5 ms·
"Civilian" is a funny way of spelling citizen.
by ok123456 5y ago
"Civilian" is a funny way of spelling citizen.
- elliekelly 5y agoIt’s almost as if they’re saying the policy doesn’t apply to interviews with fellow law enforcement officers... The way we (Americans) have allowed the line between “police” and “military” to blur is certainly concerning and it seems like this is just another example.
- vkou 5y agoI'd love to see the line blur a bit more. Specifically, by making police officers be investigated by military police, and to be judged by military tribunals.
- anigbrowl 5y agoPolice encounter many non-citizens, who still have many fundamental rights. Any given person might be a citizen, a green card holder, a temporary visa holder, an undocumented person, or a tourist who is not subject to visa requirements. I don't recall the percentage offhand but something like 10% of US residents are not citizens.
- ok123456 5y agoThe point was the militarization of the police, that they are adopting militarized language when dealing with the general public. I used citizen with a lowercase 'c' here, as in "private citizen" and not as in legal citizenship status to a sovereign nation.
- anigbrowl 5y agoThing is the 'civilian' distinction goes back decades and some definitions extend the nen-civilian status to firefighters as well as police. It's neither new nor uniquely American, though I'm sure exactly when it expanded beyond the purely military use fo the term.