Congress should pass legislation to create national standards for policing to regulate local and state police departments so violence-prone and violence-craving individuals don’t end up as cops
I’ve been a regular visitor to the US since the late 80s and have been to some 30 different states in that time.
It’s been a few years since my last visit, mostly due to Covid. The US is portrayed in world media as a very unsafe place to visit and the constant mass killings make the headlines where I live in the UK. OK, we know the media love bad stories, but . . .
Why would I want to visits the US again? It isn’t an appealing place any longer.
Back in 2014, I taught a class at a New Jersey police academy to recruits. The class demonstrated how hard it was for Senior Citizens to navigate a crisis (or anything) with their physical and mental limitations. We also taught on helping seniors with dementia through a situation so incidences like what happened to the woman with Alzheimer's in Loveland, CO would not happen. 1/2 the class smirked through our class. About 3 out of 30 were attentive and asked questions. I guess nothing has changed. And Thom, you are right, as usual:) Good cop, bad cop has got to end. Worst thing about the Memphis situation is, racist, white people will have a field day (behind closed doors), about N-words beating on N-words. Oh yeah, nothing's changed on that front, either. Finally, I lived in GA for 5 years; you are sooo right about the cops there.
Jan 27, 2023·edited Jan 27, 2023Liked by Nigel Peacock
Another good topic today with excellent discussion.
In reference to the ubiquitous traffic cameras that are now all over Queens and Long Island. I want to say that as a mature, responsible driver, I never expected to get three red light and speeding tickets in three trips to the area - which happened to me last year. Then I read about how New Jersey did a study and found that these types of technological innovations are very unreliable, and do not have the impact upon the safety of drivers that they proponents claim they do. So New Jersey decided that it will withhold driver records not forward these tickets on to New Jersey residents who a flagged by the systems in New York City. There's litigation about this. It's a pretty interesting thing In terms of state power and shows yet more ways in which ny state has poor / corrupt public policies.
And that leads to the police reform initiative that was kicked off by Governor Cuomo after the floyd murder. I actually had several discussions with my state representatives about this topic, and convince my state senator to introduce a bill to further the process of police reform, and to provide more systemic oversight at the state level, which is very lacking.
Anyone who doubts the need for police reform in New York to take a look at the XL spreadsheet that is embedded on the New York criminal justice website, which contains a list of all of the disciplinary actions against police and police recruits. It's a mind-boggling list of thousands of crimes and should provide a good dose of reality to people to think that cop should be beyond reproach.
Thank you for this essay! I agree that law enforcement should be a profession with consistent standards and training. I also think we should get rid of the military equipment and culture. Police should be part of solving problems in our communities, rather than creating more problems and causing unnecessary injuries and deaths.
As a former 9-1-1 dispatcher and supervisor, I am pretty familiar with the way police work. In Oregon, dispatchers are certified by the same organization that certifies police officers--the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST). Their standards are pretty basic and law enforcement agencies can require more, or not. Multnomah County Sheriff's Office was one of the first law enforcement agencies in the country to require officers to have a Bachelor's degree. Portland Police requires a high school diploma or GED. As far as limiting police unions to pay and bargaining, I do feel that even police officers deserve a representative when they are facing discipline. When I was a union rep, the employers would often complain that it was too difficult to discipline or get rid of 'bad apples', but the problem was really that the employer hadn't done their homework or documented the problem sufficiently. I never wanted to defend indefensible conduct, just to ensure that the process was fair.
This is such an important issue that Baby Boomer white guys like me seldom if ever experience first-hand. Not only does our country have cops who are hyper-aggressive bullies, but police departments think that’s a good thing and look for those traits when hiring. Then we end up with poorly trained confrontational assholes who think violence is the solution and de-escalation is for wimps. Since this is the system we have devolved into, who could possibly benefit from it?
A few candidates come to mind starting with the GOP grifters who will manipulate their poorly educated base of racists with any police violence stories that can be tied to racism, however specious. Also, the master propagandists will always find a way to frighten and enrage their audiences with those same stories. Finally, what are the chances that Bush 41 and the Carlyle Group profited from sending “surplus” military equipment to American police departments?
