Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop

[WhiskeyGrinder]

I posted this 2 1/2 years ago. It deserves a re-read, because people still believe they can reform the system.

https://medium.com/OfcrACab/confessions-of-a-former-bastard-cop-bb14d17bc759

I was a police officer for nearly ten years and I was a bastard. We all were.

This essay has been kicking around in my head for years now and I’ve never felt confident enough to write it. It’s a time in my life I’m ashamed of. It’s a time that I hurt people and, through inaction, allowed others to be hurt. It’s a time that I acted as a violent agent of capitalism and white supremacy. Under the guise of public safety, I personally ruined people’s lives but in so doing, made the public no safer… so did the family members and close friends of mine who also bore the badge alongside me.

But enough is enough.

The reforms aren’t working. Incrementalism isn’t happening. Unarmed Black, indigenous, and people of color are being killed by cops in the streets and the police are savagely attacking the people protesting these murders.

American policing is a thick blue tumor strangling the life from our communities and if you don’t believe it when the poor and the marginalized say it, if you don’t believe it when you see cops across the country shooting journalists with less-lethal bullets and caustic chemicals, maybe you’ll believe it when you hear it straight from the pig’s mouth.

It's a long read and every paragraph is worth excerpting.

[Cerridwen]

1. K & R I'm reading, and pausing cause it's awful and difficult to read.

I wanted to K & R so you don't fall off the front page.

Everything I knew to be true when I was growing up, he writes about...all of it.

I also wanted to highlight this one part for many on this board;
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if you don’t believe it when the poor and the marginalized say it, if you don’t believe it when you see cops across the country shooting journalists with less-lethal bullets and caustic chemicals, maybe you’ll believe it when you hear it straight from the pig’s mouth.
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edit to fix formatting

[barbtries]

2. i missed it the first time

Still a worthwhile read, albeit scary. It's only gotten worse since.

[CrispyQ]

3. Long but worth reading.

Police officers do not protect and serve people, they protect and serve the status quo, “polite society”, and private property. Using the incremental mechanisms of the status quo will never reform the police because the status quo relies on police violence to exist. Capitalism requires a permanent underclass to exploit for cheap labor and it requires the cops to bring that underclass to heel.

Lots of worthy points in his commentary & he has some good ideas for improving the situation, but ultimately he's right that capitalism is the root problem.

[Cerridwen]

4. Kick. Just kick for now. n/t

[lark]

5. Wow, I have always known this and am shocked that an ex police is finally telling the truth.

Shocked!!!

[republianmushroom]

6. from someone who knows

[ShazzieB]

7. K & R and bookmarking to read later!

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[Hekate]

9. Thanks for saving this to post again. Please do so again as needed in the future...

What a damn mess. An occupying army that sees every civilian as The Enemy.

Also from the article:

While every cop’s individual biases come into play, it’s the profession itself that is toxic, and it starts from day 1 of training.
Every police academy is different but all of them share certain features: taught by old cops, run like a paramilitary bootcamp, strong emphasis on protecting yourself more than anyone else. The majority of my time in the academy was spent doing aggressive physical training and watching video after video after video of police officers being murdered on duty.

Oh yes, The Killologist. I’ve heard about him:

One of the most important thought leaders in law enforcement is Col. Dave Grossman, a “killologist” who wrote an essay called “Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs”. Cops are the sheepdogs, bad guys are the wolves, and the citizens are the sheep (!). Col. Grossman makes sure to mention that to a stupid sheep, sheepdogs look more like wolves than sheep, and that’s why they dislike you.
This “they hate you for protecting them and only I love you, only I can protect you” tactic is familiar to students of abuse. It’s what abusers do to coerce their victims into isolation, pulling them away from friends and family and ensnaring them in the abuser’s toxic web. Law enforcement does this too, pitting the officer against civilians.

[MagickMuffin]

10. Definitely needs reforming starting with the training

Years ago when Blackwater was still a thing they sold the idea of militarization of the police forces. They provided the training and the weapons.

My racist bil was an enforcer, he would tell us of his abusive behavior towards people of color. How he would use his heavy duty flashlight as a weapon. How he would use his k9 dog to intimidate people of color.

He is also a grifter. Persuaded his parents into funding his projects. Joined a rural enforcer group that invited him to join the KKK. He told us he declined, but I don’t know if he was lying. He don’t have anything to do with him or his family.


Thanks for posting this, it confirms my suspicion that it’s all in the training. And most enforcers join the force to inject their racist violence against everyone else.

[CrispyQ]

12. Several years ago, when many police departments switched to all-black, Commando type uniforms,

there was a study that showed people & the community itself, perceived the police in a much less genial fashion. So imagine when they add a bunch of military equipment what that does to people's perception. It's a mess. It's an occupation that attracts the very types that shouldn't be in that occupation.,

[MagickMuffin]

13. Indeed, I remember seeing this thread on Saturday

It shows the national guard driving through Atlanta to squash any protests over the release of the Tyre Nichols video of him being beaten.

The video in the link shows 9 military vehicles driving through a city street. Not familiar with Atlanta but the street is Marietta street.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217598458

[Cerridwen]

11. Kick again. Because. n/t

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. Kick.

[MrsCheaplaugh]

15. Kicking. Excellent article provokes much thought

[sakabatou]

16. K&R

[summer_in_TX]

17. K & R

The truth hurts.

[irisblue]

18. These bits

"In fact, let me tell you about an extremely formative experience: in my police academy class, we had a clique of around six trainees who routinely bullied and harassed other students: intentionally scuffing another trainee’s shoes to get them in trouble during inspection, sexually harassing female trainees, cracking racist jokes, and so on. Every quarter, we were to write anonymous evaluations of our squadmates. I wrote scathing accounts of their behavior, thinking I was helping keep bad apples out of law enforcement and believing I would be protected. Instead, the academy staff read my complaints to them out loud and outed me to them and never punished them, causing me to get harassed for the rest of my academy class. That’s how I learned that even police leadership hates rats. That’s why no one is “changing things from the inside.” They can’t, the structure won’t allow it."


"None of us protected the people (you) from bad cops."


" Do not talk to cops and never, ever believe them. Do not “try to be helpful” with cops. Do not assume they are trying to catch someone else instead of you. Do not assume what they are doing is “important” or even legal. Under no circumstances assume any police officer is acting in good faith."

[Easterncedar]

19. Profoundly good article. Thanks

I have cops in my family who I do believe are good people. They have told me about instances of most of the abuses described. The training, even 40 years apart, had the same elements of militaristic macho violence and indoctrination. They have been bullied by fellow officers and superiors. They have seen corruption. But - They have helped people, and that was their goal. They may be a very small minority, but I trust them. Just saying.

I totally endorse the idea that breaking up and reimagining policing is crucial. We don’t need armed officers responding to most distress calls where social workers are better suited.

I can’t say it better than the writer. He’s right.

Thanks again for posting this.