Interesting WSJ Article on Modern LE Tactics

[buckwacker]

I thought this article in the WSJ was interesting. I think that maybe some of this is resposible for the taughtening relationships between the public and LE. I want Mayberry back. Rise of the Warrior Cop - WSJ.com

 

[CathyInBlue]

Radley Balko's certainly getting around.

 

[phylodog]

I want Mayberry back also. I don't remember drive by shootings, liquor store robberies, gang murders, graffiti, rapes and burglaries in Mayberry. If only the cops would go back to carrying six shooters we could have peace again.

 

[steveh_131]

Crime and violence are not newly invented activities.

 

[ghuns]

Crime and violence are not newly invented activities.

But no knock warrants and APCs for local PD are.

In defense of the JBTs, especially our own INGO JBTs, self preservation is a powerful instinct. They will go as far as we the public let them. With the Feds throwing money at them like there's no tomorrow, and a public made up of a large percentage of sheeple who are plenty happy to give up their rights, what do you expect them to do?

 

[steveh_131]

what do you expect them to do?

Protect our liberties instead of threaten them.

 

[ghuns]

Protect our liberties instead of threaten them.

I see that as a problem with politicians and police leadership, not your average cop on the street. Most cops, hell most people, aren't that deep of thinkers. They try to do there job in a manner that pleases their immediate supervisor. The actions and overreactions of police are simply a reflection of poor leadership.

 

[steveh_131]

I see that as a problem with politicians and police leadership, not your average cop on the street. Most cops, hell most people, aren't that deep of thinkers. They try to do there job in a manner that pleases their immediate supervisor. The actions and overreactions of police are simply a reflection of poor leadership.

When your job gives you authority over the very lives and freedom of others, you better start having some deep thoughts. There is no free pass for 'I'm just doing my job'. Plenty of jobs don't require much thought. This isn't one of them.

 

[ghuns]

There is no free pass for 'I'm just doing my job'.

Uh, sure there is. What happened to the LA cops who shot up the paper delivery lady's truck? What happens to the cops in all the "vicious dog" shootings we get all worked up about? I'm not saying it's right, but that's how it is. The leadership tolerates it, the people tolerate it and the politicians tolerate it. Until people get pissed off enough to demand that politicians and police higher-ups expect better, it ain't gonna change.

 

[steveh_131]

Uh, sure there is. What happened to the LA cops who shot up the paper delivery lady's truck? What happens to the cops in all the "vicious dog" shootings we get all worked up about? I'm not saying it's right, but that's how it is. The leadership tolerates it, the people tolerate it and the politicians tolerate it. Until people get pissed off enough to demand that politicians and police higher-ups expect better, it ain't gonna change.

We are talking about expectations. Not the status quo.

 

[Gabriel]

If only the cops would go back to carrying six shooters we could have peace again.

My god, the solution to this country's crime problems was simpler than anyone thought.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I want Mayberry back also. I don't remember drive by shootings, liquor store robberies, gang murders, graffiti, rapes and burglaries in Mayberry. If only the cops would go back to carrying six shooters we could have peace again.

This takes us back to the same old problem. I trust you personally with most any weapon ever invented. Unfortunately, there are plenty of miscreants with badges who would use these devices in a most unacceptable manner and would almost certainly side with any up and coming tyrant who promised them position and privilege. When you can find communities in which the PD are the worst criminals, this is not a stretch of the imagination.

 

[phylodog]

This takes us back to the same old problem. I trust you personally with most any weapon ever invented. Unfortunately, there are plenty of miscreants with badges who would use these devices in a most unacceptable manner and would almost certainly side with any up and coming tyrant who promised them position and privilege. When you can find communities in which the PD are the worst criminals, this is not a stretch of the imagination.

I won't disagree with you. What I will offer is that perhaps, if society hadn't slid down to the point where going to prison is not only a vacation (and improvement in quality of life) for most who go but also a right of passage and earning of "real man" status, we wouldn't require the number of police officers that we have and the equipment that is utilized. If fewer officers are required pay can increase, standards can increase, quality can increase and the number of those carrying badges who shouldn't can decrease.

There are officers who shouldn't be. There are teams that shouldn't be. Suggesting that police officers, equipment or tactics are the cause for the majority of societial problems demonstrates a true ignorane of reality. A large portion of our society is in the toilet. The ever decreasing portion who keeps the lights on also don't want to have to worry about the increasing majority who choose to victimize them at every opportunity. Strangely these same few are rarely on the receiving end of these tactics and equipment. Why?

 

[Kirk Freeman]

You concentrate on tactics when strategy is at issue.

It is not the LEOs, it is the laws. There are too many.

Make government smaller, give it focus, so law enforcement can focus on what we all want, arresting and prosecuting the "bad apples" and leave the rest of the barrel alone.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I want Mayberry back

Ok, then:

1. Abolish federal money going to state and local police.

2. End the DoJ drug grants.

3. Put more restrictions or end Uncle Sugar sharing the keys to the gun cabinet to state and local LEAs.

4. Make society stop turning to government to fix everything under the sun. Government knows one thing and one thing only--violence.

Stop saying "the government ought to" or "what the government needs to do is".

4A. Abolish the Welfare State which is an acid dripped upon the framework of families (e.g., the biggest threat to law and order, fatherless children), especially African-American families. read "Life at the Bottom", the UK's present is our future.

4B. Fight socialism and abolish the capital gains tax, put people back to work, instead of working on becoming Habitual Offenders. Return the lash of poverty so that sloth and indolence has painful consequences.

 

[phylodog]

You concentrate on tactics when strategy is at issue.

It is not the LEOs, it is the laws. There are too many.

Make government smaller, give it focus, so law enforcement can focus on what we all want, arresting and prosecuting the "bad apples" and leave the rest of the barrel alone.

And to think there was a time I spewed fire in your direction. We've come a long way.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

And to think there was a time I spewed fire in your direction.

I don't understand. I call balls and strikes. Sometimes the cops screw up and it is up to me to yell and wave my arms. But I don't do that much in Indianapolis.

Because of that Molest in Marion County? It was utter rubbish, any jury would have agreed.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Understand that government, not just the police, will always refocus its power on those it can most affect.

Think about it this way, who obeys the law? Right the law-abiding, so why waste resources addressing problems that cannot be fixed.

Do you know Max Weber? Read him. He wrote about bureaucracy and one of his main themes was that once a bureaucracy loses sight of its goals it redoubles its efforts.

If you give government power to address a problem, it will become blind to the problem and redouble its efforts on YOU.

 

[phylodog]

I don't understand. I call balls and strikes. Sometimes the cops screw up and it is up to me to yell and wave my arms. But I don't do that much in Indianapolis.

Because of that Molest in Marion County? It was utter rubbish, any jury would have agreed.

Nothing to do with a molest. I'll call a wrong as such as well, I just appreciate a realistic viewpoint of issues.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I just appreciate a realistic viewpoint of issues.

Never go full wookie, even if you really, really want to.