As always, as long as money is speech and corporations are people, our public sector decision-makers who want to solve these problems will continue to be undermined by the GOP grifters. At least until they can no longer be bribed and coerced into serving their secular and sectarian masters.
Could bore you with the horrible training I got as a military police officer, but I won't. Partners often try to help once you start patrolling. Type of and lack of training is a huge problem.
Love cops---many of them are smarter, funnier, and better problem-solvers than you can imagine. Most are born helpers, BUT then there are the other ones, and we must never stop discussing them and what to do about their actions.
Recruitment posters should state: Can you keep your temper? You good with vomit, blood and spit? Can you take being called names? Could you deliver a baby? Come to think of that, no wonder nurses and cops end-up together so often!
A public service message needs to be out there: Only Cowards and Criminals Beat People. It should be on a sticker or screen in every squad car. Each officer should be informed and tested on the amount of money lost by cities, counties and states because of killer cops and the hot-headed ones that could not control their anger. They'd sure as hell get it, if they could be sued personally.
A chart prepared by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows that the 2019 total annual police budgets for the USofA is $118,800,031,000.00. Compared to national annual military budgets, it ranks third behind the US and China. It's almost twice the Russian military budget, $65,102,600,000.00, which comes in 5th in this ranking. The military budget for the USofA is over $800,000,000,000.00 and is rapidly headed for $1 Trillion!
Just as large policing budgets enable killing of our citizens with guns fired by policemen dressed to kill, the killing of civilians around the world is enabled by our massive military budget for WMDs operated by soldiers from more and more remote locations.
Both budgets are excessive and are focused on killing. This has to change.
Systemic racism among police forces across the country for 300+ yrs is not going to be stopped until federal law commands police training to abolish implicit bias and police training is uniform across the country, and qualified immunity is abolished. Until then, we'll continue to witness police brutality against minorities and women.
As an old environmentalist who supported zero population growth, in my opinion this could have been all avoided. With a few rich taking almost all the wealth, and the poor fighting over crumbs since Nixon, capitalism breeds crime. With a corrupt supreme Court and Congress, thugs running the show in other words, I see it getting worse until America looks like Somalia. It is not only capitalism but religion and the family unit as well that raise thugs. Rich thugs, poor thugs, and of course middle class thugs. My only solution, is to raise all the babies in agnostic communes from conception to end drug babies, child abuse, childhood poverty, racism, crime, religious hatred and narcissism. Since we can't do that, I recommend all the truth seekers prepare for the worst. Learn how to grow your own food and defend all your stuff ASAP. Find others that think like yourselves because there is strength in numbers. Even if miraculously society doesn't fall apart, you can have one heck of a party.
The Stanford Prison Experiment. 1971 : https://www.verywellmind.com/the-stanford-prison-experiment-2794995 (for one source) Surely it is an uphill battle against human nature to pin a badge on anybody. No matter the training, I speculate that professionalism and restraint deteriorate over time under severe macho peer pressure. (Even the "girls" get caught up in wanting to be "one of the boys.")That's where diligent leadership comes in. Another creeping corruption is laziness and arrogance from deference given in court. The best-trained, bright young idealist is soon going to learn to cut corners in his investigations and relapse into boiler plate in his reporting and testimony, and learn he will get away with it overwhelmingly. Most judges are moved-up prosecutors steeped in a brainwashing that cops never lie. (Do District Attorneys get elected without the endorsement of the local cops?) And juries; well, they're spotty. But many do walk out the door at the end with a radically altered perspective about cops never lying, and if somebody got arrested, why are they wasting the jurors' time, and ex-prosecutors automatically being the best next judges.
I have to comment that, while the murder of blacks by white police officers is reminiscent of the ante bellum slave patrols, aka militias (my 3rd great grandfather was drafted into Capt Henry's regiment, Georgia draft militia, during Creek Indian-War of 1812, but not fight in a war, but to patrol for runaway slaves. And with rare exception, The murder of George Floyd being the only one I can think of, the boys and blue are handed a hunting license to take down people of color, mostly males.
I mention this because this time the 5 police officers were American Descendants of Slaves as was the victim. I can't help but note that in Louisiana there have been other cases of white police killing black men, with absolutely no consequences, not even and indictment.
