originally posted by: charolais
I think that the police academies have a lot to do with pre-conditioning police officers for the "thin blue line" mentality. I live in a small town
and you can see the complete difference between the part time officers (the ones who haven't been to academy and have other full time jobs), compared
to the full time cops who went to academy and have a few years experience.
Many seem to turn from decent human beings to power tripping bullies. No they haven't shot any innocent citizens or strangled any kids, but just the
way they interact with you is depressing - stop you for a minor infraction and speak to you like you are a murder/rapist/felon.
This is the main problem that nearly everyone overlooks.
Police association leadership and their PROMOTION STANDARDS are the problem, particularly leadership that was not old enough to have been drafted into
the Vietnam War. I am specifically calling out the current LEO leaders, that were born after 1951 and were not old enough to have been eligible for
the last draft lottery, happening in 1969. This age cohort is almost entirely at fault for causing the problems we are seeing today.
If you look at how cops are selected and then consider the mini-boot camp process that they go through, its easy to see why typical LEO's are so
screwed up in the community relations aspects of their jobs. One example, where I feel the typical "academy certificate" process is inadequate, is in
the eventual selection of "detectives". Sure, the "academy certificate", mini-boot camp, may be adequate for selecting beat cops and SWAT, but on the
flip side of that process, it will almost always eliminate the types of people that would eventually become GREAT detectives, whom actually have the
ability to solves crimes. Once you really think about how some beat cops move up, SOLELY FOR HIGHER PAY, to eventually become detectives, its very
easy to see why LEO's across the country seem to be having increasing troubles solving crimes.
A few other deficient LEO candidate selection areas are the Explosives Units and K-9 Handlers. Imagine a situation where a COMBAT veteran, who's done
a tour or two, in Explosives Ordinance Disposal or as a K-9 handler, returning to civilian life entering an LEO career. Once this veteran successfully
has gotten hired as an LEO, this EXPERIENCED person would then have to serve 3+ years as a beat cop, before they would be eligible to APPLY for the
Explosives or K-9 units. What a HUGE WASTE of previous DOCUMENTED training and service time, letting hundreds of thousands of dollars of previous
training costs, GO STALE, while this experienced person WAITS, to merely become eligible to APPLY for a job that they have 75%+ of the training
completed already! The typical LEO promotion and Specialty Unit selection processes are a JOKE in the United States! Tax paying citizens should be
both outraged and ashamed of its mere existence.
Also the country had a far larger population of soldiers with PTSD after WWII ended, returning to civilian life and public sector employment, mostly
without recorded incident. Same goes for the period after the Vietnam War and as we know, few of these guys got psychiatric treatment of any kind,
ESPECIALLY when compared to the treatment options soldiers have available today. I can't even begin to imagine what those soldiers saw while serving
in WWI, WWII and Vietnam, versus what soldiers are experiencing today.
WWI: 4.7 million troops sent over the course of 1 year
WWII: 16.1 million troops sent over a 4 year period
Korean War: 5.7 million troops sent over a 3 year period
Vietnam War: 8.7 million sent over a 20 year period
Desert Storm: 2.3 million sent over the course of 1 year
Iraq & Afghanistan: 2.5 million sent over a 13 year period
Note the number of troops that actually saw combat, versus those that were combat support positions and were actually in harms way, has decrease
significantly from each conflict to the next.
Although I am not old enough to have dealt with, first hand, police officers that served in WWII, I am old enough to have dealt with LEO's that served
in Vietnam. In contrast, to contemporary LEO's, I NEVER ONCE felt in danger when dealing with an LEO that was old enough to have been drafted into the
Vietnam War (those born on or before 1951, with the last draft lottery happening in 1969), even when I was completely in the wrong and assumed to be
breaking the law.
Today, every interaction with LEO's could potential wind up being my last day on earth. That was UNTHINKABLE when Vietnam Vets were running the show.
The worst thing that would happen to you, when they were in charge, was a good beating and a night in jail.
The current leaders among LEO departments across the country, are younger boomers that were not old enough to have gone to Vietnam and they have
taught younger officers to be completely unethical in their dealing with the general public.
Civilians should not trust the motivations of LEO's and must always assume that their lives are in danger, with EVERY interaction they have with
LEO's.
Why? Not because ALL LEO's are bad, but because ALL LEO's are LEGALLY AUTHORIZED to kill civilians, as they see fit.
Why should civilians take any risk of death, when its far easier to simply not interact with, refuse to help and actively avoid contact with LEO's,
whom are LEGALLY AUTHORIZED to kill civilians, as they see fit?
If these LEO's that killed civilians, really cared and were not sociopaths, they'd quit the job as soon as they killed someone on accident, even if
legally cleared eventually. Note, very few, if ANY, of these officers "protecting & serving" have left their positions or the profession out of
"guilt" for their crimes or mistakes. The fact that they just suck it up and keep on driving, assures me that they are NOT sane. It is nothing like
being in the military, where you can be jailed and prosecuted for not following a legal command to "kill the enemy", during a period of war, ordered
by the Commander-in-Chief.
LEO's CAN QUIT ANYTIME THEY WANT TO and when they don't resign after doing something unconscionable, it strongly suggests that they are dangerous to
the public. So when these LEO's keep working in the same role, after killing a civilian, I can't help but assume that the individual is a sociopath,
out for the "power of the position" and not to "protect & serve" civilians.
edit on 22-12-2015 by boohoo because: (no reason given)