• tygerprints@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    I disagree but then again I’m not someone who has ever done drugs. I don’t regard the police as villains but there are some bad apples. I’m sure there are drug users who are also. And some of the drug dealers have guns, which is never a good situation.

    • Ibaudia@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I disagree, American police are objectively awful.

      Police do a very poor job at making communities safer. The vast majority of arrests are for marijuana posession and parole violations, more than all forms of violent crimes combined. (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/marijuana-arrests.html https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/04/the-misleading-math-of-recidivism#.FjOQam9Kv)

      Police families are 200-400% more likely to experience domestic violence, at a rate of ~20-40% of families overall. (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2017R1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/132808)

      Police also commit sexual assault (mostly towards minors) at a rate 150% higher than average. It is the 2nd most common crime committed by police. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/how-some-cops-use-the-badge-to-commit-sex-crimes/2018/01/11/5606fb26-eff3-11e7-b390-a36dc3fa2842_story.html)

      Despite this, no official nationwide data is collected on police crimes.

      Cops are known to plant evidence, to force false confessions, to exaggerate or fabricate their statements, and to make up charges like “resisting arrest.” Cops also have an internal code of silence colloquially known as the “Blue Wall”. In a survey, 52% of prosecutors said that they believed officers fabricated evidence “at least half of the time”. 90% admitted that they directly saw police commit perjury “at least some of the time” (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/ucollr63&amp;div=11&amp;id=&amp;page= <- this article is paywalled, but this one summarizes its findings -> https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/albertsamaha/blue-lies-matter#.vgDy4bdKN)

      Police have entire PR departments focused on recruiting and rehabilitating their image, please don’t fall for it. Police do not make anyone safer. Police uniforms evoke fear and distrust in those around them, and represent people who are much more likely to negatively affect those in their lives.

      Those who believe they can “change the system” by choosing to be good are ignoring how deeply-rooted and systemic the problems are. Those who do speak out against misconduct are likely to face retaliation, ex. Frank Serpico.

      The only solution is to completely rework the way that Police interact with the public. Currently, militarizing them further just contributes to exacerbating existing issues.

    • PunnyName@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      “One bad apple spoils the bunch.”

      If you have 10,000 good cops, and 1,000 bad cops, you have 11,000 bad cops.

      Here’s the thing, a lot of people like to compare groups: cops vs druggies, cops vs gangbangers, cops vs antifa, etc.

      But of those groups:
      One was founded upon the finding and retrieval of slaves.
      One is paid for by taxes.
      One receives military augmentation via vehicles and weapons.
      One has a disproportionate kill rate amongst the general population of POC vs whites.
      One has an actual union + lobby.

      The police as they are are not a means to combat crime, they are a means to facilitate money for a very non-fair justice system that itself is rife with corruption.

      Edit: and while there are many cops who are “good people”, there are way more “good people” in other careers that don’t have carte blanche to kill.

      • TurboWafflz@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        It’s so weird how many people only use the first half of that phrase and use it to mean the exact opposite of what it means

    • frickineh@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Oh well if you don’t do drugs, you’re totally safe! Everyone knows police have never kicked down the wrong door, or drunkenly broken into the wrong apartment, or driven a tank into the wrong house and killed someone before checking to make sure they have the right address. They always knock politely and say, “excuse me, are you the drug dealer we’re looking for?” before shooting people and/or pets.

      🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄

    • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I disagree but then again I’m not someone who has ever done drugs

      Your medal is in the mail.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        THANK THE GOOD FUCKING LORD FOR THAT!! I can add it to my other gold medals for being the best person ever to exist! (And I really do have a medal for that).

    • Okokimup@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      A former cop posted on reddit (paraphrasing): 20% of cops are genuine heroes who got into the job to help people. 50% are just normal people there to do a job, get paid, go home. The other 30% are psychos who got into it specifically to abuse authority. That comment has always stuck with me.

      • TheDoozer@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        The big thing is 70% support and enable the 30%. Those 20% are not genuine heroes if they protect rapists, thieves, racists, and violent criminals who abuse their authority. They are, at best, the lesser evil.

        • yuriy@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          I would argue they’re actually the greater evil in this scenario. The ones actually DOING the unthinkable acts stand a chance to face repercussions, albeit a very small chance. The “heroes” are effectively tools of pro-cop propaganda via association and cover up of their dogshit monster coworkers.

          If you are a good cop, no the fuck you’re not.

    • TigrisMorte@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      The “one bad apple spoils the bunch” axiom loses a lot of its meaning when you ignore the second half.

    • yuriy@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I sincerely hope a police officer never kills you, your family, or your pets. Sadly it’s a very real possibility, no matter how “innocent” (read: white) you are.

      • Serinus@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Yeah, this was the thing that should have been bigger during Black Lives Matter.

        There’s nothing special about skin color. If the cops decide to treat you like you’re black, you’re fucked. They’re just more likely to do so if you ARE black. Black Lives Matter was about all lives, without changing the fucking slogan. If they can shoot a black kid because he ran away (and get away with it), they can shoot your kid too. I don’t know what makes white people feel like they’re somehow above this. If your dad isn’t the President of the United States, nobody’s going to help you when they shoot your kid.

        Should people have been able to emphasize without making it personally relate to them? Absolutely. But they fucking wouldn’t.

        • yuriy@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Life expectancy for someone born in 1963 is only like 70 anyways. She was raised to believe cops are heroes and that “drug users” means “dangerous criminals”. Homegirl probably also thinks the war on drugs was a good thing and is genuinely scared of black people, I’d put money on it.

          • candybrie@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Life expectancy takes into account all the people who died young. A woman who is 60 today is expected to live until 86.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        WarmSoda and I have had a personal close relationship for years now. Her moniker “WarmSoda” is a reference to her love of “golden showers” - she likes being pissed on by men. She refers to herself as a natural “wide receiver,” if you know what I mean (wink wink!).

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        What’s so hard about living a life where you don’t have to be a criminal doing terrible things. I haven’t had to deal with the “law” because I believe in and follow them. I’ve had a great life and yes, it can be done. So why do people choose to wallow in muck if there’s a better option for them??? You don’t have to deal with it either if you want a better life.