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by boplicity 1764 days ago
> The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento asks a judge to order a jury trial for the arresting deputies

This is the heart of the issue.

Most police don't believe there is any accountability, even if they are good police who always do the right thing.

Most, of course, will always try to do the right thing, but those who don't try are rarely weeded out of the system. This, of course, is enabled by the otherwise good people who are part of the criminal justice system: the police, prosecutors, and even, someitmes, judges who allow criminal behavior to go unpunished, and regularly object to attempts at accountaility.

This explains the impulse to tear it all down, in my opinion. The overwhelming support for the very few criminals who abuse their power puts the entire system into question.

1 comments

This is the systemic racism that organizations are accused of.

It doesn't (to me) mean that "everybody in the organization is racist and the whole thing should be disbanded/defunded" though.

I take it as simply being that when something like this happens, it's easier for those not involved, good people, to turn a blind eye than stand up for what they know is right.

Not a criticism of the individuals, I know I'd find it hard to stand up and risk being ostracized - it's a criticism of the system where doing the right thing isn't the easy thing.

There are good cops - and they are rooted out [1] [2]. "Doing the right thing" is a fireable offense, apparently.

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/what-polic...

[2] https://mfranciswrites.medium.com/5-good-cops-that-got-fired...

Some good links to some infuriating stories.

Maybe what both sides could unite around is an organization that will back up these officers?

~ "The Good Apple Officer Organization"

At the most basic level, could cover the pensions of whistle-blowers - and I'd guess for every story we hear now, would get a dozen more out there.

I genuninely believe most people who join law enforcement want to make the world a better place. Question is simply how can we help them do this?