Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With a group that size, it is just a fact that we will have cases of law enforcement abuse practically every single day of the year. And I'm not talking about minor things like a cop being a jerk, I'm talking about substantial abuses.
Am I saying we should ignore it? Of course not, but I think the majority of these thread accomplish absolutely nothing besides turn it into background noise.
What I am saying is that the majority of these should be posted under the sub-forums where they will resonate more as a local issue. Departments will be more apt to investigate or make changes due to local pressure, and thread after thread under current events has become background noise.
If you want a more "national" debate under current events, just make a master thread "Cop abuses" and then link individual events, posted to the local sub-forum, into that thread.
So, is this the thread to dump all cases like this in?
What would happen when ongoing conversations take place on one case over another?
Seems to me that officers training should include sensitivity training instead of being hard assed then maybe these type of cases would be minimal.
But I won't hold my breath for that for some just think they are above the law. IMO, I think any officer needs to hold themselves higher than they would hold the general public. After all they are to protect and serve their communities not take people out on a daily basis.
They are separate because it emphasizes and draws attention to the problem. Attempt to put them all in one thread if you like - sweeping it under the rug.
Personally I will keep posting them as the individual events (that are symptomatic) of the overarching problem.
Cops are being given... well not sure if the word "right" applies here - but the ability to exercise life-and-death decisions over lives of citizens. They can lock you up, beat you, arrest you, kill you in the name of law.
With this comes great responsibility. A corrupt / bad cop is far more dangerous than a common criminal. He is not only destroying his victim, he is damaging the whole fabric of our society. Trust in police is an essential part of the system of law and order in this country. I had worked on projects in some countries where the citizens are afraid to call the police in case of a crime because the police may end up doing more harm than criminals. These are not fun places to be and the crime there runs rampant.
So while I agree with OP that bad cops are not the norm, there certainly is a need in any functional society to keep a watchful eye on what the police is doing. Some professions just require more scrutiny because they are trusted with more responsibilities and may end up doing more harm than others.
Practically every day we see another "Bad cop abuses..", "Bad cop shoots...", etc.
Does it really accomplish anything?
It has changed my thinking. I've seen so many videos and read so many stories of abusive cops now that I'm quite a bit more skeptical of arguments that the liberal media cherry picks incidents.
For me, this was the incident that first started me thinking the cops may be out of control:
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
...that doesn't change anything, but deflect away.
