The truth about Police in the United States of America

This is for the people who think de-funding or doing away with the police will do any good at all.

I've heard the Argument made that communities can do better job of policing themselves then Police can i.e. Sheriff , city , county, metro etc etc . So what people mean by this is I suppose each community would have it's own group of citizens task with law enforcement with " Policing " . Ok well that is basically what we already do City Police , Sheriffs deputies all come from with in the Community they are policing but I digress , lets not split hairs here the people in these communities want something different . I sympathies with these communities I do I understand there view of the Police , it's historical Police are seen as the adversary Police are the ones who slap on the cuffs and put them behind bars , I've been to Jail ..more than once it sucks lets leave it at that.

Now I wanna provide some psychological scientific data to these communities that will maybe help paint a picture to better understand the Police , or in general someone in a position of Authority .

I present the Stanford Prison Experiment as part of my Argument www.prisonexp.org...

The Stanford Prison Expieriment was conducted back in the 1970's it was very controversial but non the less effective , it gave an intimate insight on the Psychology of those Placed in a position of Authority and those placed in a position of submission .

You can read the full write up of the experiment to see for yourself , but to paraphrase it the students placed in the Position of authority almost immediately began to abuse there power using it to there own benefit acting in a cruel nature.

So my point is no matter who you choose to police your community whether it's a stranger or your best firend , once they have that badge and authority it goes to there head it changes them . So really if you look at the police in this country as a whole Do you really think they do that bad of a Job? Are there corrupt police ? yes absolutely but the Majority of Police officers in this nation are decent people just doing there Jobs earning a pay check so they can care for there families .

No matter what you do how much you over hall it re-train them , the badge of law enforcement will always be that and it will always have the same psychological effect on the person who wears it . Another example is what happen recently in Seattle , Washington when the Citizens took over a portion of the City acting as there own Police , How long did it take for the Murder , Rape , Extortion and overall crime to just become to much before the real police had to go in and restore order ? A month ? not even ?

Here are some real statistics on real crime take some time to read through it, you will see that Police are not targeting Minorities and Police are not being unfair they are simply doing the best they can with what they have .

www.bjs.gov...

www.cdc.gov...

ucr.fbi.gov...

I know that facts make some people uncomfortable , I do apologize for that

This is for the people who think de-funding or doing away with the police will do any good at all.

"Momma used to say , stupid is as stupid does" - Forrest Gump

The criminal justice system in the US was originally founded on the idea that people resort to crime because they were not properly taught as children and are influenced by other lawbreakers they hang out with. The penitentiary system (named after William Penn) was designed to remove those criminals from their bad influences and give them a chance to get back in line and become productive members of society. The criminals were supposed to do their time and then transition with the help of ordinary citizens who would open their homes to them.

The people who came up with that idea probably never considered that some people just no damn good and get a thrill out of being criminals, as well as the crime being a way for them to make a ton of money. They're not motivated to be bad, they're motivated to be rich. Just like a lot of people in America.

Violent criminals need to be shipped off to Siberia and away from decent people. Outsourcing. Pennies on the dollar. "Not in my back yard."

When police act like social workers. A recent incident at an apartment complex in CO shows what happens when you do not give your police authority to back their words with any level of real force.

The details of how Thompson had terrorized the apartment complex are stunning. Things were so bad that the Fire Department had to come and rescue McCoy’s girlfriend and their other friend through a window on the second floor using a ladder. And yet the police were told to “stand down” and walk away.

Aurora Police Deputy Chief Darin Parker said, “We’re trying to get the situation resolved with the least amount of escalation, the least amount of confrontation as we can.” He went on to say that if the officers had responded more aggressively and attempted to take Thompson into custody it could have led to the use of deadly force.

This man terrorized an apartment complex, but the police were ordered to stand down. They got called on him more than once, but each time, they left after "talking" to him. He exposed himself to children, threw rocks through windows, destroyed an apartment with a golf club and trapped two women in bedroom. The fire department had to come and rescue them through a second story window.

This was after a use of deadly force incident made the local authorities super sensitive to anything else that might go south and told their officers to just back off.

But if we go to an alternate model with social workers, this is likely what it will look like.

a reply to: ketsuko
Their is also a Mental element in this, some people have an illness, which makes them do stupid things. They also need a protective environment, not being kicked downtown where Meth and Heroin are freely available.Mental hospitals in Britain were actually closed en masse , the stay in these places were only long enough to get the patient back on their feet. But it seems the budget restraints stopped this.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

No matter what you do how much you over hall it re-train them , the badge of law enforcement will always be that and it will always have the same psychological effect on the person who wears it.

I disagree. If we get rid of police officer's qualified immunity and allow them to face prosecution for constitutional rights violations then that alone would make an enormous impact on improvement of officer's behavior.

