4 ms·

I see what this is trying to do, but I'm not sure what the creators think this is going to achieve. Many if not most police interactions are going to leave som

I see what this is trying to do, but I'm not sure what the creators think this is going to achieve. Many if not most police interactions are going to leave someone unhappy; it is the nature of policing. Either an innocent party is confronted, a criminal is caught, or a victim does not receive justice. As we know, unhappy people are more likely to leave a review than happy ones, so if this site is actually used by people, most cops regardless of behavior will end up with poor ratings. There will also inevitably be heavy brigading whenever there is a controversy. As these ratings have no bearing on whether police keep their jobs, whether a civilian interacts with a given cop, whether a given cop is promoted, or anything else, all this really does is serve as a platform to shit talk the police. Now, there are definitely some police who deserve to be called out for inappropriate behavior, but doing it on the internet really won't do any good.

claymav 5y ago
Yeah, another issue I see with this is if people think this has any kind of sway with the police or their departments, they will be less likely to report bad police behavior to police departments. Really, if you want to increase accountability (without policy), advertising heavy usage of police department reporting mechanisms is the best you can do (and it ain’t much).
scotuswroteus 5y ago
I see what this comment is trying to do, but I'm not sure what the author thinks this comment is going to achieve. Many if not most hacker news links are going to leave someone unhappy; it is the nature of hacker news. Either a navel gazing techie is confronted, or a victim of tech myopia does not receive justice. As we know, unhappy people are more likely to leave a comment than happy ones, so if this comment is actually read by people, most people who read it, regardless of their IQ, will just dismiss it as written by someone who probably doesn't care about police accountability in any form. As this comment will have no bearing on whether the website will have its intended effect, whether anyone uses the website, whether public records of negative interactions will spur reform, or anything else, all this comment really does is serve as a platform to shit talk the website. Now, there are definitely some websites that deserve to be called out for not achieving the effect of full scale, immediate nationwide police reform, but commenting about it on Hacker News really won't do any good.
- bawolff 5y ago
  This is an obnoxious response, and the situations aren't really similar as hacker news is not generally an adversarial situation the way a cop arresting someone (rightly or wrongly) is.
- OminousWeapons 5y ago
  QED. I make a post alleging how angry people are more likely to leave negative comments and reviews and immediately afterwards an angry person leaves a vitriolic comment making sweeping judgements about my character without evidence just to be a dick. Is there anything you have to say about the actual points I brought up?
  - hashkb 5y ago
    I think you misread that comment as anger; it's satire. Your response hoists you even further by your own petard.
  - scotuswroteus 5y ago
    You sound like an angry person leaving a vitriolic comment making sweeping judgements about my character without evidence just to be a dick
nonameiguess 5y ago
Unfortunately, the statistics don't presently exist, so it's impossible to know, but I doubt most interaction between police and the general public is incident response and/or arrests. They work plenty of public and private crowd control and traffic control, and man more or less permanent patrols at malls, beaches, parks, and if you live near a city center, they just walk the streets. Most of the time I've personally interacted with a police officer, it's either been just happening to cross paths because I lived downtown and was going for a walk, when I worked at Disneyland since they had a dedicated unit, and Los Angeles Lakers championship parades. None of those involved an expected naturally unhappy party.

claymav 5y ago

Yeah, another issue I see with this is if people think this has any kind of sway with the police or their departments, they will be less likely to report bad police behavior to police departments. Really, if you want to increase accountability (without policy), advertising heavy usage of police department reporting mechanisms is the best you can do (and it ain’t much).

scotuswroteus 5y ago

I see what this comment is trying to do, but I'm not sure what the author thinks this comment is going to achieve. Many if not most hacker news links are going to leave someone unhappy; it is the nature of hacker news. Either a navel gazing techie is confronted, or a victim of tech myopia does not receive justice. As we know, unhappy people are more likely to leave a comment than happy ones, so if this comment is actually read by people, most people who read it, regardless of their IQ, will just dismiss it as written by someone who probably doesn't care about police accountability in any form. As this comment will have no bearing on whether the website will have its intended effect, whether anyone uses the website, whether public records of negative interactions will spur reform, or anything else, all this comment really does is serve as a platform to shit talk the website. Now, there are definitely some websites that deserve to be called out for not achieving the effect of full scale, immediate nationwide police reform, but commenting about it on Hacker News really won't do any good.

bawolff 5y ago
This is an obnoxious response, and the situations aren't really similar as hacker news is not generally an adversarial situation the way a cop arresting someone (rightly or wrongly) is.
OminousWeapons 5y ago
QED. I make a post alleging how angry people are more likely to leave negative comments and reviews and immediately afterwards an angry person leaves a vitriolic comment making sweeping judgements about my character without evidence just to be a dick. Is there anything you have to say about the actual points I brought up?
- hashkb 5y ago
  I think you misread that comment as anger; it's satire. Your response hoists you even further by your own petard.
- scotuswroteus 5y ago
  You sound like an angry person leaving a vitriolic comment making sweeping judgements about my character without evidence just to be a dick

nonameiguess 5y ago

Unfortunately, the statistics don't presently exist, so it's impossible to know, but I doubt most interaction between police and the general public is incident response and/or arrests. They work plenty of public and private crowd control and traffic control, and man more or less permanent patrols at malls, beaches, parks, and if you live near a city center, they just walk the streets. Most of the time I've personally interacted with a police officer, it's either been just happening to cross paths because I lived downtown and was going for a walk, when I worked at Disneyland since they had a dedicated unit, and Los Angeles Lakers championship parades. None of those involved an expected naturally unhappy party.