It is useful for police to have a gun (but not required!), and they should know how to use it. However that doesn't mean they should use one off the practice range.
FWIW framing things as if officers' job is to perform violence on behalf of the state is a big part of the problem. The state's monopoly on violence should be in the hands of the courts, and not individual officers doling out punishment. Police officers should be seen as citizens getting paid to do a good job at something that any other citizen could do if so inclined.
I would generally agree, but at the end of the day any state prohibition must eventually be enforced by some level of violence or more mildly, coercive force.
One could write several books about the nonviolent crimes US police have killed people enforcing. And this is my point. The arm of the state must be reigned in somewhere.
Edit: The list as a whole is horrific. Bullying, racism, sexism, corruption and incidents that resulted in death.
If you want to hold them to a higher standard, you have to pay them to a higher standard.
That logic works when dealing with fast food workers, not agents of state-sanctioned violence. Those standards should be high regardless.
The same year, there were 1,104 recorded police uses of force.
That's 0.00002% of interactions if I did my math correctly. Even if you think the use of force data is a magnitude off, that's about the same risk factor as shark attacks and lightning strikes.
And use of force is only one type of lawbreaking in which cops regularly engage. Buffalo News compiled over 700 instances of sexual misconduct by officers over 10 years [2]. Anecdotally, I see police commit traffic infractions all the time.
None of this is really relevant to my question, though, so I'll pose it again: how much must we pay for police officers to obey the laws they're supposed to enforce?
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/polic... (filter by 2015)
[2] https://s3.amazonaws.com/bncore/projects/abusing-the-law/dat...
And let me know if ANY cops in the US have ever complained about overtime -- guaranteed overtime and overtime pay rate are often specified in police union contracts and there are tons of articles every year about cops making $100K+ overtime on top of base.
Source:
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/police-and-detect...
Did you know that damage over $1000 would be considered felony vandalism in many states? The door alone probably costs over $1000, not to mention damage to the frame. Looking at prison time and a permanent record here, and in some states, lifetime disenfranchisement.
So yeah. Only 45 days pay is pretty sweet. And if it was a civilian vandalizing and terrorizing a precinct, bet your ass they'd prosecute all of these charges and more to the fullest. Given that this is a violent felony, it could trigger a three strikes law if the perp already had a record.
What is this based on? Are you in HR? Do you know of examples of this happening?
> In some 89% of the cases made public, reduced vacation time was one of the penalties levied, and in more than 60% of the cases it was the only punishment.