Well, like 21st century American progressivism in general, the AP chose to investigate the issue solely through a racial lens. Seems like you are suggesting this perhaps isn't the best framing. If so, I am not going to disagree with you there.

I wouldn't go as far as to call it inherently evil, but certainly there are lots of racists cops who were attracted to policing for deep seated Freudian reasons and their desire to abuse people. That this applies to police officers of all skin tones shouldn't be surprising.

There is a pretty good reason why people are discussing race in the context of this particular instance. The cops admitted to using racial slurs and to telling the victims to "go back to the other side of the river" where most of the black people live.

But it is obviously possible for racist white cops to abuse white people as well, and as I pointed out, it appears that happened as well.

People are attracted to policing for various reasons. I agree that some people are attracted to policing because they like the idea of exercising authority, and those people obviously are most likely to be the serious problems.

The problem in the US is that you have a culture created around the worst of the police.

Im not sure how police hiring goes in the USA but it is very hard to become a police officer in Canada and training in my old city was 27 weeks. The job pays well and you have a large diverse police force

Sadly in the USA you have incidents that are disgusting as in Missouri but that is what gets highlighted not the majority of cops that are good. Also in the USA everyone has a gun that has to add to the stress of the job

How did they end up convicting these 6 or have them confess was it caught on camera or did a fellow officer turn them in

It was probably the worst attempted cover-up ever. Apparently the only person on earth who believed their story was the sheriff *wink wink*

I think the feds got involved in the investigation and it fell apart pretty quickly after that. These were not the brightest guys in the world.

More people would certainly get behind fixing the overall problem and it would likely get closer to being solved more quickly if it were framed like the title of this thread instead of as 'racist white cops killing black men'. This issue affects people of all races and needs to be presented as everyone's problem.

It depends on where you are. I would guess that overall levels of professionalism and training among police are higher in urban areas than in rural areas. In NYC, you must have a minimum of sixty college credits or two years of military service. If you meet those criteria plus certain physical criteria, I don't think it is at all difficult to get admitted to the police academy. Police academy in NYC last six months and force is quite diverse. In less urban areas, nothing more than a high school diploma may be required, and the police academy almost always will be less extensive.

Pay for police is not great in NYC or anywhere else in the U.S.

This is for Edmonton which is lower than norm in big cities. Of course we went through the whole defund the police thing as well

I was surprised to hear some left led cities still will not hire back officers that are not vaccinated. That just seems stupid

Cops get a bad rap.

"Don't kill innocent people at work" is admittedly a low bar and obviously not one that survives every attempt, but the reality of the situation is that cops have to make those jumps far more often than your average professional and sometimes they're gonna miss.

Given the bullshit they deal with from people who insist on not behaving themselves, I'm genuinely surprised there isn't more blood in the streets.


You're making the assumption that people who frame it like you state here are actually interested in solving the "problem", which is a take I disagree with rather strongly. Law enforcement policies, just like safety policies in any sector, are written in the blood of those who learned the initial lessons the hard way.

People who think this is a racial thing are not actually serious people. They don't exist in the same reality as the rest of us.

One thing we can absolutely do better as a society, is to stop these behaviors as soon as the pattern shows up. Once is an accident. Twice is a pattern and you'll be punished. You don't get an opportunity at failing a third time.

Of course, if God Emperor Inso0 was in charge of law enforcement, that same standard would apply to the criminals and there would be a lot fewer people on the street causing trouble and drawing the attention of trigger-happy cops.

Actually the pay is pretty damn good for a "blue collar" job, especially when you throw in benefits. Maybe NYC specifically it doesn't seem that way, because that is one of the most expensive places in the world to live. Big blue cities being currently unable to fill academy slots is more a testament to Democratic politics making it a toxic, undesirable job. If he politics weren't so anti-police, the waiting lists would be massive.

Not many jobs left where you can put in 20 years and then receive something like 80% of your pay for the rest of your life.

Either they don't want to lose face or it's a good way to get the non compliant officers off the force.
To make an omelette you gotta break some eggs.

I have a family member that retired from the force in the early 2000s with a full pension. They were given a nice pay raise right before they retired. Between that and the yearly increases to offset inflation, he makes much more now 20 years after retirement than he did at any point in his working career.

Its probably more mundane than that. Most big blue cities are running massive deficits because of all the money they spend on the homeless/mental-health crisis racket (I use the term racket because very little of the funds is actually spent on the homeless). So all else being equal it makes more financial sense to hire rookies at rookie pay than to hire back veterans at veteran pay.

A decision like that would take some form of business sense, I don't give them that much credit.

Where does the city funding of stadiums for billionaires to let millionaires play games in ten times a year fit into this health care racket?

I just looked up the pay for police officers in a mid sized town (i.e., part of an MSA with 150,000 residents) near where I grew up. Starting salary is a hair above $38K (a little above $19/hr), and the salary for officers with 10+ years on the force was about $63K (~$31.50/hr). I don't know about the benefits.

Most of the police I know make 100-150k a year between overtime and side gigs. Some higher ups are making 250k running a desk or department.

If you are in a major metro area, and a lot of the police you know are detectives, I'm sure that's possible.

White cop fails to kill black man, despite her best efforts.

This guy was just going about his business, smashing glass on a driveway at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday and this cop rolls up to tell him to stop. He declines, and the next thing he knows he has a few new ventilation holes in his chest and the cop is whining about a couple minor dents in her skull.

To keep with the current trend of this topic, that officer makes $40/hr to have crazy dudes charge at her with a hammer, according to state records.

And they still are having trouble recruiting. Can you imagine that. In this economy, a low skill blue collar job that can clear 6 figures with tremendous benefits and retirement packages, and they cant find anyone willing to do it?

Gives you an indication how shitty a job it is, between dealing with the criminal element day in and out, and on top of this now being vilified by society itself and a target for every Dem DA trying to nail you to the cross for career advancement purposes.

I don’t think your assessment is correct although there is a huge difference between our urban center and our outer ring suburbs. My local cops deal more with traffic tickets and helping elderly people with car problems than actual crime,

I'm on the abolish/defund side, but I don't think I've ever insulted police as much as this; someone who thinks they are supporting police just casually dropping in "low skill".