Really, I Don't Hate The Police. OK?

[MrScorpio]

Frankly, I apologize to you if I gave you that impression. That being said, I will admit that I am wary of the police.

Now, throughout my entire life, I have been driven by a quest to fully understand my surroundings. In many cases, it has to be this way as a matter of survival. This is much more than a case of intellectual curiosity, but as a black man in America who has more than a keen interest in civil discourse and individual rights and responsibilities, I've taken to heart and faith an obligation to know the meaning of things.

Not for touting myself as a source of authority or reference, but as one who will recognize the truth when I see it.

I've been on DU for quite a long time, and as long as it's around, I would like to be around here longer. Be that as it may, I believe that I owe you an explanation for my recent posts regarding the subjects of policing and the Gates/Crowley incident.

First, I admit the my "Whiny B____" post (Redacted for the sake of a particular word's controversial nature), was a pure emotional outburst. I believe that in the thread I explained my motivation, and I'll leave that said as it is.

I must say, however that if I gave the impression that I was engaging in a generalize form of police hatred, I apologize. That was not my intention.

Moreover, up to the point in which I made that outburst, I was quite content to let the events play out without adding to the divisive nature of the debate around these parts. Unfortunately, my reaction to what I felt was an unfair criticism of the President impelled me to speak out on the matter. If somewhat bombastically.

Not long after I posted the first item, I've come to realize that I have an obligation as a good DU member in standing to engage in civil discourse, rather than throwing fuel on the fire of an already hot topic subject. I've posted a couple of more items that I hoped to inform rather than incite. I hope that I was successful.

That being said, I'd like to present an OP-ED. Which is something that I'm quite known for, and it's about time for another.

As I said, before, I don't hate the police, but I am wary of them. Many of us on DU may understand and sympathize with my wariness and I've noticed that others do not. But since I respect and admire all members of DU in good standing, I want to explain to you why.

This is because, through my personal observation from actual experience, books, news articles and various media, I've come to realize that the police operate quite in a different fashion that is portrayed in the generalized mythos surrounding their profession.

That is, that police when dealing with any circumstance within their jurisdiction has a generalized order of priorities under which they operate and enforce, but is not fully enumerated at the time of any incident.

The reasons that they don't take the time to hand you this list of priorities have practical applications, of course. Not to mention the time restraints required to sort out any particular situation quickly and effectively. But from my perspective, most of all being that that cops would not rather put themselves at a disadvantage of having everyone knowing what the rules are of the game while its being played.

If you don't know the rules, you see, how the hell can you win the game?

Cops are given badges, guns, TAZERs, dogs, arrest power and bright, shiny vehicles as equipment to play the game. That's what they have. What you must have is a knowledge of the game's rules and the willingness to apply them for you own self preservation. You need your wits throughout an interaction with the police. Because, if you're not playing within the bounds of the cop's game, it could most definitely end badly for you.

OK, here we go... The order of priorities that cops are protecting goes like this:

1. Themselves.

2. Their fellow cops

3. The laws of the jurisdiction that pays their paychecks

4. Ordinary, law abiding citizens and the victims of crimes

5. The criminal element.

6. The Truth: To protect cops, applying the laws of the jurisdiction to separate and arrest the criminal element from ordinary "law abiding citizens" and their victims and put the motherfuckers in jail.

Now some may think that I'm being unfair by portraying cops as being self-serving. It's not unfair if you think about it. Of course, they have to look out for their own asses first. It's self preservation and no cop will last long without it. It's necessary for the business in which they are in.

The problem, however, is that cops are human and it takes a lot of courage, intelligence and forbearance to strike a delicate balance between priorities in their proper order. Many of them are just not up to the task, and these cops create an atmosphere of distrust and misunderstanding of the ones who do. A misapplication of the priorities has dire circumstances for all involved and lives are ruined and or lost. That is the difficult part of a cop's profession.

The other part of a cop's profession is something under which they have very little control. That is the labyrinthine nature of laws that apply to American jurisdictions. Unfortunately, local jurisdictions have decided that their main motivation for passing laws is not to protect the safety and security of the citizens over which they govern. The first priority is to generate revenue for the self preservation of their bureaucracies. And the main function of the police is to ensure that the citizens are impelled to keep the money rolling in through a system of fines, penalties and operating costs.

It's why I said that when you are confronted by the police, you should look out for your own best interests first, because that cop most likely is not.

The cop is first making sure that he or she (or their fellow cop) will not end up as a victim.

Secondly, the cop is looking for a way to apply the law. Most of these laws of course, are designed to restrict your freedom and separate you from your money.

Thirdly, your safety and security comes into consideration, but only if the cops thinks that you really deserve consideration.

If by your deeds, you show disdain for the order of priorities, you should expect to be quickly shuffled to the bottom of the deck. Most likely, with your face is on the pavement and in handcuffs, which is much more preferable than being dead.

