This very much seems to me a defense of police violence, a justification because they are “scared” of the average American…
8 Likes
So… the police feel scared, so they go in aggressively and violently to make themselves feel safer, which naturally means anyone they interact with has actual valid reasons to be scared, and so they will respond defensively and unpredictably, which causes the police to feel unsafe and scared, so they become more aggressive and violent, which means people who may not have any other reason to be afraid now have good reason to fear and distrust the police, and people who know that they do have good reason to be afraid figure that they don’t have anything to lost by firing first, which terrifies the police and makes them just straight up shoot people for startling them or surprising them or just being in the wrong place, which makes …
If only there was some way of breaking this cycle, some common group with some pretence of regulation and discipline in their mythos.
10 Likes
Thank you. This is a vicious circle. It is horrible. I don’t know how to solve it without getting rid of guns. I don’t know how to solve it with no guns. What is the check on power?
It could be a justification, or just saying we have trapped ourselves into a system which respondes to violence with violence, sometimes inappropriately.
You mean the cops? Very likely.
3 Likes
There have been plenty of suggestions with regards to police violence (everything from greater regulation and training, to abolition of the current system), which exists outside of the problem of guns. While they two issues certainly have some overlap, police violence has long been a problem, well before the current situation with gun violence. To pretend like this is the ONLY reason for police violence–police fear of being shot, when they are far more likely to kill than be killed by guns–is to ignore the root of this specific problem, which is a highly racist, classist criminal justice system that allows police to act with impunity.
The police are not shrinking violets with no recourse to protect themselves. Rather, they are one of the largest criminal gangs who are driving the problem with gun violence.
10 Likes
I agree with your approach. I believe patience will often win out. I am often thinking about how do you encourage patience, if your also thinking about being shot?
I agree. How do I get a friendly beat cop? Do I want to tell him who is doing what? I don’t trust the police. I don’t expect them to trust me. Just, saying people get shot, and not just by the police.
… if the mere presence of a weapon is a threat, then is every armed cop a “threat” to me 
9 Likes
No doubt, you already know, unless you don’t.
Well, if they’re told to make that assumption (backed by some tacit department policy), then they very well better fucking get the fucking addresses right for starters.
8 Likes
Two inescapable conclusions from this and from the avalanche of similar articles out there:
- You are less safe if you have a gun.
- You are less safe if the police have guns.
11 Likes
No doubt, truth.
2 Likes
Who the fuck is this “we” you speak of?
8 Likes
… it’s all your fault @ChuckV 
8 Likes
8 Likes
7 Likes
… I tried not participating but nobody noticed 
12 Likes
It’s not a circle. It’s a spiral, and it starts and is driven by the police, and therefore, one way or another, must end there too.
10 Likes
that’s a great way of describing it. and like you say, not only does it sap money this way, their only proposed solutions are even more money: more cops, and better “training” ( hello cop city )
then, by defunding communities, they’re starving out any other responses which exacerbates the root causes of crime and violence. thus ensuring the existence of police forces and the idea to “get tough on crime”
i don’t know if that’s a deliberate “plan” but it’s certainly working out well for them in practice
11 Likes
