Is it a good idea for everyday citizens to trust the police?

[MCheetah]

I'm not BLM or anti-police in general, but it is really a good idea for everyday citizens to trust the police?

Police officers don't get paid a whole lot of money, so why do so many of them attack civilians and support clearly corrupt or evil politicians? Is $50K a year worth beating up unarmed civilians for Prime Minister Blackface?

@Prettygurl12
@embracethepain

Updates

+1 y

The way I see it, the police are merely the sword and shield of the guy in power. Trying to fight to police is like trying to break his sword and shield. He can always just get more, and likely, will get deadlier ones next time. My solution to this: Aim for the head, Take out the ones giving the orders and the police will stop brutalizing innocent civilians. And I 100% mean that with deadly force.

[EmbraceThePain]

I think it’s natural for many to distrust authority figures.


It really depends on where you are and the relationship you, the community, have with your respective law enforcement.


City, county, urban, rural, etc.


There’s going to be all sorts of levels of politics and bureaucracy in each of these locations and hence certain levels of police corruption, cooperation with seemingly corrupt government officials, etc.


So, is it a good idea for everyday citizens to trust the police?


Depends on what you mean by “trust.”


Personally, I always say that everyone should do research into the important laws, amendments, articles, and statues of their area.


Don’t speak to law enforcement if you don’t have to and/or don’t know what to say.


Police are people that shop where you shop, live where live, etc.


But, if you don’t know what you can and can’t do when interacting with a police officer, they’re not going to give you a complete run down of that.


This can cause you to do things or allow things that will get you into trouble.


For example, a police officer can approach anyone and have a voluntary interaction or discussion with them.


I can get out of my squad car, go out and talk to anyone I like while I’m walking around someplace, like a mall.


But, does the average person know they can just walk away? Probably not


It feels as if you’re supposed to stay there or you can’t voluntarily leave because of the uniform, badge, gun, etc.


But you can

[MCheetah]

I grew up in Philadelphia, where it would be idiotic TO trust the police there. Maybe small towns have nicer, far less corrupt police, though.

What do you think of what's going on in Canada right now, with police choosing to do what is OBVIOUSLY ethnically wrong decisions, attacking civilians for ACTUAL peaceful protests (unlike BLM, who literally were there to get all the police fired and out of work), like it's the middle of Beijing or something. Can you understand that it's hard for everyday, middle-of-the-road-politics Westerners to trust the police, when they let BLM riot with impunity, but assault and attack blue collar Canadian citizens for protesting tyranny in their country?

[MCheetah]

*ethically wrong decisions,

[EmbraceThePain]

It’s hard to say without seeing these specific incidences.

If it’s peaceful, then no one should have any issues.

The thing is, initially peaceful protests can become quite chaotic and violent. So, this is when police need to get involved.

Just a few rowdy folks can ruin it for the entirety of the crowd.

Sometimes, we see what we want to see.

So, if you already have a distrust over police and think they are corrupt then you will undoubtedly see police brutality, violence, and corruption wherever you check.

Even if you’re not searching for it.

Try to think of this from a public safety and articles/statues standpoint.

What articles/statues can be broken when a large crowd protests?

How can this get out of hand?

When it does get out of hand, what should or can be done?

What does this have to do with public safety?

I’m sure you’ve seen unruly crowds causing chaos, breaking into businesses, etc.

When their favorite football team wins a big game.

A football game……..

[EmbraceThePain]

This is how I try to make sense of things.

Obviously, police can do wrong and that’s not right and there should be consequences for that.

Where you work/live plays a big part of this. Your own government can be against you, as well as your community.

[MCheetah]

@EmbraceThePain
I can understand the police being a preventative measure IN CASE things get out of hand, but this isn't Minority Report and pre-crime isn't a thing (in regards to actual peaceful protests). How would you excuse officers arresting people for giving gas to protesters? Or officers arresting people merely because they felt like it and could get away with it, even if literally no crime was committed? And IF these officers do break the law or threaten to kill innocent people just to serve some pussy like Trudeau or Biden enacting tyranny, what is your response to armed civilians pointing the barrel at them?

If you haven't watched the second video (YouTube just age-restricted it), I highly suggest you do. It's very nuanced and doesn't take any extreme sides.

[BluishGaze]

Generally, it's best to err on the side of caution.

They are a *government agency* after all, so it's wiser to keep them under constant suspicion, but also not forgetting to treat them as cordially as you can... because in the end, they are still human beings, and they are working a very dangerous job.

The idea of "Back the Blue" (at least the way I saw it) was to defend the police when they faced calls to have them defunded, and even calls for outright abolishment. These ideas were stupid and were not going to improve policing. In fact, they would have made policing LESS safe and there would have been LESS incentive for one to even want to take on such an already dangerous job.

In Canada, as of right now, there is no reason to "Back the Blue."

[Catlover1999]

We should be able to trust our police like our grandparents did back in their day when everyone in the community knew each other. But unfortunately they have become political enforcers who use their positions to commit crimes themselves. Here in the UK, no one trusts our police mainly because they’ll turn a blind eye to grooming gangs and recently several police have been caught doing horrendous things like sharing photos of dead bodies at crime scenes on WhatsApp and even raping and killing people themselves. Some Americans may have heard of the Sarah Everard murder (Google it if you don’t know what I’m on about). Anyway she was killed by PC Wayne Cousins who just days before got his dick out or something at a McDonald’s. How he still had a job after what he did at the MD’s I have no idea, which shows you how fucked up our Justice system is here.

[Lliam]

Trust? No. I don't trust authority and I don't trust cops. I've seen them do too many horrible things with my own eyes. They follow evil orders, and some cops, themselves, are pure ass holes with god complexes and guns.
I'm not saying that all cops are bad guys. I actually know some good ones.

[MCheetah]

I 100% agree.

[exitseven]

I know hundreds of cops. 99% of them genuinely want to serve their communities. For the most part they are not racist but most have a low tolerance for bullshit which is at odds with liberal policies so they are called racist because of that.

[Daniela1982]

I agree. I know a lot of cops in my city from car shows and such.

[MCheetah]

@exitseven
This literally has nothing to do with racism. I'm talking about police attacking innocent civilians for things like not wanting vax mandates, to be fired for it, government tyranny in general. As in, what's happening in Canada right now. Ironic that the police are willing to let BLM literally riot and burn down cities, but will attack 80 year old men for crap like not wearing a mask or attack people for not breaking any laws at all. Watch one of the two videos or both, to better understand what I mean.

[exitseven]

@mcheetah The cops enforce the laws. It is the crooked politicians that create the laws you are talking about. Liberal DAs, liberal judges and tinpot dictators like Trudoo make these policies.

[Daniela1982]

I would rather have them on my side than the bad guys.

[ravagesavage]

Yeah, i mean ideally it should be like that. But really some that are police let their position get to their head and they abuse their power. Never really put a lot of thought until recently, especially after the riots.

[ravagesavage]

I've seen a whole town that their police are just corrupt as hell, including their internal affairs.

[Fuentes]

I trust them to do their jobs i don't expect anything extra i, Cali they're paid 70-100k