Posted on 08/20/2014 12:01:34 AM PDT by chessplayer
As we watch the turmoil in Ferguson — where protests and police crackdowns raged for a week in the wake of a police shooting of an unarmed black teenager — many Americans have been forced to reassess their views on the duty and tactics of the police. But we conservatives — with our dueling affinity for law-and-order institutions like the police and our libertarian-inspired opposition to abuses of government power — are perhaps the most torn.
Over at the Federalist, Hans Fiene notes, "For many conservatives, especially those of us living in nice, comfy suburbs, it's hard to apply the 'power corrupts' doctrine to law enforcement because we've never seen corrupted enforcers of the law." But now we're all seeing it.
In recent years, conservative opinion leaders have been more willing to question authority. They're more skeptical of the police and the military, and don't just accept everything these institutions do as being in service of their "protect and serve" purposes.
As Red State's Erick Erickson writes, "It is perfectly fine to think Mr. Brown was no saint, the rioters should be punished, and in addition to both of those, to think the police in Ferguson, Missouri, behaved badly too. Before rioting even began the police in Ferguson decided to behave like soldiers instead of police."
He's right. And the adoption of a "Warrior Cop" persona might be the symbolic turning point.
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
My view of the police is precisely the same as my opinion of the rest of the government. I don’t trust them, I certainly don’t like them and, if they weren’t the muscle preventing me from arming myself as I choose, I probably wouldn’t need them very much. Like the rest of the government, they are a necessary evil. How necessary and how evil are the open questions.
Nice burger!
Well, that’s not true. Right here on FR before Ferguson there were constant cautions about police power. Some were conspiracies but some not. Now many conservatives who were rightly concerned about rising police power against ordinary citizens suddenly aren’t concerned?? I am. Any guns in the hands if the state can easily be turned against all citizens.
<If Ferguson needs an army, fine, call in the Nat. Guard, but don’t turn cops into domestic SEALs.
That's the phrase that struck me upside the head too. I place my faith in Jesus Christ. No other.
I seem to recall years ago some big city (NY?) had a Civilian Review Board to investigate police wrongdoing. Might be time to revisit this idea.
To Octar:
“Most police have very little education. I don’t mean college, I mean having done enough reading to have a feel and understanding about what this country is about and what being an American really means.”......
And you can speak with great authority related to that issue?
Why, once again, has everyone come down on police when, truth be known the shooting of Big Mike “Mad Dog” Brown just may have been completely justified. Until we all know the facts “keep your powder dry”, you may need it when/if Office Williams is found INNOCENT of any wrong doing.
What are you talking about! The police must contain the violence, arrest the rioters, and if needed, the journistist’s who get in the way. If not, the unorganized militia WILL.
Unfortunately it's the hundreds of other cases across the country where police were proven to be wrong but the other officers "circle the wagons" around the bad cops that cause this distrust.
I won't bother to list them, they're easy enough to Google. But as far as this case is concerned IMHO,the cop was 100% right. (assuming the info we're hearing about is accurate: suspect tried to take cop's gun, punches cop in face etc.)
” Utter nonsense. What I am tired of and
find more troubling is the media desire to
make police look bad.....just like they do
anytime thugs and looters want to
destroy neighborhoods”
Ya, because the Dorner hunt, wrong/innocent SWAT raids, shooting a kid with a wii,....on and on. None of that makes cops look bad? Cop over aggression and attitudes make cops look bad. They don’t need help. Their willingness to accept bad cops make them look bad.
I lost faith in police years ago, Ferguson has very little to do with it. That said, I have not lost faith in justice and the rule of law.
I lost faith in the police because of:
-unions. Just like any union, they protect the bad apples and shield them from accountability. Very rarely are complaints of police brutality followed by disciplinary action.
-taxes. Many governments are swimming in red ink thanks to their big government policies. They have used the police as glorified tax and fee collectors (quotas to give traffic violations and the like.) This has soured even the police supporters.
