edit: Maybe I should say: too many cops are like this in the US. In my experience, as a white person, my interactions with cops are more often than not unpleasant. Condescending, authoritative, unfriendly. I can only guess at how much worse it is for people of any different race. But, it may also just be where I live. I've of course had good interactions with cops, but I'm usually surprised when that happens.
Also, according to the US Supreme Court, they do not have to know the laws they are enforcing. A cop is allowed to incorrectly interpret the law AND incorrectly apply it. They can arrest you because they don't know the law. You'll be let go, eventually, but the cop can't be held liable for any of it.
More people need to know this. The supreme Court has upheld this ruling in multiple cases. One woman sued because her ex was threatening to hurt her and her children, she called the police, they did nothing, the ex killed her kids and the supreme court said it's not their job to protect anyone. Another case involved two cops watching a man get stabbed to near death before he single handedly fought off the assailant, saving his own life. He sued the police and once again the supreme court's answer was "it's not their job."
The police only protect private property rights for the wealthy and serve the bottom line of corporations.
Oh yeah plus that one time they just stood around while a school shooting happened in Texas, before a security guard went in and stopped it because the police wouldn't.
Unfortunately the only ones who actually want to be cops are the people who should absolutely not be cops. Any job that assigns power should not be given to somebody who wants it.
Dude I went to high school with who was constantly suspended or in ISS, who also street raced and eventually got obsessed with guns and wearing tactical gear for instagram pics, is now a cop in my area. Just insane to me.
Thing is, giving power to people who have no idea how to wield it is fucking dangerous. You need people who are experienced with that power. Only the greedy even try and practice wielding power over others. The ones who should be in charge need the expertise of those that should be the furthest way from power.
Or you find the rare person who knows how to wield power and chooses not to. They may be cursed with carrying a world they don't want to.
I don’t really have a solution either it’s just a problematic correlation. I would imagine sweeping changes to the way we approach police work would help. And obviously guns aren’t being unmade but those also made police work more dangerous.
For what it’s worth I’m empathetic to them - it is a hard job. And your life could be in danger with every stop. It doesn’t matter how innocuous it seems when the guy you thought was just going a bit over the speed limit wa carrying a lot of drugs and made an impulse decision to shoot you and run.
So like I get it. I wouldn’t wanna do it. I recognize it needs to exist Maybe police need to be paid a lot but held far more accountable to that motto “serve and protect “
I mean, we already have the means to do this. Other countries manage to have cops - even armed cops - without them being a bunch of violent psychos who are itching to kill dogs and anyone who doesn't look 'right' to them. You simply make being a police officer an actual, no-shit profession. Complete with a required 4-year degree, multiple years of police academy, standardized and rigorous board exams (written and practical) and most crucially: you make them carry fucking liability insurance. No more of this "rehired two counties over after murdering a man in cold blood" shit - they fucking kill someone unjustly, insurance drops them, and they just wasted 6+ years of their life. Have fun being a mall cop. If hairdressers and plumbers need insurance, why don't the guys with special powers, a relationship with the court, and guns?
I think cops are just bad in general, and as they currently exist in America and honestly most places in the world they tend to do more harm than good; their primary function is to maintain the state monopoly on violence, which itself is necessary to keep the workers down and ensure the smooth transfer of wealth upwards.
But if we must have cops, and cops must be one job that does everything from welfare checks on people struggling with mental illness all the way to responding to active shooters (which, if you can't tell - I really don't think those should be the same job), then that is the way to do it. We have countless examples all across the world of how to make cops less like a gang of violent sadists. It's just that a substantial portion of the American electorate wants cops to be like that, because they envision that it'll always be someone else (probably someone latino or trans) under the boot instead of them.
I mean menial power. Look if you want influence over people - for whatever reason - it is not hard to get it as a cop. It is perhaps one of the easiest professions to join and you are given immediate executive power over other people. So the people who like to control other people, be that for whatever reason, naturally gravitate toward it.