This case is being treated differently. If the officers were white, I guarantee, the whole affair would be swept under the rug.
One thought comes to mind. Cops perceive themselves as THE LAW, and they get very defensive and angry if disrespected, (in their mind) .
The simple act of asking "why did you stop me" or contesting the ticket on the spot is considered an affront and a challenge to the LEO, refusing to comply is enough for the LEO to use it as an excuse to resort to force, even deadly force.
On the other hand, too many young black males, are also touchy and defensive about their "manhood" and will, themselves, resort to violence if insulted, challenged or disrespected.
I haven't seen the full video, but my gut is telling me that this is the case with the cops and the victim.
The authority of the cops was challenged and disrespected, and the manhood of the victim/perp was likewise disrespected.
Irrelevant, whatever the situation. Nothing, and I mean nothing justifies the murder. Cops can always use ID and Vehicle plate to track the perp down and arrrest him when the situation has deescalated
Most importantly the cops are been chared with 2nd Degree murder are black, whereas if they were white I can guarantee that the whole thing would be swept under the rug, and no charges filed.
However when it comes to cops, or LEO, both criticisms are true. The cop culture is one that does not attract the best and the finest, not when they start at $14 an hour or less, and are marginal personalities and of low intelligence, with a chip on their shoulder, a need for respect and a propensity for bullying.
There was a Stanford Study in the 1970's. The study revealed that there was an affinity, almost a camaraderie between cops and robbers. They understood each other, psychologically and emotionally they were two peas in a pod. The only difference was which side of the law they had chosen as their profession.
I’ve been a regular visitor to the US since the late 80s and have been to some 30 different states in that time.
It’s been a few years since my last visit, mostly due to Covid. The US is portrayed in world media as a very unsafe place to visit and the constant mass killings make the headlines where I live in the UK. OK, we know the media love bad stories, but . . .
Why would I want to visits the US again? It isn’t an appealing place any longer.
Back in 2014, I taught a class at a New Jersey police academy to recruits. The class demonstrated how hard it was for Senior Citizens to navigate a crisis (or anything) with their physical and mental limitations. We also taught on helping seniors with dementia through a situation so incidences like what happened to the woman with Alzheimer's in Loveland, CO would not happen. 1/2 the class smirked through our class. About 3 out of 30 were attentive and asked questions. I guess nothing has changed. And Thom, you are right, as usual:) Good cop, bad cop has got to end. Worst thing about the Memphis situation is, racist, white people will have a field day (behind closed doors), about N-words beating on N-words. Oh yeah, nothing's changed on that front, either. Finally, I lived in GA for 5 years; you are sooo right about the cops there.
Another good topic today with excellent discussion.
In reference to the ubiquitous traffic cameras that are now all over Queens and Long Island. I want to say that as a mature, responsible driver, I never expected to get three red light and speeding tickets in three trips to the area - which happened to me last year. Then I read about how New Jersey did a study and found that these types of technological innovations are very unreliable, and do not have the impact upon the safety of drivers that they proponents claim they do. So New Jersey decided that it will withhold driver records not forward these tickets on to New Jersey residents who a flagged by the systems in New York City. There's litigation about this. It's a pretty interesting thing In terms of state power and shows yet more ways in which ny state has poor / corrupt public policies.
And that leads to the police reform initiative that was kicked off by Governor Cuomo after the floyd murder. I actually had several discussions with my state representatives about this topic, and convince my state senator to introduce a bill to further the process of police reform, and to provide more systemic oversight at the state level, which is very lacking.
Anyone who doubts the need for police reform in New York to take a look at the XL spreadsheet that is embedded on the New York criminal justice website, which contains a list of all of the disciplinary actions against police and police recruits. It's a mind-boggling list of thousands of crimes and should provide a good dose of reality to people to think that cop should be beyond reproach.
Thank you for this essay! I agree that law enforcement should be a profession with consistent standards and training. I also think we should get rid of the military equipment and culture. Police should be part of solving problems in our communities, rather than creating more problems and causing unnecessary injuries and deaths.
