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Cops might hesitate to act if their were repercussions, accountability or responsibility for their actions.

astrange 4y ago
They already don't act because there's no repercussions for not doing anything; the SF DA is being recalled today because the cops decided they didn't like him and just haven't been doing their job for months as a result.
- teakettle42 4y ago
  Chesa Boudin is the opposite problem. The answer to our broke-ass, classist, unjust "justice" system isn't to abandon prosecution almost entirely. If I had a magic wand, the DA's offices across America would review cases promptly, prosecute justifiable cases, and preemptively drop unjustified cases as soon as possible — and report truly questionable policing to a real oversight board, while actually charging and prosecuting police officers for genuinely bad policing. In reality, in most jurisdictions, the DA's office often doesn't even look at most cases until the day of arraignment, months after someone's life has already been run through a ringer and they've spent tens of thousands on retaining a defense attorney (if they're lucky enough to afford one), not to mention therapy (again, if they're lucky enough to afford that). All too often they'll try to coerce a plea deal for a bad case, rather than simply dropping it — and people accept the offered deal, because the alternative is incredibly expensive, and incredibly risky. As for holding police accountable for bad policing? Unless it's a case that garners the political will to prosecute (usually due to massive negative media attention), a ski holiday in hell is more likely. However, Chesa Boudin's office swung way too far in the opposite direction, failing to even prosecute strong cases for real crimes that resulted in real harm. Eventually, the police gave up — why bother going through the effort of policing if the DA is just going to drop the case anyway? It's like writing code only to have `git` erase your entire branch when you `git push`. I'm not a police apologist ("fuck the police" would find a spot on my top-100 playlist!) but Chesa Boudin absolutely deserved to be recalled.
DuskStar 4y ago
Like the cops at our most recent school shooting in Texas, you mean? Seems like they already hesitate to act.
- systemvoltage 4y ago
  I agree but I also think that lot of cops are good folk and doing dirty work of keeping streets safe. Talk to them sometime outside of the media messaging. Absolute statements painting the entire police force one way or the other is wrong and disingenious.
bryanrasmussen 4y ago
that's sort of the point, but since accountability or responsibility are words generally given positive spin - that is to say these are things we want everyone to have in society - I'm supposing your post is extremely dry sarcasm?
ikiris 4y ago
Cops hesitating to break the law is the goal here. They already hesitate to do protecting at their own peril, as evidenced by that recent school shooting.
Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
Umm...good? In true life-or-death situations, instinct and training still kicks in. But maybe cops should be hesitating before deciding to escalate a situation just because someone challenged them when they overstepped their legal authority.

They already don't act because there's no repercussions for not doing anything; the SF DA is being recalled today because the cops decided they didn't like him and just haven't been doing their job for months as a result.

teakettle42 4y ago
Chesa Boudin is the opposite problem. The answer to our broke-ass, classist, unjust "justice" system isn't to abandon prosecution almost entirely. If I had a magic wand, the DA's offices across America would review cases promptly, prosecute justifiable cases, and preemptively drop unjustified cases as soon as possible — and report truly questionable policing to a real oversight board, while actually charging and prosecuting police officers for genuinely bad policing. In reality, in most jurisdictions, the DA's office often doesn't even look at most cases until the day of arraignment, months after someone's life has already been run through a ringer and they've spent tens of thousands on retaining a defense attorney (if they're lucky enough to afford one), not to mention therapy (again, if they're lucky enough to afford that). All too often they'll try to coerce a plea deal for a bad case, rather than simply dropping it — and people accept the offered deal, because the alternative is incredibly expensive, and incredibly risky. As for holding police accountable for bad policing? Unless it's a case that garners the political will to prosecute (usually due to massive negative media attention), a ski holiday in hell is more likely. However, Chesa Boudin's office swung way too far in the opposite direction, failing to even prosecute strong cases for real crimes that resulted in real harm. Eventually, the police gave up — why bother going through the effort of policing if the DA is just going to drop the case anyway? It's like writing code only to have `git` erase your entire branch when you `git push`. I'm not a police apologist ("fuck the police" would find a spot on my top-100 playlist!) but Chesa Boudin absolutely deserved to be recalled.

DuskStar 4y ago

Like the cops at our most recent school shooting in Texas, you mean? Seems like they already hesitate to act.

systemvoltage 4y ago
I agree but I also think that lot of cops are good folk and doing dirty work of keeping streets safe. Talk to them sometime outside of the media messaging. Absolute statements painting the entire police force one way or the other is wrong and disingenious.

bryanrasmussen 4y ago

that's sort of the point, but since accountability or responsibility are words generally given positive spin - that is to say these are things we want everyone to have in society - I'm supposing your post is extremely dry sarcasm?

ikiris 4y ago

Cops hesitating to break the law is the goal here. They already hesitate to do protecting at their own peril, as evidenced by that recent school shooting.

Sohcahtoa82 4y ago

Umm...good? In true life-or-death situations, instinct and training still kicks in. But maybe cops should be hesitating before deciding to escalate a situation just because someone challenged them when they overstepped their legal authority.