Well, This Is Distressing....

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by LawDawg

Pio. Here's a short piece I wrote on Dec. 21, 2014 that pretty well sums up what I think on being in Law Enforcement....Cannon fodder for some to use, but, that's okay. Contrary to what you all are capable of believing, I do like helping people. It was during the Ferguson riots....


Ever since I was a young child, I never wanted to be anything else. When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I sent a letter to the Memphis P.D. stating my intention of being a cop when I grew up. Mama got me a stamp and helped me mail it....a couple of weeks later, an officer from the "recruitment" division showed up at my house (much to everyone's surprise) and gave me a plastic badge and we had a little "swearing in" ceremony. I never have categorized people due to their ethnicity....It's always been "good guys" and "bad guys." People who intend evil and harm to those who cannot protect themselves.....people who would "take" your possessions because they have a weapon, because they are bigger and stronger than you, those who put others in danger because they choose to drink and drive....the pedophiles, the pushers, the predators who feed off the defenseless. Black, white, Asian, Latino; it's all the same. I don't know what the hell happened...a person's race is inconsequential. The only pertinent point is "are you breaking the law?" Like many, I shy away from asserting my opinion(s) on race because it's far easier to just say nothing and then there is no chance of being accused. I'm not a racist; I'm a cop. The picture below defines my intent and the vast majority of my L.E. contemporaries..... Our nation is crumbling....cops will not become victims because it's not in our nature to back down.....I don't believe that the events of the last few months have been "growing" by themselves. There is a force working behind the scene feeding the deterioration....what's coming? Martial law? Anarchy? UN troops in the nation rounding up "Constitutionalists?" I don't know, but, I think dark days are not on the horizon, they're here.....

Dude, get professional help.

If you are a cop, as you claim, then you should have pretty good employer paid for insurance insurance that will cover most of the expense.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by JJIII

I agree, but how much has sensationalized media coverage contributed to the problem.
.

IMHO, not at all. It has helped to bring this systemic problem to the public attention, a very good thing.

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by noonereal

IMHO, not at all. It has helped to bring this systemic problem to the public attention, a very good thing.

Quite so, this is self-inflicted attention more often than not, going back more than a century. Police with full community support and mutual respect do not have a negative media attention problem.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[CarlV]

The Baltimore Chief was Oakland's Chief when there was the Oscar Grant rioting. A couple pieces of rotten fruit can make the whole basket look bad. Here in my burg back in the 90's we got a Chief from San Jose, Bill Landsdown IIRC, and he put in community policing with cops walking, riding bikes and such. Crime dropped like 15% or so. Then he took off to fix another city and our next Chief got rid of it and crime went back up 15%. So that Chief went away and next put it back in and talked the city into springing for shot detectors in the tougher areas. Little gang bangers didn't/don't like the response time to shots being fired. Can't fire your gun without the cops knowing where and when in live time lol. Yep, that was worth every penny to put that system in.
Guess what I'm saying is IMO a vast majority are great people doing great work and working on being better but there will always be the rotten egg and this applies to every line of work. It is good that the cover up is going away just like priests and everybody else. Too bad the broadcast media can't be a bit more responsible....


Carl

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by CarlV

The Baltimore Chief was Oakland's Chief when there was the Oscar Grant rioting.

Not sure about that, Carl. I think Batts came later but I think he was chief for Occupy Oakland. He wasn't here very long.

[BlueStreak]

I see a "force" behind the decline of America as well. Malachai says it's He Who Walks Behind the Rows but I'm leaning more towards blaming the Outlanders. At any rate, it won't stop until all the Grups are dead, in accordance with That Which is Written.

Dave

[CarlV]

I heard it on KPIX newscast but the CC Times has this article that supports it.

Former Oakland police Chief Batts in hot seat in Baltimore
By Tammerlin Drummond Oakland Tribune Columnist


Batts is no stranger to police brutality protests. Ten months into his Oakland tenure, there were violent protests in Oakland after former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in July 2010 for fatally shooting Oscar Grant III, 22, on the Fruitvale BART platform. How Batts dealt with those protests and his public comments about how he would have handled Occupy Oakland demonstrations differently had he been in charge -- provide some interesting insight into Batts recent performance in Baltimore.
Link

Carl

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

No. Not you. Bluestreak was responding to criticism of lawdawg, wasn't he?

Bluestreak was responding to the noisy melee in the Rumpus Room. No cookies-n-milk today for the lot of you!

Dave

[Zeke]

Quite simply, you can have safe cops or safe criminals as members of society at large. The key query is, given that both are culled from society, which grouping do you desire to empower?

Any reduction in the ability for police to protect themselves is an empowerment of the latter.

[Rajoo]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Quite simply, you can have safe cops or safe criminals as members of society at large. The key query is, given that both are culled from society, which grouping do you desire to empower?

Any reduction in the ability for police to protect themselves is an empowerment of the latter.

Cops and criminals have to obey the same set of laws. Criminals disobey and they get punished. The cops? They walk and that's the problem in a nutshell.

Who is empowering whom?