Police, like any other agency, should be held accountable for all their actions. I feel that way about church leaders, politicians, teachers, and every other member of the public. But to simply write off all police as murderous scum who ALWAYS commit murder with impunity is a dangerous lie and deliberate misrepresentation of the truth.
The police who held down George Floyd have all been convicted and are serving time for it. The police who maced that kid that was out walking and did nothing wrong were dismissed and have pending charges. That’s how it should be for anyone who commits grossly inappropriate behavior - but police are not universally a bunch of monstrous kid-killing thugs anymore than other people are.
Re: your examples: the only reason anything happened in either of those cases was because of massive public outcry and nationwide protests. And how did the police departments and LEO unions respond to this? Did they welcome the feedback and work with the upset communities to root out corruption? Did they welcome independent oversight organizations? Did they mandate liability coverage for officers? Did they change training beyond adding token lip service gestures? Did they mandate cameras with strict rules and chains of custody so evidence could be reviewed easier by external actors and hold officers who disconnect cameras accountable? Did they do anything?
Nope. They cracked down on protests, they tried to instigate riots, they tear gassed and busted up protesters, they threw tantrums and threatened to quit when cities started talking about oversight, they refused to acknowledge any wrong doing and kept blaming a “few bad apples” while doing nothing to change the institution that nurtured them, they rewarded bad actors with promotions, they fought tooth and nail against officer accountability and oversight, they went on murdering, shooting, and abusing the public with ZERO consequences…
So miss me with the “your rhetoric is dangerous” bullshit. The real danger comes from gangs masquerading as peace officers with near total immunity and a state sanctioned right to kill.
Police, like any other agency, should be held accountable for all their actions. I feel that way about church leaders, politicians, teachers, and every other member of the public. But to simply write off all police as murderous scum who ALWAYS commit murder with impunity is a dangerous lie and deliberate misrepresentation of the truth.
The police who held down George Floyd have all been convicted and are serving time for it. The police who maced that kid that was out walking and did nothing wrong were dismissed and have pending charges. That’s how it should be for anyone who commits grossly inappropriate behavior - but police are not universally a bunch of monstrous kid-killing thugs anymore than other people are.
Dangerous for whom and how?
Re: your examples: the only reason anything happened in either of those cases was because of massive public outcry and nationwide protests. And how did the police departments and LEO unions respond to this? Did they welcome the feedback and work with the upset communities to root out corruption? Did they welcome independent oversight organizations? Did they mandate liability coverage for officers? Did they change training beyond adding token lip service gestures? Did they mandate cameras with strict rules and chains of custody so evidence could be reviewed easier by external actors and hold officers who disconnect cameras accountable? Did they do anything?
Nope. They cracked down on protests, they tried to instigate riots, they tear gassed and busted up protesters, they threw tantrums and threatened to quit when cities started talking about oversight, they refused to acknowledge any wrong doing and kept blaming a “few bad apples” while doing nothing to change the institution that nurtured them, they rewarded bad actors with promotions, they fought tooth and nail against officer accountability and oversight, they went on murdering, shooting, and abusing the public with ZERO consequences…
So miss me with the “your rhetoric is dangerous” bullshit. The real danger comes from gangs masquerading as peace officers with near total immunity and a state sanctioned right to kill.
I was correct and I stand by what I said.