4 ms·

I’m telling you, the only way out of this mess is to eliminate qualified immunity, and becoming a cop should entail forfeiting many civil rights in exchange for

I’m telling you, the only way out of this mess is to eliminate qualified immunity, and becoming a cop should entail forfeiting many civil rights in exchange for insurmountable amount of power a cop has. US police is basically a military, and should be treated as such.

verdenti 4y ago
[dead]
bittercynic 4y ago
Replying to the dead comment below "They’re low skill jobs..." Being a /good/ cop requires very high skills, and it's an unavoidably political job, so I think a union is going to be an essential part of it. I agree that the current situation in much of the USA is really bad, though.
- aaomidi 4y ago
  It’s funny because this unionized force is also one of the main anti union forces in the country. It’s why generally on the left, cops are not considered “valid jobs” to be protected by a union. It’s a state sanctioned violence force.
- akira2501 4y ago
  Unions are basically a compromise between a monopolized labor force and the monopolizer. Given that the administration employs the officers, the union is usually seen as unavoidable; however, you have to wonder if the solution might be to go the other way. You might sever the connection between the police force and the administration and reduce the size of departments down to the level of details and make them all much more directly accountable to the judiciary and the population they police. In larger areas the details can offer support and oversight in a way they are currently unable to. There are tons of things a prevalent and inexpensive internet connectivity was supposed to drastically improve. This should be one of them, to remove the need for severe top down military style policing that intersects with administrative politics.
pigsty 4y ago
At the very least, a federal department to review issues with local police departments is necessary. Right now cops investigate their friends and themselves. It’s global news when one decides to even fire (not even arrest) a friend despite video evidence of a crime. This shouldn’t happen. It should be possible for the public to submit evidence to a federal police review board and let them handle investigations in a less biased manner. When a cop carries out an illegal search or decides to kill someone in a fit of rage as often happens, that should be well out of the domain of local police investigation and should go straight to the federal government.
lucb1e 4y ago
Police forces seem to work just fine without such measures in other countries. I wonder if there are any studies on what the difference is or the differences are that cause the discrepancy in violence.
- jleahy 4y ago
  We absolutely have this in the UK. The IOPC are the body who people can complain to about police conduct and would investigate. I presume most normal countries have such a thing. I believe any death is automatically referred for review, even if there is no evidence of wrong doing, as it’s so unusual.
- scotty79 4y ago
  Not really. When there's something wrong at the local level it's obvious they can't investigate themselves. People from central authority show up to sort things out and see who's ass needs to get fired without paying attention to any local power structure. The only chance for local police to get away with it to keep it from reaching the central at all. It doesn't mean that central won't try to cover the ass of local if the reputation of the whole police is at stake.
- troon-lover 4y ago
  [dead]

verdenti 4y ago

[dead]

bittercynic 4y ago

Replying to the dead comment below "They’re low skill jobs..." Being a /good/ cop requires very high skills, and it's an unavoidably political job, so I think a union is going to be an essential part of it. I agree that the current situation in much of the USA is really bad, though.

aaomidi 4y ago
It’s funny because this unionized force is also one of the main anti union forces in the country. It’s why generally on the left, cops are not considered “valid jobs” to be protected by a union. It’s a state sanctioned violence force.
akira2501 4y ago
Unions are basically a compromise between a monopolized labor force and the monopolizer. Given that the administration employs the officers, the union is usually seen as unavoidable; however, you have to wonder if the solution might be to go the other way. You might sever the connection between the police force and the administration and reduce the size of departments down to the level of details and make them all much more directly accountable to the judiciary and the population they police. In larger areas the details can offer support and oversight in a way they are currently unable to. There are tons of things a prevalent and inexpensive internet connectivity was supposed to drastically improve. This should be one of them, to remove the need for severe top down military style policing that intersects with administrative politics.

pigsty 4y ago

At the very least, a federal department to review issues with local police departments is necessary. Right now cops investigate their friends and themselves. It’s global news when one decides to even fire (not even arrest) a friend despite video evidence of a crime. This shouldn’t happen. It should be possible for the public to submit evidence to a federal police review board and let them handle investigations in a less biased manner. When a cop carries out an illegal search or decides to kill someone in a fit of rage as often happens, that should be well out of the domain of local police investigation and should go straight to the federal government.

lucb1e 4y ago

Police forces seem to work just fine without such measures in other countries. I wonder if there are any studies on what the difference is or the differences are that cause the discrepancy in violence.

jleahy 4y ago
We absolutely have this in the UK. The IOPC are the body who people can complain to about police conduct and would investigate. I presume most normal countries have such a thing. I believe any death is automatically referred for review, even if there is no evidence of wrong doing, as it’s so unusual.
scotty79 4y ago
Not really. When there's something wrong at the local level it's obvious they can't investigate themselves. People from central authority show up to sort things out and see who's ass needs to get fired without paying attention to any local power structure. The only chance for local police to get away with it to keep it from reaching the central at all. It doesn't mean that central won't try to cover the ass of local if the reputation of the whole police is at stake.
troon-lover 4y ago
[dead]