This is exactly why I’m joining law enforcement. I hate stupid cops. So I plan on taking a spot that could have been given to a dumbass. Understandably, this is probably devicive, but it’s the best answer I could come up with.
This is a legitimate problem - there are educated people that view the position negatively but also wouldn’t join. So the spots stay open for more uneducated people. Some departments are now requiring degrees and new recruits are put through some degree program before starting but that’s only in some major cities… so yeah people are gonna discourage you but keep your head up and keep that attitude, identify the idiots as early as possible (they will make themselves known quick). That’s what I did - I left my cushy engineering desk job, took a crazy paycut and put on the badge… and I talked a women off the top of a parking garage on my second month (didn’t draw my gun or anything 😲🙄)
I legit lol’d at this. But in all seriousness - where I work, every action/decision requires me to articulate why. So if I do draw my gun I have to be able to articulate in a consistent and reasonable manner. If I don’t draw my gun, I also have to be able to articulate that. For example, if a man with a rifle is running from me toward a school full of children and I decide to not draw my gun I will absolutely need to be able to articulate that. If an 80 year old in a wheel chair steals a KitKat using no weapons and I draw my gun I better have a good reason. I can’t just say I felt threatened I have to articulate it and it needs to be consistent with everyone’s body cams and witness statements and the physical evidence itself. I’m more than aware that not every department is like this though…
Good luck. Plan ahead for moral breaching moments. They’re going to have you destroy the stuff of homeless people. They’re going to have you pull people over because they “look suspicious”. They’re going to pressure you to lie to the public in service of police-community relations. And more. You cannot become a full police officer without these things happening because you have to go through a probationary period with an officer in “good standing”.
That period is where they separate the ones willing to conform to the department standard from the ones who will not stray from what they’ve learned in the academy or their own moral standards.
This is why ACAB.
That said, if you want to cross that line, be sure beforehand what you’re willing to do to maybe be the one guy who pushes the officer off of George Floyd. (And by maybe I mean you may never see that on your career, especially if you get marked as “too good” and stashed somewhere useful but harmless to them.)
The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it’s not you who changes the system; it’s the system that will eventually change you.
Yeah you might want to look up Christopher Dorner. When he didn’t want to go along with the rest of the force, they hunted and killed him. You have to either conform with the gang or be expelled.
EDIT: Christopher, not Michael. I think I was confusing his name with a Klingon.
The institution of the police is like an occupying army.
If another country invaded and occupied, would it make any sense at all to join that invading army in an attempt to “be better” and “improve things from within the system”? Or, if you joined that invading army, would you just be a traitorous bastard participating in the subjugation of your own people?
ACAB because it is the job description to be a bastard. ACAB the same way all firemen fight fires; it is the main thing they are employed to do.
This is exactly why I’m joining law enforcement. I hate stupid cops. So I plan on taking a spot that could have been given to a dumbass. Understandably, this is probably devicive, but it’s the best answer I could come up with.
This is a legitimate problem - there are educated people that view the position negatively but also wouldn’t join. So the spots stay open for more uneducated people. Some departments are now requiring degrees and new recruits are put through some degree program before starting but that’s only in some major cities… so yeah people are gonna discourage you but keep your head up and keep that attitude, identify the idiots as early as possible (they will make themselves known quick). That’s what I did - I left my cushy engineering desk job, took a crazy paycut and put on the badge… and I talked a women off the top of a parking garage on my second month (didn’t draw my gun or anything 😲🙄)
Pfft. And you call yourself a cop. The shame!
I legit lol’d at this. But in all seriousness - where I work, every action/decision requires me to articulate why. So if I do draw my gun I have to be able to articulate in a consistent and reasonable manner. If I don’t draw my gun, I also have to be able to articulate that. For example, if a man with a rifle is running from me toward a school full of children and I decide to not draw my gun I will absolutely need to be able to articulate that. If an 80 year old in a wheel chair steals a KitKat using no weapons and I draw my gun I better have a good reason. I can’t just say I felt threatened I have to articulate it and it needs to be consistent with everyone’s body cams and witness statements and the physical evidence itself. I’m more than aware that not every department is like this though…
If that 80 year old’s name was Jack Bauer, that would be justified. He can kill you with that KitKat
Good luck. Plan ahead for moral breaching moments. They’re going to have you destroy the stuff of homeless people. They’re going to have you pull people over because they “look suspicious”. They’re going to pressure you to lie to the public in service of police-community relations. And more. You cannot become a full police officer without these things happening because you have to go through a probationary period with an officer in “good standing”.
That period is where they separate the ones willing to conform to the department standard from the ones who will not stray from what they’ve learned in the academy or their own moral standards.
This is why ACAB.
That said, if you want to cross that line, be sure beforehand what you’re willing to do to maybe be the one guy who pushes the officer off of George Floyd. (And by maybe I mean you may never see that on your career, especially if you get marked as “too good” and stashed somewhere useful but harmless to them.)
The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it’s not you who changes the system; it’s the system that will eventually change you.
Yeah you might want to look up Christopher Dorner. When he didn’t want to go along with the rest of the force, they hunted and killed him. You have to either conform with the gang or be expelled.
EDIT: Christopher, not Michael. I think I was confusing his name with a Klingon.
You mean Christopher Dorner? “Michael Dorner” brings no relevant results on google.
Oops, I corrected it. I must’ve been confusing the name with Michael Dorn.
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If anything, the experiment would prove that power imbalance needs to be regulated and that people acting as “bastards” aren’t necessarily bastards.
Fucking don’t, it will make you into that dumbass.
I hope not. But there ain’t any good sense in not trying.
The institution of the police is like an occupying army.
If another country invaded and occupied, would it make any sense at all to join that invading army in an attempt to “be better” and “improve things from within the system”? Or, if you joined that invading army, would you just be a traitorous bastard participating in the subjugation of your own people?
ACAB because it is the job description to be a bastard. ACAB the same way all firemen fight fires; it is the main thing they are employed to do.
There ain’t any good sense in trying… ACAB.