Epidemic of cops committing sex crimes: what can be done?

Unsullied

 

I don't understand why the police don't have an outside watchdog group. Why in the heck are they allowed to have internal investigations on serious issues? I completely understand that being a police officer pretty much automatically makes you a member of the brotherhood. But they have the "blue wall of silence", which is the police version of "snitches get stitches". It's not right, we have to set up an external organization that allows for anonymous claims to be made and investigated.

 

Police need reform the combination of brutality and sexual abuse shows how corrupt and protected cops are. It's clear that they have been entrusted with too much unquestioned power.

 

[rightwing] Blame the victims.

[/rightwing]

 

We need to completely reimagine how we do policing in this country. As long as you have a top down method of cops empowered by officials to police the people you are going to see these problems of over policing, abuse of power, brutality, corruption, and systematic attempts to not police the police.

I think we should get rid of all that completely. Instead perhaps we could have small community police ran by neighborhood councils -- maybe something similar to how we do volunteer fire departments.

It is funny that people so critical of America becoming a nanny state are so often the same people who think we need to be overly policed. No, an emergency response form of policing would serve communities without allowing the populace to be under siege by bureaucrats with guns.

 

lol, this what came into my mind when i read the title

 

Send that story to all the news stations.

 

Know why this story isn't being discussed and can't even hit page 2 after a week?

Most of the victims are minorities, drug addicts or had some form of priors.


We have some members here claiming how thugs need or deserve to be shot. What happens when the thugs are the ones protecting your street and they blend nicely with the others and know how to diminish their victims? Don't have a past or don't be a minority, then you don't get raped by officer Claw, a family man and lover of Jesus.

****ing disgusting.

 

Police have too much power. They need independent oversight more than anyone.

 

This is very sobering. Police unions will circle the wagons to protect officers and push back any outside oversight. This is strait up police state ****, right here.

What makes this worse is that little is likely to happen as pokice misconduct is just part and parcel of the political football we all so love. Whose team gets to score points or okay the best defense?! Sheesh.

 

I agree. It seems like the only thing that grabs the attention of the thug police and the sycophants defending them is riots in the streets. It makes sense -- people of that thuggish mindset only respect force, violence and power. Peaceful protests, petitions, attempts at reform will be shrugged off and ignored. The only thing that has advanced the national dialogue and caused any change were the much maligned riots and insurrections in Ferguson and Baltimore. It seems like if we want change we will need a lot more of that.

Exactly. Democrats and Republicans are just two sides of the same coin. They both uphold and maintain the police state. Hillary Clinton didn't stop taking money from private prisons because she saw the light and saw the need to combat the police state, she did it because the non-Democrat Sanders made it bad politics to continue to take the money.

Once she is in office, it will go back to business as usual.

It seems like the only thing that can make people safe from police is organizing and arming ourselves and not allowing police in our communities anymore.

 

They do; it's us. Cameras, which are everywhere and reporting misdeeds.

 

It's getting closer and closer to a tipping point, isn't it? All the signs are there. I was shocked to see what some of the opinions of police chiefs were, I thought these were largely isolated situations.

Some people have so little to lose right now and the traditional tools for them to be able to organize have been eradicated. Grievances will be heard, it's just about how they end up being heard. Right now no one is listening to the people from these communities except for some temporary cheap news coverage. And these people have figured that out.

Honest question: how many more videos can you tolerate watching before ditching your warrior keyboard and actually joining some kind of movement?

 

Personally I am involved in movements. Most of the radical activities I participate in are non-violent things about education, mental health, homeless outreach -- but I am also armed and trying to get people I talk to at all of the activities I participate in more open to the idea of organizing armed resistance.

As you said, it seems like we are reaching a tipping point, because I am getting more and more people willing to hear me out nowadays in comparison to how it was a couple years ago.

As far as when I'll be ready to ditch my job and keyboard completely and just go full bore Novatore on the situation -- well, that will be a combination of two things: my youngest kid growing up and going off on his own and me finding enough people to work with.

 

Yet...... police violence against black Americans makes the front page?

Agree with you that the poor (usually but not exclusively minorities) and prostitutes and drug addicts are not as big a concern for society in general. You see it with serial killers as well.

 

Is armed resistance really the answer though? Can the same goals not be reached with non-violent resistance or disobedience? Wouldn't more people be willing to join a peaceful movement?

I don't know. Sure there's always violence eventually from some bad apples but I feel like the brunt of victories in a society are gained by drawing a stark contrast between the paranoid violent culture of one side and the peaceful persistent culture of another.

Plus, the police have insane weapons these days. Would lead to so much tragedy, and they are not really mentally stable in these kinds of situations.

 

It has always been like this, often times worse. What had changed is the prevalence of cell phones and the easy by which technology can spread the information. How will that ultimately impact any change remains to be seen.

However this idea that it is at a tipping point is questionable. It reminds me the most of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. No one really cared until they saw the hoses turned on black people and the opinion in a majority of the county changed. However there is a large difference, in the 1960's it was a lot easier to point at a region outside of your own (South) and say they are wrong. In this situation, there is no regional bias.

 

A huge majority of the American people and those that have power in society would not support violent confrontations with the police or other government agencies. Any "ambush" tactics or rogue actions would be met with large scale anger and would result in only greater support of the police force and any means necessary. Most Americans have it well, and will do anything to preserve what they have.

 

I think armed resistance will unfortunately end up being the only thing that will help, yes. I think peaceful solutions are great, and if they work, I support them. But it seems like the only thing that caused any change were the riots and insurrections in Ferguson and Baltimore. It just seems like the only thing that our rulers and the police respect is brute violence.

If people are more radicalized and organized (which is what I am working on when not at work), then when another event like Ferguson or Baltimore happens, and masses of the population are fighting mad, then, if they are more organized, armed, radicalized and militant, then you may have the ingredients for real change. For something the police and army will have just as hard a time suppressing as they do suppressing partisans in Iraq or Afghanistan.

So, yeah, I'm all for nice peaceful reform -- but I also think people should be taking other steps in the very likely scenario in which that reform never comes in a peaceful manner.