• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I would rather make the police union responsible. It’s the only union Republicans care about and the only union that exists in part to oppress union organizers.

        • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          The second the police union has to start footing the bill, you’ll suddenly see a whole lot of cops being fired and accountability for behavior materialize out of the ether.

          You’ll also see a whole lot of violence in the streets, too, to be clear. Cause if theres one things cops just cant fucking stand, its being held accountable, and they’ll burn the entire system down to prevent it…or, failing that, out of spite.

          • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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            6 months ago

            The second the police union has to start footing the bill, you’ll suddenly see a whole lot of cops being fired and accountability for behavior materialize out of the ether

            Fat chance. What’s more likely is that you’ll see new laws pop up making it illegal to sue the police. These dirtbags aren’t giving up their control.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Because the unions shield the cops and fund their legal defenses and because that single person is almost never held responsible.

        Also, I don’t know what you think corporal punishment is, but it isn’t that.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            When “good” cops start actually working against the cops committing atrocities, I’ll worry about collective punishment for cops.

          • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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            6 months ago

            So if a worker somewhere breaks something, every single employee should be held responsible for that?

            I’ll say the same thing as Flying Squid with different words: How many times have you seen a cop in any discussion, offline (edit: online) or in person, be pissed off about a shitty cop? If your answer is anything more than “almost never” I’m going to be fairly skeptical.

            Police have made it clear that they will do whatever they want, and fuck what we think, even when there is clear video evidence.

            You have a group of folks with immense authority, a criminal justice system that elevates their word and testimony above that of others, and a literal license to kill, which seems not to be made up of particularly compassionate people, or many who can think much beyond “hit it, tase it, or shoot it until it does what I want.” And who trains them in and reinforces this behavior? The other police they work with.

            Why wouldn’t they keep doing what they do when they have this scam in place: Taxpayers pay police budget --> police fuck people up --> Taxpayers pay the inevitable settlement which includes a gag order for victims and no admission of wrongdoing --> Police have no incentive to change their behavior, so don’t --> Taxpayers pay police budget…

            Where’s the incentive to change policies and procedures? They’ve shown public trust and opinion isn’t something they value, so what’s left?

    • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Yeah, the taxpayers should be completely off the hook!

      Now, how do we best ignore the overwhelming support taxpayers have for police, police brutality, and for supporting corrupt sheriffs that regularly get reelected?

        • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I get your point, I just disagree that taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for all the black people we’ve killed and the families we’ve destroyed.

          I’m not a fan of the continuous buck passing that seems foundational to American culture and I don’t believe “making police unions pay for it” will solve a “problem” that most Americans support. If I had to guess, cops would likely just rob from more black and brown people to make up for the loss

      • Glytch@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        There’s also overwhelming support for doctors, who carry personal liability insurance and don’t get bailed out by the taxpayers when they screw up.

        • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I don’t really see the comparison you’re trying to make. My point wasn’t based solely on the support they receive. Feel free to ask any questions if you’d like to understand what I’m saying/trying to say.

          That said, I think insurance makes a bit more sense, but as I responded to another comment, I don’t think it makes sense for Americans to use taxpayer money to train a racist agency to brutalize black and brown (and increasingly poor white) people for profit and then wash its hands of all the blood that results and pretend it’s just the cops that are the bad guys, like they weren’t trained to act the exact way they behave

        • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          That’s a tough question. I’d say it depends.

          I mean, aren’t all racists, sexists, religious-extremists, and the like, brainwashed?

          I don’t typically feel it’s right to “blame”, for lack of a better term, poor or stupid people for their financial issues or their inability to acquire and apply new knowledge, so I’m inclined to answer yes to your question. However, I also don’t support “brainwashed” people that hurt, harass, or injur others. I can, and do, have compassion for them to try and understand how they came to believe, speak, and behave the way they do, but they don’t get a pass. They’re still responsible for changing their beliefs, the way they speak, and they way they behave.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        They don’t need to incentivize coverups. They happen all the time regardless. And body cams make it a lot more difficult. Body cams conveniently not working at a specific time doesn’t look great either. Of course, cops generally get off anyway.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Even more than pretty much every time a cop anywhere in the country seriously fucks up? Or have you heard a lot about cases where cops are open about some wrongdoing they were responsible for lately?

                • Belastend@lemmy.world
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                  6 months ago

                  It is. Try sueing the police in coutries that incentivize coverups more, like Iran. You’ll just disappear.

                  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                    6 months ago

                    “More coverups” does not equal “police state.” They can’t cover up more than they’re already trying to cover up because, again, they try to cover it up every single time.

      • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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        6 months ago

        We can’t punish cops or they will just get better at lying!

        Is that actually the extent of your take, or all that made it through the keyboard?