4 ms·

> What do you have to gain from interacting with the police? Now, compare this to what you stand to lose by interacting with the police. The job of the police

by sgift 7y ago

> What do you have to gain from interacting with the police? Now, compare this to what you stand to lose by interacting with the police. The job of the police is to help me. To do that effectively they have to sometimes talk to me. It is therefore in my interest to talk to them.

liability 7y ago
The job of the police is to collect "unscheduled road taxes" and to document crimes for the local prosecutor. If they end up helping somebody in the process, that is incidental. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-po...
x38iq84n 7y ago
> The job of the police is to help me You are in for a big, big surprise. Hope your naivety does not get you in too much trouble.
__HYde 7y ago
The job of the police is to enforce laws. Whether this helps you is ancillary.
- bregma 7y ago
  The job of police is to police (it's kind of in the name). Enforcing laws is only a small part of policing. It's unfortunate that many people, including both police and politicians, seem to forget or maybe don't understand that. Policing means arbitrating in a dispute even when no laws have been broken, helping those in our community incapable of helping themselves (accident victims, people whose meds are off). It doesn't really mean the regular use of violent force or even the threat of an immediate death penalty to gain compliance with a personally conveyed order. Tht's not justice and it's arguably not even law enforcement.
StanislavPetrov 7y ago
You are woefully misinformed - the job of the police is not to help you. The job of the police is to maintain civil order and enforce (often very poorly written) laws like this one.
wolco 7y ago
Helping you is not part of their job description. They may help you or hurt you but as a whole they try to provide order to society. Locking up everyone would meet that goal so be careful.
kipchak 7y ago
Warren v. District of Columbia is a good example of that not always being the case.

by sgift 7y ago

liability 7y ago

The job of the police is to collect "unscheduled road taxes" and to document crimes for the local prosecutor. If they end up helping somebody in the process, that is incidental. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-po...

x38iq84n 7y ago

> The job of the police is to help me You are in for a big, big surprise. Hope your naivety does not get you in too much trouble.

__HYde 7y ago

The job of the police is to enforce laws. Whether this helps you is ancillary.

bregma 7y ago
The job of police is to police (it's kind of in the name). Enforcing laws is only a small part of policing. It's unfortunate that many people, including both police and politicians, seem to forget or maybe don't understand that. Policing means arbitrating in a dispute even when no laws have been broken, helping those in our community incapable of helping themselves (accident victims, people whose meds are off). It doesn't really mean the regular use of violent force or even the threat of an immediate death penalty to gain compliance with a personally conveyed order. Tht's not justice and it's arguably not even law enforcement.

StanislavPetrov 7y ago

You are woefully misinformed - the job of the police is not to help you. The job of the police is to maintain civil order and enforce (often very poorly written) laws like this one.

wolco 7y ago

Helping you is not part of their job description. They may help you or hurt you but as a whole they try to provide order to society. Locking up everyone would meet that goal so be careful.

kipchak 7y ago

Warren v. District of Columbia is a good example of that not always being the case.