Is the militarization of police outside of large metropolitan areas with no real drug and gang violence really necessary? I get that some areas require police to be able to drop the hammer (cough cough LA, Bakersfield, Fresno), and that it’s important for police to have access to big boy firearms, but why is it that I hear about small town police buying warzone equipment? Is that APC and tank really necessary, especially when tax payers are paying for it and it only serves as a dick waving tool. Its frankly unnecessary outside large cities or towns with actual trash demographics
Why is it that police agencies spend a disproportionate amount of time training officers how to respond with violence, rather than more diffusive measures? A very good example of unchecked police awarness, is the rampant murder of family dogs. You would think that an officer who was supposedly trained, would take more caution on how he behaves and interacts with another individual that has a guard dog. Instead they escalate the situation, and often shoot the dog becasue. A situation like this happened with my uncle. He told the police he had a guard dog, and that the dog would attack intruders, he wanted to go restrain the dog so that the police could do their job invading the neighboors house. Police refuse to listen, and then the police dog gets its shit pushed in by my uncles dog rightfully so. The police then brutally beat my uncles dog to near death, leaving him with a permanent injuries, and a deformed head due to caving in the dog’s poor head. Another classic example was when a police officer had his authority checked by a fireman who came to help a civilian in a vehicle. The officer arrests the fireman because he didn’t listen to him, and he didn’t care that the man needed help.
Why do police agencies pretend to be authority figures when it comes to pharmacokinetics and the effects of drugs on people and the impact it will have on health and the economy? I’ve seen way to many agencies pushing narratives as if they where qualified chemists and or doctors. I understand some of the campaigns police do push to discourage drug use (drunk driving snapshots, actual science done by real scientists and not government paid shills, statistics, and time lapse potratis of repeat drug offenders) are understandable and should be praised, by why larp and lie about it? There’s a video of a police officer “employing” a field test for marijuana impairment on random drives, and when challenged with a drug test at the station, the officer responds by saying there simply is no test for marijuana.
Why does the police not take mental health more seriously? We constantly hear about the “thin blue line” and “blue lives matter”, however, its disgusting and a disservice equivocal to how ordinary citizens larp about supporting our troops. The second largest cop killer is suicide. death on the line of duty is inconsequential relative to traffic deaths, and suicide. Police agencies don’t prioritize mental health, and don’t make it a public issue, but are quick to make police deaths by random shooters a big deal. With the amount of suicides in the police demographic, you would think that it would be an issue, and coupled with how there are so many cases of police abusign power and being abusive assholes, police agencies would be on top of this.
Lastly, why are cops, and I know you know this to be true, prissy assholes when it comes to choosing a brother in blue vs telling the truth. One of my dad’s closest friends was a police officer, and he saw a lot of shady shit done by police against citizens. He’s told me that there really isn’t good cops becasue good cops would out the bad apples within the department, but they don’t’ because police agencies drill an us vs them mentality. There was a prolific case a California highway patrol woman arrested a police officer for breaking the law and committing several gross traffic violation that endangered the lives of other drivers. She was harassed not only by the opposing police department, she was also harassed by other highway patrol officers and had to quit her job. The only crime she did was enforce the law against a fellow officer. This is a problem that is systemic within the US as reported by many news agencies, the federal government itself, stories such as this one, and ancedotal evidence when police unions come out in full force of support of an officer who clearly stepped out of line.
Look, I get the job and shit police have to deal with regarding certain groups of people. I’ve lived with them for a good portion of my life, and many of those who are arrested for what they do really are assholes that deserve the beatings that happen on elevator rides when the cameras “mysteriously” stop working. But why are those measures leeching into other facets of police conduct and making it unnecessarily difficult for civilians and police officers?