THE POLICE PROBLEM
The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.
99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.
When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.
When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."
When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.
Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.
The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.
All this is a path to a police state.
In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.
Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.
That's the solution.
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Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.
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RULES
① Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.
② If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.
③ Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.
④ Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.
Please also abide by the instance rules.
It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.
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ALLIES
• r/ACAB
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INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
• Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• Killings by law enforcement in the United States
• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
• Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.
• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
• Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street
• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
• When the police knock on your door
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ORGANIZATIONS
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
view the rest of the comments
At this point we're going to start giving the same advice for interacting with police as with soldiers in a war zone. Basically do whatever they say. And if it's contradictory then sit on your heels and put your hands up. Make yourself as un-aggressive as possible so the ~~scared, sleep deprived, teenager with a machine gun~~ man child with a badge and a gun can't possibly see you as a threat.
They'll still just shoot you for not following orders. Especially if you're not white.
Unfortunately we can't make it zero chance. You could always just sit there on the curb, oblivious, and get shot.
Sure you can. Can't be shot if you shoot them first.
Oh no. You most certainly can. If that officer doesn't manage to shoot you then the next one will, repeat as needed until true. Unless you've got a literal army to fight off the national guard this does not end well. And as a reminder they get drones, attack helicopters, armored vehicles, and infantry squads with 20 years of experience in exactly this fight.
I seriously implore you to think about how that goes, for you, and for the country.
Only in America.
Coming soon to your country.
The ghost of Daniel Shaver would like a word
They will also give you conflicting orders (often on purpose, so they can claim resisting arrest), so sometimes it is literally impossible to "just do what they say."
Lol, no. Remember when they shot the aid worker who was spread-eagle on the ground next to their charge? And then the aid worker asked the cop "why did you shoot me?" Cops response? "I dunno."
Yup. I actually pointed this out a couple comments down. You can do everything right and still get shot because they're just that stupid and unaccountable.
Idk what this dude coulda done different except not be there, he just was walking and the cop draws on him and fires
That's it that's the problem. The only thing he could have done was be immediately and massively submissive.
Yet again we see where the civilian is expected to have better de-escalation skills than the person with the badge.
And walking away!
I kind of have the opposite advice for interacting with soldiers in a warzone.
I have a cocktail recipe that might interest you
Unless you've declared yourself independent of everyone else that's only going to help you 50% of the time, and it's not easy to deploy in a manner allowing escape. I would really just suggest joining whichever side you support at that point.