Post: #1

Highlights:

2:46 - White cop awkwardly backpeddles after practically point to the black cop when asked a question about skin color. I laughed my ass off.

Quote:3:37 - "People automatically see these videos and it shocks the sense, but they are seeing one point of view, they didn't see what that officer saw, heard, or felt."

Propaganda 101: manipulate the targets emotions by only showing a portion of the story.

I like to think the average level of intelligence at RVF is greater than the average level of intelligence of the general population. I like to think RVF attracts a more intelligent, or at the very least a more objective person. I understand the shocking nature of some of these scenes shared publicly but you need to have the ability to take a step back and think "what else happened".

Quote:4:10 - Parents, generationally are passing their scars down to their children.

This comment is saddening because it is so true.

Quote:4:44 - "The actions of a few officers shouldn't discredit the whole"

And this one hits the nail on the head. I've called a white knight for cops on here before, and that's completely incorrect. Bad people come in all sizes, skin color, and uniforms, but so do good people. Condemning the actions of the entire police force based off the flavor of the month social media outrage means one thing: you are prejudice.

Also saw a funny meme the other day posted on FB. It had something about some cop getting shot at it and he asks his partner what to do, his partner says "Just a second, let me ask social media".

Post: #2

"It's just a few bad apples" is one of the classic fallacies.

What's telling isn't the fact that a "few bad apples exist". What matters is how the organization treats its few bad apples...and as far as I can gather the general norm in many (though not nearly all) areas is that the judicial system will protect its own and actively work to shield those "few bad apples" from any major consequences for their actions.

When that happens the "few bad apples" argument doesn't hold water. If the "bad apples" behavior is ignored or incentivized we now have an entire system that is aiding and abetting what is going on and is therefore complicit as a whole.

Post: #3

(06-23-2015 04:09 PM)Easy_C Wrote:  When that happens the "few bad apples" argument doesn't hold water. If the "bad apples" behavior is ignored or incentivized we now have an entire system that is aiding and abetting what is going on and is therefore complicit as a whole.

While it isn't the sole reason, and yes there is a boys club of sorts, cities are often protecting the bottom line. If you admit your guys were in the wrong you'll get sued for millions.

You can thank our litigious society for that.

Besides, if you come across as always protecting the criminals, they will have even less respect for authority.

Post: #4

(06-23-2015 04:09 PM)Easy_C Wrote:  "It's just a few bad apples" is one of the classic fallacies.

What's telling isn't the fact that a "few bad apples exist". What matters is how the organization treats its few bad apples...and as far as I can gather the general norm in many (though not nearly all) areas is that the judicial system will protect its own and actively work to shield those "few bad apples" from any major consequences for their actions.

When that happens the "few bad apples" argument doesn't hold water. If the "bad apples" behavior is ignored or incentivized we now have an entire system that is aiding and abetting what is going on and is therefore complicit as a whole.

This is an excellent point.

But you have to remember that the guy on the streets doesn't make the judicial decisions.

Post: #5

There is blame to go around on both sides and I think the biggest factor comes down to distrust. The public distrust of police is on the rise, the police distrust of the public is on the rise. The distrust causes both sides to react more quickly, defensively, and escalate conflict more readily or even start at a higher level of conflict than is needed. I place a somewhat higher burden on police as a profession because they are professionals, and should be well trained and held to a higher standard than your average idiot. The American public and culture holds a lot of blame as well though. The glorification of the "renegade" or "rebel" has gotten way out of hand. James Deen looks tame by comparison.

A somewhat unpopular POV but I think police should be given some allowance to deliver pre-emptive beat downs (but not vindictive beat downs). I think ALL police should be in good physical shape and should be able to give chase and kick ass. Myself... I think guns have become a bit of a crutch. The PC crowd would go nutz if my ideas were put into play though.

Another fault I find in modern culture is that while we don't want cops running around with a power complex, so many of us still expect them to fight our battles and solve our problems. Any time there is a tragedy or act of violence, a fair number of people will blame authorities that be for not stopping it. Not just police, also child protection agencies, etc. These powerful bureaucracies will naturally react in "cover thine ass" mode and investigate what they can do to mitigate all risk... which inevitably will involve extending their influence in some way. We can't have it both ways, perfect security and perfect liberty... infallible protection from the baddies without some not baddies getting pushed around first. Myself, I'm ok with solving my own battles 99% of the time but then again, I'm a man. I've been well marinated in boy culture, toxic masculinity and victim blaming.

It's an issue I think about a lot and I'll post more later. I still haven't watched the video.

Post: #6

The root cause of street tension is the law. Police officers enforce the law. The law contains both peace keeping (real crimes) and peace breaking (victimless crimes). Therefore, police officers are both breakers of the peace and keepers of the peace. And because they break the peace, there is street tension.

That is: a cop straddles the line between a peace keeper, and being a bandit and thug. It is not a 'blacks and whites' issue. It is not a 'respecting police officers for the sake of it' issue. It is not a 'bad apples' issue. The issue is the presence of victimless crimes, and these people are signing up for cop jobs knowing full well they will have to enforce victimless crimes and break the peace. The solution is deleting these 'crimes' from the statute books.