Cole Kruper shared this post, originally published at NewsInGeneral.com, via CopBlock.org’s submit page.
Protecting and serving: words of the past, it seems. Today, the Police are more about terrorizing, bullying and killing for no reason. The Police of Canada and the United States are out of control. The same applies for much of the world. Yes, I understand there are still good cops out there, and I admit that quite often. There are still good cops out there, doing their job; protecting and serving every day. But it seems as if the bad cops out number the good cops these days. The biggest problem is, no one’s doing anything about it, as in our wonderful government.
Over the past few months, I’ve reported on many police related stories – stories such as Police shooting a mentally ill man because he was standing still, police terrorizing a family over an orange cone on the road, the militarization of America’s Police, tasing a man for 42 seconds straight, and many other stories. In the case of the mentally ill man, the Police tried to justify their actions by falsely reporting what had happened, and the officer would have gotten away with senselessly shooting the man if it weren’t for a neighbor’s security camera. It’s a story that’s really struck a note with me. I haven’t forgotten it, and it’s a prime example of how the Police are out of control. Although the officer in that particular case was exposed as lying scum, how many times has it gone unnoticed? How many have been injured or killed for no reason at the hands of Police?
If you don’t think we have a problem with Police in both of these great nations, there is something seriously wrong with you. Do the research. The Police have seemingly abandoned the ideal of protecting and serving for beating the shit out of you, killing, lying and so on. Maybe the new motto ought to be “protecting and serving the shit out of you.”
Solving the Police misconduct problem is simple. Many of these people are power hungry individuals who get off on having too much power, which leads into them abusing the powers they get when they become a Police officer. Simply weed out these people in the recruiting process. Don’t just tell us you do it, actually do it. And if Police forces are already doing it, step it up a bit – it’s obviously not working very well. Oh, and if they get past all of that, when they do something completely out of line, don’t let them come back to the job.
Secondly, there needs to be real accountability. In a lot of these lawsuits against Police, guess who ends up paying the price for them? The good old tax payers. I guarantee there would be a lot less Police misconduct if Police officers had to face real consequences and had to pay large fines.
Someone needs to Police the Police. Chances are, you may think having another government organization watch over them is a wonderful idea. WRONG! Having government watch over government has obvious issues. The people need to keep an eye on the Police, and let their superiors know about misconduct. Got video of Police misconduct? Post it. Share it with the world. Do whatever possible to get the word out about your experience with Police misconduct. Video evidence is key to exposing Police misconduct. Let local government know, because we still have some power in government, but we have to utilize it! Yes, I know this already occurs, but it needs to happen on a much larger scale. Most of us don’t have the time to do it, but we need to make the time to do it. The Police work for the people in the end, so maybe it’s time the people kept a closer eye on them, instead of brushing off stories of Police misconduct.
Third of all, STOP GIVING THEM MORE POWER! The militarization of Police has to stop. Giving an out of control system more power has so much potential to be a disaster. Yes, in rare cases it could help, but most of this military equipment doesn’t belong in the hands of Police, who are already known to abuse their powers. If it was made for a war, it doesn’t belong on any street in Canada or the United States. Do either countries look like war zones? No, so there shouldn’t be military equipment on the streets. Even the “wonderful” Obama said “weapons of war have no place on our streets.” Now, Obama should step up to the plate, and end the government program that allows the military to give equipment to Police departments in the US. Obama ought to stick to his word, although he seems to have a tough time doing that.
Here’s a statistic that should get you thinking: 4489 soldiers have been killed in the Iraq war. The number of Americans killed by Police in the last decade is over 5000. Those should be some startling numbers for you. Oh, and the terrorists that the government is always telling us are so dangerous have killed 238 Americans since the 9/11 attacks. So, let’s get this straight. You are more likely to be killed by Police, than terrorists. The number killed in the Iraq war is lower than the number killed by Police in the last decade. Sound like something might be wrong yet?
The way I see things, we have a huge problem. The Police are out of control, they do what they want, and get away with too much. A badge and a gun seems to give them way too much power. Things must change! Some may disagree with me, criticize me for my views, but what I discussed above is the way I see things. My solutions may not completely solve the problem, but I believe they could create a huge dent in the problem. It would be a huge step in the right direction. What ever happened to “protecting and serving?”
And to all the good cops out there, thank you. We need more like you.
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Cole Kruper