And in the nature of their business, sometimes the truth has to be "managed" in order to ensure that they go home at night, even if you don't.

On another subject, that would require a very long dissertation in which I'm not willing to engage fully, but I do think that it needs to be mentioned, is the blatant militarization of police forces in America. A lot has been said and a lot needs to be said. But all-in-all, this militarization has played a part in creating distance between the actions, duties and responsibilities of those police departments and the needs of communities for fair and effective community policing. Whether it's the various "wars" on crime, drugs or terror, this militarization has resulted on a "war" on ordinary citizens and their individual and collective rights.

On the subject of racism. It's a sticky matter. Although, I will say that a lot of this depends on many factors, such as the general socio-economic makeup of a particular community, various institutionalized practices, general attitudes and willingness or unwillingness to apply egalitarian principles of tolerance and equality. All of this does not mean that cops are inherently racist. However, racist cops do exist. There is no disputing this. And like those cops that misapply the system of priorities, racists cops makes all other cops look bad.

The motivation for racist behavior by cops may have nothing to do with their opinions of minorities in general. I'm quite sure that some cops who have committed acts of racial profiling might even have friends or family from a minority group in their personal lives.

I have to say that rather than a form of racial discrimination, the underlying motivation for most profiling is based upon the opportunistic predation of less advantaged classes. Classes that are more vulnerable to that labyrinthine system of laws that jurisdictions pass to keep themselves in business.

The most egregious example of this form of class warfare is cited in the events surrounding racially profiled stops of minority drivers near the town of Tehana, TX. http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5624196

It's an unabashed, over the top shakedown of blacks who happen to be caught driving through that jurisdiction while black and part of the American underclass. It's American law enforcement on steroids.

Hopefully, an outrageous situation to be rectified.

In conclusion, I have a few points to reiterate.

First, if you ever come across a cop for what ever reason, hope for you own sake that he or she is not having a bad day.

Second, let the cop know through your deeds (or words) that you do not constitute a threat to that cop's safety.

But lastly and most of all, LOOK OUT FOR YOUR OWN BEST SELF INTERESTS. I posted a thread yesterday on what to do if you're stopped or arrested. Please heed it. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6147456

Thanks.

Now, let the civil discourse begin.

[mix]

1. No need to apologize.

You're educator, you are keeping people aware and that is important.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Fantastic post. I completely agree with your six point observation of

prioritization. You can actually apply this to almost all authoritave based organizations.

[pscot]

3. Truth and wisdom

Nicely done.

[AwakeAtLast]

4. Great post

Your last one was, too, I was just too late to the party.

The discussion about police officers and race is an important one, no matter how painful it may be. Thanks for providing your point of view!

[stray cat]

5. There are those who certainly do at DU - but I think people that hate all of a subgroup

are in the minority (in others words bigoted hatred that lumps everyone of a certain color, sexual orientation, or career together.)

[Skittles]

6. off to the Greatest Page with ye my sweet!

[glitch]

7. Hate bad cops, Love good cops.

That should be simple enough for even the most binary-brained.

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. But what do you think about

Sting's solo career? :evilgrin:

[Uzybone]

9. excellent OP

for the record, the other 2 OPs you referenced in this post were excellent too.

The police union were being whiny babies when they called for apologies to all the police. Glad they found their common sense after Obama spoke to Crowley. I worry even more about how thin skinned the cops are after seeing their sorry display on Friday.

[pitohui]

10. i only saw your "what to do" post and i thought you did just fine

you can't be responsible for the inanity of some of your respondents

i loved the guy in that thread who insisted the police were "here to help," i almost felt like he was playing a little joke on us, the old one about "hey i'm from the gov't and i'm here to help!"

in my contacts w. the law i got the distinct impression that the police were there to punish me, not to help me, as you say, they are there to change our behavior by taking our money and/or time, there is no use kidding ourselves that they're there to rescue kittens from trees

i've never been detained/arrested in a situation where i thought yelling at the cop, arguing with the cop, or calling the cop a pig or a racist would reduce my punishment, i always felt that my best chance of coming through relatively unscathed would be if i looked guilty, remorseful, and sorry (without verbally acknowledging my guilt) or at least if i looked scared (in the times when i was actually innocent)

i was surprised so many criticized you in that thread for being submissive and trying to defuse the situation

it costs me nothing to say, "yes, officer," "i'm sorry, officer, i didn't realize, officer," blah blah blah, what's the big deal? but as a female i guess i don't get the whole dick swinging mentality

the guy has a gun, humor him without admitting or answering anything, seems pretty basic to me...

[Raineyb]

11. There's no need to apologize.

That you felt you needed to says volumes about this board and not in a good way.