-militarization. Not just of the police but of governmental agencies that shouldn’t have a freaking SWAT.
-Cushy pensions. Assuming that police have a dangerous job, how do you square a policeman’s pension with a miliary schlub’s who may actually find himself/herself in the middle of an actual war?
Man charged for shooting when cops went to wrong house (Jury finds him innocent) WAVY ^ | July 15, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3180907/posts
Sober woman arrested for DWI after deputy rolls through stop sign NewsChannel 3 WTKR ^ | May 2, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3154158/posts
Elderly man calls for ambulance, violent cops beat him instead daily caller ^ | 4-21-14 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3147475/posts
Horror: Cops tackle, beat, pepper-spray, pin, suffocate, kill innocent man Daily Caller ^ | 02/25/2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3127187/posts
Wisconsin Police Chief Pleads No Contest to Harassing Tea Party Leader The La Crosse Tribune ^ | 7/26/2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3185371/posts
Six-year-old girl watches in horror as police 'shoot dead her dog Apollo in her front yard 7/28/2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3186053/posts
NYPD officer pictured 'putting seven-months pregnant woman into a chokehold for illegally grilling outside her apartment' July 28, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3186193/posts
Man beaten, three SAPD officers investigated for possible excessive force July 24, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3187839/posts
Officer Puts Gun To Boy’s Throat In McDonald’s Drive Thru For Taking Too Long | Aug 2, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3188244/posts
San Antonio police mistake photographer for fleeing drug suspect, beat him silly Washington Post ^ | July 29, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3186590/posts
Trooper filmed 'brutally beating woman on side of California Hwy (For Her "Protection") Daily Mail ^ | 7-4-2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3176062/posts
A SWAT team blew a hole in my 2-year-old son Salon ^ | June 24, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3172322/posts
Veteran Stopped for No Front License Plate, Beat to Death by 5 Cops 5/19/2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3157894/posts
Cops Kill Man In Wal-Mart Carrying An Air Rifle That He Might Have Planned To Buy (Cops kill bystander) Daily Caller ^ | August 7, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3191282/posts
Officer shot in road rage clash also indicted Pioneer Press ^ | 8-10-14 | http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3191425/posts
Off-Duty LAPD Officer Apparently Pointing Gun in Photo NBC Bay Area ^ | Sunday, Aug 10, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3191691/posts
Chief: Police killed California robbery hostage [police shot hostage 10 times]] Associated Press ^ | August 11, 2014 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3191771/posts
St. Paul police officer allegedly left scene of (His) accident Pioneer Press ^ | 8-11-14 |http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3191748/posts
Many of us have been speaking out about the militarization of the police long before this recent incident. It’s been clear for some time, that the police have become much more an occupying army than organizations tasked to “protect and serve”.
and where in my comment do you find a willingness to accept bad cops?
The police encounter Americans every single day of the week. The media blows smoke up your skirt and you giggle and like it.
If you think the media are your friend you are mistaken. If you look at what is going on in Ferguson and think that this is okay then you are more Alex Jones than thoughtful
” and where in my comment do you find a
willingness to accept bad cops?”
I said cops accept bad cops, not you. Look at the Harless issue, and the support he got. Dorner hunt? On and on, cops circle the wagons around an accused officer. And they turn on cops who don’t play ball. Thin Blue Line? Heard of it?
Your contention is that media is responsible. I contend that cops bear responsibility. Poor attitudes, high aggression, covering for each other. The ease in which they make mistakes. And people are noticing all of it.
Yes I can. And I didn’t say “all”. No, I won’t give you my CV.
Enjoy the continuing Cloward and Piven destruction of our country. Since the 60s the media and the left have done everything they can to demonize both the military and the police.
Sometimes, I think I’ve allowed myself to get paranoid about cops.
Then, I read their own semi-literate, psychotic ravings on issues like this and realize that the crisis is worse than I want to believe:
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