this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2023
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THE POLICE PROBLEM

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    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

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ALLIES

!abolition@slrpnk.net

!acab@lemmygrad.ml

r/ACAB

r/BadCopNoDonut/

Randy Balko

The Civil Rights Lawyer

The Honest Courtesan

Identity Project

MirandaWarning.org

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INFO

A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions

Adultification

Cops aren't supposed to be smart

Don't talk to the police.

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

So you wanna be a cop?

When the police knock on your door

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ORGANIZATIONS

Black Lives Matter

Campaign Zero

Innocence Project

The Marshall Project

Movement Law Lab

NAACP

National Police Accountability Project

Say Their Names

Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration

 

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Excerpt:

The defense demonstrated that it was physically impossible to see what the officers claimed to have seen from the location a block away where they placed themselves. (As a witness for Traylor, I testified on that point.) They argued that the officers struck Traylor with their vehicle to amuse themselves, then fabricated evidence and falsely arrested him to cover their abuse.

The judge found that Piwnicki and Smith arrested Traylor without probable cause, in violation of his constitutional rights, and dismissed all charges. The subsequent civil suit was settled in 2003.

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[–] Hobbes@startrek.website 5 points 9 months ago

Because that is the entirety of the ranks.

[–] Endorkend@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

Because without them they would be unstaffed.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 3 points 9 months ago

Because it's not a bug, it's a feature.

[–] Fixbeat@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 months ago

Why? A-C-A-B

[–] wintermute_oregon@lemm.ee 0 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I wouldn't say it's about racism. It's about socioeconomic status.

People need to stop thinking everything is about the color of someone's skin. It's a myopic view of the world. In my opinion, the real issue is money. Police love to jack and abuse poor people. Since they lack the financial means to fight any arrest, they are screwed by the system. Many people turn a blind eye when they are abused and even when they don't commit a crime, people assume they have.

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

It can be two things.

[–] Zorque@kbin.social 0 points 9 months ago

At its core, yes, but a major expression of this is expressed through racism. Many black people, regardless of their socioeconomic status, are treated poorly until they present themselves as "white" in action and deed. And even then, if they encounter some people with authority, they will still be treated as lower class faking higher economic status.

Racism is an expression of class warfare, they go hand in hand. You can not treat one without treating the other.