11-01-2015, 11:38 AM
Thanks Six. I don't want to learn how to make Maple Syrup Walnut Salmon and only want Peace on Earth for Christmas 
, but I seriously appreciate you sharing your insight and experience.
I also appreciate that you don't always stick with "the cop was right/justified" in all cases, no matter what the details of the cases reveal. It's case by case for me, in my Monday morning quarter-backing, and I try to have as much evidence and be as objective as possible before drawing conclusions.
Anyway, I agree with you that cops lives are no less valuable than the lives of those they've sworn to serve and protect. But, I don't think their lives should be regarded as more valuable than everyone they approach with or without justified suspicion. I think some cops and some of the public believes the latter to be true and believes that everyone assaulted/shot/killed by cops deserves what they got and that's that.
We were kind of taught that cops are always right when I was growing up. While I still respect police officers and the service they provide as a whole, I know that absolute premise is absolutely false.
I think it perpetuates the problem of bad policing when people are condemned for acknowledging and protesting questionable or unwarranted police brutality. It gives unqualified and bad cops a license to continue business as usual, which puts the public and good cops at unnecessary risk. Likewise, when people condemn all cops and insist that they should be indicted every time they use physical force or shoot, it leads to other problems like police de-motivation, false cries of police brutality, etc...
I think most cops understand that they're not military and not at war with the public (though, I acknowledge that some patrols are more like war zones than others) and do the best they can to serve, protect, and enforce the law in a balanced way. But, without a doubt, there are more than a couple power-tripping, lazy, unbalanced, unqualified, lying cops running around with guns and badges. Those bad cops should not be shielded by their employers and the justice system.
Anyway, the police reforms that appear to have bi-partisan support are encouraging to me. I think we should invest in our police forces and arm cops with much more assessment/crisis management/negotiation training. I think we should invest in body cams for all cops so they're more motivated to adhere to policies and laws, the people they're interacting with are more motivated to respect the law and law enforcement, and there's more objective evidence as to what went down when police interactions lead to claims of brutality or lead to death.
When almost all of the cops' on-going training is focused on how to use tangible tools like tasers, batons, and shooting the core (which is shooting to kill, in many cases) when they feel fear, it's no wonder that cops too often find themselves in situations that lead to controversial killings by police; killings that might have been avoided by a more strategic approach and tactic. I don't know if there are more bad cops now or if we're just seeing it more often due to the proliferation of video (or both). But, there is a lot of room for improvement. That's my take.
, but I seriously appreciate you sharing your insight and experience. I also appreciate that you don't always stick with "the cop was right/justified" in all cases, no matter what the details of the cases reveal. It's case by case for me, in my Monday morning quarter-backing, and I try to have as much evidence and be as objective as possible before drawing conclusions.
Anyway, I agree with you that cops lives are no less valuable than the lives of those they've sworn to serve and protect. But, I don't think their lives should be regarded as more valuable than everyone they approach with or without justified suspicion. I think some cops and some of the public believes the latter to be true and believes that everyone assaulted/shot/killed by cops deserves what they got and that's that.
We were kind of taught that cops are always right when I was growing up. While I still respect police officers and the service they provide as a whole, I know that absolute premise is absolutely false.
I think it perpetuates the problem of bad policing when people are condemned for acknowledging and protesting questionable or unwarranted police brutality. It gives unqualified and bad cops a license to continue business as usual, which puts the public and good cops at unnecessary risk. Likewise, when people condemn all cops and insist that they should be indicted every time they use physical force or shoot, it leads to other problems like police de-motivation, false cries of police brutality, etc...
I think most cops understand that they're not military and not at war with the public (though, I acknowledge that some patrols are more like war zones than others) and do the best they can to serve, protect, and enforce the law in a balanced way. But, without a doubt, there are more than a couple power-tripping, lazy, unbalanced, unqualified, lying cops running around with guns and badges. Those bad cops should not be shielded by their employers and the justice system.
Anyway, the police reforms that appear to have bi-partisan support are encouraging to me. I think we should invest in our police forces and arm cops with much more assessment/crisis management/negotiation training. I think we should invest in body cams for all cops so they're more motivated to adhere to policies and laws, the people they're interacting with are more motivated to respect the law and law enforcement, and there's more objective evidence as to what went down when police interactions lead to claims of brutality or lead to death.
When almost all of the cops' on-going training is focused on how to use tangible tools like tasers, batons, and shooting the core (which is shooting to kill, in many cases) when they feel fear, it's no wonder that cops too often find themselves in situations that lead to controversial killings by police; killings that might have been avoided by a more strategic approach and tactic. I don't know if there are more bad cops now or if we're just seeing it more often due to the proliferation of video (or both). But, there is a lot of room for improvement. That's my take.