Cop Rant

[Doktor Howl]

With regard to the protestors' chant of "I can't breathe"...

...I told you guys that there wasn't enough air.  I told you guys that Tucson would come for you all, one fine day.  In fact, I've been hollering about that for 12 years.  Now it's like this gigantic fucking cyst has burst, and you can't swing a dead cat without "interfering in police business" or being choked to death for selling individual cigarettes.

What's really grotesque about this, what makes this entire country a fucking carnival sideshow, is the fact that about half of Americans are still trying to find excuses for this.  #notallcops, yada yada.

And you know what?  There ARE good cops.  But to pretend that there aren't any bad ones is to say that there isn't any DIFFERENCE between the good ones and the bad ones, and to say THAT is to say that you're perfectly okay with a police state.

I am not anti-cop.  I am anti-out of control cops.  I am anti-punishment culture.  I am anti-beating people to death just because you can.

I understand the mechanism behind the "it's not the cops" mentality.  White people have been able to LOOK AWAY from this shit their entire lives.  They didn't HAVE to see it, because it almost never happened to THEM.  But now they HAVE to look at it - which is why they're "sick of hearing about it" - and they don't WANT to process it, because it leads to all manner of conclusions that contradict the way they think the universe works.  Racism is still a thing.  The police aren't there to protect you.  You are only free until your freedom becomes inconvenient.

So they go into denial, either saying the victims were "thugs" (Fox News-speak for "Black"), or that "there's only a few bad apples."

But how many bad apples does there have to be before you have to admit there's a problem?  How many cops keep the "code of silence" with respect to bad cops (Remember the "good Germans"?  Neither do I.)?  How LONG do you have to turn blue in the face because YOU CAN'T BREATHE, because there's NO AIR, because you TRADED THAT AIR AWAY FOR COMPLACENCY?

This is the America you demanded.  Welcome to Tucson.

Okay (for now),
Dok

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's horrifying 'cause it's true.

[Doktor Howl]

Apparently, a cop in California may be fired because he gave a suicidal person a drink of water instead of tasing the person.

It's a good thing the problem isn't institutional.

[Doktor Howl]

In related news, Fox News has just advised that minority communities "need to be trained to be more sensitive toward the police."

Not fucking kidding.  Shark jumped.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

In related news, Fox News has just advised that minority communities "need to be trained to be more sensitive toward the police."

Not fucking kidding.  Shark jumped.

NUH UH.

[Doktor Howl]

In related news, Fox News has just advised that minority communities "need to be trained to be more sensitive toward the police."

Not fucking kidding.  Shark jumped.

NUH UH.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/fox-host-minority-communities-need-to-be-trained-to-be-more-sensitive-to-the-police/

[Junkenstein]

In related news, Fox News has just advised that minority communities "need to be trained to be more sensitive toward the police."

Not fucking kidding.  Shark jumped.

NUH UH.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/fox-host-minority-communities-need-to-be-trained-to-be-more-sensitive-to-the-police/

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh my, that is fucking special. Really, really, special.

[Cain]

I think a lot of Americans have shown their true colours in their reaction to recent police violence.  And it's not pretty.

The most charitable explanation is "willfully ignorant", going down to "worship of power" and "an assortment of racist justifications".  So much for a "post-racial America".  So much for the Land of the Free.

[Doktor Howl]

I think a lot of Americans have shown their true colours in their reaction to recent police violence.  And it's not pretty.

The most charitable explanation is "willfully ignorant", going down to "worship of power" and "an assortment of racist justifications".  So much for a "post-racial America".  So much for the Land of the Free.

We've always been this way.

It's just now, people have to look at it.

[rong]

I think a lot of Americans have shown their true colours in their reaction to recent police violence.  And it's not pretty.

The most charitable explanation is "willfully ignorant", going down to "worship of power" and "an assortment of racist justifications".  So much for a "post-racial America".  So much for the Land of the Free.

We've always been this way.

It's just now, people have to look at it.

The Rodney King beating was 22 years ago.

[Doktor Howl]

I think a lot of Americans have shown their true colours in their reaction to recent police violence.  And it's not pretty.

The most charitable explanation is "willfully ignorant", going down to "worship of power" and "an assortment of racist justifications".  So much for a "post-racial America".  So much for the Land of the Free.

We've always been this way.

It's just now, people have to look at it.

The Rodney King beating was 22 years ago.

Keep going back.  We've been beating the crap out of Black people for our entire history.  The 1920s and 30s were particularly bad, and I don't think I even have to mention the 1950s and 60s.

[rong]

I know its nothing new, but I think it was the first incident that was caught on film and EVERYONE knew about it. 

We've had 22 years to do something about it.

Maybe the solution is for the job of police officer to become so terrible that nobody wants to do it. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I know its nothing new, but I think it was the first incident that was caught on film and EVERYONE knew about it. 

We've had 22 years to do something about it.

