Why do you dislike law enforcement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t dislike them. I cannot even begin to imagine what they deal with on a daily basis.

This. These individuals risk their lives every single day they go to work. These individuals have to deal with a lot of physical and emotional abuse. They witness deaths, disfigurements of bodies, abuse, etc. It mentally messes you up to do this kind of work. We need them. Does this mean that I don’t think there are issues within the system? No… but I don’t dislike them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM can solve this problem. Have all your kind and decent children become police officers. Presto! Everyone would be so much safer.

Kind and decent people tend to get drummed out of the force.

My brother is one of those kind and sweet people. He’s been an officer for 15ish years now. He’s caring and helpful, which is why he wanted to serve. It’s been his dream since childhood when he saw an officer help a couple that had been robbed.

But he’s hated simply because of the uniform he wears. That’s the problem with hate. When you universally hate a group of people, you hurt the many in that group who don’t fit your preconceived notions.

He should be defunded and fired, along with his entire department.

Most people don’t agree with you, PP. Most people, fortunately, are reasonable and choose not to make blanket statements about others based on the groups to which they belong.

[Anonymous]

People in high income neighborhoods generally feel like they don’t need the police until they do. When your husband drops dead in the kitchen the police will be the first to arrive. If you flip your car on the Beltway guess who’s breaking your window and extricating you from the car? I hope people here don’t need the police but I strongly doubt you’d refuse their help in an emergency. The amazing thing is that the police will help you even if you hate them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This black-and-white thinking is so MAGA. Can't make it perfect, so no choice but to let the status quo run to its worst impulses. All or nothing. Free rein for police bullies, or no police at all.

Where's the nuance? Where's the interest in incremental improvement? Are you that incapable of critical thought?

Please explain to us the nuance in the Democrat platform plank: abolish ICE.

I've never heard a democrat make a move to abolish ICE. I hear calls for due process, which are rejected out of hand by trump toadies. I hear pleas for compassion and decency in the face of human suffering, which get sneers and actual laughs from MAGA. I hear proposals that get shot down with wild edgecase thinking, no research or testing needed.

Why won't the right TRY anything new?? Why is the default position to dehumanize vulnerable people? Case in point, walking to Whole Foods on P St the other day with my kids.
Cops have a man in cuffs.
Their cruiser is in an alley, but really parked directly across the sidewalk.
The man is slumped against the cruiser, obviously dehydrated, not obviously inebriated, or raving, or fighting. Just restrained and passive. I only have field medical training, but it was clear as could be that the man needed IV fluids.
And the four cops were standing around joking with each other, ignoring him, forcing pedestrians to walk into the street, with a man on display and suffering. They were still there, still joshing around, still blocking the sidewalk, when we walked back 20 or so minutes later. But now they had smoothies.

If they had probable cause, why hadn't they taken him in for processing? Why hadn't they put him in the car, at least? Why didn't they move the car back 10 feet to clear the sidewalk? There was nothing behind it in the alley.

I see this kind of thing ALL THE TIME. Casual low-level cruelty and arrogance when so many other avenues are open.

All pedantry aside, this is why I dislike law enforcement.

How did four cops show up in one police car?

[Anonymous]

Defund the police does not mean abolish law enforcement. It means allocate resources to those best suited to do the job. As many have noted, police officers are not paramedics or social workers. We should not be asking police to do those jobs.

Needing them for some things does not mean giving them free rein to do whatever they want absent accountability. Every one of us does our jobs within established norms. If we stray, we get fired.

Also, if cops are so great, why don't you think they are capable of behaving more intelligently and humanely? Why do you insult them with these assumptions that their jobs are too hard to do well? Why can't the "vast majority" who are good check the ones who aren't? Unless maybe there are more bad ones than good ones, hmmm...

Train them better. Model and expect compassion. Hold them to higher standards. Root out the ones that make the rest look bad, if indeed it's only a few. Stop defending their worst behavior. Then we can talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because my esthetician has gone through more training hours than the officers in my town.

