I heard from an Afghanistan War vet once that all his cop friends didn’t think the public had enough knowledge or insight to understand the actions of the police. There is some fact there. A normal citizen might not understand that cops are taught from day one to fear everyone around them while also being lone warriors against the criminal zombie hoard. The thin blue line protecting white picket fences against the shadows. This is so obvious an authoritarian play. So mad these MAGA asshats stole my punk rock sole.
I’m a different Afghan War Vet and yeah there is a gap there. People aren’t fully aware of what police are thinking. We should make them aware because it’s ridiculous that police departments the size of an Infantry division can operate like it’s the wild west. I think if people knew their cops were getting trained to think they’re in a war and anyone not in a uniform or seen as a “citizen” (Not to be confused with actual citizenship) was the enemy I think we’d have some change really quick. As it is there’s a lot of people out there who think they have privilege with the police until they find out the hard way they really don’t.
I’ve had a strong concern with people in EMS calling others “citizens” as if they are some special tier in society. As a paramedic I am a citizen - I am not in the military. But I see a distinct effort by some of my fellow citizens in EMS try to create some class difference because they took a whole year (less for the cops) to learn some skills at a community college (maybe just classes with some vague accreditation for cops).
I know the “vague accreditation” statement might start some conversations, and I’ve taught in EMS at the college level and taken law enforcement classes; I would actually enjoy discussing this with my fellow citizens in the police field.
The thing that gets me every time is when I hear a police officer refer to someone as a “civilian”. Like, dude you are a civilian too unless you’re giving your weekends to Uncle Sam. They hide behind the word, like people can’t understand the life of a police officer in the same way it’s hard to understand combat in a war zone without having been there. We all live here, we all understand it perfectly fine.
They use military ranks, military equipment, and go through training to dehumanize and terrify them to encourage them to kill at the slightest hint of danger
Maybe we should stop letting them larp around like an occupying force…
Also the fact that cops have less accountability over dead civilians than the troops is horrifying. Like I’m glad we hold the troops somewhat accountable from time to time, but holy fuck the cops don’t understand that there are people who for any reason won’t behave like they expect innocent people to even while innocent.
And yeah cops are also civilians but they don’t know that and sometimes the university police MRAP confuses me as to whether or not they’re actually civilians or are an occupying force.
University Police MRAP are not words I ever thought I’d read. And yeah a significant portion of my posts on police shootings are trying to get people to understand that our police operate with less accountability than a scared 19 year old in a war zone.
Yeah I wish I could say that that’s the only nearby police bullshit I learned from John Oliver. But yeah local police just buy weapons of war because they can get it cheap and idk why we sell it to them
I heard from an Afghanistan War vet once that all his cop friends didn’t think the public had enough knowledge or insight to understand the actions of the police. There is some fact there. A normal citizen might not understand that cops are taught from day one to fear everyone around them while also being lone warriors against the criminal zombie hoard. The thin blue line protecting white picket fences against the shadows. This is so obvious an authoritarian play. So mad these MAGA asshats stole my punk rock sole.
I’m a different Afghan War Vet and yeah there is a gap there. People aren’t fully aware of what police are thinking. We should make them aware because it’s ridiculous that police departments the size of an Infantry division can operate like it’s the wild west. I think if people knew their cops were getting trained to think they’re in a war and anyone not in a uniform or seen as a “citizen” (Not to be confused with actual citizenship) was the enemy I think we’d have some change really quick. As it is there’s a lot of people out there who think they have privilege with the police until they find out the hard way they really don’t.
I’ve had a strong concern with people in EMS calling others “citizens” as if they are some special tier in society. As a paramedic I am a citizen - I am not in the military. But I see a distinct effort by some of my fellow citizens in EMS try to create some class difference because they took a whole year (less for the cops) to learn some skills at a community college (maybe just classes with some vague accreditation for cops).
I know the “vague accreditation” statement might start some conversations, and I’ve taught in EMS at the college level and taken law enforcement classes; I would actually enjoy discussing this with my fellow citizens in the police field.
The thing that gets me every time is when I hear a police officer refer to someone as a “civilian”. Like, dude you are a civilian too unless you’re giving your weekends to Uncle Sam. They hide behind the word, like people can’t understand the life of a police officer in the same way it’s hard to understand combat in a war zone without having been there. We all live here, we all understand it perfectly fine.
They use military ranks, military equipment, and go through training to dehumanize and terrify them to encourage them to kill at the slightest hint of danger
Maybe we should stop letting them larp around like an occupying force…
I’ve said for awhile now that they’re welcome to all of that.
If they are also subject to UCMJ.
I’d rather they just not have any of that, but a stricter judicial system for those carrying the monopoly on violence sounds like a good idea
Also the fact that cops have less accountability over dead civilians than the troops is horrifying. Like I’m glad we hold the troops somewhat accountable from time to time, but holy fuck the cops don’t understand that there are people who for any reason won’t behave like they expect innocent people to even while innocent.
And yeah cops are also civilians but they don’t know that and sometimes the university police MRAP confuses me as to whether or not they’re actually civilians or are an occupying force.
University Police MRAP are not words I ever thought I’d read. And yeah a significant portion of my posts on police shootings are trying to get people to understand that our police operate with less accountability than a scared 19 year old in a war zone.
Yeah I wish I could say that that’s the only nearby police bullshit I learned from John Oliver. But yeah local police just buy weapons of war because they can get it cheap and idk why we sell it to them