Police are always right. Do what they say. Trouble is never their fault.

[sabrina 1]

68. I have no one on ignore either, but there are a lot of people whose posts I don't read

most of the time.

I do not admit that this thread is trying to paint people into a corner. It is the OP's opinion as many OPs are. If it is not accurate, the best way not to be in a corner is to discuss it and introduce your own pov, with back-up. Sometimes people are genuinely angry over things they see, and rightfully so, and yes, sometimes that results in painting with a broad brush. Most of us do it at times.

But I know what the OP is talking about and didn't take it to mean that all cops are bad.

You ask how do we make the world better, well, certainly not be ignoring things like the militarization of our PDs which is a fact, a fact I can back up with credible sources and so can anyone who takes to the streets to protest.

When the good cops are overwhelmed by the bad cops, (see Oakland, the NYPD eg) and policies instituted by elected officials, they cannot do much alone. It becomes the duty of citizens to speak out and to give THEM support by letting them know the people are outraged too.

When I called the Portland PD eg, to complain about the treatment of protesters, I expected the cop to be rude and disagree with me. Instead, he told me he had concerns but was not in a position to do much about it. He encouraged me to call his Chief. Protesters themselves has said they have talked to police and found that some of them do not like what is going on, but cannot do anything either. There have been reports from NYC, eg, although not verified, that cops refused to take the overtime offered to suppress OWS.

And I know cops personally who are disturbed by a lot of what they see, but if they speak out, they could lose their jobs, they will definitely be subjected to harassment. So, it helps the good cops when the people speak out which the people have not done for a long time.

For minority communities police harassment and brutality has been going on for a long time. So most of them are not at all surprised to see it. AND as many of them have said, public outrage is the only way to stop it.

I want a civilian police force, we have an army, we don't need two armies. Today's PDs are being supplied with military weapons by Bush's Dept. of Homeland Security. How do we stop this if we do speak out about it?