CDZ My Problem with the Institution of Policing in America

[Asclepias]

With the recent deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Rafael Ramos, and Wenjian Liu enough people in this country have finally woken up to the coming conflict between the police and the citizenry. This is something that has been brewing for a while that many of us have been pointing out for some time, but has largely fell on deaf ears until the Michael Brown killing put it on the front page.

Conservatives seem to think the police can do no wrong and they should be held up as heroes. Liberals seem to think the police wake up every morning giddy about how many brown people they can put a bullet in these days. Both sides are seeing only what they want and ignoring the whole of the problem.

Ron Paul penned this article and summed up my feelings on the subject damn near perfectly.

Here is a snippet, but I encourage everyone to read the entire piece to understand where the rest of us are coming from.

Think about it. Do you actually believe a police officer will show up in time to save your life if one of your “uncivilized” neighbors breaks into your home intent on killing you? Do you have any faith that the police will recover and return your property if a plunderer breaks into your home and steals your possessions? At best, the police might make an arrest after the fact, and the criminal justice system might punish the criminal. But the punishment will serve the demands of the state, not you. The police will not make you whole, restore your property or compensate your family if somebody takes your life.

The police serve to enforce the edicts of the state—laws and statutes that increasingly infringe on your liberty, property, and sometimes even your life.

Instead of protecting you, the cops use force to ensure you don’t consume unapproved substances. They seek to keep you from engaging in unauthorized transactions with other willing individuals. They enforce laws to ensure you don’t possess certain types of weapons. Cops stop you from consuming unapproved foods and use the threat of violence to ensure you utilize approved safety equipment in your car. They serve as the gun behind the grasping hand of the tax man, and the billy club backing up the government regulator.

Some protection.

My Problem with the Institution of Policing in America

Here is a cop who spilled the beans after being in the profession for his entire career. From what I hear he has to hide out now due to threats on his life.

“Simply put, white cops are afraid of black men. We don’t talk about it, we pretend it doesn’t exist, we claim “color blindness,” we say white officers treat black men the same way they treat white men. But that’s a lie. In fact, the bigger, the darker the black man the greater the fear. The African-American community knows this. Hell, most whites know it. Yet, even though it’s a central, if not the defining ingredient in the makeup of police racism, white cops won’t admit it to themselves, or to others.”

― Norm Stamper, Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Exposé of the Dark Side of American Policing