5 ms·

If you're a cop, why do your job if the people are just going to be released with no consequences? Police can't do anything if the DA refuses to prosecute.

muststopmyths 5y ago
Because punishment is not in their purview ?
Redoubts 5y ago
They could at least do it so they could hammer the news with soundbites for the next election: Police took N reports about crime, showing that set stats are undercounting by M; Police arrested X for QoL crimes, but released all but Y because the DA doesn't care about you, etc...
long_time_gone 5y ago
Because it is your job? Plenty of people deal with managers who don't heed their advice, they don't get to opt-out of working. Even if a DA refuses to prosecute anyone, police could also still work to prevent crime in the first place, no?
- ransom1538 5y ago
  "Because it is your job?" Imagine I worked at a pizza shop and was getting $10 per hour to make pizzas. Every pizza I make my boss throws into the dumpster. My boss refuses to talk with me. The boss publicly tweets: he doesn't believe in pizza. This goes on for 12 weeks. It gets pretty hard to go to work and make pizzas.
  - muststopmyths 5y ago
    Well you should quit that job in that case. Unless you are really attached to those sweet pensions, overtime and other union perks that your "pizza shop" job provides. At taxpayer cost.
    - Clubber 5y ago
      Don't forget qualified immunity and lost lawsuits created by your own doing don't come out of your budget or pension. I think most of this can be fixed with a little accountability; the same everyone else is subject to.
  - long_time_gone 5y ago
    ==$10 per hour== Is that really comparable to a police office in SFPD? "San Francisco offers excellent benefits and the current starting salary is $92,560 per year. After seven years of service, a Police Officer may earn up to $139,152 per year. You will receive comprehensive training, at your full starting salary." [1] ==This goes on for 12 weeks== This seems like hyperbole. Has nobody been prosecuted in San Francisco for 12 weeks? Does a prosecution after-the-fact stop a crime from happening? [1] https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/your-sfpd/careers/sworn-job-openings/salary-and-benefits https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/your-sfpd/careers/sworn-j...
    - ransom1538 5y ago
      HUD defined “Low Income Limits” in San Francisco as $82,200 for an individual and $117,400 for a family of four. So you are a little above poverty. I think $10 an hour works. "This goes on for 12 weeks" i just make up some time not related ;)
      - long_time_gone 5y ago
        ==I think $10 an hour works.== $10/hr is the equivalent to $20k a year. SFPD officers make 4-6X that number. Then we can add the health benefits and pension contributions that your "Low Income Limits" don't measure. Not to mention the slight of hand where you turned it into a family of 4 to make the math look better. ==i just make up some time not related= Another made up number. Making up numbers from thin air doesn't create a legitimate comparison for actual data.
  - jonathankoren 5y ago
    Why do you care about what happens to the pizzas? You’re getting paid the same.
  - jfrunyon 5y ago
    Personally, I'd do the same thing as the cops if I were in the situation you describe: do nothing and rake in the moolah, and if anyone has a problem with that, pretend it's someone else's fault.
- olivermarks 5y ago
  The SFPD were defunded, staff left in droves due to a cargo culting 'social democrat' political climate that was openly hostile to them. Cops are one wrong move away from being in jail themselves in an increasingly lawless bay area environment. This has reached crisis level and the subtleties of community policing vs law enforcement, and restorative justice experiments have been blown to smithereens by ham fisted, tone deaf ideologues such as DA Boudin. It will take decades to recover from this and is a societal disaster IMO, especially those who are most vulnerable.
