Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward64
Good cops (the est. 95%+) doing their job as best they can under extreme circumstances.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1267629903496859655
This is fun. Have to go to bed. I'll be sure to post more good cops doing the right thing ...
Bad boys, bad boys
Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do
When they come for you |
I feel like with so many things, we're just cross-talking so I'll ask your patience while I think I restate some things that I've probably already said before but to try and put them into context.
You notice those of us who are disappointed and shocked at what we see from the police aren't showing videos of them going after rioters, right? Yes, the job turns a lot tougher at night. No one here is saying "don't arrest looters who are breaking into stores and stealing stuff". Are there going to be brutality problems there? Probably, just by the sheer number of arrests. But, you say "arrest the rioters" and we agree "yes, arrest the rioters".
I think the difference is that you see any protester during the day as a potential rioter at night. I'm starting to feel that way about our police force. I've always subscribed to the "a few bad apples" theory. But this weekend has strained that to the point where I now think it's a systemic problem. (And, yes, I know there are a lot of people who would say "it's about time - what took you so long" - but I'm slow and naive and really want to believe the best in people). Go look at my more than ample posting history on this board. There's nothing like this at all. But what I've seen this weekend has shaken my belief in the institution of policing to the core.
For every fired police chief in Louisville (who was about to retire), there's a police chief in LA saying Floyd's death is on the hands of the rioters "as much as it is those officers" or the VP of the Houston police union saying it was the protesters fault for not getting out of the way of a horse. WHAT?
For every video of police officer laying down arms and joining the protesters, there's a litany of videos of a captain in New York losing his shit on peaceful protesters and ramming them with a barricade or indiscriminately spraying pepper spray out of their car at protesters just milling around or
putting a baton into a man's hand (linked just because I hadn't linked to the incident in another place yet like the others) just so they could beat it out of him. But I've seen way too many times where the police took an otherwise peaceful protest and escalated it, seemingly intentionally. And that's to say nothing of the unconscionable assaults on clearly identified media, medics, people on their own property, children.
I really really want to go back to believing that it's just a few bad apples. Because then I can happily believe that all is right in the world: people will protest peacefully by day, the few that won't get arrested with good cause, police will stop the riots at night, and things will start to get better as we can try and fix the problems that started this in the first place.
So, yes, me, as a white male of decent means in a good neighborhood - I'm more afraid of the police right now than I am of the protests and riots. Part of that is that the riots are never getting out to my sleepy little Houston suburb. But the other part of that is that the police can and will.
SI
EDIT: And here's the thing - all of this also is just sad to me because this isn't about me. This shouldn't be about me. This is about a community that has had this on them for so long that is long past overdue for it to be fixed. But here we are with me worried for my own safety instead of trying to help fix the problem with a group that has had this shit been going on for literal centuries.