FBI charges LA Deputies for abuses.

[RevRay]

Your opening point is probably true, but there's a perfectly good explanation for that on several different levels.

1. Cops are a reflection of society at large, and there's no question that over the past 25-50 years our society has become a lot more course and a lot less civil. So LEO's are probably more course and less civil.

2. With the increasing incivility, there is also an increase in the severity of the things that people do to one another. For proof of that, simply look at the increase in the number and severity of the mass shootings. This means that the average things that law enforcement has to deal with is worse today, so correspondingly their response will tend to be less lenient ... and mistakes will be more apparent.

3. The third thing I would have to think contributes would be the ridiculousness of the courts these days. The things that liberal judges let people get away with must frustrate the heck out of those who have to put their lives on the line on the arresting end of things. And the liberality of the judges must give the criminals much more of a sense of entitlement which would cause them to respond less humbly when confronted.

I am not saying any of this to excuse LEO's who overreact ... but it is somewhat understandable.

[Longitude Zero]

Your opening point is probably true, but there's a perfectly good explanation for that on several different levels.

1. Cops are a reflection of society at large, and there's no question that over the past 25-50 years our society has become a lot more course and a lot less civil. So LEO's are probably more course and less civil.

2. With the increasing incivility, there is also an increase in the severity of the things that people do to one another. For proof of that, simply look at the increase in the number and severity of the mass shootings. This means that the average things that law enforcement has to deal with is worse today, so correspondingly their response will tend to be less lenient ... and mistakes will be more apparent.

3. The third thing I would have to think contributes would be the ridiculousness of the courts these days. The things that liberal judges let people get away with must frustrate the heck out of those who have to put their lives on the line on the arresting end of things. And the liberality of the judges must give the criminals much more of a sense of entitlement which would cause them to respond less humbly when confronted.

I am not saying any of this to excuse LEO's who overreact ... but it is somewhat understandable.

Amen RevRay

[TheTman]

I agree RevRay. Society as a whole is much more rude, and violent, and much less civil, and the cops have to deal with these jerks throughout the day. I know of some people that seem to go out of their way to antagonize cops, just for fun or for spite. I have friends with kids that have got hooked up with a bad crowd, and hear about some of the crap their kids pull. One friend's daughter is having a hell of a time with meth, and can't seem to stay straight for more than a few weeks, and then she disappears, and goes off on "a run" as her dad calls it. He's tried everything to help her get straight, treatment programs, she's been to prison, and is in and out of jail repeatedly. She's stolen thousands of dollars of stuff from her dad, stole his truck, and the people she was with shot and killed a guy over $500 in the dad's truck. I don't know how she didn't get convicted as an accomplice to murder, I suppose she plea bargained out in exchange for testifying against the other lowlifes.


You mention The revolving door court system. I'm not a big fan of drugs or anything, but for the most part, the pot smokers at least are pretty non-violent, yet you have thousands of them behind bars, often letting violent criminals out on parole to make room for them often due to minimum sentencing guidelines. That just doesn't make sense to me, that we incarcerate so many people for marijuana. Many people use it to help with the effects of chemotherapy. Some swear that the concentrated oil cures cancer, and provide evidence to support their claims. I could see if it was addicting, or a chemical, but it's a natural herb, that grows on a plant with a multitude of uses, but we can't grow hemp (which is NOT marijuana, it produces no high when smoked). It can be made into paper, rope, clothing, cardboard and fiberboard, oil can be extracted from the seeds and used for anything from food oils, to energy producing oil products. I believe the ban on hemp cultivation is meant to protect other industries that might become obsolete if hemp products were allowed. As it stands now, any product with just a trace of THC is banned, which includes industrial hemp products since they do contain trace amounts of THC. Way less than anything you could feel, but it's there. As with anything Big Money gets it's way, and the rest of us be damned. If they'd just legalize it, many of our problems would be less of a problem. The drug cartels would lose a major product, police could be used for other purposes than busting pot heads, and we would make a lot of money from taxing it. Most Doctors and scientists agree, that it is less harmful and addicting than cigarettes or alcohol, yet lawmakers refuse to look at the facts, and let Big Money and superstition control the issue. I think at least half the population wants it legalized, or at least decriminalized. It doesn't seem to be a big cause of lung cancer, since most people don't smoke enough to have the effect that a pack a day of cigarettes do, it doesn't cause cirrhosis of the liver, or ulcers, or the medical problems excessive alcohol abuse does. And not one person has ever died from an overdose of it. There are probably cases where stoned drivers caused fatal accidents, but compare that to the alcohol fatalities and it's probably just a drop in the bucket.
I watched a friend go through treatment for lung cancer, and pot was the only thing she could take that made her feel halfway decent. The minimum sentencing guidlelines, some states adopt, take the sentencing out of the judges hands and puts it in the states control, so that someone just trying to get some relief from a disease, are lumped in with those that use it for party-time.

Now for things like Meth, and especially Meth, lock em up and throw away the key, that stuff has no practical use, and does immense damage to the users, their family, and society in general. Coke and Heroin too, but meth seems to be the drug of choice these days from what I hear, so anything they can do to get it off the streets is pretty much fine with me. As long as the law is obeyed by the cops, and they make sure they are raiding the right home.

I too cannot defend out of control or rogue cops, and dammit, they just don't make themselves look bad, it makes the whole department, and cops in general look bad.
Like that cop in NY that shook down an the Albanian businessman for some $24k over the summer. That just reinforces the stereotype of NY cops being crooked and on the take.
When I was a kid/teenager the cops used to try and treat us well, and get to know us, and visit with us, and were very friendly for the most part. Being in a small town, there wasn't much crime except for traffic violations. A cop would see a group of kids hanging out in the park, and would just stop and say hi, and ask us to pick up our trash, and visit with us, and let us ask questions and answer them, and really built up a relationship between the kids and the cops. I see very little of this today. Most kids probably take off if they see a cop pull up nowadays.
But all it takes is one bad encounter with some jerkwad with a badge, to ruin some people's opinion of the Police.

[jdlott74]

You also have to remember that Cops have to ALWAYS watch there backs much more than they used to. There is so much hate, and people just wanting to kill cops that they have to be more alter. We here in TX had two or three LODD just in the last week or so.


That being said the problem with Rogue cops are that the ones that make the good ones look very bad. in TX the academies teach lethal force and when and when not to use the tazer, gun, or baton. A few departments took away the baton from their officers just for that reason. A bunch of departments in the area here are going to not only dash cams but also body cams. It's a good thing because you see everything that is going on and can make or break an officer's case of what was actually going on if the dash cam misses it.


Several departments, especially Dallas has an "unofficial" policy that if you get on the news for something STUPID that you SHOULD already know better in doing your butt is OUT!!! Prior chief was like that and this new chief is to...

[TheTman]

I wish they would hang these cop killers off a telephone pole with a big sign saying Cop Killer around there neck and leave em until they rot.


I don't have a beef with any law abiding officer. The crooked ones and the rogues are my beef. Anyone that would shoot a cop for the fun of it, or the reputation, or as a gang initiation should have some special punishment reserved just for them. Something cruel and unusual. UNLESS it was in self defense from some out of control cop, maybe pursuing a personal vendetta or something. It would have to be some unique circumstance.
And if they kill a fireman, double the penalty. I say that since firemen are unarmed and only save lives, you hardly ever find a bad fireman. Or hear about one.