LJ Idol: Season 9, Week 13: Open Topic

[ravenshrinkery]

I have a love-hate relationship with police. They are absolutely needed to maintain public order, as there are plenty of criminal elements that absolutely need to be dealt with by someone with lawful use of force. However I don't believe there is anything resembling enough outside supervision of what police do on a daily basis, or adequate

Comments

[kickthehobbit]

You're welcome. ;)

This reminded me of the ASU case that came out recently-the professor that was harassed by the police. I hate that I've come to a point in my own life where I don't even question, "was she a woman of color?" anymore-because I know the answer.

I don't generally err on the side of "fuck the police", but damn if it's not tempting sometimes. Reform, as you've suggested, is the way to go, but I have no idea where it's going to come from.

[ravenshrinkery]

Henry Louis Gates, a Harvard professor and a man of color, was arrested for supposedly attempting to break into his own house. Obama brought him and the sergeant involved to the White House to sit the two of them down over beer and talk about how this happened. Which of course, mind you, only happened because of the status of the man involved, he could have been wealthy or prestigious of his own right but not received such an invitation, and were he a white man the cops probably would have helped him "break in"!

I participate in a couple of Reddit communities, one that is by and for LE, the other being very critical of. Neither side wants to understand each other and generally only fuel each other's fire. Standing anywhere in the middle is a good way to be dismissed by both sides. It's rather frustrating to listen to mostly white guys who could politely talk themselves on their way go fuck the police, when they are mostly privilege-unaware and don't realize the experience of a PoC with police almost anywhere.

Thanks :).

[kehlen]

This is an interesting read.

[ravenshrinkery]

I hope it was even a little intoxicating! ;)

[catwomon]

I agree with this piece a great deal. I am not sure what the answer is, but far to many of our police force have the wrong attitude about violence and put it into practice probably far more often than we know.

[ravenshrinkery]

I think part of the problem is there's a lot of people who don't really care either. In fact I suspect as a rule police actually do act on what people in their general area think. I think you'll find a lot more racist police that abuse their authority against people of color in places where they will find support from the average citizen.

[catwomon]

I know this is true, because I loved in Kentucky. It is a very sad commentary.

[halfshellvenus]

I like your proposal-- it's not pervasive or unlikely, it just changes one aspect of review that keeps problems from being consistently swept under the rug by insiders.

You were very thorough in your discussion here, which is great, because it IS a complex issue.

[ravenshrinkery]

I should elaborate in that such civilian oversight boards should be convened at a level of government above the police agency involved. This would mean county level for local departments, state level for county sheriffs and the like, federal supervision for state agencies, and a board that specifically encompassed all federal law enforcement. I think an appointed board, such as how parole boards currently operate, is better than elected, since you need people with provable credentials doing this job, and the public is not always known to elect the most qualified individuals for anything.

Do I have any guarantee this sort of process would work better than police currently having most control of policing their own? Certainly not. However it would give the process of policing police more transparency, which could lead to other changes.

Thanks for reading it all, I appreciate it when people take the time to look at something like this, that affects everyone on a personal level, but isn't a matter of taking sides.

[eternal_ot]

I agree with the part which says even they need professional help..after all that they go through.
It's a nice essay and all the points are valid. In our country most of them are corrupt because the salary is not enough to raise a family..so yeah the situation is almost the same here.

[ravenshrinkery]

The base pay for police in many places isn't that great, especially in places that need active policing even more. Baltimore is notorious for this and responds by recruiting all across the country and promising promotions after as little as 5 years on the beat. In many places overtime is what makes up the difference - four 12 hour shifts a week is pretty common, plus things like court appearances are always on the clock.

In places like Detroit the police don't respond to dangerous situations such as gunfire. They wait roughly an hour for the violence to settle and then come in and clean up what's left. They are so badly underpaid and understaffed that they can't do much else. As far as corruption goes, it's not unheard of for police to demand services from prostitutes in exchange for not busting them, in fact many sex workers are resigned to this being the price they pay to conduct their trade. Cash bribes don't tend to go so far since it's harder for them to hide.