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it's not hard to see why. Accountability is a major problem with the police in the US. I'm not sure there is anywhere I can trust that a bad police officer is

by jmcqk6 5y ago

it's not hard to see why. Accountability is a major problem with the police in the US. I'm not sure there is anywhere I can trust that a bad police officer is going to face consequences for their actions. That's not to say it doesn't happen. It does happen. But for every example of accountability, there seems to be several examples of police officers, out of control, power-tripping, many time in the presence of other police officers, without any of them standing up to them. When we cannot trust the police to do what's right, when we cannot trust the police to stand up to their own, when we can have no idea whether a police officer is going to do their job, or power-trip to ruin your life, this is exactly what happens. I have very little interaction with the police personally, and I hope that continues. Every interaction is a roll of the dice, and that shouldn't be the case in a civilized nation.

dragontamer 5y ago
Different police departments have differing amounts of citizen review associated with them. That's my point. The sheriff of (insert small town) has no accountability aside from an election that's all but guaranteed to go his way again. Other municipalities have better accountability systems. In particular, you need to have the accountability to come from outside the police department.
- jmcqk6 5y ago
  I get what you're saying, but expecting police officers to stand-up to their colleagues when they are breaking the law in their presence is not unreasonable. Citizen review and oversight it definitely important and necessary. The police themselves are also radically failing their responsibilities in this regard.
- jmcqk6 5y ago
  I get what you're saying, but expecting police officers to stand-up to their colleagues when they are breaking the law in their presence is not unreasonable. Citizen review and oversight it definitely important and necessary. The police themselves are also radically failing their responsibilities in this regard.
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    > I get what you're saying, but expecting police officers to stand-up to their colleagues when they are breaking the law in their presence is not unreasonable. Okay. Lets say hypothetically, a fellow police officer Alice breaks the law in a municipality that doesn't have a citizen's review board. Bob witnesses this lawbreaking behavior. Who does Bob go to? That's why a citizen review board is necessary. To empower Bob to do the right thing in the hypothetical. You can't expect someone to work within the hierarchy (if Alice's boss is on Alice's side, then "rocking the boat" within the hierarchy would just result in Bob's termination). Its like expecting a pitcher's teammate to report on ball doctoring (making a baseball stickier to result in a more chaotic, harder to hit baseball). Nah man, you need a 3rd party, someone outside the team if you want to manage to catch that. And anyone inside the team who wishes to report on the behavior needs assurances that their identity is kept safe and anonymous.

by jmcqk6 5y ago

dragontamer 5y ago

Different police departments have differing amounts of citizen review associated with them. That's my point. The sheriff of (insert small town) has no accountability aside from an election that's all but guaranteed to go his way again. Other municipalities have better accountability systems. In particular, you need to have the accountability to come from outside the police department.

jmcqk6 5y ago
I get what you're saying, but expecting police officers to stand-up to their colleagues when they are breaking the law in their presence is not unreasonable. Citizen review and oversight it definitely important and necessary. The police themselves are also radically failing their responsibilities in this regard.
jmcqk6 5y ago
I get what you're saying, but expecting police officers to stand-up to their colleagues when they are breaking the law in their presence is not unreasonable. Citizen review and oversight it definitely important and necessary. The police themselves are also radically failing their responsibilities in this regard.
- dragontamer 5y ago
  > I get what you're saying, but expecting police officers to stand-up to their colleagues when they are breaking the law in their presence is not unreasonable. Okay. Lets say hypothetically, a fellow police officer Alice breaks the law in a municipality that doesn't have a citizen's review board. Bob witnesses this lawbreaking behavior. Who does Bob go to? That's why a citizen review board is necessary. To empower Bob to do the right thing in the hypothetical. You can't expect someone to work within the hierarchy (if Alice's boss is on Alice's side, then "rocking the boat" within the hierarchy would just result in Bob's termination). Its like expecting a pitcher's teammate to report on ball doctoring (making a baseball stickier to result in a more chaotic, harder to hit baseball). Nah man, you need a 3rd party, someone outside the team if you want to manage to catch that. And anyone inside the team who wishes to report on the behavior needs assurances that their identity is kept safe and anonymous.