Thoughts on police?

[iron81]

I'm wading in a little deep here, but you or a like minded citizen should be able to go to a judge and get a writ of mandamus ordering the Sheriff to knock it off. Most public officials aren't ballsy enough to ignore a judge in a high profile case and even if they were the judge can technically fine the Sheriff's office.

[NickyD]

Personaly I believe officers aren't allowed to use enough force. If you reside in a metropolitan area surely you must be aware of the situations they encounter.That kid was asked to leave he chose to resist and got what he deserved.Anyone who physically resists an officer is a fool.If hes got a problem don't resist and address it later

[John Kilduff]

[ QUOTE ]
Personaly I believe officers aren't allowed to use enough force. If you reside in a metropolitan area surely you must be aware of the situations they encounter.That kid was asked to leave he chose to resist and got what he deserved.Anyone who physically resists an officer is a fool.If hes got a problem don't resist and address it later

[/ QUOTE ]

Did he resist or did he just not cooperate? That is a significant difference in my opinion.

Whether he deserved it or was a fool is largely irrelevant in my opinion. The officers should not ever use more force than they judge to really be necessary. They should certainly never use extra force as punishment.

I do agree it is a different matter if someone is threatening the officers (or others) in some manner, or if the officers have reasonable cause to believe that the person may present a physical danger. But the kid could have been the biggest smartass jerk in the world and in my mind that gives the officers zero excuse to use any excessive force. If they do, then I believe they thereby overstep their bounds, and the public trust given to them, and should be stripped of their right to work as public police officers--and possibly faced with civil and/or criminal penalties as well.

By the way, the other thread in which bkholdem described his being beaten by officers made me sick. In my opinion those officers all should have been fired, severely penalized and prohibited from ever working in similar capacity again for the public sector. Moreover, bkholdem ought to be entitled to substantial monetary compensation from the assets of both those officers personally and from the city or town.

Wearing a badge does not confer a right to be a bully at one's own discretion. Given that they are entrusted with a great deal of power, they should be severely penalized if they abuse it.

On the flip side, I feel that police officers have a hard and dangerous row to hoe, and should be entitled to greater compensation than they currently receive. They should be paid enough to attract very high quality people, and only very high quality people should be accepted to the job. It should be a prestigious well-paid career with very well-defined and respected parameters.

Police should be paid enough that they truly take honor in "protecting and serving." And the police forces should set the bars high enough that they attract the type of person who would be likely to do this, and miscreants should be weeded out as fast as possible. I think a salary of perhaps three times the current scale would enable police forces to select some of the very best personnel available. Resources should be made available for this and if that means hiring fewer officers then so be it. In my opinion, five really good dedicated police officers > fifteen policeman who are just so-so.

edited: there are some very good, conscientious dedicted officers out there, of course, and they deserve all manner of respect. But IMO that is the way every police officer should be since they are entrusted with such great power and responsibility. I will say that I do not hold a negative opinion of all police as I have met some who were very good and fair, and others who were outright jerks. I would like to see the proportion improved, and IMO the way to do that might be to set the bars much higher and to compensate them accordingly. And then tolerate no bullying, graft or unprofessionalism whatsoever.

[RR]

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They should be paid enough to attract very high quality people, and only very high quality people should be accepted to the job. It should be a prestigious well-paid career with very well-defined and respected parameters.


[/ QUOTE ]

I woulf fovr this in theory, but in practice I think it would just mean across the board raises for the people that currently have those jobs.

[John Kilduff]

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[ QUOTE ]
They should be paid enough to attract very high quality people, and only very high quality people should be accepted to the job. It should be a prestigious well-paid career with very well-defined and respected parameters.


[/ QUOTE ]

I woulf fovr this in theory, but in practice I think it would just mean across the board raises for the people that currently have those jobs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point, and that had not occurred to me.

[BCPVP]

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I have personally been physically beaten by police for giving some lip, not resisting in any way or threatening, but talking in an angry and insulting way to the police.

[/ QUOTE ]
Now, I think the cops were wrong in this situation, but sometimes you have to use your head and realize that sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut. I might not "deserve" a beating if I went up to a group of rednecks and picked a fight with them, but that's what's going to happen.

Personally, my only up-close experience with the police has been two speeding tickets.

[Jimbo]

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Personally, my only up-close experience with the police has been two speeding tickets.


[/ QUOTE ]

Were you also tasered?

Jimbo

[BCPVP]

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Personally, my only up-close experience with the police has been two speeding tickets.


[/ QUOTE ]

Were you also tasered?

Jimbo

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Tasers bounce right off of me. Took the whole police force to bring me in and that was after a couple of incapacitating 9mm rounds.