Man firefighters are true heros all around and are literally out there saving asses every day, how dare some sleazy pig do this crap.... I have always understood that cops and firefighters are in a mutual respect position, like a brotherhood almost.

More and more cops are outta line because they are not properly governed, its like the some get the badge and its a license to be a dick.

 

Yes, there are flaws in all professions.

The difference, of course, is the profession being discussed involves legal and lethal empowerment.

The ice cream man is not integrated into our justice system. The ice cream man is not legally empowered to restrain and kill as part of his job calling. The ice cream man is not personal friends with the other 'gatekeepers'. The ice cream man does not fear for backup support in the future if he narcs out another ice cream man. The ice cream man does not automatically carry an implied version of the 'truth' to the court room. The ice cream man is not provided a sidearm by his employer with the expectation he will use it against other human beings on his route, or even animals for that matter. The ice cream man will come under much closer scrutiny if he puts a bullet in somone's head. The ice cream man won't be able to legally restrain you in the 70th precinct bathroom and then use that moment to sodomize you with a broken broom handle (Abner Louima). The ice cream man will go to prison if he shoots an unarmed man 41 times, 19 shots striking, a few shots entering through the bottoms of his feet (Ahmed Diallo).

The ice cream man falls under a reasonable system of checks and balances, as most of us mere mortals do.

The cop, on the other hand, does not have a sufficient system of checks and balances. This is even more disconcerting, given their extended legal rights and preferred treatment in our justice system.

Everyone can be bad. I agree. That is my argument.

We need MUCH more monitoring, more scrutiny, more accountability from a cop simply due to his extended rights and mission.

A cop that breaks the law should face ramifications much more severe than the average citizen breaking that same law. This is already done in other professions that have the ability/opportunity to cause severe harm by abusing their professional circumstance...professions that work with children face this for example.

Until this occurs, law enforcement will continue to be a breeding ground for the worst of humanity. Not all folks that 'join the force' are bad. Some are motivated by sincere desires. The good folks get out, they become disenfranchised, disappointed by the system and what they see, what is expected of them. Or they turn...gently by simply ignoring the behavior around them, or severely by joining the take. This 'psychological grooming' is further fostered by their continued exposure to the criminal element. Awful crimes, awful people, doing awful things are the norm. That is their work. They respond when someone is doing something bad. It fosters an us vs. them mentality, with 'them' being anyone who is not badged. A systematic dehumanization of the target population. The virus will spread when there are insufficient controls in place...remember Rampart?

We do need cops. They do things that need to be done. We just need to govern much better.

Make it clear that a cop is not a volunteer, or a hero dedicating his life to the common good. He make a paycheck. We pay him. He accepted the job. He took an oath. He is more accountable than the ice cream man if for no other reason than the ice cream man makes no promises to the public. To me. To You.

Why, don't you wonder, does a person take a job that pays so little, and includes a high danger factor. Where's the upside?

Why does a guy select a career as a shoe salesman?

Think about it.

 

I salute you, awesome and well sustained argument. I agree with every bit!

 

I don't understand why you can't just skate from point a to point b without having to jump over shit.

 

Everyone should email that link to the Baltimore PD website.

 

Yes, you can find specific examples of bad ice cream men. There are also 5 legged frogs out there.

The real issue is frequency.

Search Google for a quick hit measurement:

"bad ice cream man" - 335 hits
"5 legged frog" - 553 hits
"bad cop" - 1,170,000 hits

This is not a true measurement of incident frequency of course, just a count of indexed links. If nothing else, one can surmise that this is a problem many folks are concerned about.

We can shrug our shoulders and say this is a necessary evil, or we can recognize this serious problem and spread the gospel to educate other citizens and hope to foster a slow but growing pressure from citizens for reform.

 

[QUOTE=Ruprecht,Feb 15 2008, 01:41 PM] Yes, you can find specific examples of bad ice cream men.

 

So are you suggesting that cop corruption is not any more prevalent than corruption with ice cream men, or grocers, or barbers, etc.?

Do you really think so? I just want to make sure I understand your point.

Is that your belief?

 

I will agree with you to a point. I'm not going to argue the abner louima or the guy shot 41 times. Both of those situtations were ****ed up there is no denying that, the point I was making is that cops are not the only ones doing crap like that. I bet there have been ice cream men that have done it throughout our history but yes you are correct about the other things.

The system of checks is true to a point. I feel the cops system is fairly bias in favor of their fellow "brothers" but anything is like that. If you work with a group of people that you basically risk your life with on a day to day basis of course your going to support them even when it may be in the wrong. Sure that doesn't apply to everyone, as some still have morals, but as a whole its unfortunatly true and it can be said for ANY high risk job not just cops.

I agree with your idea of cops should face higher penalities due to their job nature.

Firefighters take jobs with high danger and little play, military personal do the same. The upside is either power of an actual desire to better the world in one way or another. I like to think that its the latter but of course its not always the case.

 

[QUOTE=Ruprecht,Feb 15 2008, 01:55 PM] So are you suggesting that cop corruption is not any more prevalent than corruption with ice cream men, or grocers, or barbers, etc.?

Do you really think so?