Not really, no. It's just not that dangerous. We imagine it must be dangerous, and so do cops themselves. But you're a lot more likely to be killed as a garbage collector or airline pilot, or a construction worker, or plenty of other jobs.
It's like with the "war on terror". The fear of danger is much more powerful than the danger itself. And like with terrorism, the fear is actively promoted for political reasons.
They do what everyone does, what has to be done for policing to be viable.
That seems like an argument against the department as a whole, not a justification for an individual's abuse.
Most of the people they deal with are lowlifes, lyres, cheaters.
Most of the people they deal with are ordinary innocent civilians whom they assume are "lowlifes" because they have been trained and conditioned to.
That said, this following cops around only plays to the problem paradigm. It's harassment, like what paparazzi do. It's belligerent. Maybe it's valuable as a protest, but it isn't as solution.
It is belligerent, and it is harassment, and it is protest. And that's the point. People with power do not voluntarily stop abusing it. They continue until met with resistance - until they are forced to stop.
Unfortunately it's effectively suicide to physically force the cops to stop, but we should do everything we can short of that to stand up against them. Standing up against the cops sets an example for others that we don't need to fear them, that they don't deserve respect and deference, and that we can do something directly to stop their abuse.
"Stand up against them"? See how lovely a world it is without them - what comes next is very much worse than what you're complaining about.
Cops deserve respect and deference, if only because they stand for public order and that deserves it.
I'm a firefighter/paramedic, and am very familiar with many of the scenarios you described. Many of my drinking buddies are cops, and I'm very grateful that they have my back night after night.
That being said, I disagree completely with your statement that cops deserve respect simply because they 'stand for public order'. There have been more than enough examples in recent history where cops have very clearly _not_ been acting in the public's interest, and I think it's prudent for average citizens to be wary of cops. It's an unfortunate reality, but it's the culture that law enforcement has chosen to create.
Having had a handful of interactions with LEOs while 'off the clock', it really amazes me how different their attitude is from when I'm in uniform.
In uniform it's a lot of in-jokes, knowing glances, etc...
Out of uniform, it's very often condescension, or at least a very obvious distrust of anything I say.
Policing doesn't crack the top 10 BLS list of most dangerous jobs. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/08/22/americ...
An op-ed I randomly came across today regarding the topic.
The bad perceptions of the police have very real reasons behind them.
Respect is EARNED, not given. Cops CHOSE to be cops, they are being compensated to be cops, the onus is on them, to take then danger. Not on the citizen.
servi publici and all that comes with that...
Sounds more like an unpleasant job than a dangerous one. I'm not refuting your claim that it maybe dangerous but the parent has a valid point. It may not be any more dangerous than the other jobs mentioned.
Something may feel more dangerous than it is. That's the point the parent was making, I believe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia
If they help and are decent and promote the peace, then we should honor them. By default, though, they collect a paycheck, same as anyone else.
And it will never change so long as people like you absolve the shameful individuals that stand by and do nothing as innocents are harmed.
These cops are the true heroes. Unfortunately the reason we rarely hear about them is that there are incredibly few. Much more comfortable to stick with the herd, follow orders and take your check.
Adding a bit of objective support to that statement is a report [1] from BLS that lists Mortality Rates by industry, where law enforcement is grouped with Government.
BLS Government Death Rate: 2/(100k full-time equiv workers over 1 year)
NIH LEO Homicide Rate: 5.6/(100k census LEOS over 11 years)
Instead, we should include all causes of death for LEOs (because the NIH did so for government workers) and then divide by 11 so that both figures represent deaths over the same number of worker-years. This makes law enforcement look even safer. In fact, it makes it look safer than deskwork. This is either due to a methodological difference or due to the fact that LEOs tend to be young and healthy compared to deskworkers. In any case I think the conclusion "law enforcement is not a comparatively dangerous occupation" is correct.
BLS Government Death Rate: 2/(100k full-time-equiv workers over 1 year)
NIH LEO Death Rate: 11.8/11 = 1.07/(100k census workers over 1 year)
Working on an oil rig, or doing light construction, probably has a much higher incidence rate of injury.
Well that's where I draw the line though. If it comes down to a choice between accepting that law enforcement is allowed to break the law or making law enforcement less effective by increasing transparency, I choose to decrease law enforcement effectiveness. I'd rather citizens undermine the police by recording them then have citizens get shot without cause with little oversight.
