Call the police by their real name: occupying armies

[Nevilledog]

https://www.editorialboard.com/call-the-police-by-their-real-name-occupying-armies/


Tyre Nichols getting beaten to death has sparked another round of debate over American policing. Let’s cut to the chase. First, very little will change as long as policing is determined by state laws and local authorities exquisitely attuned to the needs and desires of the white-power status quo.

The best we can do is devise some sort of national system in which officers are recruited nationwide to create a body of police as diverse as the body of the republic. It should be thoroughly trained according to universally accepted law enforcement standards and socialized to accept and advance the immense honor of wearing a badge.

As it is, members of the United States military show more grace, nobility and restraint than cops do. Army soldiers are trained to kill, but they are also trained to be responsible. Even lying is subject to military justice. Police officers, on the other hand, are under no such constraints, especially if they are white. The police are not the Army.

But they act like it.

The petty aristocracy

The hardest truth is about public perception. Cops are the good guys to most people. At best, they are virtuous warriors against evil-doers. At worst, they are a “thin blue line” between civilization and barbarism.

Police could devolve into occupying armies that, while operating above the law in the service of local elites, extract tribute from the local population as well as occasionally execute citizens without due process – don’t be naive. Even that wouldn’t stop Hollywood from portraying cops as The Good Guys

*snip*

[EX500rider]

1. Don't see how they could be occupying armies as they are locals

Occupying armies invaded an other country and are foreigners to that country.

Russians are occupying army in the Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army in the Ukraine is not.

[SunSeeker]

2. Of course cops aren't actual occupying armies. But they ACT like they are.

And that is the problem the OP is talking about:

The police are not the Army.

But they act like it.

Try reading past the headline.

[EX500rider]

3. I doubt people in the Ukraine who live in actual occupied cities

Would think the comparison was very apt.

[SunSeeker]

4. I doubt Tyre would agree with you.

Why don't we ask him? Of wait, we can't. He was killed by a militarized police force.

[EX500rider]

12. Just because the cops broke the law and murdered someone

Does not necessarily equal militarized police.

Did they have light machine guns, grenades, ride around in armored vehicles?

That would be militarized police.

Or were they armed with pistols and tasers and SUVs or cars?

[SunSeeker]

13. They were the "Scorpion Unit," trying to be a specialized strike force like the Navy Seals.

It's the same Us vs Them mentality of a fighting force in a foreign land. It is so toxic and dangerous when applied to an American neighborhood. It dehumanizes the people these cops are policing, allowing the cops to not think twice about kicking a nonviolent young man in the head.

[EX500rider]

14. When cities have problems with drugs or gangs

It's not uncommon to have a special unit to deal with just that.

[SunSeeker]

16. All cities have gang and drug problems. These units don't deal with them any better.

They just end up being more violent, and attract the more violent cops to join them. It certainly does not bring any more expertise to a gang or drug problem.

Stephen Downing, a retired Los Angeles deputy police chief and SWAT officer, told the New York Times that most specialised units such as the Scorpion tend to attract aggressive, rules-skirting officers, who bring in like-minded individuals and that’s where the problem arises.

The same New York Times report also said that the Scorpion unit hired young, inexperienced officers with a propensity for aggression. Their training consisted of three days of PowerPoint presentations, one day of criminal apprehension instruction and one day at the firing range.

https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/scorpion-unit-disbaneded-tyre-nichols-death-memphis-police-brutality-12069192.html

As the New York Times article said, “The name of the team gives the game away. You call a unit Scorpion because you want to instill fear, and because you want to attract police officers who enjoy being feared.”https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/scorpion-unit-disbaneded-tyre-nichols-death-memphis-police-brutality-12069192.html

These units further reinforce the Us v. Them seige mentality that dehumanizes the people being policed.

Community policing, not these militarized violent units, have proven the most effective at bringing crime down. https://www.police1.com/community-policing/articles/how-moving-from-us-and-them-to-we-results-in-more-effective-policing-NAtM0tQzpkL7WqH5/

[Hortensis]

5. Sorry, but ridiculous-bad. Aren't SOME PDs awful enough without

upgrading them them to "occupying armies"?

And downgrading everything we should be fighting for to something that should to be overthrown?

[Bonx]

6. Uh, no. That makes no sense.

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R

[WhiskeyGrinder]

8. K&R

[rubbersole]

9. Armed agents of the state. Just a correct definition.

Some good and some bad. 63 cents of every tax dollar goes to "defense". There is incredible waste and unnecessary expenditures in our defense budget. Making teaching and policing our communities a well paid job that would attract intelligent applicants would make our collective society a safer and better place to live. We're spending tons of money in the wrong way. Just sayin'.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

18. 63% to defense?

Do you have a link for that? Pretty sure it’s nowhere near 63% if the federal budget, but happy to admit I’m wrong if that is the case.

[Raine]

10. "occupying" sounds like they came from somewhere else which they

didn't, so that just doesn't make sense IMO.

[SunSeeker]

17. There is no indication the Scorpion Unit cops came from Tyre's Hickory Hill neighborhood.

Locals say the neighborhood was peaceful and don't understand why the Scorpion Unit was dispatched to their neighborhood. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/albertsamaha/tyre-nichols-neighbors-scorpion-unit-disbanded

[zipplewrath]

11. Depends on the city

As AOC pointed out one time, you can go to many affluent suburban communities and see police forces that are more like mall cops, mostly writing tickets. But once you get vastly less affluent areas in a city, especially in urban areas, the police forces become vastly more militarized.

Quite honestly I saw a recommendation from a former police chief (Seattle?) that recommended getting rid of military ranks and uniforms. Stop the saluting and use job titles more like private business. Detective, patrol, processors, etc.

And for good god's sake, get rid of the "us versus them" attitudes. It's not "Us and the civilians". If they need a name for the people they serve, use the word "citizen".

[Swede]

15. 25 to 30 dogs killed every day by law enforcement, Justice Department estimates

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/25-to-30-dogs-killed-every-day-by-law-enforcement-justice-department-estimates/