Also, as far as defunding the police goes.... Many cities and some entire states rely far too heavily on revenue generated by the police whether directly or indirectly. Therefore I argue that although I am against full defunding (for obvious reasons) I am absolutely for heavily defunding. Also perhaps we could put into place a sort of watchdog committee that has the power of oversight and can make sure the states/cities aren't over-policing.

originally posted by: anonentity
a reply to: ketsuko
Their is also a Mental element in this, some people have an illness, which makes them do stupid things. They also need a protective environment, not being kicked downtown where Meth and Heroin are freely available.Mental hospitals in Britain were actually closed en masse , the stay in these places were only long enough to get the patient back on their feet. But it seems the budget restraints stopped this.

The Same thing happen in my town where I grew up .

When Barack Obama took office one of the first things he did was close the mental health facilities , which caused a massive influx of crime in my town and also the Homeless population of my town increased like 300% overnight .

No Joke I had never seen a Homeless person in or around my town , but when I came home on leave in 2009 there were homeless people everywhere.

My home town has not been the same since.

a reply to: Alien Abduct

I disagree. If we get rid of police officer's qualified immunity and allow them to face prosecution for constitutional rights violations then that alone would make an enormous impact on improvement of officer's behavior.

I agree with you to a point and they will and do face prosecution for directly violating a persons rights BUT in truth it is almost impossible to be a Police Officer and do your job with out bending a persons rights that is after all one of the powers of the badge , Police Officers are not normal citizens they uphold/enforce the law while the courts interpret the Law they are a two part system .

originally posted by: Blue Shift
Violent criminals need to be shipped off to Siberia and away from decent people. Outsourcing. Pennies on the dollar. "Not in my back yard."

Nah, just increase the death penalty as much as is needed to assist those eager to remove themselves from this life and strongly persuade those not as eager to exit this world from the path leading to those points of egress.

In all honesty, an individual spending their life in prison serves nothing to society whatsoever and, if they're not a productive member of society, what's the point in keeping them alive in the first place?

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: Blue Shift
Violent criminals need to be shipped off to Siberia and away from decent people. Outsourcing. Pennies on the dollar. "Not in my back yard."

Nah, just increase the death penalty as much as is needed to assist those eager to remove themselves from this life and strongly persuade those not as eager to exit this world from the path leading to those points of egress.

In all honesty, an individual spending their life in prison serves nothing to society whatsoever and, if they're not a productive member of society, what's the point in keeping them alive in the first place?

IMO, murders, animal abusers, rapists and kiddie diddlers should get the death penalty by default. These are scum with no benefit nor use to society at large. I also say the appeals process is a One and Done process -- you get ONE shot, within ONE year. If it fails, you go bye-bye anyway. Not wait #ing decades on death row while wasting resources on them.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

If you want to defund the police, stop committing crime.

So I dont commit crimes ok But I wont say defund police .
What i will say Is have POLICE CHIEFS VOTED IN as it is now this post is another o police are not so bad post .
And YET Portland has had ON GOING riots because the mayor tells the police to let them riot ( having NOTHING to do with protest or even Riots BUT making Trump look bad .

All It takes is a mayor saying stand down and every cop on teh force just stands there while people riot loot and Burn .


By Votimng police chifes In you get police taht NOW KNOW they screw up they louse a job and possible getting charges .

DEMILITARIZE Police after all They say Your not safe to own a assault gun neither are the police .

BOTH side are TOTALLY laking in common sense .

the right kill um all the left let them riot .

originally posted by: asabuvsobelow

The Stanford Prison Expieriment was conducted back in the 1970's it was very controversial but non the less effective , it gave an intimate insight on the Psychology of those Placed in a position of Authority and those placed in a position of submission .

There was another study that came out in the late 70s early 80s that basically said that a solo cop as as good as partners. This led to a transition of cops working as partner to most working solo, and it saved a lot of money and so was very well taken all over the county. Coming forward 40 years later, and we see that the solo cop is more incline to go deadly force than if they had backup with another cop. It makes total sense that two cops are better than one in ALL situations compared to one, I don't care if the cop is a MMA fighter that person does not hold the upper hand in about any situation. Their gun is the equalizer, and so will be used more than not.

Defunding police doesn't fix this...Training to enter a situation with the right force, AND as importantly to deescalate the the situation once the threat is eliminated is the key. Partnering up cops and getting this training will cost money....

The truth is the police are heroes.

Anyone telling you otherwise is a liar.

The police save lives, De-escalate all situations, aren't remotely close to being biased, and dish out punishment equally to all races. And don't believe deep fake videos or manipulated audios of them saying or doing questionable deeds. All fake news.

