07-22-2016, 10:53 AM
(07-22-2016, 03:04 AM)RICHMONDBENGAL_07 Wrote: I have a huge amount of respect for what you do. That being said, what is your opinion on why so much of this seems to be happening? For lack of a better word it seems to me some (lEO's) are a bit more gung ho than is needed. I don't know you personally, but I do know you through these boards and you seem like the kind of officer that I preferred pulled me over. That also being said, I've encountered some real D-bag officers. If I remember correctly you were in the military, so was I. And I remember a lot of guys that were idiots that I wouldn't trust with a potato gun (I think that was a movie quote but can't remember which one) Any way my point is I understand your defensive position for LEO's, but something has to give. What is a good start?
Ok, a few things. I have said several times in the past, well before this became a national issue, that many LEO's back east are poorly trained. That would be one place to start. You are absolutely correct, there are some absolute asshats in any department/organization. Much like every other profession some people are competent some people are great at their job and some people are bad at it. Much like any other job some people are pleasant human beings some people are neutral and some people are jerks. Even the pleasant person can have a bad day or encounter someone who manages to push their buttons.
As to how to fix it, not all of that can come from LEO's. Training everyone up is important. Stressing the need to use your verbal skills before moving on to anything physical. I found very quickly that simply validating a person, even if they were being unreasonable, resulted in an instant deescalation on their part. Some of it needs to come from the community. If you're given an instruction follow it. Unless the officer is trying to strip search you or throw you in a trunk just comply. You don't know all the reasons for the order and sometimes we don't have the time to explain or shouldn't. If you are treated unfairly then you'll win your case in court, but don't try and win it on the street. Stop shoving cellphones within inches of an officer's face. If you're part of a crowd of onlookers don't insinuate yourself into the situation (this happens all the time now). If you want to film, fine, just keep your distance. It's now become a thing to openly challenge every single thing an LEO does. It doesn't solve anything it merely exacerbates the situation.
Lastly, the media needs to start reporting responsibly on these instances instead of sensationalizing for click bait purposes. The internet is both the best and worst thing that has ever happened to the media. Everyone can be a news source so much less falls through the cracks. The other edge being that there's almost limitless competition so legit media sources resort to crass sensationalism in a desperate attempt to stay relevant. For every Tamir Rice there's a Mike Brown that unjustly gets conflated with them. Mike Brown's narrative couldn't be more false and yet his mother is speaking at the DNC. Really?
While this is a problem, any bad shoot is a problem, it is not nearly the problem that it has been blown up to be. Far more people die of medical malpractice every year, but unless it's Joan Rivers dying you don't hear about it. Literally millions of police/civilian interactions occur every year that end peacefully. Millions of traffic stops, millions of arrests, etc. The Guardian UK has a project called "The Counted" in which they list every person killed by law enforcement for the year. You read their list and you find yourself saying, good shoot, good shoot, good shoot, point being almost all of them are solid shootings. They even, likely to inflate numbers, include killing by LEO's not on duty, which to me is inane but whatever. You always hear, police have killed X people this year. That number is a bullshit number and means nothing to me. If the number of good shootings and X are the same then who gives a shit? It means the police are doing their job properly. It's the difference between X and the number of good shootings that should concern you, me and everyone. Using the total number is yet another example of how this whole problem is represented in a way to make it seem like a far greater problem than it is.
