pokoko said:
If you're in a situation where someone is coming at you in anger and they might or might not have a knife or a gun, what are you going to do? Pull out a taser or a stick? How about people simply not be fucking stupid in the first place? Wouldn't that be so much better? Why is that too much to ask? |
It is true that it's not smart to act like that towards a cop. However, the larger problem is a growing and growing epidemic of police violence, usually brutal and often absolutely unwarrented, against totally unarmed people. Many of whom do not act "Aggresive" or "Threatening" in any real way whatsoever.
And the fact is, we live in a society that is far too "trigger happy" in general, so to speak, and the modern day police force seem to be becoming increasingly paranoid and trigger happy themselves. They wonder why it seems like most people hate and distrust the police now. Well, it might have something to do with the fact that, at an increasing rate, the average American is starting to feel like they simply CAN'T trust police officers anymore, like they are NOT here to serve and protect us at all. And that isn't just a senitment coming from the ghetoo and "minorities", it's a sentiment that is gradually starting to be shared by even suburban "whites" as well. Because these incidents just keep growing in number. The sheer volume/number of police brutality and misconduct cases, not to MENTION the thousands of police shootings/killings in the US, just in the last several years, is both staggering and repulsive. And also kind of scary as shit.
What is the answer? Well there are no easy answers. However, I think that the entire US police force as a whole needs to be reminded that they are paid by our fucking taxes, to PROTECT and SERVE us. We are not here for them. They are supposed to be here for US. That is their job, that is what they get paid for. And yes, there are criminal shitbags and psychos out there. But it's still SUPPOSED to be "guilty until proven innocent". Not "assume everyone is guilty and act accordingly with extreme prejudice". We do not live in Judge Dredd comics. The police are not a power unto themselves, like some of them now seem to think they are. They are empowered by US. And it didn't help that the government started selling them miltiary grade shit, so that local police forces would start militarizing themselves. AGAINST US. The people they're sworn to protect and serve.
And THERE you have the root problem: When you militarize a police force, you get that force into an "Us vs. Them" mindset, with the US PEOPLE they're supposed to be serving, as the "enemy". You want to know why more and more police killings and beatings happen? (Even RAPE cases of women incarcerated, as sick as that is) Well there you go. It's because they are more and more being trained into this mindset that they are in a warzone, and we are the enemy. If you don't think THAT is gonna cause bad shit, then you're fuckin naive. That, above all else, needs to change for this to ever get better.