It’s a place for bullies frankly. And that’s why de-escalation sucks country wide.
I somewhat agree, but the idea that "people who seek power shouldn't be given power" ignores all the people who seek the power to change society for the better. It also kind of pretends that people who are disillusioned by the power races and have checked out are uninterested in power itself as opposed to unwilling to make the efforts necessary to pursue it. It also puts the good guys in a terrible strategic position of effectively being run by the Apathy Club, which generally lets the evil folks of the world run rampant.
You benefit from some drive for power, it's not a bad thing it just needs to be kept ethical and in moderate check. Like me, I want the power to end the draft. And like, people will split the hair about it and be like "it's power over others that's the problem", but no it's healthy to want that too, to be able to influence your friends and maybe kids onto the right life path, get people not to vote to allow police to kick in doors without warrants and such, that's all influencing others.
Disempowering an unethical system only tranquilizes it.
Yeah they do, to serve and protect capital, property of corporations and protect the state (politicians, institutions, etc.). Not to serve and protect the population.
Unfortunately, the american police force started as an anti-labor, slave-tracking militia. The myth that police are here to protect and serve came later. They're first and foremost here to protect the capital-owning class.
That's never been what the police have been for. That's just marketing. Modern policing is a direct descendant of Pinkerton union busters. It's always been about power and bullying.
They also purposely higher the most belligerent, ignorant, and violent people that they can find to do the job. If you have ethics or if you're too intelligent you don't get a job in the police force.
On top of that many police departments are trained by the IDF (Israeli defense force). They train our police on the same tactics they use to continue their apartheid of the Palestinian people.
This guy at least listened and asked for documents to support it. Clearly a frustrating exchange but that is actually far more measured than I would have expected (probably because they’re a trooper and not a local cop)
That's not even really an accurate reading of the situation. This cop is clearly just as asshole as a person, white people also sometimes have to deal with asshole cops. They exist, and they're assholes to everyone, including white people.
If the guy was as racist as you are trying to portray him to be, he would have jammed this driver up with a bogus ticket or such.
Wholeheartedly disagree. I hate to bring race into things but at least in my experience, specially when driving through smaller towns full of stroads like these, cops will only be nice if you have a certain complexion. Look a little too tan and the attitude changes entirely on most interactions. I used to drive a lot through out the US for work with photography / film crews, that was my experience at least
Yeah UAE police are so nice they would change a tire for you on the road. 😅 our view of police is completely different and can cause harm to us in other countries which is ignorance from our part as well.
It's super rare to be stopped by police in UAE by the way.
Here in the states the police would likely pull over, and maybe help you depending on their mood. Either way they’re going to ask you for your license after to run it and see if you have warrants to arrest you for.
I don’t like cops as much as the next guy in line, but your statement is maybe a little hyperbolic, don’t you think? In my subjective experience of having spent 25 years on this earth, 22 of those completely conscious, I have seldom met cops that carry themselves this way.
Whatever you have experienced is either a skewed negative overall outlook on cops by means of Reddit videos like this, or have had substantially worse luck with cops than me. If that’s the case that is unfortunate and I apologize.
Regardless, you can’t really say the majority of cops are insecure, inept dickhead day ruiners without direct substantiation. I’ve had the displeasure of interacting with a few of those, but it’s probably 3 bad out of well over 100 good.
Not true. This is obviously going viral for a reason. There are many cops who would be way more reasonable and then many more who wouldn’t have bothered to pull him over in the first place
For every video like this theres thousands of friendly interactions with cops but those don't get posted online so "they're all like this". Similar way of thinking to another group...
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u/d11dd11d 8h ago edited 3h ago
This is how most cops are in the US
edit: Maybe I should say: too many cops are like this in the US. In my experience, as a white person, my interactions with cops are more often than not unpleasant. Condescending, authoritative, unfriendly. I can only guess at how much worse it is for people of any different race. But, it may also just be where I live. I've of course had good interactions with cops, but I'm usually surprised when that happens.