As a former 9-1-1 dispatcher and supervisor, I am pretty familiar with the way police work. In Oregon, dispatchers are certified by the same organization that certifies police officers--the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST). Their standards are pretty basic and law enforcement agencies can require more, or not. Multnomah County Sheriff's Office was one of the first law enforcement agencies in the country to require officers to have a Bachelor's degree. Portland Police requires a high school diploma or GED. As far as limiting police unions to pay and bargaining, I do feel that even police officers deserve a representative when they are facing discipline. When I was a union rep, the employers would often complain that it was too difficult to discipline or get rid of 'bad apples', but the problem was really that the employer hadn't done their homework or documented the problem sufficiently. I never wanted to defend indefensible conduct, just to ensure that the process was fair.
Finally, I recommend Rosa Brooks's book, Tangled Up in Blue. She makes some great suggestions for retraining and rethinking police culture. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/a-georgetown-professor-trades-her-classroom-for-a-police-beat/2021/02/11/15a2216a-5aa2-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html
This is such an important issue that Baby Boomer white guys like me seldom if ever experience first-hand. Not only does our country have cops who are hyper-aggressive bullies, but police departments think that’s a good thing and look for those traits when hiring. Then we end up with poorly trained confrontational assholes who think violence is the solution and de-escalation is for wimps. Since this is the system we have devolved into, who could possibly benefit from it?
A few candidates come to mind starting with the GOP grifters who will manipulate their poorly educated base of racists with any police violence stories that can be tied to racism, however specious. Also, the master propagandists will always find a way to frighten and enrage their audiences with those same stories. Finally, what are the chances that Bush 41 and the Carlyle Group profited from sending “surplus” military equipment to American police departments?
As always, as long as money is speech and corporations are people, our public sector decision-makers who want to solve these problems will continue to be undermined by the GOP grifters. At least until they can no longer be bribed and coerced into serving their secular and sectarian masters.
Good luck passing anything sensible with the clown/corrupt/immoral/money-greed-monger repubilcans.
Yes police SHOULD be federal controlled and properly trained, as well as often psychologically tested (most important).
San Diego did a rush recruit back in the 80s and realized they had made a mistake hiring revenge types. It is that way now all over the country.
Could bore you with the horrible training I got as a military police officer, but I won't. Partners often try to help once you start patrolling. Type of and lack of training is a huge problem.
Love cops---many of them are smarter, funnier, and better problem-solvers than you can imagine. Most are born helpers, BUT then there are the other ones, and we must never stop discussing them and what to do about their actions.
Recruitment posters should state: Can you keep your temper? You good with vomit, blood and spit? Can you take being called names? Could you deliver a baby? Come to think of that, no wonder nurses and cops end-up together so often!
A public service message needs to be out there: Only Cowards and Criminals Beat People. It should be on a sticker or screen in every squad car. Each officer should be informed and tested on the amount of money lost by cities, counties and states because of killer cops and the hot-headed ones that could not control their anger. They'd sure as hell get it, if they could be sued personally.
A chart prepared by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows that the 2019 total annual police budgets for the USofA is $118,800,031,000.00. Compared to national annual military budgets, it ranks third behind the US and China. It's almost twice the Russian military budget, $65,102,600,000.00, which comes in 5th in this ranking. The military budget for the USofA is over $800,000,000,000.00 and is rapidly headed for $1 Trillion!
Just as large policing budgets enable killing of our citizens with guns fired by policemen dressed to kill, the killing of civilians around the world is enabled by our massive military budget for WMDs operated by soldiers from more and more remote locations.
Both budgets are excessive and are focused on killing. This has to change.
Married to a Portland Police Officer in late seventies and eighties who graduate college as a major in Math and Physiology but could be a brute.
Off the subject but why doesn't Robert Mueller and James Comey speak out? Defend themselves with truths.
Systemic racism among police forces across the country for 300+ yrs is not going to be stopped until federal law commands police training to abolish implicit bias and police training is uniform across the country, and qualified immunity is abolished. Until then, we'll continue to witness police brutality against minorities and women.
