I think it's the mentality (which I've unfortunately encountered with the police officers in my family) that when they demand something of someone, whether there's any sane reason or probable cause or not, they expect to be obeyed immediately and if the person doesn't comply immediately or dares to ask why, then they must be guilty of something and have to be stopped with whatever force is necessary.
What I don't understand is how they expect ALL of the "civilians" they encounter to automatically be aware of that. I mean, it's like cops are operating under one set of assumptions and everybody else is operating under a different one.
The fact is, if anyone (especially a poc) has the nerve to try to talk to a cop and engage with them like they're, you know, another fellow human, horrible things can happen. But how many of us who are non-cops (and not related to any) are going to even know about this (foreign to us) set of expectations that's been TRAINED into them, much less be able to react the way they expect at the drop of a hat? I would guess not a lot.
I really think that the fact that a LOT of the people they are going to deal with as cops are NOT going to be aware of those expectations and therefore won't know how they are "supposed" to respond to a cop--should be part of their training. It might just save some lives.
From what I know just from the cops in my family, cop culture is very insular and it really does have a tendency to skew the minds of officers. Everyone becomes a possible suspect and a lot of them become paranoid about everyone. Also many cops do not like to be questioned and get extremely defensive at any suggestion that any of them might be racist or bigoted or basically have any problems at all. It's just a very scary mentality that seems to get more and more entrenched.
Pretty sure even MO cops have cameras recording things, and pretty sure they'll show (to some degree) that the cop is lying his ass off. Which isn't a surprise but just ramps up the disgust and antipathy I have toward *all* police.
i'm probably 10 15 min from there and they're moving north, but they're burning businesses to the ground :( my mom works a few blocks from there and she's going into the bank tomorrow, i'm sure it'll be fine by then, but i'm anxious about it....
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What I don't understand is how they expect ALL of the "civilians" they encounter to automatically be aware of that. I mean, it's like cops are operating under one set of assumptions and everybody else is operating under a different one.
The fact is, if anyone (especially a poc) has the nerve to try to talk to a cop and engage with them like they're, you know, another fellow human, horrible things can happen. But how many of us who are non-cops (and not related to any) are going to even know about this (foreign to us) set of expectations that's been TRAINED into them, much less be able to react the way they expect at the drop of a hat? I would guess not a lot.
I really think that the fact that a LOT of the people they are going to deal with as cops are NOT going to be aware of those expectations and therefore won't know how they are "supposed" to respond to a cop--should be part of their training. It might just save some lives.
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i wonder if the far right wing teabagger filled Missouri legislature will try to pass laws protecting the police in reaction to this next year.
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You and a lot of other people!
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