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>Cops don't prevent crime, they only catch criminals after the fact. >I wouldn't arrest people either if I knew they wouldn't be charged. These two quotes see

>Cops don't prevent crime, they only catch criminals after the fact. >I wouldn't arrest people either if I knew they wouldn't be charged. These two quotes seem to be at odds with eachother. A cops job is only to arrest criminals, if they are prosecuted should not be their concern. Good thing the psych eval for cops has questions that relates to this, and someone with your sentiment would not be selected for training.

paisawalla 4y ago
"A cop should risk his life to effect an arrest, even if that act will be immediately undermined by the prosecutor and will have no measurable difference on society." Are you saying they shouldn't value their own lives, but instead behave as instruction-following robots.
- SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
  Cops aren’t really risking their lives. Statistically they’re more likely to die of Covid than they are of trying to arrest someone. They have armor in their uniforms, carry multiple manners of debilitating a person from multiple ranges. This puts them at a massive advantage compared to your average homeless person or impoverished criminal, who likely can’t even afford a gun.
  - paisawalla 4y ago
    1. The average person doesn't have your grasp of probabilities. 2. You're still asking him to take a small chance with his life.
    - SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
      I don’t know what you mean here. I’m not trying to be stupid, I just have no idea what you’re trying to get at. I don’t see what either point has to do with my statement.
      - paisawalla 4y ago
        I don't know how I can be more clear. Maybe you can explain what you don't understand.
- TrapLord_Rhodo 4y ago
  I don't know where you pulled that quote from, as it's very 'leading' which usually makes for a terrible quote. a better quote would be. "A cop should uphold the law they swore an oath to protect, even if it means putting their own life at risk"
  - paisawalla 4y ago
    ... putting their own life at risk, even towards no end. Even if the stated purpose of that risk is subsequently undermined.
- greedo 4y ago
  The idea that police officers are in constant danger of coming home in a body bag is copaganda. Police work is one of the safer occupations. We don't idolize the guys/gals who pick up our trash, but they have higher death rates.
fallingknife 4y ago
You are stuck in the normal paradigm of cop arrests criminal -> criminal goes away for several years. But there is a middle step, DA prosecutes criminal, that went missing in SF. So instead, it's, cop arrests criminal -> DA refuses to prosecute -> criminal back on streets tomorrow. So really it is the DA that is responsible for 99% of the crime prevention effect of arresting criminals. Would you do your job if you knew that no one else on your team was doing theirs? That's what you are asking the cops to do.
- pydry 4y ago
  >Would you do your job if you knew that no one else on your team was doing theirs? Can and have. Because if I didnt then I am still at fault, just like these police.
notacoward 4y ago
> A cops job is only to arrest criminals I know you were contrasting arrest with prosecution, but "only arrest" is still an idea that shouldn't be put forward even in that context. A cop's job is to preserve public safety. Sometimes that does and should mean arrest, whether or not that arrest leads to prosecution. More often it should mean prevention. That might just mean being visible as a deterrent. It might mean intervening to arbitrate or de-escalate a situation before it leads to a criminal act. It might mean investigating suspicious activity. It might mean helping a desperate person find the aid they need before their desperation turns into criminality. The possibilities are almost endless. If police did their job according to Peel's original principles, there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that the DA's actions are irrelevant.
josephcsible 4y ago
> A cops job is only to arrest criminals, if they are prosecuted should not be their concern. Police departments don't have enough resources to arrest every criminal, so they should try to maximize their effectiveness and avoid wasting what resources they do have by deprioritizing arrests of criminals who they know won't be prosecuted.

paisawalla 4y ago

"A cop should risk his life to effect an arrest, even if that act will be immediately undermined by the prosecutor and will have no measurable difference on society." Are you saying they shouldn't value their own lives, but instead behave as instruction-following robots.

SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
Cops aren’t really risking their lives. Statistically they’re more likely to die of Covid than they are of trying to arrest someone. They have armor in their uniforms, carry multiple manners of debilitating a person from multiple ranges. This puts them at a massive advantage compared to your average homeless person or impoverished criminal, who likely can’t even afford a gun.
- paisawalla 4y ago
  1. The average person doesn't have your grasp of probabilities. 2. You're still asking him to take a small chance with his life.
  - SamoyedFurFluff 4y ago
    I don’t know what you mean here. I’m not trying to be stupid, I just have no idea what you’re trying to get at. I don’t see what either point has to do with my statement.
    - paisawalla 4y ago
      I don't know how I can be more clear. Maybe you can explain what you don't understand.
TrapLord_Rhodo 4y ago
I don't know where you pulled that quote from, as it's very 'leading' which usually makes for a terrible quote. a better quote would be. "A cop should uphold the law they swore an oath to protect, even if it means putting their own life at risk"
- paisawalla 4y ago
  ... putting their own life at risk, even towards no end. Even if the stated purpose of that risk is subsequently undermined.
greedo 4y ago
The idea that police officers are in constant danger of coming home in a body bag is copaganda. Police work is one of the safer occupations. We don't idolize the guys/gals who pick up our trash, but they have higher death rates.

fallingknife 4y ago

You are stuck in the normal paradigm of cop arrests criminal -> criminal goes away for several years. But there is a middle step, DA prosecutes criminal, that went missing in SF. So instead, it's, cop arrests criminal -> DA refuses to prosecute -> criminal back on streets tomorrow. So really it is the DA that is responsible for 99% of the crime prevention effect of arresting criminals. Would you do your job if you knew that no one else on your team was doing theirs? That's what you are asking the cops to do.

pydry 4y ago
>Would you do your job if you knew that no one else on your team was doing theirs? Can and have. Because if I didnt then I am still at fault, just like these police.

notacoward 4y ago

> A cops job is only to arrest criminals I know you were contrasting arrest with prosecution, but "only arrest" is still an idea that shouldn't be put forward even in that context. A cop's job is to preserve public safety. Sometimes that does and should mean arrest, whether or not that arrest leads to prosecution. More often it should mean prevention. That might just mean being visible as a deterrent. It might mean intervening to arbitrate or de-escalate a situation before it leads to a criminal act. It might mean investigating suspicious activity. It might mean helping a desperate person find the aid they need before their desperation turns into criminality. The possibilities are almost endless. If police did their job according to Peel's original principles, there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that the DA's actions are irrelevant.

josephcsible 4y ago

> A cops job is only to arrest criminals, if they are prosecuted should not be their concern. Police departments don't have enough resources to arrest every criminal, so they should try to maximize their effectiveness and avoid wasting what resources they do have by deprioritizing arrests of criminals who they know won't be prosecuted.