While I'm certain that there are racist cops, I believe that beyond that what we really have is a bad cops problem. I bet that every shooting or beating of unarmed citizens is perpetrated by men who are not capable of being of being good at their job.
Think about what you do for a living and who you do it with. You likely know who is good at work- and who isn't- even if you are one of the less talented employees yourself. You know who works, who doesn't and who is just showing up and collecting a check.
I've mostly been a commercial painter and I've worked on a lot of crews. I was the guy that worked, that people in the know knew they could count on. Separate issue perhaps but, others not so much in the know also resented that level of performance. You'd think that they appreciate working alongside someone who is very productive as it should make them look better. That's not always human nature though. People get jealous, even at their own expense. Work becomes more like "Survivor" where people think they need to "outwit, outplay, outlast" to win.
A black, ex-St. Louis police officer recently broke down his assessment of his fellow cops as 15% being good cops, 15% being bad, and the remaining 70% kinda blowing with the wind, depending upon which cops they were around. I'd say the percentages are about right for any occupation.
And being a cop is an occupation. These men and women are not born to be cops or assembled in a factory somewhere. You went to school with one at some point or one is your neighbor. They are people who come from the general population.
Well, do you know people? They are a mixed bag, for sure. They are good, bad, ugly and indifferent. You probably know someone that you are extremely glad does not have a gun and a badge and the authority to make decisions. The thing is, you don't get to make the call on who gets to become a cop. We're all at the mercy of whoever does the hiring. Police work is more of a business now than ever before in our history. They drug test and give psychological tests the last 20-some years to weed out potential trouble-makers. I think this might be more of a financial move than trying to perfect the system because a beating or a shooting can cost a city millions of dollars. It's all about the Benjamin's.
The Dallas PD, which earlier this year lost 5 cops to a crazed gunman, had already taken steps to weed out their bad apples when that misguided tragedy happened. They fired the cops with poor performance and put the word out that they would not tolerate brutal or lazy cops. This is what needs to be done across the nation. There are over one million cops in this country. At the rate above, that allows for over 150,000 bad cops willing to abuse or kill citizens. Tragedies waiting to happen. 700,000 cops willing to go along with their actions. 150,000 cops angry at their coworkers but, maybe grudgingly going along with what they do. The thin, blue line creates a thick, blue code of omerta, seemingly impenetrable by conscience and compassion.
It's a top-down solution. Whether the higher-ups in a department are fiscal conservatives looking to save the city millions in lawsuits, or progressive democrats looking for social justice, management has to make a serious effort at protecting the public from those that protect the public.
You get rid of the hard-ass, brutish thugs and you'll possibly eliminate the seemingly racist shootings of black men, women and children. You better-train the 70% of cops and leave them only the 15% of good cops as role models and you create better cops on the job. Being a cop can be a life or death situation at times but, bad cops are out there doing most of the killing. You've seen the headlines. Killings of police officers are actually at an all-time low. They may be afraid out there on the streets and they should be cautious at all times but, we the people should not have to fear them as we do because of the color of our skin.
On Topix yesterday I saw one of the usual suspects waxing off about how he got a speeding ticket on his motorcycle. "If I were black", he went on, "I'd say the cop was racist!"
On his next post he noted about the cop (a State Trooper) that "he might have messed up and didn't like guys on bikes...a lot of cops ride but he didn't look the type..."
Oh- the irony! Black people see everything as "racist" according to him. He see's this as anti-biker sentiment...
See what I mean about the good, the bad and the ugly in people and professions? I'm glad that guy's not a cop. You should be too. Whose lead might he follow on the job?
2 comments:
That's the same Topix poster who didn't believe me when I quoted a psychologist friend regarding studies showing that bullies often choose a career in law enforcement. Well, he wouldn't, would he. I wasn't saying all cops were bullies but that profession tends to attract them.
As to the good cop/ bad cop thing, I always remember the way people celebrated cops after 9/11, which was obviously warranted. Many of them acted heroically. But the rush to see ALL of them as GOOD and to assume they always behaved heroically was magical thinking. It went along with the nationalism, I suppose. Those paying attention will remember that just prior to 9/11 there were NYPD officers charged and convicted of brutally beating and sodomizing a Haitian immigrant, Abner Louima. They were convicted of their crimes.
I had to unfriend someone on FB because of her continual memes about how persecuted the police are, which wasn't so much supporting the police as it was denigrating people who aren't white. Racists like her and the Topix poster see things in black and white. Both issues and people. Only Siths and racists deal in absolutes so it's not surprising.
Excellent! They have been presented of late by some as the front line troops in the war against blacks and immigrants. I remember the Abner Louima case. That was brutal. There's been so many since...
Cops being killed in the line of duty has declined over the last 10-20 years and any perceived "war on cops" is propaganda by apologists for bad cops. Cops aren't even in the top 50 of dangerous professions.
Still, yes, it can be dangerous. Most cops go through their careers never having to fire their weapons though. Many are just handing out traffic tickets and filing reports about thefts. There's always going to be some that get even with society with their authority. I hope more cities can weed those men and women out.
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