Posted on 06/08/2020 5:10:19 PM PDT by grundle
We can disagree, Left and Right, on how to handle the debate about racial justice spurred by the killing of George Floyd. But we should all be able to agree on at least one step forward: abolish police unions. I would argue, strongly, that it wasn't racism (whether institutional or structural) that killed Floyd because, sadly, as the case of Justine Ruszyzk shows, death by cop doesn't just happen to black people. Cops in Minneapolis have throttled at least 44 people into unconsciousness in just the past five years, that might have something to do with it. As to why that has happened, I insist that it's because we don't, yet we ought to, hold the police to the same general standards of care and attention that we do everyone else.
As Alex Tabbarok points out, union contracts mean that police, if arrested for some reason, enjoy privileges that the rest of us most certainly don't if we're arrested. As Sam Sinangwye points out (and he's a researcher into this very problem), in places where union contracts provide more privileges, then police violence is greater. It's useful to provide a reminder of what President Franklin Roosevelt said about public sector unions: There are “insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management.” The biggest problem here is we're talking about the police — the very people who are supposed, at least, to be no more than (and absolutely no less than) citizens in uniform.
Sure, it's true, those principles from Sir Robert Peel, the inventor of even the idea of a modern police force, apply much more in other English-speaking countries than they do in the United States, but this is part of the problem. As William Bratton has been known to point out, it is “policing by consent” that is important. The police are just some subset of all of us detailed to look after a certain section of what makes a society work. They exist to track down malefactors and, if necessary, to enforce public order. But the powers with which they do so should be those which are open to any of us. That power to arrest is not specific to those in uniform, a citizen's arrest is entirely valid. To restrain someone engaging in violence, any of us may do that.
But with those same powers also goes the same responsibilities. To be as gentle as possible about it, to make a mistake should lead to the same consequences for the private citizen exercising those powers as it should be for those in uniform. The same is true of abusing those powers too. This is where unions and their contracts become that problem.
The agreements that have built up over the years, such things as qualified immunity for the police and other inequalities before the law, are specifically there in order to release the police from those same responsibilities in the exercise of those powers. That's what unions are for, of course, to privilege union members — which is why we must not have them in the police force.
Getting rid of these special arrangements means getting rid of the unions that negotiate them. That might only be a start, but it's a necessary precondition. Abolishing police unions would be the first step in moving police forces away from their position as legally privileged occupying powers back to what they ought to be — just the citizenry in uniform serving the society they are a part of.
How about all government unions? especially teachers?
If blacks don’t want cops ,,,fine...The white areas will keep them..Watch the libs howl...It has nothing to do with bad cops...Its to make sure all of us are unarmed and defenseless....
I was thinking those same words as I read this article.
Just let the BLMers and their local city rulers/masters get rid of the cops/firemen/emts and the teacher unions, as those people will not be needed in their BLM new world order!
We do have to figure out how to modify the system to get rid of the truly bad cops. I know of one, and he just keeps getting shuffled around, and he’s back on a SWAT team.
False assumption right at the start.
There is no proof George Floyd was killed.
Many indications he died of natural causes, including the drugs in his system.
Every year take the top 1-2% of cops in terms of complaints and make them justify why they should keep their jobs.
Newsflash for you... even the Hennepin County Medical Examiner classified it as a homicide on the death certificate.
The jury will decide if anyone was culpable be it accidental, negligent/reckless or intentional.
I suppose it’s justa coincidence that this would be a gigantic boon to the trial lawyers.
You can already sue cops easily for a wide variety of violations. It’s laughable to say they cannot be sued. The bane of every cop’s life is lawsuits.
This is just a scam to futher enrich the race industry lawyers.
I’m good with that
“ Many indications he died of natural causes, including the drugs in his system. ”
Indeed there is. The fentanyl level alone is reported to be 4 times a lethal dose.
True, but they didn't attribute it to the actions of the MPD. They said that it might have been a contributing factor.
Taking large doses of Fent and Meth together can cause your lungs to quit working.
“The fentanyl level alone is reported to be 4 times a lethal dose.”
If that’s true, maybe one of the cops did something to get it into his system. Can it be given via syring — a “hot shot” —immediately before he died? If he had four times the lethal dose, then he wasn’t going to be saying” I can’t breathe” several times. Generally, dead men don’t speak.
...um......no.......
I’m assuming his tolerance was quite high.
Plan on the three “ bystanders” walking and the kneeler (gotta love the irony) getting off light.
author is 100% wrong
officers are trusted witnesses of the court
officers have much higher protections from the state while doing their job
officers can use greater force to stop people than ordinary citizens
they have immunity from personal prosecution while doing their jobs in official capacities unless they are breaking laws and are acting criminally themselves
Indeed.
The article talks about qualified immunity for cops as if it’s some kind of union perk. That’s nonsense. Qualified immunity is a legal principle, stemming from a number of federal court rulings.
“We do have to figure out how to modify the system to get rid of the truly bad cops.”
Let’s start with something easier: when one cop misbehaves, don’t take it out on all the other cops.
Why shouldn't good cops have the right to representation when they are falsely accused, like we've seen during these riots. I've seen Correctional officers railroaded by New York State. I saw a fellow female officer with 15 years in the department lose her job because she was ordered by the Watch Commander to take a camera to the box so they could photograph an inmate that had just been transferred in from another facility.
Six officers, and one Sergeant were suspended without pay...all over claims by an inmate that they beat him up. The fact is, it never happened, and it was never proven that it happened, but the Administration pursued charges against all of them. The female officer was the first to have her hearing. She asked for, but was never afforded legal assistance from the Union. The arbitrator fell asleep during her hearing, yet he saw fit to recommend she be fired for simply following orders. And the f'in Lieutenant who sent her down there was too weak-kneed to stick up for her at the hearing. He was more worried about making Captain, a position you had to have political backing for.
The other 6 suspensions lasted for almost a year. The remaining male officers and black Sergeant, all were afforded legal assistance from the Union, and by the time all of the hearings were held, no one else...not one male officer lost his job. The black Sergeant who had been in charge of the box that night ended up getting demoted, but he didn't lose his job. The Arbitrator claimed the reason he didn't fire the Sergeant was because "they needed black officers," never mind the fact that white females were a minority in the department, and the fact that the fired female had an exemplary record, and had been a trainer at the Academy.
The Union I belonged to never helped me during my 25 years. As a female, I pretty much had to fight for everything I got. But not all Unions are like the one I had to belong to. There are plenty others that represent ALL officers, not just a select few. And there are plenty of good officers who shouldn't have to go without the assistance of the Union's legal department when they are falsely accused of something they didn't do.
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