Maybe the solution is for the job of police officer to become so terrible that nobody wants to do it.

That's really worked to up the quality of people in other shitty jobs, hasn't it?

More punishment fetishistic idiocy... "make things worse, that will make them better!"

It certainly wouldn't do to address the internal culture of law enforcement.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

This is from a cop buddy of mine on FB. A dude I have a lot of respect for. It disturbs me on so many levels.

(apologies for the wall of text. He is a really good writer, normally, but probably wasn't formatting for FB)

A year ago, I graduated from the academy and became a police officer. I lost a few friends, made a lot more, and have seen some evils that people had rather not discuss. It's the best honor I have known in my life. You really don't appreciate it until you are put in the situation. But one of the most counterintuitive things that the human body can do is run toward danger, toward the screams, toward the gun fire, and toward the uncertainty in the darkness. Only two people know what this is like all of the time: the soldier and the first responder. For everyone else, courage is merely optional. And it's unfortunate that this is, often, a very hated profession. I've experienced it myself over the past year... the comments I got, threats I received, friends I lost. I've come to understand one thing though: I'm no longer willing to pay attention to the criticisms of those who serve as apologists for the criminal element. Listen, those who know me well know just how much blood, sweat, and tears I've put into making the world a better place: through research, service, teaching, recruitment, and clinical work. I, too, hope for a world where violence no longer exists. I, too, hope for a world where there are no conflicts, and where everyone can get along peacefully. I, too, hope for a world where everyone, no matter what race, color, creed, or sexual preference, is afforded the same rights and privileges that we all deserve. However, it is perfectly acceptable to work towards how the world SHOULD be, while simultaneously and appropriately deal with the way the world IS. Many people want to believe that crime is not an issue... that it's overblown, used as a distraction to allow for "bigger government," or that we as officers merely exist solely for the purpose of harassing "innocent people" who are simply on their way to/from church. And sure, it's easy to bury one's head in the sand and pretend that everything is just fine, or that the common criminal is just a misunderstood person in need of more friends and positive reinforcement. And that's because most people have no concept of what it means to be a sociopath... to have no conscious, to have no regard for life. Hear me very loud and clear: the criminal element does not care about your pacifism. The criminal element does not care about your feminism. The criminal element does not care about your desire for equality. The criminal element does not care about your need for safety. And finally, the criminal element does not care about how the world SHOULD be. Do not project your normalcy onto the criminal element just because you cannot comprehend the existence of sociopathy. We are not the monsters... and trust me, it genuinely bothers all of us when we are labeled monsters. We are not the bad guy. We have lives, families, friends, and children. We bleed the same blood. Although our existence may remind you that the criminal element is out there, and although that thought might be incomprehensible to you, the simple fact is that not many people in this world willingly volunteer to run toward the gun fire and deal with the criminal element face-to-face. I, as do most of my brothers and sisters, take ownership of my community. I love my city and the people in it who want safety and comfort. I, like most of my brothers and sisters, take this obligation freely, without any hesitation, reservation, or purpose of evasion. Why? Because I want the criminal element out of my city. I want the criminal element dealt with and brought to justice. I want to ensure peace and security for those citizens who strive for how the world SHOULD be. It's why most of us do this job. That's what the badge represents, beyond some letters and numbers on a shield. That's why it's the best job in the world. And that's why the past year has been such an honor. Thank you to those who have supported me through it all.

I've been engaged in criminal activity for a fair portion of my life. I was really bad as a teenager and in my early 20's. I was just thinking about it and realized that everyone in my immediate family has been arrested. Many in my immediate and extended family have done time. That having been said, even being surrounded by "the criminal element" to the point where that is my normal, the incidents of full blown sociopathy I've seen in that context is no more, really, than I've seen outside that world. Far less than in some contexts, in fact (working sales, for instance). I would be very surprised if the percentage of sociopaths on the police force itself isn't at least on par with that of the general population, if not much greater.

I don't like to think that the thought of sociopathy is front and center when police deal with "the criminal element," the lion's share of which, really are people who are either just playing by a legally loose set of rules, or are just "thugs of circumstance."

I don't like this "my brothers and sisters" shit. Not at all even a little bit--for reasons that should be obvious to anyone in a discordian group. I really, really, don't like this (a comment from the thread that followed this post):

Thank you to those who have commented. Patrick: I hear you, brother. Perhaps the most infuriating false narrative is the myth of the "unarmed, harmless man." It's particularly infuriating, and usually comes from people who have absolutely no conception of force science. Just a week or two ago, one of my brothers from NY was killed by one of these "unarmed, harmless males," who overpowered him, took his service weapon, and killed him by firing 15 of his own rounds into his body. I dismiss that narrative really quickly, cause that falsehood gets people who are actually innocent killed.

[hooplala]

The very fact that he refers to "the criminal element" as a vast faceless block speaks volumes.