[G_j]

12. you set an excellent example

and have taken the time to show that adults can discuss difficult issues.
And you're not being a 'coward you actually made a serious effort towards communication and understanding!
I share some of your passion, and don't remember you being hateful.
When one group of people is given authority over their fellow citizens, is the most important of matters.
It has to be a sacred trust, but it's not.

I believe we must be look at those who write the laws, who have propagated the war on some drugs, who run the prison industrial complex. The system is unjust. actually criminal in itself. The idea of rouge cops, is sometimes a myth, a bit like the "few bad apples" line.

[SeattleGirl]

13. Great post, MrS

You make some very good points.

[hfojvt]

14. you are kind of cynical about the law it seems

"Unfortunately, local jurisdictions have decided that their main motivation for passing laws is not to protect the safety and security of the citizens over which they govern. The first priority is to generate revenue for the self preservation of their bureaucracies."

I will have to check the city budget, but I am not sure that revenue from fines is all that significant. Lots of the laws they enforce though are things like murder, robbery, assault, vandalism, theft, traffic safety, etc. Do you think we only have laws against speeding and drunk driving so the city can get revenue to pay for the janitors at the community center or some other bureaucrats?

I have never worked as a cop, but I cannot believe that is close to the truth. But at some point I might check the city budget.

[MrScorpio]

15. Public safety laws used to be the primary focus

But you'll find that with the growth of jurisdictional bureaucracy, came the requirement to find new and inventive ways to generate revenue other that levying taxes.

Permits, licenses, regulations and the such are other money makers.

But since the focus of my piece was on the application of law enforcement, I really didn't touch on that stuff.

Today, many jurisdictions have raised the cost of fines and penalties for various traffic and parking violations. Quite a few have illegally shortened the duration of warning signals of traffic lights in conjunction with installing traffic cameras.

Not one traffic camera has ever stopped an accident from occurring, but all of them have definitely became ATMs with drivers as the bank.

The increased amount and frequency of handing out tickets have very little to do with assisting public safety, than it does to generate cash. Cops are, of course, the initial arbiters and the courts are where the deals are finalized or not, depending on the good graces of whatever judges are presiding.

Citizens require good lawyers, and yes I know that they cost good money, but it's money well spent when trying to navigate the labyrinth that I spoke of. Especially, if they want to keep their drivers permits and licenses.

God knows that there are enough public safety issues that cops have to deal with. But when cops aren't dealing with rapes, murders, robberies, assaults, vandalism, and all that other shit, they're expected to make some money for the jurisdiction.

That's where you and I come in with our wallets in hand.

[Karenina]

17. Superb post! As they all have been!

Thank you for reiterating that THE POLICE ARE BEING MILITARIZED. :thumbsup:

[hfojvt]

20. some of that is irrelevant

Traffic cameras are not cops, although they play one on TV. In fact that is more like using a machine to do what used to be done by a human.

The frequency of tickets does not take away from the fact that the law is presumably there for a reason. They have cracked down on drunk drivers, for example, not just to raise money but because organizations like MADD have pushed for such a crackdown.

It is apparently the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats who have taken to forcing states to pass primary seatbelt laws, which allow cops to pull over drivers for just a seatbelt violation. But cops are also probably expected to do their jobs, which means pulling some people over for speeding and going fishing.

Sure, I had a cop tailgate me at night through a construction zone. He was hoping to give me one of those double fine tickets. When I didn't speed, he pulled me over anyway to ask why I had stopped in his little town in the middle of the night (and also to do the standard 'does this guy have any warrants' check). That certainly was not about worker safety although that is what the law is presumably for.

The night shift is another story though. For a while I was unable to drive home without getting pulled over for not signaling usually, but I never got a ticket (perhaps because the records check showed me to be a another city worker?) Other than one speeding ticket that I still think was bogus (but it might not be too) generally the police are not picking your pocket unless you are flaunting the law.

As for my seatbelt tickets, my strategy has been to take them to trial. The state gets their money, but it costs them more than they get. If everybody does it, they will stop giving them out. Maybe.

[MrScorpio]

23. How about a couple of caveats

A couple years backs, I was doing research on dealing with a traffic ticket that I got in Virginia, one that I eventually beat, by the way.

In the process I came across this puppy from our friends at the NATIONAL MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION:

Traffic Tickets Are Big Business
October 12th, 2007 Posted in Insurance Companies, James Baxter, Speed Limits, Traffic Tickets

Traffic tickets are a multi-billion industry. They have virtually nothing to do with highway safety, but they have everything to do with money.

When you begin to grasp the full magnitude of the public and private interests that depend on ripping off motorists through traffic tickets, you begin to understand why this unethical system continues to expand every year.

No one knows how many traffic tickets are actually issued. Many local units of government deliberately hide this information so they don’t have to split their traffic ticket revenue with the state. Not including parking tickets, we can estimate that somewhere between 25 and 50 million traffic tickets are issued each year. Assuming an average ticket cost of $150.00, the total up front profit from tickets ranges from 3.75 to 7.5 billion dollars.

