ferguson, mo

[Spazz]

How bout we dont give cops military gear to begin with than they cant run around willy nilly with it ? What do they use that shit for mostly anyway ? Looks to me for the most part that the gi joe toys are either for no knock raids ( which shouldnt happen at all as they put everyone in greater danger) and things like the ferg protest where you see then all untrained willy nilly pointing shit at people and acting nuts. They dont need it they never have and they shouldnt have it. Period.


Heres the problem. We have a prison system that needs warm bodies to fill it. Not just that but court costs and the probation industry is a booming business as well. We need the police to catch the people to throw into the grinder. As long as our legal system is insane like that its not going to matter if we have phd cops or an all ex soldier police force the negative interactions with the police are going to continue as long as they are tasked with arresting as many people as they possibly can. Combine that with with the old american ghost of racism and youve got yourself a powder keg that can go of at any time.

[Gypsiyee]

In my honest opinion I believe police officers should be required to have former military service.

Their training is just so dismally sub-par as it is and I don't foresee it changing without a drastic influx of money that we don't have.

If police academy were closer to the military's strict behavioral and ethical standards I would feel better about it. Ask any former military what they think about these chumps in military gear running around like idiots in the streets and they will almost unanimously agree, they're doing it wrong. Pointing guns around willy-nilly, raising force where it isn't necessary, etc.

That's just me, though.

Nono, I'm not saying they should have military service--just likening it to military towns where kids join the military when they graduate as an alternative to college. In towns that don't require an education to join a police force (which honestly, I think is most--I would have to look that up, though) it presents a solid career path option. And that's great for people well suited to that position of authority who have a desire to fulfill a career in service to the public. But it's not so great if it's someone who joins for the wrong reasons.

[brinstar]

In my honest opinion I believe police officers should be required to have former military service.

Their training is just so dismally sub-par as it is and I don't foresee it changing without a drastic influx of money that we don't have.

If police academy were closer to the military's strict behavioral and ethical standards I would feel better about it. Ask any former military what they think about these chumps in military gear running around like idiots in the streets and they will almost unanimously agree, they're doing it wrong. Pointing guns around willy-nilly, raising force where it isn't necessary, etc.

That's just me, though.

another good post - although to be fair i agree with spazz too, i don't think any PDs need all those weapons of war to begin with. truthfully i think the PDs get army stuff so our army gets newer stuff so defense contractors keep getting our taxdollars even though we have more than enough weapons already, but i'm kinda oversimplifying it lol

ALSO i'll remember this post the next time you disparage a protest where a bunch of veterans stand up against brutality and get their skulls fractured by the pigs for it

[Spazz]

truthfully i think the PDs get army stuff so our army gets newer stuff so defense contractors keep getting our taxdollars even though we have more than enough weapons already, but i'm kinda oversimplifying it lol

I dont really think your simplifying anything I think thats exactly whats going on with the police and the weapons. also

we have more than enough weapons already

Amen dude

[Gypsiyee]

Just realized I read your post completely wrong, Harrison.. oof!

So let me try again to respond to your actual post.. >.<

Honestly, I tend to agree with you that military service is likely a good idea for police officers. I think the problem lies with plausibility in implementation. So assuming minimal time served is the best case scenario for a particular vet, you have someone who goes and joins the military, does their 4 years, and gets out. with vet preference, they could feasibly come back, get their education, get a civil service or private sector job (hopefully in their field of choice), and have a career path established. There are positions within the military and federal civil service that are police work, just not local jurisdiction.. so I think while ideally police on the whole need to have training on par with military service, implementing a requirement for military service would significantly narrow the recruitment pool unless there was a huge ante up on incentives to become a cop.

Maybe there's a middle ground somewhere, though.. maybe more uniform federal training requirements applied to local jurisdictions. I'm not really sure. But I certainly agree with you that the training is at best inconsistent and at worst a joke. I think a lot of it ties back to job supply and demand too, tho. Different jurisdictions have such different requirements of their officers.. so it's kind of like, do we expect a small town officer in a town with almost no crime to have the same knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge in a tough situation as an officer in a densely populated city with a high violent crime rate? Not really sure where to define the line there.