Are the Police finally listening?

[DancingLady]

This last year there have been so many highly publicized incidents of police brutality. So many people have gotten to the point where they are so fed up with cops getting away with this that they are protesting. Protests have become riots and looting and all sorts of the things have gone along with it. I certainly do not approve of property damage, no matter how justified the anger over this situation is, but isn't it about time the police took notice and actually listened to the people? It's not like this is an isolated problem here. People all over the country agree that there is a serious issue. I am certain in does not represent all cops, but there are obviously enough of them around the country to really cause a huge division. Do you think the cops are listening at this point now that at least one department is actually pressing charges and holding the officers to account for what they have done?

 

[Rainman]

I read an article yesterday written by an ex-cop [or so he claimed to have been] who had fatally shot someone.

The ex-officer wrote that most WHITE police officers would rather not shoot black suspects because even if the shooting was justified it would always be misconstrued as a racially-motivated killing. In most cases, for most cops, shooting someone or using excessive force is a last resort . . . and they must live with the guilt for the rest of their lives if that person dies.

I'm sure that the protests have made cops to be more wary when dealing with perps of any hue but . . . the community must help the police too. Simple. Do as the cops say.

 

[lushlala]

I have to say I agree entirely with Rainman. At the risk of a backlash, and I'm not justifying police brutality in any way, shape or form, I think we as communities have to also take responsibility and be held accountable. I would hate to be a police officer because they're really up against it, grappling with the unsavoury job of keeping our streets safer, fighting an uphill battle against these thugs. They can't win because if they don't come down on these criminals, they're a soft touch. They're damned if they do come down hard on them. Suddenly we're defending the criminals, forgetting that these are the very people who make our lives a living hell by terrorising us. It must be extremely hard to be a police officer today. It doesn't help that the media will only report the bad, and not so much the good that the police force brings about.

 

[JoanMcWench]

Either way police brutality exists. That's the bare bones truth of the matter. I don't care if it's a white officer assaulting a white officer or a black officer assaulting a black officer or a white on black or an Asian against an Australian. Meaningless. Abuse is abuse & if the media was doing its job & serving the people they'd report it that way.

 

[Diane Lane]

I agree with @rainman and @lushlala, which is why I try to post positive police videos here on this forum, as well as elsewhere. There are far more good cops than bad ones. As I've stated before, there are good and bad in every profession, but I don't see riots about teachers and others molesting, raping, and otherwise abusing children. Why is there such hatred and backlash against the isolated incidents of (alleged) police brutality? Yes, obviously it's a problem, especially if someone dies, but as @lushlala and @rainman have said, listen to the police. Do what they ask. It's usually not an unusual request, and the rest of us comply, because it's expected. The police stand in a thin line between us and the bad guys (and girls), and we need to support them, so they are able to do the jobs they've been hired to do.

 

[Gabe]

In an era of social media, police are under pressure to do the right thing and say the right thing or at least be politically correct. I would like to believe there are a few bad eggs and the police in general are there to protect the public.

As people are more violent, are on drugs and own firearms the jobs of a police officer is more difficult and their own lives are on the line. They have to take swift action and people see that as 'force' but if they didn't they could be injured to killed. The term excessive force is hard to determine, but has become something that the police are more aware of and the limits.

 

[tanker]

These things seem to go in cycles, so maybe last year was just a bad year. This year might be a good year. The amount of police brutality cases per the number of criminals caught is fairly low. Also the newsmedia has a tendency to sensationalise stuff.

 

[DancingLady]

I'm not saying that all the cops are bad and use brutality, or even that there are huge numbers of them, but the problem I see is that the police seem to rarely be held accountable when an officer does something totally out of line. The police appear to be a brotherhood that protects their own even when their own have commit a crime. That is what I think people are so fed up with.