If just half of these tickets result in insurance surcharges (typically at least $300 over a period of three years), you can add another 3.75 to 7.5 billion dollars in profit for insurance companies. This is why insurance companies “care” so much traffic “safety” programs and are willing to donate millions of dollars worth of radar and laser guns to the police. For them, it’s simple: more tickets equal more money!

http://www.motorists.org/blog/traffic-tickets-are-big-business/

I strongly suggest that everyone with a drivers license read the article, pretty please with sugar on top. Then bookmark it, memorize it, make love to it on a warm, sandy beach... whatever.

Anyway, as anyone knows while sitting in a court room waiting for their case to be adjudicated, that the entire process is terrible intimidating. And that's the way they love it.

Later on, Virginia did something that really opened my eyes. They had gone on huge ticket writing campaign and even raised fines, especially for outta state ticket getters. Now Virginia being a commonwealth, they're already notorious for charging fees and taxes like it's Christmas every day, but what they did in the traffic ticket issuing business was pretty fucking ridiculous.

Anyway, I put that with the article and it was like two and two settling down in a house with a white picket fence and having a slew of equations.

THEY'RE IN IT FOR THE MONEEEEE, BABY!!! An eye opener fersher.

All in all, I survived my ordeal and came out smelling like roses, if only due to the fact that I have a squeaky clean driving record and found damn good lawyer. (*Squeak-squeak* Hear that? It's the sound of victory)

Ticket writing is big money making biz, there's no doubt about it.

[KG]

16. No need to apologize. police abuse of authority is systemic, not an aberration.

[Heidi]

18. "To monitor and enforce"...

When I was a journalist, I was told by a county sheriff that his department's job was "to monitor and enforce." Those were his _exact_ words. I don't hate cops, but I have to say I don't believe this one county sheriff is the only law enforcement officer in the US who has traded in the old "protect and serve" thing for a "monitor and enforce" mentality.

[Wednesdays]

19. K&R

:kick:

[ismnotwasm]

21. Great post

I have a problem with the whole issue.

I've started to reply and stopped multiple times. But-- fuck it.

This is my problem;

At one time in my life, I was always, and I mean always, doing something illegal. Mostly nickle and dime shit, a few things a little more serious. I did my children no favors either, BTW. I knew a couple of the big boys and girls, but that line in that old song "don't do the crime if you can't do the time" was like a mantra to me. At the time I thought it was the height of chickenshit wisdom, ethics had nothing to do with it. I never was caught, never did time, most of my peers did. OF COURSE I hated the police.

So my world and my life changes close to 20 years ago. I honestly believed the police were there to protect society from people like I once was and worse, and the people I know are still out there. I already knew about the kind of fucks cops could be, but once I was living in a manner where not only I didn't draw their attention, but I lost my fear of them, I began to see them as human beings. They offended me no more or less than the rest of the white middle class world I ended up in. They were part of it. I'm still not used to it.

As my political understanding as well as my world expanded, I began to see problems not so much with individual police, who are as good or as bad anyone else, but the police system, the police state with it's institutionalized racism, sexism and homophobia.

So, Mr. Scorpio, I very much appreciate your post.

[rhett o rick]

22. Great post. We should be very wary of the militarization of the local police depts.

But also, I think there are practices that the police use that need to be modified.

I don't like the practice of screaming at a suspect until they are totally disoriented and confused. I think that treatment can push a sane person over the edge and they then might do something rash.

Don't point guns at people unless you consider them dangerous. When you point a gun at someone you are in effect saying, "If you don't do what I say, I am willing to shoot you." In many cases this isn't the case. For example, if a drunk driver tries to out run a cop, when the cop finally gets them to pull over, often they will aim their guns at the suspect. Why? When a bunch of cops all have their guns aimed it is very easy for a mistake to happen and the suspect is dead.

Don't tase people just because they are difficult. Way too much tasing going on. Locally a mentally ill man was in a tree and wouldn't come down. So the police decided to tase him and make him fall out of the tree. The officer mistook her firearm for her taser and shot the man. Poor man was not endangering anyone but got shot.

Stop the cop shows. We don't need our police on tv doing stuff they wouldn't just because they are on tv. And tell me it isn't stupid to have 6 or 8 police officers arresting a street prostitute or their johns. It is costing the taxpayers a lot and not accomplishing any good at all for society. Makes good cop shows though.

It should be illegal to question a suspect without a lawyer. And all "interrogations" should be video tape and reviewed by a neutral party for abuse. How many times do I read that a suspect confesses after 9 hours of interrogation?

[MrScorpio]

24. Don't get me started on shows like COPS

That motherfucker is a god damned travesty

[rhett o rick]

25. Agree. nm