39 ms·

That's why they do it, because they don't get fired. They'll start caring a lot more when they lose their jobs and suffer penalties, and it's not hard for it t

by mahyarm 10y ago

That's why they do it, because they don't get fired. They'll start caring a lot more when they lose their jobs and suffer penalties, and it's not hard for it to happen when they do that.

SturgeonsLaw 10y ago
I just think it's incredible that the norm has become so skewed that suggesting that the consequences for beating or killing someone be losing your job are seen as unrealistic.
rblatz 10y ago
Cops have tough jobs, the vast majority of police officers mean well and are good people trying to serve their community. I think people in threads like this forget that. But like any group of people there are assholes, we need to have a zero tolerance policy for police officers that violate rights. And for egregious situations we need to hold them even more accountable. Police aren't the law but an agent and servant of it.
- wutbrodo 10y ago
  That's the complaint I've heard any reasonable person make: the culture of covering up for the disgusting actions of the bad apples implicates far more than the bad actors themselves. It may be beyond any individual cop to change the way the system works, but the culpability doesn't stop at the bad actors themselves.
  - vacri 10y ago
    I can't remember who pointed it out, but someone said that everyone is missing the point when they talk of bad police being a 'few bad apples' and the rest are fine. The full phrase is 'A few bad apples spoil the whole barrel'.
    - lbatx 10y ago
      Correct. In addition, someone covering up for a bad apple is, well, a bad apple.
  - hueving 10y ago
    How exactly can a cop in a different precinct/city/state be held responsible for "covering up" bad actors in an unrelated department?
    - wutbrodo 10y ago
      > How exactly can a cop in a different precinct/city/state be held responsible for "covering up" bad actors in an unrelated department? I truly do not understand how you took this away from reading my comment. I even went out of my way to say that it's more complicated than individual honest cops being to blame. You may want to work on your reading comprehension.
      - hueving 10y ago
        >the culture of covering up for the disgusting actions of the bad apples This implies to me like you think this culture is prevalent in most police departments. Yet you base this of the events a tiny minority of police departments. >You may want to work on your reading comprehension. Try to keep insults off of HN. If I misunderstood you, you should take that as a reflection of your own communication skills and clarify in another comment. Don't just waste everyone's time by just expressing your state of bewilderment.
- Zach_the_Lizard 10y ago
  >Cops have tough jobs, the vast majority of police officers mean well and are good people trying to serve their community Depends on the department. My local precinct is across from the subway and parks nearly 100% of their vehicles on the sidewalk. It's on both sides of the street and so bad two people can't pass at the same time. They've actually even spray painted ranks onto the street, which have now almost faded since they've been doing it for so long. The sidewalk is crumbling under the weight of the cars. At town halls they shrug when asked about it. Despite being a high density area complete with multiple subway lines and a low crime rate, they do all patrols by car. No foot patrols whatsoever. Meanwhile other NYPD precincts have different behavior. A representative streetview link: https://goo.gl/maps/e2FRX9K56GE2 https://goo.gl/maps/e2FRX9K56GE2 Keep in mind this is an older streetview image; the parking lot on 50th Avenue next to the precinct no longer exists. There are also usually more police vehicles, though most of them shown in this streetview link are the personal vehicles of officers or the security shop (they are friendly with the police and don't get ticketed or perhaps the cops feel bad about parking this way and writing tickets for others on the same block - either way, no tickets)
  - revelation 10y ago
    Here is NYPD literally painting their own parking spots onto a bike lane: https://mobile.twitter.com/jooltman/status/654336073766707200 https://mobile.twitter.com/jooltman/status/65433607376670720... You might also enjoy https://mobile.twitter.com/placardabuse https://mobile.twitter.com/placardabuse
lsh123 10y ago
Short answer: unions. In general public worker unions is a bad idea and police union is even worse. Union with guns is a very dangerous force and it is able to push the police agenda through local governments.
- Natanael_L 10y ago
  Unions aren't dysfunctional everywhere. The problems you have with them has more to do with your work culture than with the idea of employees cooperating to protect their rights.
ladzoppelin 10y ago
That is not why they do it. They do it because they are crazy, scared, stupid, malicious, or just using bad judgement. If anything, they became cops so they can lawfully use force against people but that's probably the minority of cops not the majority.

by mahyarm 10y ago

That's why they do it, because they don't get fired. They'll start caring a lot more when they lose their jobs and suffer penalties, and it's not hard for it to happen when they do that.

