cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14122055
In capitalist America, police violence is a leading cause of death in some communities. What the police do is evil.
this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2024
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THE POLICE PROBLEM
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The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.
99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.
When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.
When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."
When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.
Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.
The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.
All this is a path to a police state.
In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.
Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.
That's the solution.
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Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.
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ALLIES
• r/ACAB
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INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
• Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• Killings by law enforcement in the United States
• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
• Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.
• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
• Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street
• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
• When the police knock on your door
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ORGANIZATIONS
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
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In what community is police violence a leading cause of death? 300 is not a very high number for a leading cause of death. 600,000 people in the US died of cancer in 2020.
Also, is it adjusting for reasonable use of lethal force? Not every situation can end peacefully (though it should be the goal).
If you grew up in places like Baltimore or Chicago or New York you would hear about someone you know getting killed or almost killed by the police like once a month. Not unreasonable for a communities leading cause of death to be by cop.
I have 2 questions. What definition of "community" are we using here? And, can you provide convincing evidence that is the case?
A community is a community, I don't know how else to explain it.. my evidence is I've fucking lived it. I know 2 people who have been killed by cops and dozens more who have been beaten so badly they could have easily died. I don't know anyone who has died of cancer.
I'm sorry you're not educated on the way policing works in poor and minority communities but it's not my job to educate you. If you want to learn you can easily do so.
Its important to specify what you mean by community. Is it a city, a district, a neighborhood? If its a city, then even if all 300 murders happened in that city, it still wouldn't be a leading cause of death. It is much more possible that a smaller group of people may have been targeted enough that this could be a leading cause of death. Although, I''m still skeptical based on that 300 statistic for the entire country.
I personally know many people who have died of cancer and none who have been killed by police. But, that means effectively nothing. Its an anecdote that has no value as evidence. I want statistics, not stories. Its not your job to educate me, but you are volunteering to put time and effort into arguing your case with me. I don't think its that crazy to then expect you to back up that case with actual evidence.
It doesn't make you look reasonable when you refuse to back up your claims, and then call me uneducated because I don't already agree with you.