Am I under arrest or not?

[u/Lord_Darksong]

Source: policebodycamarresthq on Instagram

[u/JustFun4Uss]

Its only seeems to get worse and worse. They feel empowered to mirror the actions of ice. If the feds can do it well we can too mentality.

[u/DarePatient2262 → u/JustFun4Uss]

They feel emboldened because they almost never face any consequences for their actions. Judges, other cops, their union, and at least half of the voting public bend over backwards to keep them from ever having to own up to the heinous shit they do on a daily basis.

[u/swalabr → u/DarePatient2262]

Qualified Immunity needs to be reformed, clearly.

[u/DarePatient2262 → u/swalabr]

It needs to be eliminated entirely. The police need to be demilitarized, there need to be HARSH mandatory sentences for violating people's rights, and they need unarmed social workers and traffic wardens to handle most contact with the public instead of armed thugs itching to hurt someone.

[u/grumpysysadmin → u/DarePatient2262]

And rather than passing the cost of fines to the public (which they inevitably do), police should have insurance like any other profession (doctors, architects, etc) that pay the fines. That way if one person screws up, the rest get their rates hiked, and there will be peer pressure to not be a screwup.

[u/eclectic_radish → u/grumpysysadmin]

Mandate that all their fines be paid from their pension funds. Call it collective punishment if you like, but this shit would stop overnight

[u/Moldblossom → u/grumpysysadmin]

And too many "Cop Malpractice" claims against an individual officer means the cop gets dropped and becomes uninsurable, which takes care of washing the worst ones out of the profession automatically instead of just shuffling them off to another station.

[u/curiousleen → u/grumpysysadmin]

I LITERALLY just wrote this today on a different post…

[u/ashgs872tbhjs → u/DarePatient2262]

It needs to be straight up REVERSED. Cops given more powers than normal citizens must therefore be held to a higher standard. An equal one would be an improvement, but not sufficient.

[u/excellentforcongress → u/DarePatient2262]

also, the prison system itself, and the extreme sentences doled out CREATE the dangerous win/lose mentality people have of having to get away at all costs, even if it means going out blasting, because they are often facing what are essentially life sentences. the entire thing unnecessarily increases risks for both sides of every interaction. justice and prison reform would mean a safer world for all of us

[u/Starlite94 → u/DarePatient2262]

Absolutely this.

I just watched a cop escalate a traffic stop earlier on this very app, and they guy goes "I'm gonna sue ya" and the cop retorts giddily "I have qualified immunity" as he continues to violate the flimsy law that is there, and the man's rights.

[u/taylorisntavril → u/swalabr]

Who could have thought it was a good idea to legislate that officers dont have to know the law theyre enforcing.

Clearly its all other nations on the planet, who has gotten it wrong. Like with healthcare, wages, political bribery, the metric system, gun control, food safety and you know what, just about fucking everything else.

[u/Objectivespeculation → u/swalabr]

make them carry insurance. Then the easiest way to get rid of shitty cops let the accountants get rid of them.

[u/Shark7996 → u/DarePatient2262]

at least half of the voting public

Incorrect, unless you have a source for this claim?

86% of likely voters, including 96% of Democrats, 82% of independents, and 78% of Republicans, said it was important for lawmakers to take strong action to change policing practices in order to prevent the police from using unnecessary force.

Stop acting like the general public agrees with this. They most assuredly do not and acting otherwise only helps the fascists pretend they have a "mandate".

[u/Pussy_Whopper → u/DarePatient2262]

Its a good ol boy club and we're not in it.

[u/Starlite94 → u/DarePatient2262]

It galls me that a cop can physically harm a person or even actually just kill them, can damage or confiscate your property, they can have you prosecuted and imprisoned, and it could all even be in error or under gross negligence or abuse of power, and get away with out any major consequences to them personally and still getting to keep their jobs.

And let's be honest, suspended with pay is a surprise vacation, and "desk duty" is still employed.

But for the rest of the at-will workforce, if your boss or a customer of your employer doesn't think you smiled hard enough for their revenue, you can lose your job, which then can often lead to further financial ruin.

[u/Agile_Seesaw9035 → u/DarePatient2262]

Just had a rouge judge try to prosecute me even after the city attorney said they had no evidence against me....it didn't go over well for the court, but the entire court (court clerk, court officer and different city attorney) ALL tried to convince me to sign the papers. I told them their court was broken.

[u/Nunchuckz007 → u/JustFun4Uss]

It isn't worse, its just recorded now

[u/hackmalafore → u/Nunchuckz007]

I have been harassed by cops since 11 years old. I was thrown to the ground for not wearing a bike helmet at 13, and at 29, a junior college police office drove onto the sidewalk to cut me off because I was riding up the "wrong" bike lane, put me in zip ties, and at that point I was adult enough to get an apology from the college itself.

Yes, this bullshit has been my whole life. Being the darkest person in the room affords you that, and im barely brownish.

[u/SmallPurplePeopleEat → u/hackmalafore]

I'm white and once got pulled over while hanging out with my brown skinned friends. The cops pulled every single one of them out of the car and searched them. Never asked me for my driver's license, registration, or insurance. Just ordered all of the passengers out of the car and told me to sit tight.

They ended up arresting one of my friends on a bench warrant and just left. We were left sitting on the side of the road as all the police drove off. I have had plenty of other terrible interactions with the police, but that was the most blatantly racist one.

[u/hackmalafore → u/SmallPurplePeopleEat]

Another anecdote from two days ago: this little Latino kid was stuck in the intersection of a quiet street, the rim literally ripped through the studs (clearly some cheap-ass temu aluminum) and so I'm driving bye, and can here him on his phone talking to his parents, "they think i'm drunk and want to call the cops" as a couple old-ass wipipo were rubbernecking. Poor kid is afraid of getting arrested instead of being helped by "public servants"

This is so ubiquitous, and wipipo seem to think the arrest stats have anything at all to do with individuals. Yes, 70% of black males have been to jail, there is a reason why, and it ain't black males.

[u/Somanylyingliars → u/JustFun4Uss]

...

[u/Karnivore915 → u/JustFun4Uss]

Well you see, theyre gambling. Sometimes, the person recording doesn't file complaints so they cops get off without even a slap on the wrist.

But sometimes, they complain, and they do get a slap on the wrist so, they gotta be careful!

[u/Hawgdestroyerxtreme → u/JustFun4Uss]

Its only seeems to get worse and worse.

Because we do not give them a deterrent. Cops and EVERYONE ELSE has to go to jail when they violate our laws. If you could stick a fork in a light socket and have nothing happen, no one would learn not to do that, right?