Posted on 12/01/2020 9:08:22 AM PST by cradle of freedom
Remember the big difference between police officers and sheriffs is that sheriffs are directly elected by the citizenry. Police are appointed by elected officials. It’s a big difference worth remembering.
In general, the “Mayor”, commissioner, and/or Chief of Police can control the deployment of assets.
However, every officer took an oath to enforce the law. This is the problem with the riot response in that you cannot order officers to ignore a crime in their presence.
What would you do to an officer that arrested an individual who assaulted him or another officer? I order you to stand there and be assaulted and not touch the peaceful protestor who did it?
Even in Portland the police have made lawful arrest. The DA there does nothing with the charge, but I am not aware that any officer has been punished for doing so.
How or why these men and women go out there every night and endure this crap is beyond reason to me. It seems rather pointless doesn’t it?
Lockdowns and mask mandates have proven how completely useless those “Oath Keeper” and “3%” idiots really are.
That is what I was thinking. That they must uphold their oath, even if that means refusing orders later. ??
Yes, they can refuse. Mayors can then fire them.
Yes.
The Chief of Police serves at the pleasure of the Mayor.
I prefer to just ignore ridiculous orders.
Somebody who no one dares to refuse is giving the orders.
According to my son in law, the state troopers are obligated to uphold the constitution of the US, the constitution and the laws of the commonwealth, and the legal directives of their chain of command.
This would be their immediate chain, the Commissioner of the State Police and then the Governor.
I would imagine in the cities, the police take a similar oath and as long as the Mayor is in the chain of the command and has the “authority” to act in an emergency...the Mayor can tell them to stand down.
The Mayor on the other hand could not order them to shoot people in the street who do not pose an immediate personal threat. That would be illegal.
(And stealing property in MA is not an immediate personal threat to one’s life—unless they are taking your O2 machine.)
> They can’t infringe on the rights of citizens, so they shouldn’t just blindly follow orders from criminal mayors. But some will because they’ll fear losing their cushy pensions. <
No cop (or anybody else, for that matter) should follow an unlawful or an immoral order. But there is often a middle ground between blind obedience and open defiance.
That middle ground is a slow-down. As in real sloooow. And it often helps to play stupid. Is that a form of cowardice? No. It’s more like asymmetrical warfare.
I never was a police officer. And I never played one on TV. But I was an inner-city school teacher for decades. And I received my share of directives that were more than just wrong. They were immoral.
Here’s just one example. One day I was asked to hand out sexual preference forms to my homeroom students. To hell with that! I threw the forms away.
The guidance counselor later asked for those forms. “What forms?” I asked. “Were they in a blue folder? I never got any blue folders.”
Slow and stupid worked for me. I never fulfilled a single one of those immoral directives. Yet I was able to continue my calling: get my students ready for college.
I’m sure most folks here have similar stories.
I see mayors and other politicians who are nothing more than organized criminals putting on airs like they are all that is good and honorable. We are controlled by an oligarchy of criminals. The politicians like to pose with police officers standing behind them as if to say that they are all for law and order. Politicians also enjoy the personal protection of police guards yet are the first to throw cops to the wolves when it serves their interests.
We need to give these criminals the disrespect they deserve.
“The Chief of Police serves at the pleasure of the Mayor.”
I’m not sure pleasure is the correct word. Accomplish the orders of the mayor while serving the people might be closer. If all they did was do what the mayor told them there would be times when they would be held liable for their actions with the mayor not called up for anything.
The standard police chief’s sworn oath covers it:
“On my honor, I will never betray my integrity, my character or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always maintain the highest ethical
standards and uphold the values of my community, and the agency I serve.”
https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/i-j/IACP_Oath_of_Honor_En_8.5x11_Web.pdf
No where does it say to blindly follow orders. There are such things as unlawful orders that are to be questioned. Military has them, too. And the intent of the police is to do no harm....if possible.
wy69
Not a right, but a duty, if the orders violate their oaths.
They are “sworn” officers. If they see crimes and criminals, they can and should arrest, whether it be a bank robber or a mayor.
Corruption from the top down—the swamp. They kept us in the dark for a long time but now many, many people are waking up. You can keep lying for a long time but you cannot lie forever.
Whats the difference between a police officer and a peace officer?
“No where does it say to blindly follow orders. There are such things as unlawful orders that are to be questioned. ....”
I did not mean to imply the Chief is a puppet, The Chief can refuse any order however the Mayor can dismiss the Chief on a whim if desired.
The officers serve the chief and so on.
Regrettably the chiefs job becomes a politically sensitive position sometimes because he works for the Mayor.
I have had three Chiefs in my family. One of them was fired because he simply disagreed with the Mayor.
We’ve been hearing about the Oathkeepers for years. They’re going to come charging in on a white horse and save the day. They’re like unicorns or leprechauns.
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