you’ll come back later, and you’ll get the same story. Or you’ll here that the officer who takes reports is out sick that day, and you’ll have to come back tomorrow. This can go on for weeks, no matter that you need a police report to make a claim from your insurance company.
And if you persist, it will get nasty. You’ll start to hear “have you ever been arrested?” You’ll hear, “so, if we come to your apartment to take a report, are we going to find anything illegal?” Not that you asked them to come to your apartment – the insinuation is that they’re coming to your place, and they will find something illegal.
And finally, you’ll be told straight out to get the fuck out of the precinct house and not come back.
The issue with the Police is instututional. IT’s not just a few bad apples, unfortunately.
There was a local incident a few months back where a cop brutally beat up a teenager. He LIED and said the teenager attacked him first and therefore was justified in the brutal beating. Then footage of a nearby security camera is released showing that in fact there was NO provocation.
Now, in most situation, the top brass will cover for the officer, even in the face of blatant evidence of misconduct, but this was one of those rare cases in which it did not.
A ha! So it’s not an issue, it is just a case of a few bad apples… That’s what I thought too, until the next part of the report is the ENTIRE police force of that town and nearby towns all defending the thug cop. Rhetoric the likes of “Do you want cops hesitating?!”
YES. I god damn do want cops to stop and think if the vicious beating of an unarmed civilian is justified or not, you dumb fuck.
And this isn’t some isolated event. This happens all the time across the entire country. So long as we keep treating these people like some sort of superheroes, instead of the flawed human beings they are, and so long as we refuse to hold them accountable, the issues will continue to get worse.
The trend now is to further militarize the police force and send them off to break down doors and shoot and ask quesitons later at the slightest of provications. Hell, wasnt there just another incident where some imbecile mayor decided that calling the SWAT team on some kids because of a parody twitter account was a good idea?
Is that just the mayor’s fault? I don’t think so. I can’t comprehend the mentality of the people on that swat team, first thing out of my mouth would have been: Are you f’ing kidding me? People can die in this operation… and we’re going in 'cause of a twitter account??
But none of those asshats would ever give up a chance to “saddle up” and play soldier.
Half of the force would be packing our bags at Walmart otherwise, and yet here we are, giving them the power of life and death over the rest of us with little oversight and almost no accountability.
Okay, I can’t deny race is a big factor in your experience with the police.
But I still stand by my belief that if you’re a white person and you’ve had nothing but bad experiences with the police, then the problem is at least partly your fault.
Bullshit. Assholes with badges are assholes with badges. Minorities receiving more of their attention doesn’t preclude white folks from getting it too. Why don’t you get to know some folks from the wrong side of the tracks in areas where the cops don’t have black folks or Hispanics to bully? You get yo small enough departments in small enough towns and a family name may be enough to keep them on your ass.
The job attracts people who want to exercise power over others.
Doesn’t the testing and weeding out process at least attempt to prevent power-hungry cops?
Where I live, the chief of police is black and appears to be a very stand-up guy, and a goodly percentage of the staff are black (I live in an area with a large percentage of black citizens.) I definitely know that there are asshole cops or at least cops capable of portraying poor judgement and bias, as cited upthread more than once…but I can’t recall any reported local incidents where LEO overstepped their bounds.
Mind you I am white, more or less law-abiding and middle-aged and my limited experience with LEO tend to be positive rather than negative. Given different demographics i imagine that could change.
There are assholes everywhere and in every job. Certainly including police departments.
Now asshole cops who target black people or other minorities are just straight out racists and fuck them.
But a lot of other people complaining about cops being assholes? I figure most of them were being assholes as well. They were just dumb enough to start a contest with a cop over who could be a bigger asshole - and they’re mad because the cop won.
If you hate cops, the cops are going to hate you right back. And they’re going to do a better job of it.
Fully agreed. Rationality is a perfect excuse to not trust potential nutcases with guns and a uniform. And all that Blue Blood crap can be shoved up their asses. Are there good ones? Sure. Are there cops who joined to truly make a difference? Absolutely. If anyone thinks MOST cops are like that, I fully disagree. Collectively, they scare me.
I’m not going to cite anything for anyone, but if you’re feeling saucy, google Burbank CA police FBI investigation . I work in this town and it is stuck in the ol’ western days. I’m at work, but I’ll happily share stupid stories later if needed.
The big difference is bad doctors and lawyers are fairly easily reported on. Police and priests, not so much, due to both groups being pretty much solely in charge of their own oversight.