question about police

[Robert Maxwell]

stop what? i like how you silence me on command, am i your robot? haha..ok..

You might want to reread this post before you find out the hard way how people get "silenced" around here.

 

[MacLeod]

Besides that, what city wants to hire power-hungry jerks who will end up costing them tons of money in lawsuits when they abuse their power?

There's no question that some cops are abusive, power-hungry, and corrupt, same as you'll find in any field. Cops obviously have a lot more opportunity to exercise those tendencies, though, and by virtue of the work they do it's more likely for people to be injured or killed in the process. A disgruntled fast food worker or DMV clerk is limited in their ability to visit harm on people who displease them in the course of their work.

First, I don't think police should be blamed for anything in a vacuum. Police power draws from civil authorities. When police run amok, it is because the local government has failed to leash them--or worse, has actively encouraged their abuses. The Justice Department's report on Ferguson, Missouri provides a textbook example of this, in which police are employed almost like an organized criminal syndicate to shake down the city's residents for the sake of filling the city's coffers. Is that the fault of police? At least partially, but it's also the fault of the city government for enabling and encouraging such behavior.

Second, we should distinguish between individual and institutional culpability. Any institution (such as a police force) is susceptible to bad apples. When a cop wrongfully injures or kills someone, is it because the police force failed to identify a dangerous, rogue element, or because the police force actively encouraged such elements? Our responses should be informed by the answers to those questions. Police forces that refuse to acknowledge they have cultivated a dangerous environment and refuse to mitigate their abuses are, of course, wholly culpable for their crimes. Particularly bad police departments should be disbanded and rebuilt from scratch, as some American cities are already doing. (As an aside, it appears to be more effective and expedient to do this than to attempt to reform an abusive police force. But we have very few examples to go by at this point; more data is needed.)

Some sense, as you say there are bad apples in most fields of work. Like others on here I know some Police Officers and given the nature of my job I do interact with the Police from time to time.

As for for the political spectrum in US terms this board does tend to lean towards the left of the spectrum, in Europe it might seem more centrist on the spectrum. It's all down to ones perspective.

 

[indycar]

So getting back to the original topic of this thread, did @Flying Spaghetti Monster's friend go through with the police's request or not? Assuming the friend lives in America, the police cannot force her to go through with it.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Hey, hey don't be so hard on @elamigodemiamiga

I mean, I am a bad bad man. You all know it. I'm all for the infringement of peoples rights and just kicking around wasting tax payers money. Can't get enough of that shit.

But fuck me, I look amazing in my bulky stabvest, £2.99 white shirt, combats that fade after two washes, and boots that won't shine no matter how much I polish them. And I have that big stick to look manly with.

Hugo - off back on the beat

 

[Spot261]

Hey, hey don't be so hard on @elamigodemiamiga

I mean, I am a bad bad man. You all know it. I'm all for the infringement of peoples rights and just kicking around wasting tax payers money. Can't get enough of that shit.

But fuck me, I look amazing in my bulky stabvest, £2.99 white shirt, combats that fade after two washes, and boots that won't shine no matter how much I polish them. And I have that big stick to look manly with.

Hugo - off back on the beat

So harsh!

 

[Squiggy]

No. But then being rude to somebody who expresses on opinion online, is being pretty unbecoming of a grown man, is it not? most grown men don't challenge innocent opinions, nor demand others their time, but cool. i'm gone.

So if I were so say a specific race was inferior and "hey, that's just my opinion man" you'd like that slide because it'd be rude to challenge me?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ It IS rude to challenge you, isn't it?

And I have that big stick to look manly with.

Which of course you speak softly while carrying?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Guys, innagadadavida is apparently not going to be replying anymore, so let's just move on.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

innagadadavida

Good one.

 

[MacLeod]

Well I think we might be able to close this thread down then. As the likely consus will be that he majority of Police Officers are decent hard working people who have a few bad apples. But that can be said of any profession.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Well I think we might be able to close this thread down then. As the likely consus will be that he majority of Police Officers are decent hard working people who have a few bad apples. But that can be said of any profession.

That wasn't why the thread was started. That was just the tangent that some guy launched us into because he made a stupid generalization. FSM had a different issue regarding a friend of his:
http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/question-about-police.285081/

 

[indycar]

I asked this earlier, but I didn't get any response, so I'll ask again. Did @Flying Spaghetti Monster's friend go through with the police's request or not? Assuming the friend lives in America, the police cannot force her to go through with it.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I asked this earlier, but I didn't get any response, so I'll ask again. Did @Flying Spaghetti Monster's friend go through with the police's request or not? Assuming the friend lives in America, the police cannot force her to go through with it.

The police can't force her, but they can make recommendations to the prosecutor, which is the point. But I don't believe the police have the power to levy charges on their own, so they could only make a deal with prosecutorial cooperation and that's probably who she'd be better off talking to. (Plus also a lawyer, as mentioned before.)

I suspect the cop(s) involved with this are preying on her ignorance and trying to scare her into doing something she doesn't have to do.

 

[indycar]

The police can't force her, but they can make recommendations to the prosecutor, which is the point. But I don't believe the police have the power to levy charges on their own, so they could only make a deal with prosecutorial cooperation and that's probably who she'd be better off talking to. (Plus also a lawyer, as mentioned before.)

I suspect the cop(s) involved with this are preying on her ignorance and trying to scare her into doing something she doesn't have to do.

Generally when the police want to perform a sting operation, they use somebody who is close to the criminal who has likely been caught for something and is trying to get a lesser sentence. This is sone so that the criminal isn't as suspicious. My point is: they usually don't do it with somebody who is nearly a complete stranger to the criminal.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The police can't force her, but they can make recommendations to the prosecutor, which is the point. But I don't believe the police have the power to levy charges on their own, so they could only make a deal with prosecutorial cooperation and that's probably who she'd be better off talking to. (Plus also a lawyer, as mentioned before.)

I suspect the cop(s) involved with this are preying on her ignorance and trying to scare her into doing something she doesn't have to do.

Generally speaking, the police make the initial decision whether to charge. While they don't make the final decision, for practical purposes, if a charge isn't filed, it probably isn't going to ever come. Many prosecutors, even if they are aware a different charge could be filed, aren't going to do anything about it because it's less work and it won't get noticed by their supervisors.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Sorry I've been away. I'lkl be typign an update later thanks guys

 

[Finn]

Hope all went well.