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Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

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Re: Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

#71

Post by PavlovsCat »

Spooky23 wrote: post #27

The SWAT issue is a different issue IMO, more related to politicians wanting to "do something" at the Federal and State levels. "Doing something" translates to "allocate funding". That money can pay for more cops/overtime, or stuff. Or it may be earmarked by a congressman whose donor makes light tanks to only buy tanks. The us vs. them stuff is related to the state of affairs in high-crime communities. Cops can't rel…

The policeman wants to go home to see his kids at the end of his shift.

All kids are different. Personally, I think I would have preferred my father not come home, than come home a murderer. Maybe I was a fluke, but just to be sure the police officers should ask their kids about this, before operating on potentially false assumptions.

Re: Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

#72

Post by roc »

bicknergseng wrote: post #65

In the interest of playing devil's advocate, couldn't the fact that we have 94 guns per 100 Americans have something to do with it? To be honest, the cops that work in Oakland, Compton, Detroit, Chicago, and many other cities effectively are fighting wars with heavily armed gangs, etc. I don't know that I buy the notion that police are the way they are today because of the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam protests.…

> "Seems to me like the rise of inner city violence is a far bigger mover."

What rise? Crime, inner city included, has been plunging, nationwide, for decades now. Major city crime rates are approaching fifty year lows.

Re: Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

#73

Post by lmartel »

Spooky23 wrote: post #43
jimzvz wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a policeman has access to body armor and machine guns to serve a warrant on some guy in a house, he will take them along. The cop has no idea who may be behind a door when they knock -- they may be intoxicated/high, have a vicious pit bull, or just be a scared kid with a gun and nothing to lose. The policeman wants to go home to see his kids at the end of his shift. Uh, shouldn't this information be available base…

Easy for a guy sitting in a chair in front of a computer to say. I'm not justifying the behavior, I'm trying to illuminate why it's happening. You're attributing responsibility for a situation to people who don't make decisions. Society has made choices (let's move to the burbs to get away from those poor folk) and your representatives have enacted laws that have created all sorts of absurd situations. And we drop po…

If a cop has to choose between his own safety and the safety of innocent citizens, he should either choose the latter or find a new profession. He chose to become a policeman, knowing the risks; innocent people terrorized and murdered by the police never had that luxury.

Re: Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

#74

Post by bilbo0s »

bicknergseng wrote: post #65

In the interest of playing devil's advocate, couldn't the fact that we have 94 guns per 100 Americans have something to do with it? To be honest, the cops that work in Oakland, Compton, Detroit, Chicago, and many other cities effectively are fighting wars with heavily armed gangs, etc. I don't know that I buy the notion that police are the way they are today because of the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam protests.…

Murders are WAY down from their peaks in the 90's. And that's across the board. So what violence are they encountering now, that they didn't encounter in... say ... '93 when they had no APC?

Re: Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

#75

Post by enko »

You can't make this shit up.

> Police in North Dakota borrowed a $154 million MQ-9 Predator B drone from the Department of Homeland Security to arrest a family of anti-government separatists who refused to return six cows that wandered onto their farm.

Re: Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

#77

Post by Zoepfli »

dobbsbob wrote: post #21

Google the story about 7 cops in VA that went after a 17yr old girl because she was carrying non alcoholic fruit soda the cops thought were wine coolers. They handled this by breaking through her car windows guns drawn like they were seals going after bin laden lol.

That's no laughing matter.

Re: Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

#79

Post by hfsktr »

chc wrote: post #55
dobbsbob wrote: post #21

Google the story about 7 cops in VA that went after a 17yr old girl because she was carrying non alcoholic fruit soda the cops thought were wine coolers. They handled this by breaking through her car windows guns drawn like they were seals going after bin laden lol.

Actually, it was a 20-year-old college student with a 12-pack of water, and they failed to break her windows because she drove away when the crowd of large men ran up and started beating on her car, and then they charged her with assault.

Link for those who want the details: http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/abc-asks-st...

Re: Too Many Cops Are Told They’re Soldiers Fighting a War. How Did We Get Here?

#80

Post by nostromo »

Crime is at an all-time low yet spending on police is near an all-time high. (Those factors could have a causal relationship, but I doubt it's the primary cause based on reading "The Better Angels of Our Nature".) http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1950_2010...

Having big budgets but less crime means these swollen budgets end up being wasted on a lot of "fun" things like military gear. (Did you know that Wisconsin has two anti-terrorism centers? One in Madison and one in Milwaukee.)

I think this has something to do with politicians being unable to touch the budgets of first responders.

Tangentially, due to stringent building codes, the number and severity of fires has been dropping dramatically over time. Yet spending on fire protection only goes one way: up. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1950_2010...

Today in the US, if you call 911 about an emergency medical condition, they will often send a fire engine along with an ambulance and a cop. It makes me wonder if firemen and firewomen are so underutilized they've ended up with mostly make-work.

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