My local police force in VA only requires 100 hours of training.

Estheticians in VA must complete 600 hours of training.

Where did this lady go? This wasn’t her finest moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People in high income neighborhoods generally feel like they don’t need the police until they do. When your husband drops dead in the kitchen the police will be the first to arrive. If you flip your car on the Beltway guess who’s breaking your window and extricating you from the car? I hope people here don’t need the police but I strongly doubt you’d refuse their help in an emergency. The amazing thing is that the police will help you even if you hate them.[/quote.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fewer menacing black SUVs and less full combat armor roaming our streets would be a bonus.

I know a lot of soccer moms that drive black SUVs.

Do you think any officer wants to wear a 25 pound bullet proof vest 10 hours a day? Imagine what that’s like on a 90 degree day in July.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As many have noted, police officers are not paramedics or social workers. We should not be asking police to do those jobs.

People keep on asking though. That isn’t going to change. Everyone calls 911.

Anonymous wrote:Needing them for some things does not mean giving them free rein to do whatever they want absent accountability. Every one of us does our jobs within established norms. If we stray, we get fired.

Police go where they’re called to. What makes you think there is no internal accountability? The current established norms for police are to respond to emergencies of all kinds. Dispatchers take the calls and send the available resources.

Anonymous wrote:Also, if cops are so great, why don't you think they are capable of behaving more intelligently and humanely? Why do you insult them with these assumptions that their jobs are too hard to do well? Why can't the "vast majority" who are good check the ones who aren't? Unless maybe there are more bad ones than good ones, hmmm..

Train them better. Model and expect compassion. Hold them to higher standards. Root out the ones that make the rest look bad, if indeed it's only a few. Stop defending their worst behavior. Then we can talk.

You might be surprised by the number of younger police officers that have bachelors degrees and the older ones that have a masters. It’s more insulting to think their jobs aren’t hard. They don’t go through defensive tactics training for exercise. It isn’t some cardio boxing class. There are many people that would prefer to fight them rather than comply. They have to make split second decisions alone in the dark under duress. The vast majority of posters here could never manage the stress officers routinely deal with. The media rarely tells stories about humane or compassionate police interactions because of the “if it bleeds it leads” principle. Additionally what makes you think that police departments would release disciplinary actions? Would your HR department release information like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t dislike them. I cannot even begin to imagine what they deal with on a daily basis.

This. These individuals risk their lives every single day they go to work. These individuals have to deal with a lot of physical and emotional abuse. They witness deaths, disfigurements of bodies, abuse, etc. It mentally messes you up to do this kind of work. We need them. Does this mean that I don’t think there are issues within the system? No… but I don’t dislike them.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As many have noted, police officers are not paramedics or social workers. We should not be asking police to do those jobs.

People keep on asking though. That isn’t going to change. Everyone calls 911.

Anonymous wrote:Needing them for some things does not mean giving them free rein to do whatever they want absent accountability. Every one of us does our jobs within established norms. If we stray, we get fired.

Police go where they’re called to. What makes you think there is no internal accountability? The current established norms for police are to respond to emergencies of all kinds. Dispatchers take the calls and send the available resources.

Anonymous wrote:Also, if cops are so great, why don't you think they are capable of behaving more intelligently and humanely? Why do you insult them with these assumptions that their jobs are too hard to do well? Why can't the "vast majority" who are good check the ones who aren't? Unless maybe there are more bad ones than good ones, hmmm..

Train them better. Model and expect compassion. Hold them to higher standards. Root out the ones that make the rest look bad, if indeed it's only a few. Stop defending their worst behavior. Then we can talk.

