I was thinking earlier today that the Schroedinger’s rapist analogy would work well here too: not all police officers are dangerous thugs, but enough of them are, and enough of them will stand silently by rather than help the victims, that it is wise to assume until proven otherwise that the officer in front of you could be one of the ones to cause you harm.
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Or will just sit there like a pig and watch you come to harm, doing nothing, then defend his buddy later.
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Exactly.
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So much this.
There are a lot of good babies in that bathwater and the issue goes way further than that officer. Why was somebody with impulse control issues like that put in a position of authority over other people at all, much less young and impressionable ones. Why do we have a qualification system so screwed up that these guys can make it out of training and keep passing psych evaluations? How many of them started as much more responsible and rational people and got worse?
Heck, why has nobody said 'Holy shit, we need to get these guys off the streets or at least out of schools and replace them with schoolteachers or nurses or waitresses or basically anybody who won’t make the problem worse?
This is such a surreal problem to have, isn’t it?
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Yes, cops putting pressure on other cops to close ranks, and defend the blue line no matter what, is the problem. That’s what we’re talking about.
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Yup. It’s why we can absolutely mistrust them, and be justified in it.
The forces can be 99% “good cops”, and still be unworthy of anyone’s respect for the same reasons as the Catholic Church. They refuse to be accountable, and fight attempts at accountability while claiming that they’re an authority on how we behave.
As long as the organization is unwilling to clean house and punish its bad actors, the individual actors themselves can’t be trusted either.
They’ve made their own metaphorical beds and it’s their own fault they have to sleep in a pile of metaphorically used needles.
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The point I have - I think if you step back you will see is a valid one -
is that we should not have a baseline bias that cops are
“untrustworthy, lying, aggressive, trigger-happy thugs who will beat,
maim, or kill you without warning, provocation”.
Why shouldn’t we? It could literally save our life. Avoiding cops is a form of self-defense.
If you make negative assumptions about Muslims, black people, immigrants, gays, etc. there are unpleasant consequences for them if you’re wrong- beatings, shootings, imprisonment, treatment as second-class citizens. If you make negative assumptions about a cop, what are the consequences? I don’t see a lot of innocent cops having their civil rights trampled, being thrown in jail, or being murdered by upset citizens. In fact, quite the opposite- cops, innocent or guilty, could do almost literally anything to you or me without fear of punishment, investigation or consequences of any sort beyond paid leave. Given the fact that assuming the worst about a cop doesn’t harm them in any way whatsoever and that it can literally save your life in return, why would anyone choose to trust them?
If you stick to your baseline bias that all blank are bad, there will never be unity and understanding between you and that group - which is ironically what the enemy wants!
And trusting the cops will create unity and understanding how? The “good” cops won’t stop the bad ones, and you can’t negotiate with someone who has every advantage on their side already. I will at least agree with you that this is exactly what they want- fear and obedience. And they’ll keep teaching that lesson to us- one innocent head smashed to the pavement or perforated with a bullet at a time- not until we’ve learned it, long after that… but until we destroy the entire corrupt police system that gives them that power.
Pretending that the statistical unlikelihood of you personally being murdered or hurt by a cop makes it okay that it happens all the fucking time to somebody, somewhere is only going to enable that system to continue longer.
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The truth of the matter is that the people who want to be cops are probably the last people who should be cops. If our police force were made up of people who really wanted to become kindergarten teachers, we’d live see a lot less of this bs.
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I agree that the kid is resisting in the most normal and instinctual reaction. Think about any time a parent is dealing with a toddler in melt down mode. The toddler is resisting everything!!! and that is sort of my entire point. When an adult “resists” the police it is easy to see what is instinctual (if 5 swat officers jump you, most people will fight back in some capacity) and other forms of “resistance” are more free will based (full on gun fight is certainly resisting…probably the highest form of it really). So when the police use various levels of counter measures to handle an adult suspect/individual I will always ask what was the person doing? Was the response proportional? If the person got out of the car hands up and was gunned down by a cop…well, what the hell is wrong with this picture, right? If the person came out of the car, guns blazing; I think its rather understandable why the cop fired back no?
In this case…it is a child. The only allowable way to deal with a child who is physically resisting you beyond just letting them sit there in a sort of stale mate is to use passive restraint. shoving, hitting, or in this case body slamming a child to the ground is not acceptable in any manner.
Now…if it is your own kid, and they are throwing a tantrum…slapping them upside the head is ENTIRELY acceptable. Though, its probably not going to deescalate the situation to be sure.
ultimately, I agree entirely with your last statement. It is sort of not possible for people to not resist in some form or fashion to whatever degree. And police are supposed to have training to deal with it appropriately. I am 99.9% sure that body slamming a child is not on the approved list of “appropriate countermeasures”.
Update: He’s been sacked.
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Good riddance. Fuck you, Joshua Kehm.
In a related story, police commissioner Bill Bratton has issued a statement: “After reviewing Joshua Kehm’s police work, I feel he is a perfect example of ‘New York’s Finest’ and would be an excellent fit for the NYPD. Welcome to New York, Joshua!”
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Sorry for the derailment, but what movie is that from?
I wish I knew! 
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Found it! That’s Rings On Her Fingers (1942), just under 3 minutes into the movie. On my viewing queue for tomorrow night.
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