  - long_time_gone 5y ago
    ==The SFPD were defunded== Citation please. How much money was taken away and where was it put? ==especially those who are most vulnerable.== Am I to believe that the staff who fled the department because they disagreed with the politics are now deeply concerned about the "most vulnerable"? Seems the best way to help them would be to focus away from after-the-fact prosecution and instead on community outreach.
    - olivermarks 5y ago
      not hard to find information online about this https://www.audacy.com/kcbsradio/news/local/san-francisco-police-spread-thin-amid-staffing-shortages https://www.audacy.com/kcbsradio/news/local/san-francisco-po... etc etc
      - long_time_gone 5y ago
        That articles is about staffing shortages because people retired, not about "de-funding".
  - jonathankoren 5y ago
    > The SFPD were defunded, staff left in droves due to a cargo culting 'social democrat' political climate that was openly hostile to them. Citation needed. Seriously. NO ONE has been defunded anywhere in the country. https://www.sfweekly.com/news/is-san-francisco-re-funding-the-police/ https://www.sfweekly.com/news/is-san-francisco-re-funding-th...
- nradov 5y ago
  The other option is to either take early retirement, or quit and go work somewhere else. As many SFPD officers have done. https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/06/24/san-francisco-grapples-drastic-drop-police-recruits/ https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/06/24/san-francisco-g...
woodruffw 5y ago
Because they're paid by taxpayers to do their job. And to be clear: their job is to make arrests and allow the rest of the justice system to do its job, which is (1) to determine the feasibility of going to court, and then (2) to determine the innocence or guilt of the arrested party in a public trial of peers. Police abstention because other parts of the justice system refuse to play by their (cruel) rules is revanchism, nothing more or less.
- noah_buddy 5y ago
  Police abstention because other parts of the justice system are non-functional is, beyond any moral or ethical concerns, a certainty. Every time a police officer arrests someone they're risking life and limb. Whether you like cops or not, you've got to see that aspect of it. Why would you take that risk when you know the system is being operated so that there is literally no difference between if you make the arrest or not?
  - woodruffw 5y ago
    Because they’re paid to and because, again, it is just not their job to evaluate or police based on how the rest of the justice system functions.
  - astrange 5y ago
    Do people know Chesa is the DA for San Francisco, a 7x7 square mile city, only? You can't blame anything to do with the entire bay area on him.
  - wonnage 5y ago
    Policing is the 22nd most dangerous occupation, behind farming and garbage collection https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-united-states https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-j... Maybe those snowflakes should pick a different occupation if they're afraid to do their job
  - majormajor 5y ago
    > Why would you take that risk when you know the system is being operated so that there is literally no difference between if you make the arrest or not? The ability of police to forecast complex systems so accurately is astonishing. The change being blamed for 2020/2021 elsewhere in this thread is "catch and release without cash bail." It's noted that there's been a 50% charge rate for a while on things as well. So if the police make that arrest, and that 50% charge rate held, half the time there's going to be a charge filed and regardless of if the person was held in jail or has to be brought back, that's still not "literally no difference."
wonnage 5y ago
Why fight fires when people keep setting them anyway? Firefighters can't do anything if people keep using their stoves.