The uniform is the most sacred of all and brings out the moral values in those whom wear it. And if a supplement is not illegal, why can't they use it to enhance their performance in their dangerous jobs. 🧐

I want to see more freedom for the police after Trump wins, they need more legal power to determine when they feel their lives are in danger.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

I'm glad to see somebody offer the Stanford Prison Experiment as reference. I read Zimbardo's book The Lucifer Effect about 15 years ago. It is a great book, and ever since I have always thought that the Lucifer Effect was very much a factor in police relations in the US.

I don't think the police should be defunded exactly, but serious changes need to be made in the way the police operate in this country.

To start, the specious notion of Qualified Immunity should be abolished immediately. Cops who misbehave should be sued for every penny they are worth.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6
In all honesty, an individual spending their life in prison serves nothing to society whatsoever and, if they're not a productive member of society, what's the point in keeping them alive in the first place?

I hope we're not going to start killing off non-productive members of society, or 3/4 of the contributors to this site will be rounded up. I'm just talking about keeping us safe from wild animals.

A nice, cozy little gulag 3000 miles from anyone who can even speak English. So inexpensive wouldn't even need to build walls. That might take some of the fight out of them and maybe even clean them up if they're on drugs. Live and let live. Just not around here.

stanford yes watched the recreation for tv of it .4

The only way to combat it is to clean house every so many years .
Its not a question of one cop or One death its a question of cops who are not dragged into stanford have NO power to stop the exparment ONE cop killed the man teh otehrs jsut stood and watched each knowing the cop killing teh guy was going to far yet each not willing to put them self out to stop siad killing .


A good cop will stand there doing nothing while a bad one beats the heck out of someone .
Its time WAY over do to clean house once its done we will have cops who wont be killing beating as offton alest for another 20 years then its rise and repeat .

i was stuck In county twice over child support the worst COP and yes he was a deputy Most were Just guards . But the worst had dozzens and dozzens of complaints on him . He had been reprehend many many times they stuck i=him in D dorm area ( child support of failing to pay fines HOPING he would not be as bad there .


He spent most of his time when not sitting tring his damnedest to find reasons to put the whole dorm on Bunk time and no calls no vistest .

he would come in KNowing which person would be antagonized the easyist . my very first day they issued NO blankets he comes up making treaths to take every thing i got I had Nothing I told him take it as I had nothing anyway he never bother me again as He KNOW I would NOt respond to threats .

Isolation is a vacation form dorms lol .They never put my type in as tehy know we feal that way .
Ps vacation is ITS QUITE peaceful no one having arguments or a fist fight here and there .
Jail was not the MOVIES No one was Killed for not giving up roman soup acutely i had many giving to me . Old ages seams to be respected in jail lol .

Once or twice I had a punk makes threats 2 seconds 5 other guys would lead the person off No threats no fights just hey man leave the old guy alone lol . Me if the punks had attacked I would have kicked there coco Into there mouth . Lol

any one who says fair fights in a high schooler .

a reply to: Blue Shift

The Penitentiary system was not named after William Penn
It's named for paenitentia, which is Latin for repentance

a reply to: Blue Shift

The criminal justice system in the US was originally founded on the idea that people resort to crime because they were not properly taught as children and are influenced by other lawbreakers they hang out with. The penitentiary system (named after William Penn) was designed to remove those criminals from their bad influences and give them a chance to get back in line and become productive members of society. The criminals were supposed to do their time and then transition with the help of ordinary citizens who would open their homes to them.

Er, no. William Penn did not lend is name to US penitentiaries.

The word "penitentiary" comes from the Latin word "paenitentiaria," which is related to the present word "penance." Penance is an act of restitution to God for a sin, but in secular society it became an act of restitution to the government for violation of laws. Paenitentiaria dates back to wide use in the Roman Catholic Church to at least the 13th century (probably earlier); William Penn was born in 1644.

Of course the idea behind any form of incarceration was that once the convicted had "repaid their debt to society" they were free to go about their lives. Your point about some people being beyond the point of rehabilitation is true, however, and that has led to the revolving door prison system. Another issue is that people who have committed crimes in the past are seen as more likely to commit crimes in the future. This may or may not be completely accurate, because those who are let out of prison are less prepared for a good job (they have been locked away for a good portion of time), are typically destitute (they have been locked away for a good portion of time), and are on a par skillwise with someone much younger than them (they have been locked away for a good portion of time). Thus, in a world operated by capitalism, they are at a significant disadvantage the moment they emerge from incarceration and thus return to a life of crime to support themselves.

In other words, rehabilitation for most people in prison, especially for longer sentences, is a pipe dream. On that point I will agree with you. My only issue with simply shipping everyone off to Siberia (or wherever) is that the above is true for most people... some do rehabilitate. I am not fond of throwing babies out with bathwater.

TheRedneck