N.Y.C. Police Maligned Paradegoers on Facebook

[homasse]

N.Y.C. Police Maligned Paradegoers on Facebook

They called people “animals” and “savages.” One comment said, “Drop a bomb and wipe them all out.”

Hearing New York police officers speak publicly but candidly about one another and the people they police is rare indeed, especially with their names attached. But for a few days in September, a raw and

Comments

[tabaqui]

Are people who can say 'drop a bomb' on a particular neighborhood/ethnic group drawn to the police force, or does being on the police force bend their thinking to that sort of thing? It's very troubling.

*I know that when my SO got out of basic training, he was kind of rocking the bigotry for a while, but he calmed down and quit it after a few months, and certainly hasn't been like that for decades....*

[the_gabih]

That or the military. I mean, my ex is going into the RAF, and when the London riots kicked off he was routinely advocating the use of tear gas and (though I'm assuming this part was jokingly done) guns.

[tyndall_blue]

I feel it's partly gallows humor from working in any public service field whether Fire, Law or EMS. The racist remarks and facebook page are completely out of line regardless...

[maenads_dance]

It's common among people who work in ERs too - doctors to nurses to techs. It's I think part of the nature of working a high stress job that the people you're supposed to be serving can come to look like the enemy. Add on to that the fact that doctors or police or firefighters or people in the military often work extremely long hours (the physician who saw me in the ER over Turkey Day had been working for 36 hours straight) and you just get a perfect storm of stress. And none of this is to excuse, mind you - just to explain a little.

[apis_cerana]

Basically

A bunch of white people get together and get drunk = lol fratboys, leave them alone

A bunch of brown people get together and get drunk = HOLY SHIT THIS IS DANGEROUS ARREST ALL OF THEM

[luminescnece]

I wish we had a better psychological environment for our police. I feel like it would prevent bullies and bad cops from rising in the system and encourage good cops in general. If they had a therapist to get this shit out and examine it and deal with the feelings causing it, they might not be doing it on facebook, they'd be healthier and there would be a lot fewer toxic cops out there.

As it is, this is what we get. Brutal police with no constructive coping skills.

(Please don't think I'm trying to defend racists... I view racism in most cases as a very unconstructive coping skill).

[tyndall_blue]

Most high stress public service jobs like law enforcement generally have very advanced crisis debriefing and mental health support systems available. Especially in large city forces. Sadly, within LE more than others, there's that lovely stigma against looking for such help.

[luminescnece]

A friend mentioned to me that they get a lot of psychological help, but even if its present, like you mentioned, the stigma that follows looking for such help is sick and twisted.

I've watched a (disturbing) number of crime TV shows in the past and in all of them I remember, the law enforcement that needs counseling is shown denying their problem and not being supported in doing the work they need to do to keep themselves healthy. Indeed, they're actively supported in getting out of doing the counseling usually.