Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

It’s Time for Conservatives to Stop Defending Police
nationalreview ^

Posted on 07/22/2014 9:32:19 PM PDT by chessplayer

Imagine if I were to tell you there is a large group of government employees, with generous salaries and ridiculously cushy retirement pensions covered by the taxpayer, who enjoy incredible job security and are rarely held accountable even for activities that would almost certainly earn the rest of us prison time. When there is proven misconduct, these government employees are merely reassigned and are rarely dismissed. The bill for any legal settlements concerning their errors? It, too, is covered by the taxpayers. Their unions are among the strongest in the country.

No, I’m not talking about public-school teachers.

I’m talking about the police.

We conservatives recoil at the former; yet routinely defend the latter — even though, unlike teachers, police officers enjoy an utter monopoly on force and can ruin — or end — one’s life in a millisecond.

On Thursday in Staten Island, an asthmatic 43-year-old father of six, Eric Garner, died after a group of policemen descended on him, placing him in a chokehold while attempting to arrest him for allegedly selling cigarettes. A bystander managed to capture video in which Garner clearly cries out, “I can’t breathe!” Even after releasing the chokehold (chokeholds, incidentally, are prohibited by NYPD protocol), the same officer then proceeds to shove and hold Garner’s face against the ground, applying his body weight and pressure on Garner, ignoring Garner’s pleas that he cannot breathe. Worse yet, new video shows at least eight officers standing around Garner’s lifeless, unconscious body.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: copsarescum; donutwatch; leo
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181-183 next last

1 posted on 07/22/2014 9:32:19 PM PDT by chessplayer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: chessplayer

Quit that a very long time ago.


2 posted on 07/22/2014 9:35:42 PM PDT by 98ZJ USMC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: chessplayer

Not falling for it “chess player” or whoever the original author is.
I will support the peace keepers and enforcers until they are no longer law abiding. Bad cops are like homos; a small percentage of them make the rest of their kind look bad. Mthe vast majority are good guys so go try your divisive message on another conservative website.


3 posted on 07/22/2014 9:38:46 PM PDT by jsanders2001
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jsanders2001

What about the large number of cops that see the average, law-abiding citizen as the enemy?


4 posted on 07/22/2014 9:42:11 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: Jack Hydrazine
"What about the large number of cops that see the average, law-abiding citizen as the enemy?"

Please provide a solid, fact based source.

6 posted on 07/22/2014 9:43:42 PM PDT by Respond Code Three (Support Free Republic lest we eventually get a Republic which is not free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: jsanders2001; chessplayer

I’m not buying it either.


7 posted on 07/22/2014 9:44:13 PM PDT by Respond Code Three (Support Free Republic lest we eventually get a Republic which is not free.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: chessplayer

Cast out the baby with the bath water, shall we?

Most cops are good people who believe in what they do and try to make their communities better and safer.

Are there too many who don’t serve for the right reasons? Sure. But that is true of many honorable professions.

I do, and will, support my local force. That doesn’t mean standing up for the bad apples and it doesn’t mean blind obedience.

The politicians by and large remain the problem.


8 posted on 07/22/2014 9:45:16 PM PDT by BlueNgold (Have we crossed the line from Govt. in righteous fear of the People - to a People in fear of Govt??)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: chessplayer
My support ended when they went here:

I think tea party people at the local level should support revising rules of engagement for the militarized police, and change training back to being a police officer rather than a assault force. Its pretty easy to campaign against shooting puppies.

9 posted on 07/22/2014 9:47:05 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #10 Removed by Moderator

To: null and void

Of possible interest.


11 posted on 07/22/2014 9:49:23 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Respond Code Three

I’ve run into a number of them over my life. Plus, we have more SWAT teams than ever that are used about 40,000 or more times a year for the most minor of violations of the law when they were intended to be used for only the most dangerous situations.


12 posted on 07/22/2014 9:50:27 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Respond Code Three

How about the ever-increasing number of dogs being shot and killed by them? You must be a big proponent of that, right?


13 posted on 07/22/2014 9:51:30 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: jsanders2001
The majority are good guys. The consequences of a run-in with the wrong one however, can be fatal. Police are the branch of the government authorized to use deadly force against you solely on the basis of their own discretion. No due process, no lawyers, no court hearings, no nothing.

If you wait until "they are no longer law abiding," at least your family may be able to make some money off a wrongful death suit.

Police are the reason George Washington observed that "Government is like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

14 posted on 07/22/2014 9:52:40 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: chessplayer

I think cops used to do their jobs, use minimum force and respect citizens much more. I wasn’t ashamed in the least to support cops and always give them the benefit of the doubt.

Anyone dissing the cops? That person is a criminal!

Charlton Heston publicly balled out Ice Tea for his anti-cop rhetoric, and I felt as Moses did.

Now? I’m not so sure. Use of force Is Cool and the cops have tats and listen to the same rap that their customers do.

The cops lost the dignity they once had and I’m studiously neutral to them now.


15 posted on 07/22/2014 9:54:13 PM PDT by gaijin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: chessplayer

There will always be the good and the bad in any profession. Having said that, the bad seeds who find their way into positions of trust like law enforcement are the worst of the worst in terms of the harm they can cause.

I’m a police officer. I have seen fine, upstanding officers railroaded and I’ve seen ones who are like Satan himself skate on everything they do. And I am sure most everyone here has seen that phenomenon in whatever line of work you are in, it just is more dangerous in this one.


16 posted on 07/22/2014 9:54:16 PM PDT by KJC1 (When you are dealing with the devil, the only answer is God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jack Hydrazine

I was pretty much unconditional in my support of LEO’s, until all the dog shootings. And they seem to have become too militarized.


17 posted on 07/22/2014 9:54:56 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: BlueNgold

That doesn’t mean standing up for the bad apples and it doesn’t mean blind obedience.

You don’t have to. The rest of the cops will do that.


18 posted on 07/22/2014 9:55:11 PM PDT by VerySadAmerican (Liberals were raised by women or wimps. And they're all stupid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Respond Code Three

Would you like me to post an endless number of articles of police abusing their power to the point of murder?


19 posted on 07/22/2014 9:55:35 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: jsanders2001
Bad cops are like homos; a small percentage of them make the rest of their kind look bad.

Let's correct that a little bit.. Bad court rulings allow bad cops to get off with their brutality. Shoot a kid holding an airsoft rifle? Totally immune from prosecution because 'police hold a special status; it is expected that failure to immediately follow police directives is in itself an indication of life threatening danger.' Think the worst case in Robocop; you have five seconds to comply before your life is ended.

So, yes, I support the police. I also support holding them (and every public employee) to the same laws and regulations that I must endure. I expect them to face the same prosecution for shooting someone that I would face if I had done the deed.

Bad laws, bad court decisions, make for bad cops.

20 posted on 07/22/2014 9:57:01 PM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181-183 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson