Stand With Cops Petition

[Chef Ramsay]

...Everyone make mistakes, but these days police officers do their job while under the often unfair scrutiny of anti-police activists, reporters looking for a big story, and politicians who want to get votes.

Our critics demand that we scrupulously follow ever-shifting rules of engagement as we try to pursue and capture the most dangerous and violent people in our society. And those we seek to apprehend have no such rules of engagement for themselves. They will beat us, stab us, and shoot us if they think it will help them escape.

We're expected to know our communities, be present in schools, and be visible to citizens but we have to do it while being under-staffed and struggling to simply answer each call that comes in; sometimes without any backup.

When we confront someone who a dispatcher or a crime victim says is potentially dangerous, we're expected to know in a split second if that person is grabbing for a gun or just reaching for ID. Our detractors, acting as armchair police commanders, claim that we ought to be able to recognize the difference between someone who’s not following our directions because of a bad day and someone who is escalating a dangerous situation.

And while all this plays out, our families hope and pray that we simply come home safe at the end of our shift.

We chose this job. Most of the time, we love our work. But there’s no doubt that it’s a tough time to be a cop.

So when people step up and “stand with cops,” that helps us. Our spirits lift. Our outlook brightens. That’s when we know that we’re not alone in this dangerous work.

Please join “stand with cops."

~Jay McDonald
President
Ohio Fraternal Order of Police

Any signers?  http://www.standwithcops.org/

I'd do it if the gave car decals that would ensure they leave me alone on the streets. Honestly tho, I've never had problems w/ any of these guys hassling me of course I always treat them with respect and dress properly and cleanly. Just thought I'd post and gauge the level of interest around here.

[MemoryShock]

There is a difference between legitimately making a mistake and using the full weight of the force and legal system to cover up murder.

Further, the police kill in the US far more than the rest of the world...with an average of three people per day in 2013.  I can probably spend too much time here posting links and stats and other informations but I have work to attend to.

With all due respect to police officers who are worth their salt, a blanket and umbrella support of the police is something that I don't support and people asking for unquestioning loyalty can properly eff off...present company excluded.

[Chef Ramsay]

Yep, supporters of the police and even most cops themselves will be the first to admit that there are bad apples among them but then why don't these same officers arrest their brethren when they're getting out of hand.. Thin blue line or will they find themselves on the outs if they moved against one of their own? Which shows that when push comes to shove, police will stand by their comrades in any situation involving dealing w/ the public rather than say, check their people on excessive force or protecting peoples' rights rather than worrying about that later. That is my ancap side showing through but I really have nothing against the police around me that leave me alone.

[pungopete468]

I have nothing against the police who leave me alone, but if I choose not to care until the issue personally affects me, there may be nobody left to turn to...

This is a terrible time to be a cop, but the bad apples they have been protecting are now becoming a major liability by costing them the public support.

[WEB slicer]

fuck cops

[TECSHARE]

That was funny. Thanks for the unintentional satire.

"Too many people want to see us dead." I wonder why that is if you are such a gift to society...

[panju1]

Cops manage to get away with almost anything, including murder.
Violations are routine, but hardly draw attention unless it results in death. 

[bigtimespaghetti]

If they are anything like the police I know in England, they are just like other people- perhaps more jaded and cynical (London Met or other city police), but the real problem is when you collectivize a service with no accountability (or extremely limited) you create a honeypot for traumatized and abusive individuals with a penchant for all manner of vices, violence and corruption, which make up a relatively small portion of the staff.

[MemoryShock]

If they are anything like the police I know in England, they are just like other people- perhaps more jaded and cynical (London Met or other city police), but the real problem is when you collectivize a service with no accountability (or extremely limited) you create a honeypot for traumatized and abusive individuals with a penchant for all manner of vices, violence and corruption, which make up a relatively small portion of the staff.

I think that is a very understated aspect of the current perspective regarding polcie brutality, at least in the states.  We grow up learning the ideological aspect of who the police are and what function they are supposed to serve in our society and as a result, they get attributed an authority figure status that associated with pure ideology.

The fact of the matter is that policemen go through a minimal amount of training and are immediately integrated into a social system that is cut off from the rest of the world where they learn to take their social cues from other police officers.  They then learn loyalty to this social subset and all of the paranoia regarding criminal offenders gets primary reference in their working memories - they essentially view the world as police and not police.  They are also just regular people who are subject to the same temptations as regular people and invariably find themselves committing numerous violations with a very strong basis for rationalization/justification - a basis that everyone else doesn't get.

Studying Black History was amazing in that it allotted me an opportunity to reflect on the historical lack of economic opportunity given to the larger Black community and as a result, offenses such as drugs, prostitution and theft were almost necessary endeavors for economic achievement yet they did not represent a majority of occurrences.  In fact, employed white people do drugs on a level that is similar if not greater than the Black community yet the number of arrests for each demographic is incredibly disproportionate - which means that there is kind of an institutionalized racism that is being employed.  From a sociological perspective and dismissive of the popular ideology regarding police, it is a huge mess that is being almost completely ignored.

If these types of narratives were more prominent and acceptable throughout our society then we might have an opportunity for immediate progress but there is way more motivation to deny and cover up then there is to do this...and that is likely not something that is going to happen for a while if ever.  I keep thinking that the internet has opened up our society to these types of communications but in order for it to have a bureaucratic effect we likely need to see a new generation represented in higher offices...

If this seems kind of discombobulated then my apologies...there are a few points scrunched up in here that likely deserve their own expanded posts for clarity...