>> What I think should happen in law enforcement is that everything should be recorded.
I agree. I would hope that in these "discussions" they're having with these groups to reach a compromise, that's the solution.
I also think it'd be great if cops had cameras on them at all times, and if they voluntarily did that themselves.
Unfortunately, that reality is a bit, well, unrealistic as well. My understanding is that APD has dash cams, but the footage often isn't released, especially in cases of suspected brutality, and often not even to those with an interest in clearing their names. Also, my understanding is that the Peaceful Streets folks arrested here never got their own cameras back, even though no charges were ultimately filed (I think the stolen camera count was at 4.)
I don't know what the solution is, but I don't think it is "let the watchmen wear their own cameras and decide what footage to release."
"let the watchmen wear their own cameras" isn't all that outrageous. It's a momentum thing. If all cops were wearing cameras any incident without footage would be suspicious. I think it will happen eventually.
I agree about internal investigations. They shouldn't be internal. Investigating police and other law enforcers should be a separate unit.
So for things like speeding, jaywalking, etc - you could get pulled over and a talking to by a mediator. Then if there was a problem that couldn't be mediated/otherwise handled, only then would they call in an actual officer who could write tickets, use physical force, etc.
Then it's very clear if you're being an ahole, you get to quickly deal with cops just like today. But if you're being reasonable, often disputes could be mediated without the confrontational baggage most police encounters today seem to engender.
The key would also be that you prevent the "real" cops from dealing with these lower-level issues until AFTER they've been mediated, so the escalation process is very clear and unambiguous. Or at least require them to have a mediator show up to...mediate...first.
Of course this is different from the environment in high-crime urban areas, but just as an example of how this can play out in a realistic way: the Burning Man festival has Rangers (mediators) who are there to help people resolve their own issues and handle minor incidents. In theory, the cops there are for backup in case of major incidents, but in practice they wind up being a pain in the a by literally being the "Fun Police" and shaking people down for minor alcohol and drug infractions. Pretty much the entire event's security needs are handled entirely by the Rangers and simple mediation.
The police there could choose to be be a valuable community resource, but instead generally wind up being resented by most of the community due to (at least a perception of) having generally antagonistic and abusive attitudes. This dynamic is the real problem more than anything else IMO - both on and off-Playa. When large numbers of law-abiding citizens have a negative impression of your entire profession, something is definitely wrong.
Your narrative is inaccurate at best.
We can expect that pretty soon with storage and chips becoming ever smaller. 10-15 years perhaps?
Taser makes several:
http://www.taser.com/products/on-officer-video/axon-flex-on-...
I guess whether those meet every possible definition of 'everything' is something that can be argued about.
There are also all sorts of rules that are learned on the job and aren't not in any manual. Ways for maintaining control and authority mostly. Many of these practices are unsanctioned and unofficial, but still essential for being able to do the job. Some things are both crucial and illegal.
Cops usually feel like when they get busted for being arrogant, bullying or outright violence that they are are victims of these situations. They do what everyone does, what has to be done for policing to be viable. Those pencil pushers with their removed perspective are making judgments about their irrelevant rules being broken.
They are under stress. Violence is a part of their days. Most of the people they deal with are lowlifes, lyres, cheaters. There is real stress. Real danger
That said, a lot of these practices aren't benign and they aren't inevitable. The police does genuinely attract many problematic people and it makes other. They get used to defending their authority and meet challenges to it with extreme responses. They develop a cops & robbers, us & them worldview that becomes their reality. More specifically cops, criminals and naive spectators, citizens & bureaucrats.
They develop a bullying mannerism.
Police manage to do their jobs without guns at all in many places. They deal with violent crime just like cops in the states. I'm not saying this should be adopted by US department, but is proof that there are other ways of doing things.
I think lights good for the paradigm. But, whatever that light reveals needs to be dealt with. Maybe police modus operandi needs to changed. But, maybe the rulebook needs to change too. It can be dangerous trying to enforce the official rulebook after long periods where it has only been enforced selectively. Maybe the official way of doing things doesn't work.
That said, this following cops around only plays to the problem paradigm. It's harassment, like what paparazzi do. It's belligerent. Maybe it's valuable as a protest, but it isn't as solution.
What I think should happen in law enforcement is that everything should be recorded. Every interrogation. Every arrest. Every time a cop pulls you over. This is all evidence and it should be part of every booking.
Hopefully that will make the need for this sort of thing go away.