As an old environmentalist who supported zero population growth, in my opinion this could have been all avoided. With a few rich taking almost all the wealth, and the poor fighting over crumbs since Nixon, capitalism breeds crime. With a corrupt supreme Court and Congress, thugs running the show in other words, I see it getting worse until America looks like Somalia. It is not only capitalism but religion and the family unit as well that raise thugs. Rich thugs, poor thugs, and of course middle class thugs. My only solution, is to raise all the babies in agnostic communes from conception to end drug babies, child abuse, childhood poverty, racism, crime, religious hatred and narcissism. Since we can't do that, I recommend all the truth seekers prepare for the worst. Learn how to grow your own food and defend all your stuff ASAP. Find others that think like yourselves because there is strength in numbers. Even if miraculously society doesn't fall apart, you can have one heck of a party.
The Stanford Prison Experiment. 1971 : https://www.verywellmind.com/the-stanford-prison-experiment-2794995 (for one source) Surely it is an uphill battle against human nature to pin a badge on anybody. No matter the training, I speculate that professionalism and restraint deteriorate over time under severe macho peer pressure. (Even the "girls" get caught up in wanting to be "one of the boys.")That's where diligent leadership comes in. Another creeping corruption is laziness and arrogance from deference given in court. The best-trained, bright young idealist is soon going to learn to cut corners in his investigations and relapse into boiler plate in his reporting and testimony, and learn he will get away with it overwhelmingly. Most judges are moved-up prosecutors steeped in a brainwashing that cops never lie. (Do District Attorneys get elected without the endorsement of the local cops?) And juries; well, they're spotty. But many do walk out the door at the end with a radically altered perspective about cops never lying, and if somebody got arrested, why are they wasting the jurors' time, and ex-prosecutors automatically being the best next judges.
I have to comment that, while the murder of blacks by white police officers is reminiscent of the ante bellum slave patrols, aka militias (my 3rd great grandfather was drafted into Capt Henry's regiment, Georgia draft militia, during Creek Indian-War of 1812, but not fight in a war, but to patrol for runaway slaves. And with rare exception, The murder of George Floyd being the only one I can think of, the boys and blue are handed a hunting license to take down people of color, mostly males.
I mention this because this time the 5 police officers were American Descendants of Slaves as was the victim. I can't help but note that in Louisiana there have been other cases of white police killing black men, with absolutely no consequences, not even and indictment.
This case is being treated differently. If the officers were white, I guarantee, the whole affair would be swept under the rug.
One thought comes to mind. Cops perceive themselves as THE LAW, and they get very defensive and angry if disrespected, (in their mind) .
The simple act of asking "why did you stop me" or contesting the ticket on the spot is considered an affront and a challenge to the LEO, refusing to comply is enough for the LEO to use it as an excuse to resort to force, even deadly force.
On the other hand, too many young black males, are also touchy and defensive about their "manhood" and will, themselves, resort to violence if insulted, challenged or disrespected.
I haven't seen the full video, but my gut is telling me that this is the case with the cops and the victim.
The authority of the cops was challenged and disrespected, and the manhood of the victim/perp was likewise disrespected.
Irrelevant, whatever the situation. Nothing, and I mean nothing justifies the murder. Cops can always use ID and Vehicle plate to track the perp down and arrrest him when the situation has deescalated
Most importantly the cops are been chared with 2nd Degree murder are black, whereas if they were white I can guarantee that the whole thing would be swept under the rug, and no charges filed.
Thank you, Thomas for this incredible installment. ❤
I agree with you completely. Black cops are no different than the House Negro in Django Unchained, and for those who don't approve of me using the term. I am merely quoting Malcolm X https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kf7fujM4ag&t=66s&ab_channel=1453malcolmx
However when it comes to cops, or LEO, both criticisms are true. The cop culture is one that does not attract the best and the finest, not when they start at $14 an hour or less, and are marginal personalities and of low intelligence, with a chip on their shoulder, a need for respect and a propensity for bullying.
There was a Stanford Study in the 1970's. The study revealed that there was an affinity, almost a camaraderie between cops and robbers. They understood each other, psychologically and emotionally they were two peas in a pod. The only difference was which side of the law they had chosen as their profession.
Thom Hartmann For President!