They are perverts.
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Need more cops like you.
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I think it is not so much a special law, as the unique position that police unions have in local politics. Any candidate for local office who does not curry the favor of the local police union can be sure to have a rather large block voting against them.
- Every police officer
- Every spouse of a police officer
- Every adult child of a police officer
- Every parent of a police officer
I think many of the privileges I outlined above (e.g. the 72 hour cool off period) fall under the umbrella of police discretion in how to conduct law enforcement, so it’s not exactly against the law, just thumbing the scales of justice to benefit a certain class of person above others.
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The key is that the city/department is also their employer. An internal affairs complaint is simultaneously a criminal matter and an employment dispute. By using otherwise acceptable tools of employment dispute mechanism (not answering questions without a union rep or some type of time based delay) they can provide criminal protections as well. Due to wide social trust in police and deep pockets the unions have been able to bribe (donate to the campaigns of) politicians to codify those protections in both the contract and legislative language. Additionally police unions have the ability to kill the career of any politician who opposes them by essentially turning the perceived crime rate up and down as desired to handle a politician. On top of that they have a history of violent rioting and work stoppages that add some leverage.
Lots of people see them as awful, but the broader US labor movement often defends them because, hey its a union. Pair that with a broad social acceptance of police rhetoric and a they have a special layer of social protection.
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To the extant that questioning is possibly a precursor to criminal charges, the police are as entitled to the presence of lawyer and anybody.
I think that a surprising number of people have an authoritarian bent and so lionize the police, and in turn, the police unions. I OTOH know enough police to to neither hold them in special regard or think that they are all evil. The problem is not so much that they are worse than average, but that the level of crap that they can get away with if they want to is FAR AN AWAY much worse than the rest of us can. With great power comes great corruption.
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That’s true, but the police are frequently granted additional rights to an attorney beyond those granted to the public. As an example the Law Enforcement Bill of Rights pushed by the FOP, limits questions to matters announced in advance, during work hours, and grants access to all investigative notes and allows for an officer to have anyone present during questioning, not just legal counsel. In contrast, I am entitled to a lawyer if I ask for one. I can be questioned at any time and can’t bring along a friend of my choosing.
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- It pisses me off that the story put in that the woman has a criminal record as though that has anything to do with deserving human decency
- SAPD says that the officers followed protocol. These stories always have a deafening lack of the required “then change your fucking procedures” response
- How does a cop or anyone else get so desensitized to dehumanizing others to view this sort of shit as “just part of the job”? - (I probably rather not know the answer to this)
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Busts? Targets? Kudos? Advancement? (Quotas?)
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Police would be more careful if tax payers were concerned enough about their tax dollars going to pay out settlements to vote for elected officials that would hold the police accountable for their misdeeds.
It‘s the „I just followed orders“ excuse. Why this isn’t a valid defense was demonstrated aptly a few decades ago with participation of US judges.
Apparently it’s: Do as I say not as I do.
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The sequel to Matilda sounds dark AF.
I’ve got a friend who works as a prison psychiatrist, and it’s actually a remarkably common place to hide your stash when the cops are involved. I.e. the “prison purse”.
In Seattle, for instance, that would be 2% of the population.
(2017 figures: Total pop: 713,700; number of sworn officers: 1,444.
If 100% of those cops are married, and if each cop has 2 adult children, 2 living parents, and 4 living grandparents, that’s 14,400 cops and cop relatives, total. Also we’re assuming all those parents and grandparents live in Seattle too.)
Is 2% a big voting bloc? I don’t know!
You also have to add all the security guards and wanna-be cops in the area.
The more famous Mara Wilson is a far better person.
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TIL Mara Wilson and Ben Shapiro are cousins.
Doesn’t matter. Mara Wilson* is still cool with me.
*the actress
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In a local election? It’s huge.
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2016/11/in-the-us-almost-no-one-votes-in-local-elections/505766/
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