I have never envied cops. But it would sure help them if there were fewer laws to enforce.
14 thoughts on “An Open Letter To America”
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I have never envied cops. But it would sure help them if there were fewer laws to enforce.
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The problem is that the cops have been largely turned into a revenue-generating device while the courts are a revolving door even if they do catch a crook. So the crooks aren’t scared of them and many decent people see them as just another organized crime gang.
And it’s mostly from the top down, so the cops on the street are suffering from SJW infestation in the management.
What role do the police unions play in this mess? I’m generally critical of unions, particularly public service unions, but maybe I’m missing something.
Support the very same Democrats who’ve wrecked the justice system?
The problem with reducing laws to enforce, or the current fad of not putting criminals in jail, is that the laws they will get rid of, or wont enforce, are things like shoplifting, theft, muggings, assault ect.
Corrupt politicians will pat themselves on the back for having fewer people in jail but businesses will be daily victims.
Who wants to open a store when people can walk in and steal what they want with no punishment?
Police have unions. And so it’s all the cops fault.
Are police unions helping the public?
I think not.
Just as the teacher unions are not helping kids get educated.
Cops and teachers were and are stupid- and they did it to themselves.
I’m not a fan of public employee unions, but, imagine you’re a police officer in any of a thousand situations where some politician or ranking officer (I repeat myself) can further her agenda at your expense. Would you want to foot the bill to fight city hall; could you on your own?
The military answer is a very cumbersome justice system in parallel with the civilian one. Policemen have unions.
There has to be some assurance of fairness and protection from political expediency or you won’t find anyone willing to paint that bullseye on their back.
In Minneapolis, I’m surprised there haven’t been federal suits contesting the punitive bails. They seem clearly excessive.
MCS
By your comments you appear to be new around here, but your argument is among the more rational I have heard recently.
And I may add to the chorus of “get rid of the unions”, “get rid of Qualified Immunity”, after you do all of that, who is going to be there when they come to get rid of you?
Maybe I am appealing to the Burkean sentiments. What if your reforms are a step backwards? Are we going to launch headlong into them without considering all of the consequences and “system interactions.”
Should all of the citizens have “a police union type” protection from all politicians at city hall?
If someone is poor disabled mentally/crazy OR say, an evil cunning all powerful billionaire, and hires security; does this security need protection from their client?
Unions are about collective bargaining- claimed to be about ensuing “job security”.
I don’t think police should protected being fired by any stupid/evil city council members and/or the Mayor.
Or those elected officials {yes, they can tend toward the hideous}are granted power by supreme sovereign authority of it’s citizens voting for them to hold an office, we don’t need this power checked by police officers’s unions.
Rather, it checked by the election process.
[Also checked by Federal and/or State power who are also voted for and charged with solemn duty of protecting every citizens their God given rights.]
If group of citizens of city talk {or send letters} to Mayor and say some particular police officer is not nice enough.
I think Mayor can decide to fire that police officer.
It’s the local citizen’s police force. There no “good” of independent {and out state] power which can override what the local citizens want for their local police force.
A mayor could assign some group/committee to make all such hiring and firing decisions{but, such an unelected group lacks any standing to override the mayor, which would effectively mean, the will of public that voted for that mayor}.
We had just this situation in our town.
On account of news coverage of school shootings, the notion was that there should be a police officer in every school, but the hippie members of the City Council wanted the power to “reassign” this “school resource officer” if that person “is a meanie.”
The then Chief of Police was having none of having one of his officers answerable to another chain-of-command and authority issuing a form of employee discipline to he the Chief, his police captains and whatever Review Board or Internal Affairs or system there is in place for police officers.
Educators who need to maintain order in their classrooms along with hand out both good and bad grades to students are in a similar situation, but police have this to a much, much greater degree. The tendency is to view everything as a consumer product, but what kind of consumer product gives the customer a “D” for not turning in enough assignments? What kind of consumer service person gives you a stiff fine for going 10 MPH over-the-limit-which-everyone-does-anyway?
In the course of their duties, officers are a lightning rod for “Officer Blah was mean to me when I left O’Doul’s Bar last night!” It takes some discernment to distinguish a police officer who is a bad actor from one who gets a lot of complaints because that officer is working in a high-crime neighborhood and interacting with people who are unhappy with the consumer product he is offering up?
Of course when Mayor Rhodes-Conway-Lightfoot-Sotomayor-Kloppenberg defeated our one-time hippie-protestor incumbent from the 60’s who by now, believe it or not, became the Conservative candidate and that is why he lost, she encouraged this Chief of Police to spend more time with his family and pursue his hobby interests.
As our fellow commenter MCS observed, “The military answer is a very cumbersome justice system in parallel with the civilian one. Policemen have unions.”
The Good Lord help all of us if we pass on that piece of advice.
We have no need of the police and their unions.
The Black Lives Matter protest has done our nation a great service.
Maybe you should publish your address so we know which house to rob.
Replying to Frank below. Frank, thanks for the warning and thanks for making clear your intent to do my people and property harm. I’ll reciprocate with a warning of my own: if you pull that shit on me, you can expect a fight, you should not expect to win. It’s pretty pathetic you rely on the government to keep you safe. Are you sad that they don’t tell you who you’re allowed to do business with? Are your feelings hurt they don’t provide you with the healthcare your butthurt syndrome requires? I’ll make you a deal – you can keep your cops, I’ll keep my second amendment rights and take care of myself. *kiss*
That’s a good point and in line with the spirit of collective bargaining. Right now, we see mayors and city councils let cops twist in the wind, where the politicians pass the laws and rile up their base with an anti-cop furor. The politicians then channel the public’s distaste of their policies into the mob beating out their frustrations on cops.
It is all a little too convenient for politicians. It could be that this would get worse with no union.
Police unions don’t need my address to rob me, they are robbing me and they are robbing everyone.
We have put up such abuse for too long.
And since cops have pay them, they have been robbing cops too.