I lived there for a couple of years when I was teaching at the Seattle Union Gospel Mission. At that time, the police force was trying hard to recruit more policemen but didn’t have the budget for it. I knew one cop and he told me to ask everyone in the programs at the mission to call the police every time they saw something happening. In that way, the Police Chief could present the mayor with the stats and maybe get a raise in the budget. As it was, the police couldn’t keep up with al the open dope sales that were going on in front of everyone’s faces so they kind of threw their hands up and concentrated on busting people who were caught jaywalking. In that way, if someone didn’t have an I.D. or looked suspicious, they could do a pat down and maybe get a bust for dope. I personally saw 2 bicycle cops handcuffing a dope peddler whilst just 30 feet from them yet another crack dealer was doing business.
Did y'all see where the policeman in Atlanta shot and killed a black man at Wendy's? Then somebody burned down the Wendy's? Twice. Does that make any kind of sense? IMO we need more black policemen but I understand they have trouble recruiting them.
I don't believe that having more black policemen is the answer. Minneapolis has a black police chief, for goodness sake. In 2017, a [black] Somali Minneapolis police officer shot and killed a white woman who had called 911 and ran to the police car when they showed up. She had no record. She had done nothing wrong. She was not armed or resisting arrest...she merely reported a crime. It was dealt with through the courts. Twice as many whites than blacks are shot and killed at the hands of police. Twice as many.
I'm thinking that if we had a white police officer and a black police officer as partners, it would keep both more ..... I guess 'Fair and balanced" is the word I want to use.
So, they have CHAZ, which they are referring to as an autonomous zone. Yet, although they are opposed to building a wall on our Southern border, they felt the need to build a barricade around their zone. While they are likely opposed to requiring identification to vote, they require an ID from anyone entering their zone. While a rallying cry behind the protests was that we don't need any police, they have armed people patrolling their autonomous zone. When they had a fire, they called the Seattle FD to put it out, and they've been begging for food from people outside the zone. What's autonomous about any of this?
I’m all for turning off the relay towers, the whole power grid including the water. A few people might have to learn the hard way that there are a lot of expensive aspects to freedom. Granted, folks didn’t need a whole lot to be a free people a couple of hundred years ago but in today’s society............
One of the notes/flyers that I was reading online asking for supplies specifically said to “ask your mother to bring” the food/sandwiches/cookies, etc. and of course they needed more soy milk also. Apparently, when they did have food, they offered some to the homeless population as a peaceful gesture, and then complained that the homeless people ate all of their food, so they needed more sent in.
Instead of some of our large cities de-funding their police departments, why not just shut them down completely and re-open them on a purely voluntary basis? This would release millions annually for the rebuilding of public works and businesses destroyed by the Protest Mobs. The new Volunteer Force would be self-trained, with no uniforms, and their patrol cars would be unmarked civilian units. Handcuffs would be unnecessary and personal sidearms would be optional. This would eliminate physical incidents and would result in no protesting from the public! Harold
This thread sort of reminds me of one I done about being in law enforcement today. There were some posts of "no way".
There are approximately 240 million 911 calls each year in the U.S. Obviously, the majority of those are for emergency medical but still, a chunk goes for emergency crime. In our city, when a 911 medical emergency is called the police are also called to the scene. New York City alone has nearly 2000 emergency call takers and they do not sit on their hands for an 8 hour work schedule. So now, other than for political grandstanding with an attempt to garner extra millennial / race based votes, how is defunding ANY police dept going to help? Answer....it wouldn’t. It’s only another added game that politicians can play.
Defunding the police DOES not mean to starve them out! Police costs are often the largest line item in a municipalities budget,quite often by a large margin. Case in point; Seneca Falls NY town of 8600 give or take, has 14 count them, 14 cop cars and and 43 officers? This town is in no way unique. 2019 budget was 1,497,651 Remember in this nation the bigger the budget you manage the larger your pay check. There is nothing but incentive for administrators to build empires. Why does a cop need to show up at a drug over dose or a heart attack.? For no reason what so ever! Defunding takes excess funds from such programs as the completely decredited DARE program and directs towards more human services. Defund the police is an attempt to answer some part of societies ills with tasking more appropriate professional that have had proper training to non violent civil events. The police are not trained nor do they want to be involved with these type calls. Really don't need an authoritarian with a gun to handle a drunk in the gutter.
In my neighborhood, if an ambulance is called then a cop or cops had best be with them. A drug overdose isn’t generally a lone ranger kind of thing. Where there’s one overdose there are probably 2 or 3 or more people involved at the same residence and again, in this neighborhood most of the druggies are armed and all it takes is a drug induced paranoid panic attack and NASA, we have a serious problem! Dunno if you’ve ever been around druggies before but the one’s I have known and presently know cover up their windows and even avoid the wall sockets believing that someone is watching them.