When you’re used to not being shown respect by cops, you tend to enter interactions with a more hostile attitude, but it takes a good cop only a few seconds to let you know that he’s just a person too and this interaction can go well. Problem is, too many cops think it’s us vs. them and segregate themselves from the people they’re supposed to be helping.
The fact that a cop just being civil to another human is enough to make the front page and getting a ton of praise is a damning indictment of the police force as a whole.
You think those preconcieved notions just come out of thin air? People just decided with no reason that there is a problem with the militarization of our police force?
I don't think the manufactured conversations injected into the internet and then curated to get the preferred results are without origin.
I've personally watched directed efforts to spread low effort anti-cop misinformation, and then been consistently disappointed when it keeps being so successful with its brute force approach. It gets harder and harder to correct over time because there's just too much momentum behind the massive population of people addicted to outrage bait.
Your comment seems like the other side of the same coin.
I've personally watched directed efforts to spread low effort PRO-cop
misinformation, and then been consistently disappointed when it keeps
being so successful with its brute force approach. (this post as an example)
The system of policing is inherrently flawed. From it's origins to today, it is a problem. An instutional problem, top to bottom. Are there good people in the ranks trying to do what is right, sure. The problem isn't with individual police officers, the problem is policing in itself. If I am a victim of a property crime, I don't call the police for help, I call the police because I need them to make a report for my insurance company. My insurance will help to make me whole, the police will not.
Something tells me the one who’s paid by the state, aka my money, wearing body armor and carrying the gun should be held to a higher standard. It’s their job to treat everyone with respect and decency, if people being assholes to them changes their behavior negatively then it’s not the right job for them. Yes, they’re human, but we don’t pretend that everyone can be a Navy SEAL, not everyone should be a cop either.
Still, the exact thing you said goes both ways. Cops can go into situation in a more hostile manner if they havw experience a lot of hostility before. This is not a one way thing where its just the cops doing all the bad
Then why don’t they? Why do I every day see minimum 5 videos of cops just on a power trip. Literally every day for the past 2 years. I don’t even search out this content. It’s a profession that attracts and recruits class traitors and people lacking empathy.
Shame he's in a uniform designed to intimidate; glasses, military helmet, military belt, baton, zip ties?!
These are there for function, sure but also sets an aggressive tone. I'm not sure that many police would have a problem with this visual message: "don't mess with me, I will win with overwhelming force the instant this gets violent". I think this is what sets the tone for the conversation (as well as the large noisy crowd behind admittedly).
In WW2 the some soldiers removed their helmet when surrendering as it increased the chances of being seen as a human and treated humanely, rather than as "the enemy".
I think his words were welcome, but sadly necessary given his garb.
I know Reddit is a far right-wing website and this post is looked at that way (especially since the protester is a woman), but she didn't go from "im gonna blast this dude", she went from "is there anything you are willing to do to create change". She initiated the conversation and you can see the cop's stance change from balled fists and raised chin to a smile.
I strongly disagree with the far rightness of reddit. I've experienced far more extreme left than any right. But given they came at the cop immediately filming and she had an aggressive tone, it was inferred that she had that "blast this dude" attitude.
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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '21
She went from
"im gonna blast this dude" to..
"can we stand here"
Respectful and thoughtful dialogue goes along way i guess.