Little Raven wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:48 pm
Unagi wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:25 pmSo.... How does that end? We let the ranks fill with "Who WOULD want that job" ?????
I don't know. I'm very eager for some city that I don't live in to disband their police department and give us some experimental data.
This is the extremist position. I don't think we'll see a city disband a police department unless it is merging with another. I do think the Oakland position above is their form of the middle ground experiment. Let's see if we can prevent some of the crime another way and take the load off the police. Yes we see a police chief grumbling about his funding but that's bureaucracy for you.
Unagi wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:24 pmI understand the police officer job is a thankless one at this moment. I am not sure what to say to that. I can certainly say I've seen things myself (as a privileged white guy) numerous times with the CPD that has me questioning why they shouldn't be thankless in their day-to-day capacity to be cops. I mean, I hate to say it - but they have earned a bit of that, themselves. THAT BEING SAID - I've also been helped by the CPD in my life, and they aren't simply 'monsters'. Life isn't that simple and I think we both realize that.
This is the essence of it to me. Policing has always had some perks because it is a terrible job. In many places it comes with guarantees of healthcare for life, early retirement, substantial wages compared to educational attainment, protection from lawsuits, incredibly high bar for legal accountability, etc. Policing as an institution across the country bolstered by national police policy has abused this largesse and people are sick of it. That was my hot take last year and I think it still holds up. We're seeing massive amounts of talk about low morale, whining, quitting, etc. It indicates that something is very wrong there. They really were disconnected with their communities. That isn't a surprise. It was obvious to anyone paying attention.
When you say a sentence like: "Offices and officials that once had their back, within legal standards, seem to no longer do so." , that sends bells off in my head.
This brushes on the 'protection' that the police force would afford one another, above the law, that is at the heart of our current problem.
Exactly. This impunity from their wrongdoing and visibility of that impunity over time has eroded the trust between the police and their community. If they want to throw a tantrum, well it sort of proves the point.
I agree with you in your post above. There is an opportunity if someone wants to seize it to improve things. I'm more neutral on the outlook though. We see some departments responding with positively and then you have CPD and NYPD which frankly were unhealthy organizations before Floyd and the pandemic. It's a mixed bag and I think we had the inflection point. There was an opportunity for national leadership but we had the worst President in American history in office at the time. Now a lot of damage has been wrought and the current President has smoking rubble to work with. It'll probably take local reform in the near term though Congress might do something (there is some noise to that effect at least). Overall departments that want to be models need to continue work to change the culture of policing away from toxicity and self-destructive behaviors in regards to the relationship with the community.
