Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
Police have crossed the line a long time ago. It’s is an us verses them. They sure don’t look out for law abiding citizens. They try to make everyone into a criminal.
I despise the cops already. They are mostly punks who think they are so tough.
Some cops are doosh bags. Who knew? But guess what...some military officers are doosh bags. Some school teachers are doosh bags. Some priests are doosh bags too. Some have better pensions than others. Oh well.
Bear in mind that these are the leading shock troops of the coming take over, that’s what “we the people” should never forget.
How bad does it have to get before we stop defending them?
Picture Nazi Germany years and years ago and even before they came to power. The cops then were just doing their job, but as the years went by they became more militarized as they received more and more power from the State without accountability to the citizenry.
We are seeing the same thing today.
The absolute first thing we need to do is demilitarize the police. Almost every cop I meet these days refers to non-police as "civilians". Cops used to be civilians and they need to be again, after all there is a reason why we have the Posse Comitatus act. Remove the military weapons, the mindset, and armored vehicles.
We need to require the police (and other government entities) to obey the same laws that everyone else has to obey. If it's illegal for a civilian to have a brand new M16 then a cop (or Sheriffs / FBI / ATF / DEA / etc.) shouldn't be able to own one either. The same goes for 10 round magazine limits, "assault weapon" bans etc. There used to be a concept in America that the law applied to everyone equally. We need to get back to this idea.
Repeal asset forfeiture laws. There is no longer any presumption of innocence or due process in these unconstitutional proceedings.
Reorganize police departments so that the chain of command is clear. State police departments should mostly be disbanded and incorporated into county Sheriff's departments.
Last but not least, make no knock warrants illegal.
Problem solved.
I agree with the line from the article:
But it’s time for conservatives’ unconditional love affair with the police to end.
In the 1980s, about 60,000 people blocked doorways and hallways, keeping murderers away from their intended victims. Thousands of police officers came to these scenes, and made themselves direct accomplices to murder by removing the people who were obstacles to the murders.
NOT ONE Catholic bishop in America published a statement instructing the police not to make themselves accomplices to murder. A number of bishops ENCOURAGED the police to make themselves accomplices to murder—most notably John May of St. Louis.
When the “government” tells them to, American police KILL innocent people. They have done it in the past, and they will do it in the future. And they routinely murder innocent people every day.
Most men will commit any crime for a paycheck. The police are our enemies in this country, because the “government” is our enemy.
Personally, I support the good cops and condemn the bad ones, because not all cops are the same and not all departments are the same.
I’m shocked and dismayed when I see the horrific behavior in so many different areas by so many stupid and thuggish cops across the nation, which is particularly difficult because I happen to live in a bubble of good cops in Boulder County, Colorado. I have many friends, some of who are very close friends, who work in the Boulder County Sheriff’s office. I’ve even done IT campaign work for one Boulder County Sheriff.
I’ve gone on many ride-alongs with a number of Boulder County Sheriff’s as well as the City of Longmont police, and I can tell they’re all going about things just like they have for hundreds or thousands of times before, not trying to act any differently because I’m there, and all I’ve ever observed was supreme professionalism. Of course, it does help quite a bit that both departments require college degrees of their applicants.
One of my best friends is a Boulder County Deputy Sheriff who’s about to retire, and observing him in action, it’s evident he’s the exact opposite of a cowboy or a gung-ho SWATer. In standoffs where no one is in danger but an individual stanoffee, he’s always told me that his strategy is just to wait around until the guy comes out, no matter how many days it takes, because sooner or later the guy is going to come out when he runs out of food, water, or gets tired of being cold in the dark if the utilities have come out. No need for any shooting or other unnecessary violence or action. Just simple waiting does the trick.
So, I see both sides: there’s great cops and great departments, and there are deplorable cops and deplorable departments. But seems like there’s an awful lot of thoughtless folks here who like to make ridiculous generalizations that ALL cops are evil thugs. Interesting though, that despite the accusations of people here being “cop lovers”, I’m only seeing that the others simply have balanced positions. The people here who seem to be unbalanced are the “cop haters”.
