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What an incredible anti-cop dumpster fire this turned into.

by nsxwolf 10y ago

DannyB2 10y ago
All police are represented by the worst of the police. Therefore it would be in their interest to weed out the bad cops. Instead, they line up and protect them. Thus they make the public perception of police even worse. It then becomes manifestly clear that the police are not about protecting the public. Especially from bad police.
- nsxwolf 10y ago
  All Muslims are represented by the worst of the Muslims. All black people are represented by the worst of the black people. Therefore it would be in their interest to weed out their own worst members. Come on.
  - lb1lf 10y ago
    I think yours is a flawed analogy, but I am not sure I can articulate why - but here goes: Noone can force you to leave the Muslim or the black population; you are what you are, and so any suggestion that someone should be removed from that population is pointless (unless, of course, one thinks murder is an acceptable method; I am not suggesting that you do) The police (or engineers; nurses; judges; etc) are a professional body; it is in their best interest that certain minimum standards apply to all members, thus making the public trust the competence of any representative.
    - lbatx 10y ago
      I think you did a fine job articulating the difference. It's not the fact that there are bad apples people are angry about (we understand there are bad apples in every profession). It's the absolute lack of accountability that is the issue.
soundwave106 10y ago
There are probably a few anti-cop sentiments in here, but on the other hand instantly responding to a thread on US police culture criticism as an automatic "anti-cop dumpster fire" doesn't help matters either. From my perspective, there is a bit of an American law enforcement culture problem. Broadly speaking, I see it as quite a bit overly-militaristic / "them vs. the bad guy" oriented, and too little oriented towards the dull community service type things that in reality is more likely to make up most of a police officer's job (http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21649507-when-law-enforcement-just-about-force-people-are-killed-wanted-cops-people-skills http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21649507-when-la...). This explains much of the other problems, such as overly-aggressive behavior that I've personally only encountered from American cops (vs other Western nations), and often over-aggressive prosecuting where there is too much pressure to convict. None of this necessarily reflects anything on individual officers at all. I've encountered all kinds, and broad, sweeping statements about "all cops" are going to be wrong. However, nothing will change to improve law enforcement culture if statements like the above are perceived as "anti-cop". Sadly, that sometimes seems like what happens in any debate on American law enforcement...

What an incredible anti-cop dumpster fire this turned into.

by nsxwolf 10y ago

What an incredible anti-cop dumpster fire this turned into.

All police are represented by the worst of the police. Therefore it would be in their interest to weed out the bad cops. Instead, they line up and protect them. Thus they make the public perception of police even worse. It then becomes manifestly clear that the police are not about protecting the public. Especially from bad police.

nsxwolf 10y ago
All Muslims are represented by the worst of the Muslims. All black people are represented by the worst of the black people. Therefore it would be in their interest to weed out their own worst members. Come on.
- lb1lf 10y ago
  I think yours is a flawed analogy, but I am not sure I can articulate why - but here goes: Noone can force you to leave the Muslim or the black population; you are what you are, and so any suggestion that someone should be removed from that population is pointless (unless, of course, one thinks murder is an acceptable method; I am not suggesting that you do) The police (or engineers; nurses; judges; etc) are a professional body; it is in their best interest that certain minimum standards apply to all members, thus making the public trust the competence of any representative.
  - lbatx 10y ago
    I think you did a fine job articulating the difference. It's not the fact that there are bad apples people are angry about (we understand there are bad apples in every profession). It's the absolute lack of accountability that is the issue.

soundwave106 10y ago

There are probably a few anti-cop sentiments in here, but on the other hand instantly responding to a thread on US police culture criticism as an automatic "anti-cop dumpster fire" doesn't help matters either. From my perspective, there is a bit of an American law enforcement culture problem. Broadly speaking, I see it as quite a bit overly-militaristic / "them vs. the bad guy" oriented, and too little oriented towards the dull community service type things that in reality is more likely to make up most of a police officer's job (http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21649507-when-law-enforcement-just-about-force-people-are-killed-wanted-cops-people-skills http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21649507-when-la...). This explains much of the other problems, such as overly-aggressive behavior that I've personally only encountered from American cops (vs other Western nations), and often over-aggressive prosecuting where there is too much pressure to convict. None of this necessarily reflects anything on individual officers at all. I've encountered all kinds, and broad, sweeping statements about "all cops" are going to be wrong. However, nothing will change to improve law enforcement culture if statements like the above are perceived as "anti-cop". Sadly, that sometimes seems like what happens in any debate on American law enforcement...