3 ms·

Most cops do not see their job like this, and mostly just want to get home at the end of the day. Yes, they probably have more than their fair share of weirdoes

Most cops do not see their job like this, and mostly just want to get home at the end of the day. Yes, they probably have more than their fair share of weirdoes (in the same way most uniformed institutions disproportionately filled with young men tend to), but you know, mostly it's a job (though the US is weird).

cess11 9mo ago
It's not a job. Every cop is a weirdo, they looked for opportunities to exert dominance over other people and decided against becoming social workers, medical practitioners or somesuch. Instead they joined a paramilitary force in peace time.
- crimsoneer 9mo ago
  God, why do americans assume everywhere is like their weird place. Most countries designed their police to very specifically be civilian.
  - cess11 9mo ago
    I live in northern Europe. It's not uncommon that our cops carry submachine guns and their cars are massive. Your generic middle eastern or african paramilitary would be rather jealous of their equipment.
    - nikanj 9mo ago
      Where!?
      - cess11 9mo ago
        Sweden.
  - JasonADrury 9mo ago
    I don't think the European cops are all that much better people, even if not as murderous. Living in Paris a couple of years ago I used to regularly see cops street racing to a local restaurant for lunch with their sirens on. Their driving style was basically exactly what you'd expect street-racer kids in Eastern Europe. That kind of casual abuse of power is very telling.
- palmotea 9mo ago
  > It's not a job. Every cop is a weirdo, they looked for opportunities to exert dominance over other people... Stereotype much? Crime is actually a thing that happens. There are definitely cops that have the wrong attitude, but the function is necessary and warrant that kind of stereotyping especially if you want it to be better. Like, here's a recipe for making policing worse: heap on so much steotyping and abuse onto the profession that you scare away all the people who aren't "look[ing] for opportunities to exert dominance over other people." Don't create a filter that only selects "bad apples."
  - cess11 9mo ago
    I have trouble figuring out what argument you're making. My position is that every person who wants to be a cop has "the wrong attitude". It is a mid- to late modern phenomenon so the claim that it is necessary seems rather weak. Who would avoid becoming a cop if I changed my rhetoric to yours? Do you believe that your "bad apples" would stop becoming cops if more people said that they "really like the cops"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX_EHeCbMqc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX_EHeCbMqc
    - palmotea 9mo ago
      My point is you don't want cops with "the wrong attitude," so don't do things that exacerbate that, like wanton stereotyping. > Who would avoid becoming a cop if I changed my rhetoric to yours? Do you believe that your "bad apples" would stop becoming cops if more people said that they "really like the cops"? No, I believe: 1) Your "position ... that every person who wants to be a cop has 'the wrong attitude'" is wrong (it's got a strong smell of overgeneralization and black-and-white thinking). 2) The actions you're taking are (in a small way) encouraging and perpetuating the situation that neither of us want. You and I want cops who are not "look[ing] for opportunities to exert dominance over other people," but that's exactly what you'll get if you create and spread the impression that policing is only a job for people who are "look[ing] for opportunities to exert dominance over other people." To actually fix the problem, you need to encourage other types of people to become cops. Like protests against police brutality should have a booth for protesters to sign up for the police academy. There's too much counterproductive cathartic anger going on in this society, where people get mad and say and do things to just express that anger and actually make the problems they're angry about worse.
IAmBroom 9mo ago
I've rarely met a cop who didn't believe they were in a special profession, above most of the rest of us. I know from prostitutes that cops routinely abuse them in many different ways. They use intimidation to coerce "freebies" (which is rape, plain and simple). They "befriend" them and become their "boyfriends", which is of course just a lie to get a side piece. When they arrest them, they sneer and insult them as "whores".

cess11 9mo ago

It's not a job. Every cop is a weirdo, they looked for opportunities to exert dominance over other people and decided against becoming social workers, medical practitioners or somesuch. Instead they joined a paramilitary force in peace time.

crimsoneer 9mo ago
God, why do americans assume everywhere is like their weird place. Most countries designed their police to very specifically be civilian.
- cess11 9mo ago
  I live in northern Europe. It's not uncommon that our cops carry submachine guns and their cars are massive. Your generic middle eastern or african paramilitary would be rather jealous of their equipment.
  - nikanj 9mo ago
    Where!?
    - cess11 9mo ago
      Sweden.
- JasonADrury 9mo ago
  I don't think the European cops are all that much better people, even if not as murderous. Living in Paris a couple of years ago I used to regularly see cops street racing to a local restaurant for lunch with their sirens on. Their driving style was basically exactly what you'd expect street-racer kids in Eastern Europe. That kind of casual abuse of power is very telling.
palmotea 9mo ago
> It's not a job. Every cop is a weirdo, they looked for opportunities to exert dominance over other people... Stereotype much? Crime is actually a thing that happens. There are definitely cops that have the wrong attitude, but the function is necessary and warrant that kind of stereotyping especially if you want it to be better. Like, here's a recipe for making policing worse: heap on so much steotyping and abuse onto the profession that you scare away all the people who aren't "look[ing] for opportunities to exert dominance over other people." Don't create a filter that only selects "bad apples."
- cess11 9mo ago
  I have trouble figuring out what argument you're making. My position is that every person who wants to be a cop has "the wrong attitude". It is a mid- to late modern phenomenon so the claim that it is necessary seems rather weak. Who would avoid becoming a cop if I changed my rhetoric to yours? Do you believe that your "bad apples" would stop becoming cops if more people said that they "really like the cops"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX_EHeCbMqc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX_EHeCbMqc
  - palmotea 9mo ago
    My point is you don't want cops with "the wrong attitude," so don't do things that exacerbate that, like wanton stereotyping. > Who would avoid becoming a cop if I changed my rhetoric to yours? Do you believe that your "bad apples" would stop becoming cops if more people said that they "really like the cops"? No, I believe: 1) Your "position ... that every person who wants to be a cop has 'the wrong attitude'" is wrong (it's got a strong smell of overgeneralization and black-and-white thinking). 2) The actions you're taking are (in a small way) encouraging and perpetuating the situation that neither of us want. You and I want cops who are not "look[ing] for opportunities to exert dominance over other people," but that's exactly what you'll get if you create and spread the impression that policing is only a job for people who are "look[ing] for opportunities to exert dominance over other people." To actually fix the problem, you need to encourage other types of people to become cops. Like protests against police brutality should have a booth for protesters to sign up for the police academy. There's too much counterproductive cathartic anger going on in this society, where people get mad and say and do things to just express that anger and actually make the problems they're angry about worse.

IAmBroom 9mo ago

I've rarely met a cop who didn't believe they were in a special profession, above most of the rest of us. I know from prostitutes that cops routinely abuse them in many different ways. They use intimidation to coerce "freebies" (which is rape, plain and simple). They "befriend" them and become their "boyfriends", which is of course just a lie to get a side piece. When they arrest them, they sneer and insult them as "whores".