Thanks. I just feel like I have been telling these stories for my patients for over a decade. I am really glad these days people are receptive to the idea that cops are not trained for mental health patients, and are usually a detriment to them.
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I live in a country where police need a post-secondary education. Abuse of power remains a theme.
I barely made it out of high school myself and entered a career in construction. Now I teach adult learners about trade skills, mathematics, and labour rights.
The problem isn’t candidates “barely making it out of high school.” The problem is systemic.
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Live in the USA for 60 plus years and then get back to me.
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My mother has dementia. The victim wanting to go home is heartbreaking. I can’t watch this. All of these cops need to be locked away for a long time.
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The system here selects for specific people that lack critical thinking skills and empathy and are quick to respond to anything with violence.
That should not be construed to mean that anyone lacking advanced education are like these cops or that people with advanced education cant be cruel and violent as well.
But part of the systemic problem is the very specific selection and training process to get the results we see here daily.
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Yup
There are two bad cops here. One with no conscience and one with no spine.
Neither of them are fit to carry my trash, much less enforce law.
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And the doctrine of Qualified Immunity ensures that the behavior engendered by these hiring practices and training can be carried out with impunity.
Qualified Immunity as defined by the Supreme Court creates a “catch 22” where an officer cannot be tried civilly for their illegal actions unless case law exists showing that the exact behavior was previously found to be illegal under the same circumstances. So as long as case law doesn’t exist, the officer can’t be tried and case law won’t exist.
Example: (from Wikipedia article) “The Sixth Circuit found that an earlier court case ruling it unconstitutional for police to sic dogs on suspects who have surrendered by lying on the ground did not apply under the “clearly established” rule to a case in which Tennessee police allowed their police dog to bite a surrendered suspect because the suspect had surrendered not by lying down but by sitting on the ground and raising his hands.”
Qualified Immunity for police officers has to go before we’ll see significant reform of police behavior.
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I’ll just use this as an even greater justification from now on to completely 100% have no trust in anyone with a badge and a gun. No one can ever convince me now that there are “only a few bad cops”. There are bad cops and good cops who go along with the bad cops making them bad cops.
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By-and-large cops suffer from mental issues generally that make them unfit to be in positions of authority.
Oh wow a job that gives you a gun and no accountability? Is it specifically meant to attract violent sociopaths and psychopaths?
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The latest…
Key points: A lawsuit was promptly filed and 4 officers are on leave pending the investigation.
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It was widely reported in the UK, I believe…I go to a BBC and The Guardian on “UK” settings and I think both covered it above the fold …one or two days ago
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This happened after we passed a law to end qualified immunity in Colorado…
The problem is that until it’s revised, it allows a municipality to cover for the pigs by not finding them at fault. The Denver suburb of Greenwood Village openly states that it will never find one of their “finest” at fault.
Changes are coming…
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/colorado-police-accountability-bill/73-98a81708-0ca1-4ec2-95bc-272b55789556
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I’d say, rather, maybe some of them aren’t. But the evidence isn’t very strong.
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The irony of the motto. "Protect and Serve"
What do police think they protecting? Who do they think they are serving?
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They know they only protect and serve the status quo.
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This is pure sadism.
The “consequences” need to involve permanent removal from society. Either a small cell for the rest of forever, or the old chopping block; I simply don’t care.
We desperately need a system where crime under the color of law is not protected, but rather punished far more harshly than if a random person did it.
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Worse. They use it as evidence that police aren’t racist. The Faux News line is “Police aren’t racist. They kill more White people than Black people!”
Of course, using police brutality to excuse police brutality defies logic. It also fails to account for the fact that they kill Black people at a much higher rate than White people…
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“What was a policeman, if not a civilian with a uniform and a badge? But they tended to use the term these days as a way of describing people who were not policemen. It was a dangerous habit: once policemen stopped being civilians the only other thing they could be were soldiers.”
Terry Pratchett - Snuff
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It is training. Simple.
US TV shows and movies like the portray the US police forces as very well trained but in truth they are exactly the opposite. (see: copagenda. Just compare let’s say Miami Vice with Der Alte or Frost…) Especially the often shown shooting-gallery training always makes me cringe, that is war-zone training not people policing training.
Take for example how they deal with standard traffic stops, that whole process seems designed to increase tension and conflict and therefore often does. All those times were a suspect was hit my several bullets, that was blind panic from the cops, not a controlled action.
There is even a very common lie taught that you can’t stop a person with a single bullet, that a person shot in the leg will keep on walking and only notice the injury later… Seriously. This is of course made worse by the superhumanization bias, the myth that black people or the mentally ill are somehow extremely strong and impervious to bullets.
Never been taught how to diffuse, how to communicate with agitated or upset people, how to deal with unreasonable or uncontrolled people, they only know violence. They were never taught “violent” is not an emotion or mental state but an expression of emotional stress. Deal with the stress, not the violence. But they are taught killology after all, not even joking!
I am not going to defend them too much but… they are barely trained people thrown in extremely complicated situation they just don’t have the knowledge or skills to deal with. That makes them anxious, nervous, stressed… and then this kind of shit happens.
Dealing with agitated dementia as in this case is extremely difficult by the way because you deal with a terrified human being you can’t communicate with, and if all you were ever taught is how to attack what other option is there?
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