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Originally Posted by MarcS
Before anyone accuses me of monday morning quarterbacking, remember i've been driving an emergency vehicle for four years. I've never hit anything responding to a call. On the other hand, i've seen several cops hit things responding to confirmed bullshit at inappropriate speeds. The cop fucked up.
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QFT -- I've seen you drive.
The worst part of that article for me was:
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Pawlowski said officials planned to go to the hospital and meet with the family. He said his office will meet with residents within five days to determine the cause of the unrest and try to settle down the community.
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I can't believe someone would have the balls to say shit like that with a straight face. He ought to be fired for even suggesting it.
The cause of the unrest is that people feel increasingly alienated from the police (and government in general) -- it really has become an us v. them mentality for many people and police officers. And part of the reason for that is (in no particular order): (i) the war on drugs; (ii) the militarization of the police; (iii) class issues inherent in the U.S.; (iv) the (political) abandonment of local community policing in favor of distributed rapid response; (v) the use of police as a revenue generating tool; (vi) the perception that officers are not held responsible when they fuck up.
People are pissed because a little boy is dead, the police are responsible, and they think nothing is going to be done about it. When you mix that with all the above, of course people are going to borderline riot -- whether it's justified or not.
The only way the resentment in these communities is going to end is to eliminate the war on drugs, admit that we lost, get back to the officer on the street who lives in the neighborhood, ditch the BDUs and jack boots, and stop sweating the small shit. And none of these problems are an individual officer issue -- they're political and departmental issues. I miss when the officer on the street had the choice to be officer friendly, quite frankly, and I know a lot of cops who feel the same way.