More than 1000 Americans have been killed by police so far this year.

[kingjason]

That and the war on drugs and for profit prisons.

You know, not once have I ever heard, hey lets put someone in jail so the prisons can make money. I get that there may be money in the war on drugs at some level, but not any agency I have worked at. It sounds good and all but just not any kind of primary focus or giant scheme. We go to work, prevent crime, take reports, write a few tickets, and protect people from bad things, or at least make an effort to.

[svauto-erotic855]

No. What you have is the complete downward spiral of our entire society as a whole to some degree. The complete lack of respect for any kind of authority(not just the police).

The lack of respect for authority stems form the fact that we are being lied to daily by our elected leaders and are being asked to obey unjust laws. Couple the fact that the ruling class is starting to see us as subjects instead of citizens and things are going to be hard on you at work.

If you guys were allowed to police things that were actually wrong instead of being forced to police things that are wrong because a statute says that it is wrong a whole lot of resentment that is being directed at LE would end overnight.

[svauto-erotic855]

That and the war on drugs and for profit prisons.

A good way to go broke is to open a "For Profit Prison".

[John -- '02 HAWK]

Again the root of the problem is over militarization, lack of training and unintelligence all rolled into one. Last thing you need are under trained dumb guys with lots of lethal gear in positions of authority. It's a recipe for disaster.

the access to 'military grade' equipment has absolutely nothing to do with it. you will find that most of the shootings involve the officer's service pistols and not any of the 'military' equipment. Your using the same argument that antigunners used to apply to the assault weapons bill which resulted in very little in the way of stopping of gun related deaths.

Where you should be focusing your attention is the officers escalation of threat. Which is the rules that state when an officer can use specific levels of equipment. Another point of focus should be on the mental health of officers who become accustomed to constantly seeing the worst of society.

[kingjason]

The lack of respect for authority stems form the fact that we are being lied to daily by our elected leaders and are being asked to obey unjust laws. Couple the fact that the ruling class is starting to see us as subjects instead of citizens and things are going to be hard on you at work.

If you guys were allowed to police things that were actually wrong instead of being forced to police things that are wrong because a statute says that it is wrong a whole lot of resentment that is being directed at LE would end overnight.

While I don't agree with the second part of your statement, I do get the first. I have yet to here one guy defend the way our government is being run right now. I like to think that things will never be hard on me at work because of my attitude towards the job every day. I have had probably seven calls lately that drifted off into current events. Not once did I here anything negative about police officers, and I generally get people to open up and say what they want. I am very hard to offend at work and very open to discussion. I really can see both sides of the story most of the time.

[svauto-erotic855]

While I don't agree with the second part of your statement, I do get the first. I have yet to here one guy defend the way our government is being run right now. I like to think that things will never be hard on me at work because of my attitude towards the job every day. I have had probably seven calls lately that drifted off into current events. Not once did I here anything negative about police officers, and I generally get people to open up and say what they want. I am very hard to offend at work and very open to discussion. I really can see both sides of the story most of the time.

Like it or not the police are the public face of the government. Even the word "Police" is derived from the word "Policy" and it is your job to enforce policy. You are also the ones that get the call when a citizen gets fed up with being told what to do by the government and you get to knock heads with the aforementioned citizen to get them back into line.

[kingjason]

the access to 'military grade' equipment has absolutely nothing to do with it. you will find that most of the shootings involve the officer's service pistols and not any of the 'military' equipment. Your using the same argument that antigunners used to apply to the assault weapons bill which resulted in very little in the way of stopping of gun related deaths.

Where you should be focusing your attention is the officers escalation of threat. Which is the rules that state when an officer can use specific levels of equipment. Another point of focus should be on the mental health of officers who become accustomed to constantly seeing the worst of society.

I have told many people that this is the reason cops hang out with cops generally. Our sense of humor can be a tad startling to those that don't understand the profession. Since I worked in retail and sales for many years I kind of have the ability to adapt but I can still be misunderstood or come off as non caring. I have a lot of friends out side of LE that get me, but a lot of people just don't get what we deal with every day and how it affects us.

[svauto-erotic855]

^^^^^^^

I grew up around LE and enjoy dry wit and gallows humor and tend to think that people who don't get it are pussy's.

[YALE]

You know, not once have I ever heard, hey lets put someone in jail so the prisons can make money. I get that there may be money in the war on drugs at some level, but not any agency I have worked at. It sounds good and all but just not any kind of primary focus or giant scheme. We go to work, prevent crime, take reports, write a few tickets, and protect people from bad things, or at least make an effort to.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery/8289

A good way to go broke is to open a "For Profit Prison".

Corrections Corporation of America seems to be doing well.

[TexasDevilDog]

As a taxpayer, I am getting tired of citizens footing the bill for bad police behavior. The officers need to have the pay garnished if they are not going to jail.

"They can just shoot you if they feel like it," said Eden Marie Biele-James. Her brother, Doug Zerby, was shot and killed by two Long Beach officers, who mistook a garden hose nozzle for a gun.

"There were 22 holes in his body and he was minding his own business," she said.

Galipo also represented Zerby's family.

"The poor guy was just sitting there playing with a water nozzle and I think most people feel you really shouldn't be shot and killed for that," he said.

A jury decided in favor of Zerby's family, awarding them $6.5 million in damages. The city is appealing the verdict, but even police commanders say the shooting was regrettable.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Data-Shows-Clusters-of-Officer-Involved-Shootings-in-SoCal-283773011.html

[BP]

Around 20k people a year blow their brains out, 27k a year die in car crashes and 29k die from being poisoned.

With 330,000,000 people and a good 5%+ being total morons I'm amazed the number isn't more than 1000.

[Rick Modena]

I was about to post the same thing, it has to be higher than that, but then again the year isn't over...yet...

[svauto-erotic855]

Corrections Corporation of America seems to be doing well.

Their SEC filings and annual reports over the last 15 years tell another story. Their numbers are big but the profits are low or non-existent.

I do completely agree that there should be no such thing as a private prison.

[dee]

Their SEC filings and annual reports over the last 15 years tell another story. Their numbers are big but the profits are low or non-existent.

I do completely agree that there should be no such thing as a private prison.

Aren't all of the prisons in Texas state run and non contract?

[ceyko]

You know, not once have I ever heard, hey lets put someone in jail so the prisons can make money. I get that there may be money in the war on drugs at some level, but not any agency I have worked at. It sounds good and all but just not any kind of primary focus or giant scheme. We go to work, prevent crime, take reports, write a few tickets, and protect people from bad things, or at least make an effort to.

There is plenty out there to support that prisons are for profit. Either way you cut it prisons and the courts do not make your job any easier.

In prison there should be no gangs, no drugs, less freedoms, no weapons...etc..etc.

Granted, my only real exposure to prisons is what I see on TV and what my family that has been there tells me about. The two seem to jive though and it really makes "rehab" hard for those who fucked up. It seems like a good living to those who don't give a shit about being productive citizens.

Then the court system, we all see how that works.

I believe that bad police officers are relatively minor compared to the behemoth problems in the court and prison systems.

When my kids have more discipline than some punk in prison, somethings wrong. Discipline is the first step to rehabilitation.