You might be surprised by the number of younger police officers that have bachelors degrees and the older ones that have a masters. It’s more insulting to think their jobs aren’t hard. They don’t go through defensive tactics training for exercise. It isn’t some cardio boxing class. There are many people that would prefer to fight them rather than comply. They have to make split second decisions alone in the dark under duress. The vast majority of posters here could never manage the stress officers routinely deal with. The media rarely tells stories about humane or compassionate police interactions because of the “if it bleeds it leads” principle. Additionally what makes you think that police departments would release disciplinary actions? Would your HR department release information like that?

The PP critical of police is probably unaware that many of the complaints made to internal affairs are actually made by fellow police officers.

But that is not the narrative people want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As many have noted, police officers are not paramedics or social workers. We should not be asking police to do those jobs.

People keep on asking though. That isn’t going to change. Everyone calls 911.

Anonymous wrote:Needing them for some things does not mean giving them free rein to do whatever they want absent accountability. Every one of us does our jobs within established norms. If we stray, we get fired.

Police go where they’re called to. What makes you think there is no internal accountability? The current established norms for police are to respond to emergencies of all kinds. Dispatchers take the calls and send the available resources.

Anonymous wrote:Also, if cops are so great, why don't you think they are capable of behaving more intelligently and humanely? Why do you insult them with these assumptions that their jobs are too hard to do well? Why can't the "vast majority" who are good check the ones who aren't? Unless maybe there are more bad ones than good ones, hmmm..

Train them better. Model and expect compassion. Hold them to higher standards. Root out the ones that make the rest look bad, if indeed it's only a few. Stop defending their worst behavior. Then we can talk.

You might be surprised by the number of younger police officers that have bachelors degrees and the older ones that have a masters. It’s more insulting to think their jobs aren’t hard. They don’t go through defensive tactics training for exercise. It isn’t some cardio boxing class. There are many people that would prefer to fight them rather than comply. They have to make split second decisions alone in the dark under duress. The vast majority of posters here could never manage the stress officers routinely deal with. The media rarely tells stories about humane or compassionate police interactions because of the “if it bleeds it leads” principle. Additionally what makes you think that police departments would release disciplinary actions? Would your HR department release information like that?

The PP critical of police is probably unaware that many of the complaints made to internal affairs are actually made by fellow police officers.

But that is not the narrative people want.

100%

Or the scrutiny of body cam footage of every use of force incident.

If you punch a coworker in your finance cubicle farm HR is never going to report why you were fired.

[Anonymous]

There were 1367 people killed by police is 2024 according to MappingPoliceViolence.org. I have ho idea how many were justified or not.

According to a report from Yale University the number of hospital inpatient preventable deaths hovers around 20,000 annually.

Why can’t doctors and nurses do their jobs more intelligently or compassionately? Where is the outrage? Do they need better training? Don’t even get me started about the disparity in outcomes between white patients and black ones.

[Anonymous]

Blue line crap nope that is disgraceful racist shit . And dumb given the guy they support stole from their fellow officers.
Police have a hard job sure
Are the trained enough no

I work in a court house the majority are awful humans especially the entitled white males.

Don’t get me started on how bailiffs in court houses ex cops and sheriffs make a ridiculous amount of money and they sleep at their jobs. Yes literally take naps in courtrooms while judges hear cases. A women recently got beaten in an elevator by her ex husband because the bailiffs decided it was ok to send him out the same time as her to the parking lot after court . Ugh it was oast lunch time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blue line crap nope that is disgraceful racist shit . And dumb given the guy they support stole from their fellow officers.
Police have a hard job sure
Are the trained enough no

I work in a court house the majority are awful humans especially the entitled white males.

Don’t get me started on how bailiffs in court houses ex cops and sheriffs make a ridiculous amount of money and they sleep at their jobs. Yes literally take naps in courtrooms while judges hear cases. A women recently got beaten in an elevator by her ex husband because the bailiffs decided it was ok to send him out the same time as her to the parking lot after court . Ugh it was oast lunch time

Sounds like you have a beef with the judge and not the deputies.

I agree that we pay them too much. I think $30,000 is plenty to live in this area.They can bunk together in a tent outside the courthouse.