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You will hopefully be relieved to learn that TSOs specialise in covert evidence-gathering technologies for serious crime investigations, and are not making mach

You will hopefully be relieved to learn that TSOs specialise in covert evidence-gathering technologies for serious crime investigations, and are not making machines to blow your legs off or shoot your face in. They're part of the teams taking down human trafficking rings, violent gangs involved in the drugs trade, terrorist cells, and suchlike. The kind of high impact police work that helps make vulnerable people's lives safer.

yellowapple 4y ago
> They're part of the teams taking down human trafficking rings, violent gangs involved in the drugs trade, terrorist cells, and suchlike. They're part of the teams surveilling and even outright harassing civilians on mere suspicion of tangential connection to crime - the kind of polie work that makes people's lives vulnerable in the first place. It shouldn't be surprising that not everyone shares your enthusiasm for the state's goons, no matter how "cool" their goonery-enabling gadgets might be.
- svoncin 4y ago
  That is a very ignorant opinion to be flaunting with such confidence.
  - yellowapple 4y ago
    It's the precise opposite of an ignorant opinion; it's in fact rather well-informed from myself being a former employee of a law enforcement agency. You can parrot copaganda pamphlets all you like, but the idea that police are always the good guys and only spy on the public for the public's good is dangerously naive.
    - svoncin 4y ago
      Really, which country? Presumably not the UK.
      - yellowapple 4y ago
        The power dynamics involved are universal - and as has been linked elsewhere in this thread, the UK is no exception.
        svoncin 4y ago
        So, not the UK then. Thought as much. Whatever issue you have with the law enforcement people you apparently worked alongside for a while, please refrain from blindly transferring this onto UK police personnel whose work you have zero insight into.
        yellowapple 4y ago
        > So, not the UK then. The power dynamics involved are universal - and as has been linked elsewhere in this thread, the UK is no exception. > please refrain from blindly transferring this onto UK police personnel There's nothing "blind" about it - because again, the power dynamics are universal, and has has been linked elsewhere in this thread, the UK is no exception. Cops are cops. They are definitionally given special privileges and powers over the general population, and the temptation to abuse those special privileges and powers doesn't magically go away just because you choose to plug your ears and pretend they have your best interests at heart. There's a reason why the phrase "All Cops Are Bastards" originated in the UK of all places.
- amatecha 4y ago
  Right - in fact UK police specifically have engaged in seriously unethical behaviour: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/28/secrets-and-lies-untangling-the-uk-spy-cops-scandal https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/28/secrets-and-...

yellowapple 4y ago

> They're part of the teams taking down human trafficking rings, violent gangs involved in the drugs trade, terrorist cells, and suchlike. They're part of the teams surveilling and even outright harassing civilians on mere suspicion of tangential connection to crime - the kind of polie work that makes people's lives vulnerable in the first place. It shouldn't be surprising that not everyone shares your enthusiasm for the state's goons, no matter how "cool" their goonery-enabling gadgets might be.

svoncin 4y ago
That is a very ignorant opinion to be flaunting with such confidence.
- yellowapple 4y ago
  It's the precise opposite of an ignorant opinion; it's in fact rather well-informed from myself being a former employee of a law enforcement agency. You can parrot copaganda pamphlets all you like, but the idea that police are always the good guys and only spy on the public for the public's good is dangerously naive.
  - svoncin 4y ago
    Really, which country? Presumably not the UK.
    - yellowapple 4y ago
      The power dynamics involved are universal - and as has been linked elsewhere in this thread, the UK is no exception.
      - svoncin 4y ago
        So, not the UK then. Thought as much. Whatever issue you have with the law enforcement people you apparently worked alongside for a while, please refrain from blindly transferring this onto UK police personnel whose work you have zero insight into.
        yellowapple 4y ago
        > So, not the UK then. The power dynamics involved are universal - and as has been linked elsewhere in this thread, the UK is no exception. > please refrain from blindly transferring this onto UK police personnel There's nothing "blind" about it - because again, the power dynamics are universal, and has has been linked elsewhere in this thread, the UK is no exception. Cops are cops. They are definitionally given special privileges and powers over the general population, and the temptation to abuse those special privileges and powers doesn't magically go away just because you choose to plug your ears and pretend they have your best interests at heart. There's a reason why the phrase "All Cops Are Bastards" originated in the UK of all places.
amatecha 4y ago
Right - in fact UK police specifically have engaged in seriously unethical behaviour: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/28/secrets-and-lies-untangling-the-uk-spy-cops-scandal https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/28/secrets-and-...