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Power is corrupting, and police have a de facto shit-ton of real, immediate power over everyone in their vicinity. They have a "martial law bubble" around them

Power is corrupting, and police have a de facto shit-ton of real, immediate power over everyone in their vicinity. They have a "martial law bubble" around them that allows them to physically assault you, put you in jail, and upend your whole life with very little effort. You will have no recourse, and they will suffer no consequences. You may file a complaint with the department, and it will be followed up on, poorly, by a fellow officer who is highly motivated to see nothing but another disgruntled loser trying to get petty revenge. The judges don't care and work with the DA and the same officers all the time, and maintain cordial, cooperative relationships with them, all of which is damaged if there is any adversarial action. It is within this context an average intelligence, perhaps even above-average moral person enters after 6-weeks of training. This person likes watching football and drinking beer. They help their elderly neighbors with the trash. They are a "normal" man who will stand up for himself, physically, in extreme cases. Now give him a gun and a badge and a martial law bubble. How do you think this normal, average man will evolve when he realizes his power? When he sees his friends on the force us it, daily, to get what they want, to make their jobs a little easier? When does he learn to enjoy that feeling of power, for itself, the way it feels to beat someone and put his knee on someone's neck because they talked back to you, and know that no-one can do shit about it? And you can even rationalize it - they shouldn't have been rude, they should know how much power I have and that I'm only human, its really just punishment for being stupid. Plus, the public still loves me and is grateful to me, considering me in high esteem as a moral upstanding citizen - so we must be doing something right!

d0gsg0w00f 4y ago
In my life experience an unsavory character turned law abiding citizen I found that I used to think ill of cops but after I changed, miraculously cops seemed to turn into amazing fantastic people. So I take all of these "cops are evil" claims with a grain of salt and seek out more context clues to what would initiate an interaction with LEO in the first place.
- velp 4y ago
  This reads like "the problem disappears as soon as I'm no longer impacted". Just because cops see/treat you differently now doesn't mean they aren't still treating others poorly.
  - d0gsg0w00f 4y ago
    I guess my point was too subtle
- pyth0 4y ago
  I have never had a bad encounter with a cop. Yet I still see countless examples of abuse and criminal behavior from police and the lengths that the police forces will go to shield their own. > So I take all of these "cops are evil" claims with a grain of salt No need to take any "claim" as fact when there is tons of actual evidence in the form of recordings, law suits and more. I simply do not understand how someone is able to have a positive view of police with the access we have to information. Police are not your friend, they do not serve you and they should not be trusted.
- javajosh 4y ago
  Oh, I don't blame you. If I thought well of cops I'd feel the same way. That positive feeling is to be cherished and protected, because one day it may protect you. Or, you know, you might get unlucky and get swatted by accident, or an ex-wife claims you hit her, or you meet a cop just having a bad day, and you'll have a different experience. That you haven't won the shit lottery doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means you're lucky. And also, consider the impact of being wrong here. Like, if your opinion is taken seriously, then there's nothing wrong, then why? Is it that my basic assumption that power corrupts is wrong? Or do you disagree with the premise that cops aren't held accountable when they abuse their power? In either case, surely you see enough evidence that police, both here and abroad, are constantly struggling with issues of corruption and abuse, sometimes directed at one ethnicity, but always at non-officers.

d0gsg0w00f 4y ago

In my life experience an unsavory character turned law abiding citizen I found that I used to think ill of cops but after I changed, miraculously cops seemed to turn into amazing fantastic people. So I take all of these "cops are evil" claims with a grain of salt and seek out more context clues to what would initiate an interaction with LEO in the first place.

velp 4y ago
This reads like "the problem disappears as soon as I'm no longer impacted". Just because cops see/treat you differently now doesn't mean they aren't still treating others poorly.
- d0gsg0w00f 4y ago
  I guess my point was too subtle
pyth0 4y ago
I have never had a bad encounter with a cop. Yet I still see countless examples of abuse and criminal behavior from police and the lengths that the police forces will go to shield their own. > So I take all of these "cops are evil" claims with a grain of salt No need to take any "claim" as fact when there is tons of actual evidence in the form of recordings, law suits and more. I simply do not understand how someone is able to have a positive view of police with the access we have to information. Police are not your friend, they do not serve you and they should not be trusted.
javajosh 4y ago
Oh, I don't blame you. If I thought well of cops I'd feel the same way. That positive feeling is to be cherished and protected, because one day it may protect you. Or, you know, you might get unlucky and get swatted by accident, or an ex-wife claims you hit her, or you meet a cop just having a bad day, and you'll have a different experience. That you haven't won the shit lottery doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means you're lucky. And also, consider the impact of being wrong here. Like, if your opinion is taken seriously, then there's nothing wrong, then why? Is it that my basic assumption that power corrupts is wrong? Or do you disagree with the premise that cops aren't held accountable when they abuse their power? In either case, surely you see enough evidence that police, both here and abroad, are constantly struggling with issues of corruption and abuse, sometimes directed at one ethnicity, but always at non-officers.