For the FTP's amongst us

Yes, wouldn’t it be great to have a large group of supremely powerful, violent, angry assholes doling out justice as they see fit, with no fear of repercussions?

They’d whip us all into shape in no time!


Do you not realize that’s why people dislike and fear cops already? Do you not see the issue with giving someone that much power? Do you understand how little qualifications are required to become a cop and what kinds of people seek out the job?

How about instead of giving cops unlimited power, we get rid of all the bullshit laws they “enforce” and let them focus on theft/injury/death? You’d need fewer so you could be more selective in who they are, there’d be less harassment so people would have a more positive view of them, and they’d have more time to deal with real crime.

 

Interesting, is that a rule of thumb that should be applied to everyone or just cops?

You're at the track and some random guy with a chip on his shoulder walks up to you while you're in a heated conversation with Mongo, hocks up and spits right in your face, he didn't like your tone. Now what?


As a side note, in many States, any bodily fluid thrown/spat at a State employee is indeed an elevated charge of aggravated assault......but I'm sure many of you, sharp tools, already knew that.

 

Holy fuck. Who stole your login?

 

Well I’d wait until we were on the track and then I’d reach over and grab his front brake level to teach him a lesson.

 

Nope, too much protection. I’ve seen way worse actions cause a firing to take place only for the union to appeal and get it overturned by an arbitration hearing.

 

Fenati, is that you?

 

I have a friend who is a deputy at one of the big city jails and it has softened my view on the law enforcement profession quite a bit - that profession collects assholes on both sides of the fence. The police are expected to be caretakers of the mentally ill without the training to do so - the closure of state supported mental institutions has forced the police and the jails to care for these people who can't even function in society alone. The officers on the street and in lockup have to constantly be on the defense when dealing with people because they don't know if they are getting Dr. Jekyl or Mr.Hyde from one minute to the next. On top of the mental health issues - you just get to constantly interact the bottom of the god dammed barrel of society. You don't know who you are stopping, you don't know if you get to go home to your family. It is not a safe profession.

Then you get job related PTSD, a career that attracts people who want to prove themselves, and the MP reciprocity programs that bring guys out of war zones into civilian police jobs and some of them cannot turn off the war switch. It's not even a large percentage of officers who are like this - it's just more visible now. I am thinking the percentage of "bad cops" hasn't really changed over the years, just the awareness and exposure. And a lot of these guys aren't even "bad cops" they just fucked up like normal people.

There really isn't one fix for this as it is multifaceted - but a start would be better public mental health support to assist our law enforcement with having to mitigate these issues. The idea of the closure of the state supported systems - was to push that funding to private facilities, but that never happened. The facilities closed and the funding dried up - so there is no one left to care for the mentally ill.

Just some random thoughts - which may be waaaaaay off target - I just know my views have shifted quite a bit over the past few months once I started seeing them as humans doing a shitty job. There was a time in my life when I wanted to join the military and become a cop - I would never even consider it now - that's a tough bag to carry.

 

SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - higher standard, professionalism, blah, blah, blah.



Yes, bodily fluids are assault, but the cop's job is not to kick the guy's ass for spitting, it's to arrest him for it and let the courts dole out the punishments.

 

Wow. I agree. Violence is not a reasonable response to saliva.

 

I agree that we need to get rid of alot of the bullshit laws. But nice straw man you built there. I dont think I said we needed a bunch of thugs going all Judge Dred on people. I just do not have an issue with them applying knots to someones head when the person is being a complete asshole.

 

I disagree

 

Damn. I agree with shooter. What's next cats and dogs sleeping together?

 

I am really curious how most here would react to getting spit on like that though. I might end up getting my ass kicked but I would almost guarantee that if someone did that to me there would be a fist impacting the salivas point of origin.

 

My main issue is he did it to someone in restraints.

 

Well, you're just being honest some of the folks in here with an agenda, not so much.

 

Ya, I kinda agree. But the dirtbag in restraints really should have considered that too. It made me laugh seeing that asshole running his mouth while cuffed, spitting on the guy because he thought he was untouchable and then getting knocked out. Does that make me a bad person?

 

Spitting on an oilfield guy is a different story than spitting on a "peace" officer. I dont mind if they answer violence or even threat of violence with the same. I just dont see it as a reasonable response to spitting in a law enforcement environment.

Masking the spitter 100% of the time excluding meals would be my play.

 

Nope, makes you human.

The proper response would have been to hog tie him and leave him face down.

 

Is the random guy wearing handcuffs?