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It's fine to say that the "U.S. policing system" is broken and rife with corruption that needs a complete overhaul that's fine. But implying that all police officers are "bad", breeds hate and leads to hate crimes. People use heuristics to simplify things their brains can't quickly wrap their head around.
I suppose some folks don't have the mental capacity to distinguish individuals from general behaviors of larger associations, and instead rely on these heuristics that their minds can handle, like racists, sexists, and political/religious extremists. It's much easier just to speak in generalities.
However, these are human beings, our literal neighbors, they have families and some police officers work everyday from within a corrupt system - in the streets to try and make a change for the better. But here, we sit in our comfy chairs, relatively safe, and have the nerve to not even acknowledge they exist. Instead, we just lump them together with all of the bad actors. It's laziness-induced hate and it's a true shame it lives on here in HN of all places.
There a MANY non-criminal police officers who care and strive, in an extremely hostile/volatile environment, to do the right thing.
1. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/29/george...
> Here's an interesting factoid about contemporary policing: In 2014, for the first time ever, law enforcement officers took more property from American citizens than burglars did. Martin Armstrong pointed this out at his blog, Armstrong Economics, last week.
> Officers can take cash and property from people without convicting or even charging them with a crime — yes, really! — through the highly controversial practice known as civil asset forfeiture. Last year, according to the Institute for Justice, the Treasury and Justice departments deposited more than $5 billion into their respective asset forfeiture funds. That same year, the FBI reports that burglary losses topped out at $3.5 billion.
As someone who lived in Baltimore City for 20 years, and was forced out due to uncontrollable crime, I can say from first hand experience that good police officers exist and they are heros.
After: 1. My house was robbed. Police responded and worked to connect my incident with others in the area to find the peeps and hold them accountable.
2. My neighbor was mugged/beaten while getting into his car in front of his house. Police responded within a minute and took care (even though the perps got away).
3. A woman a block away from my house was mugged (face fully "punched in," purse snatched). After hearing blood curtling screams I ran out, saw the perps run around the corner, I ran out in my bare feet to take chase, turned two corners (2 city blocks) and the police already had the perp on the ground in cuffs.
Say and flag what you want if it makes you feel better about yourself, but know that when you live in a city overrun by crime, and good people (who are actually our fellow citizens) who protect others daily - you realize how important and brave those folks are.
Not all are good (as evidenced in the OP). Not all are bad. Yes, the system is broken and needs to evolve. But I recommend you put your life on the line in the street, protecting strangers for meager pay, before sitting in your gaming chair and make sweeping claims about good people who are actually trying to improve society.
Call out bad police. Fix the system. Absolutely, but broad generalizations (effectively using lazy heuristics) are at the root of hate and discontent in the world.