SturgeonsLaw 10y ago

I just think it's incredible that the norm has become so skewed that suggesting that the consequences for beating or killing someone be losing your job are seen as unrealistic.

rblatz 10y ago

Cops have tough jobs, the vast majority of police officers mean well and are good people trying to serve their community. I think people in threads like this forget that. But like any group of people there are assholes, we need to have a zero tolerance policy for police officers that violate rights. And for egregious situations we need to hold them even more accountable. Police aren't the law but an agent and servant of it.

wutbrodo 10y ago
That's the complaint I've heard any reasonable person make: the culture of covering up for the disgusting actions of the bad apples implicates far more than the bad actors themselves. It may be beyond any individual cop to change the way the system works, but the culpability doesn't stop at the bad actors themselves.
- vacri 10y ago
  I can't remember who pointed it out, but someone said that everyone is missing the point when they talk of bad police being a 'few bad apples' and the rest are fine. The full phrase is 'A few bad apples spoil the whole barrel'.
  - lbatx 10y ago
    Correct. In addition, someone covering up for a bad apple is, well, a bad apple.
- hueving 10y ago
  How exactly can a cop in a different precinct/city/state be held responsible for "covering up" bad actors in an unrelated department?
  - wutbrodo 10y ago
    > How exactly can a cop in a different precinct/city/state be held responsible for "covering up" bad actors in an unrelated department? I truly do not understand how you took this away from reading my comment. I even went out of my way to say that it's more complicated than individual honest cops being to blame. You may want to work on your reading comprehension.
    - hueving 10y ago
      >the culture of covering up for the disgusting actions of the bad apples This implies to me like you think this culture is prevalent in most police departments. Yet you base this of the events a tiny minority of police departments. >You may want to work on your reading comprehension. Try to keep insults off of HN. If I misunderstood you, you should take that as a reflection of your own communication skills and clarify in another comment. Don't just waste everyone's time by just expressing your state of bewilderment.
Zach_the_Lizard 10y ago
>Cops have tough jobs, the vast majority of police officers mean well and are good people trying to serve their community Depends on the department. My local precinct is across from the subway and parks nearly 100% of their vehicles on the sidewalk. It's on both sides of the street and so bad two people can't pass at the same time. They've actually even spray painted ranks onto the street, which have now almost faded since they've been doing it for so long. The sidewalk is crumbling under the weight of the cars. At town halls they shrug when asked about it. Despite being a high density area complete with multiple subway lines and a low crime rate, they do all patrols by car. No foot patrols whatsoever. Meanwhile other NYPD precincts have different behavior. A representative streetview link: https://goo.gl/maps/e2FRX9K56GE2 https://goo.gl/maps/e2FRX9K56GE2 Keep in mind this is an older streetview image; the parking lot on 50th Avenue next to the precinct no longer exists. There are also usually more police vehicles, though most of them shown in this streetview link are the personal vehicles of officers or the security shop (they are friendly with the police and don't get ticketed or perhaps the cops feel bad about parking this way and writing tickets for others on the same block - either way, no tickets)
- revelation 10y ago
  Here is NYPD literally painting their own parking spots onto a bike lane: https://mobile.twitter.com/jooltman/status/654336073766707200 https://mobile.twitter.com/jooltman/status/65433607376670720... You might also enjoy https://mobile.twitter.com/placardabuse https://mobile.twitter.com/placardabuse

lsh123 10y ago

Short answer: unions. In general public worker unions is a bad idea and police union is even worse. Union with guns is a very dangerous force and it is able to push the police agenda through local governments.

Natanael_L 10y ago
Unions aren't dysfunctional everywhere. The problems you have with them has more to do with your work culture than with the idea of employees cooperating to protect their rights.

ladzoppelin 10y ago

That is not why they do it. They do it because they are crazy, scared, stupid, malicious, or just using bad judgement. If anything, they became cops so they can lawfully use force against people but that's probably the minority of cops not the majority.