Law Enforcement's "Warrior" Problem (2015)(harvardlawreview.org)
24 pointsby bookofjoe2 hours ago7 comments
  • Zigurd35 minutes ago
    When a Karen calls the cops you have to hope a Proctor doesn't show up.
  • throwaway81523an hour ago
    (2015)
    • NDlurkeran hour ago
      And more relevant with each passing year. This is a meme that seems to have infected every law enforcement organization.
  • jqpabc1232 hours ago
    And citizens become the "enemy".
  • NDlurkeran hour ago
    There's a war going on outside no man is safe from.
  • jmclnxan hour ago
    Yes, the days of Andy Griffith is long gone, at least in the US the country is slowly turning the local police into storm troopers.

    But even back then, some groups of people were treated badly by the local police in some areas. Now it seems the bad treatment is has become "DEI" instead of good treatment expanding to everyone. :(

    Ref for non-US people and the very young:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andy_Griffith_Show

  • NoMoreNicksLeft42 minutes ago
    This is a shallow piece, if ever there was one. Sure the word "warrior" and its connotations are dangerous, but that barely skims the surface of the problem. Why are police given military ranks? Corporals and sergeants and captains. Hell, some are majors and colonels too. Why are their uniforms styled to look martial at all? Has anyone considered that perhaps they shouldn't be armed like soldiers? There doesn't need to be an assault rifle in the trunk of each squad car (isn't this the point of having SWAT? why bother if everyone is SWAT?). Can we even safely call them officers? We call the command structure of the army and navy "officers", but we also use that term for those who aren't military, so maybe it's safe.
    • wmf13 minutes ago
      There's an entire book on this topic if you want to read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Warrior_Cop
    • MSFT_Edging17 minutes ago
      I think a lot of the questions you pose have some interesting psychology behind them. Other countries don't have this same level of policing, but also have different prison systems.

      I think a large amount of the danger American police face is due to how easily a single arrest can ruin your productive life. One facing the loss of their home, pets, job, important documents, sentimental items might not see the difference between losing everything, and losing everything and taking the guy who's taking it from you, with you.

      If we had an actual system based on reform rather than punishment, I think the danger police would be in would be greatly reduced.

      You also have things like qualified immunity and general protections for police against being sued for an unlawful arrest. An officer can incorrectly arrest you and you could lose everything and be simply shit out of luck.

      If there's no repercussions for bad cops, there's no justice. If there's no justice, why would one play nicely with the law, therefore police are in danger.

      • throwway1203857 minutes ago
        > I think a large amount of the danger American police face is due to how easily a single arrest can ruin your productive life. One facing the loss of their home, pets, job, important documents, sentimental items might not see the difference between losing everything, and losing everything and taking the guy who's taking it from you, with you.

        I don't think it's that complicated. Rather, I think that a lot of cops think they're in more danger than they really are. The vast, vast majority of people aren't going to gun them down for a traffic stop or for providing a warning about something. The situations where they're likely to get shot are exceedingly rare. By treating policing as some tremendously dangerous job we're completely ignoring the actual statistics, which show that firefighters and construction workers are far more routinely in physical danger.

        The police then get carte blanche to walk around treating everyone like some dangerous creature ready to explode at the slightest provocation when most of us are just trying to get by and are pretty accepting of the benign law enforcement interactions we get.

  • 36 minutes ago
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