muststopmyths 5y ago

Because punishment is not in their purview ?

Redoubts 5y ago

They could at least do it so they could hammer the news with soundbites for the next election: Police took N reports about crime, showing that set stats are undercounting by M; Police arrested X for QoL crimes, but released all but Y because the DA doesn't care about you, etc...

long_time_gone 5y ago

Because it is your job? Plenty of people deal with managers who don't heed their advice, they don't get to opt-out of working. Even if a DA refuses to prosecute anyone, police could also still work to prevent crime in the first place, no?

ransom1538 5y ago
"Because it is your job?" Imagine I worked at a pizza shop and was getting $10 per hour to make pizzas. Every pizza I make my boss throws into the dumpster. My boss refuses to talk with me. The boss publicly tweets: he doesn't believe in pizza. This goes on for 12 weeks. It gets pretty hard to go to work and make pizzas.
- muststopmyths 5y ago
  Well you should quit that job in that case. Unless you are really attached to those sweet pensions, overtime and other union perks that your "pizza shop" job provides. At taxpayer cost.
  - Clubber 5y ago
    Don't forget qualified immunity and lost lawsuits created by your own doing don't come out of your budget or pension. I think most of this can be fixed with a little accountability; the same everyone else is subject to.
- long_time_gone 5y ago
  ==$10 per hour== Is that really comparable to a police office in SFPD? "San Francisco offers excellent benefits and the current starting salary is $92,560 per year. After seven years of service, a Police Officer may earn up to $139,152 per year. You will receive comprehensive training, at your full starting salary." [1] ==This goes on for 12 weeks== This seems like hyperbole. Has nobody been prosecuted in San Francisco for 12 weeks? Does a prosecution after-the-fact stop a crime from happening? [1] https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/your-sfpd/careers/sworn-job-openings/salary-and-benefits https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/your-sfpd/careers/sworn-j...
  - ransom1538 5y ago
    HUD defined “Low Income Limits” in San Francisco as $82,200 for an individual and $117,400 for a family of four. So you are a little above poverty. I think $10 an hour works. "This goes on for 12 weeks" i just make up some time not related ;)
    - long_time_gone 5y ago
      ==I think $10 an hour works.== $10/hr is the equivalent to $20k a year. SFPD officers make 4-6X that number. Then we can add the health benefits and pension contributions that your "Low Income Limits" don't measure. Not to mention the slight of hand where you turned it into a family of 4 to make the math look better. ==i just make up some time not related= Another made up number. Making up numbers from thin air doesn't create a legitimate comparison for actual data.
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  Why do you care about what happens to the pizzas? You’re getting paid the same.
- jfrunyon 5y ago
  Personally, I'd do the same thing as the cops if I were in the situation you describe: do nothing and rake in the moolah, and if anyone has a problem with that, pretend it's someone else's fault.
olivermarks 5y ago
The SFPD were defunded, staff left in droves due to a cargo culting 'social democrat' political climate that was openly hostile to them. Cops are one wrong move away from being in jail themselves in an increasingly lawless bay area environment. This has reached crisis level and the subtleties of community policing vs law enforcement, and restorative justice experiments have been blown to smithereens by ham fisted, tone deaf ideologues such as DA Boudin. It will take decades to recover from this and is a societal disaster IMO, especially those who are most vulnerable.
- long_time_gone 5y ago
  ==The SFPD were defunded== Citation please. How much money was taken away and where was it put? ==especially those who are most vulnerable.== Am I to believe that the staff who fled the department because they disagreed with the politics are now deeply concerned about the "most vulnerable"? Seems the best way to help them would be to focus away from after-the-fact prosecution and instead on community outreach.
  - olivermarks 5y ago
    not hard to find information online about this https://www.audacy.com/kcbsradio/news/local/san-francisco-police-spread-thin-amid-staffing-shortages https://www.audacy.com/kcbsradio/news/local/san-francisco-po... etc etc
    - long_time_gone 5y ago
      That articles is about staffing shortages because people retired, not about "de-funding".
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  > The SFPD were defunded, staff left in droves due to a cargo culting 'social democrat' political climate that was openly hostile to them. Citation needed. Seriously. NO ONE has been defunded anywhere in the country. https://www.sfweekly.com/news/is-san-francisco-re-funding-the-police/ https://www.sfweekly.com/news/is-san-francisco-re-funding-th...
nradov 5y ago
The other option is to either take early retirement, or quit and go work somewhere else. As many SFPD officers have done. https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/06/24/san-francisco-grapples-drastic-drop-police-recruits/ https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/06/24/san-francisco-g...

woodruffw 5y ago

Because they're paid by taxpayers to do their job. And to be clear: their job is to make arrests and allow the rest of the justice system to do its job, which is (1) to determine the feasibility of going to court, and then (2) to determine the innocence or guilt of the arrested party in a public trial of peers. Police abstention because other parts of the justice system refuse to play by their (cruel) rules is revanchism, nothing more or less.

noah_buddy 5y ago
Police abstention because other parts of the justice system are non-functional is, beyond any moral or ethical concerns, a certainty. Every time a police officer arrests someone they're risking life and limb. Whether you like cops or not, you've got to see that aspect of it. Why would you take that risk when you know the system is being operated so that there is literally no difference between if you make the arrest or not?
- woodruffw 5y ago
  Because they’re paid to and because, again, it is just not their job to evaluate or police based on how the rest of the justice system functions.
- astrange 5y ago
  Do people know Chesa is the DA for San Francisco, a 7x7 square mile city, only? You can't blame anything to do with the entire bay area on him.
- wonnage 5y ago
  Policing is the 22nd most dangerous occupation, behind farming and garbage collection https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-united-states https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-j... Maybe those snowflakes should pick a different occupation if they're afraid to do their job
- majormajor 5y ago
  > Why would you take that risk when you know the system is being operated so that there is literally no difference between if you make the arrest or not? The ability of police to forecast complex systems so accurately is astonishing. The change being blamed for 2020/2021 elsewhere in this thread is "catch and release without cash bail." It's noted that there's been a 50% charge rate for a while on things as well. So if the police make that arrest, and that 50% charge rate held, half the time there's going to be a charge filed and regardless of if the person was held in jail or has to be brought back, that's still not "literally no difference."

wonnage 5y ago

Why fight fires when people keep setting them anyway? Firefighters can't do anything if people keep using their stoves.