I posted in another venue that the respect and authority of police is sourced directly from their perception as being worthy of that respect and authority, that police need to be held to a higher standard of conduct than the general public, and that when the individual bad apples have sufficiently spoiled the perception of the police as community, they will no longer have anything.skb12172 wrote:All business as usual. With all due respect to Paw Paw and please remember, I went through the Academy and had a badge for awhile, too. But, this has to be said. Is it really that surprising that people are beginning to take matters into their own hands and pop cops, here and there? Someone on this board predicted it. They said it would be like popcorn popping; a few here and there, then a whole bunch at once.Catbird wrote:I guess "probable cause" is now defined as "Our dispatcher told us that sumdood said there was a crime around here somewhere"
I don't know what makes me more pissed off about this:
A) No one will be held responsible, or punishment will be spread thin enough that it won't discourage this sort of behavior.
B) If it happened to me, my dogs would be dead and/or I'd be in jail facing a murder charge, (or dead).
C) The taxpayers will foot the entire bill, regardless.
The downward spiral starts with little things lke "Professional Courtesy" that evolves into "If it's not a felony I would never take down a brother, and then there's felonies, and there's felonies." (That's something directly from Policeone.com forums, where a topic was created about professional courtesy.)
It's a constant series of little things like travelling through construction zones at twenty over the limit, like flashing the overheads to get through a red light on the way to the lunch break, or forgetting to book a few dollars into evidence.
If cops didn't plant evidence guilty perps wouldn't be so quick to claim things were planted even if they aren't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Johnston_shooting
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/04/05 ... ce-videos/
If cops weren't so full of their own attitudes citizens' complaints that they acted inappropriately would not be believed:
http://www.cantonrep.com/article/201311 ... /131109669
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLQy4ZHUY90
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asnLQ8Ekwqg
The job of police is a thankless one. But the attitudes and conduct of all the tarnished badges ruin the reputation of the good officers. Is it any wonder that the less controlled part of society wants to declare war on cops?
When I was a kid, police were respected. Nobody would turn a gun on a cop. They were cops! I would also believe that in our parents' time things were probably way more informal than they are now and the opportunities for corruption without being caught were a lot greater- it was considered normal to let the beat cops have free lunches etc.
Nowadays....I don't approve and I would never agree with them, but I understand why some people want to start a war against cops.