“We’re going to support you like you’ve never been supported
before.”
We get it. Our Dear Leader was boosting the morale of law enforcement officers in
a speech on Long Island.
“For years and years, [laws have] been made to protect the
criminal,” Trump said. “Totally protect the criminal, not the officers. You do
something wrong, you’re in more jeopardy than they are. These laws are stacked
against you. We’re changing those laws.”
Yeah, ask the growing list of victims of poorly trained cops about
who the laws and courts are stacked against.
But his message went much darker. He practically advocated police brutality
when he ranted: “When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being
thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and
I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,’”.
“Like
when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you
know, the way you put their hand over, like, don’t hit their head and they’ve
just killed somebody, don’t hit their head, I said, ‘You can take the hand
away, OK?’” he added.
Many officers grinned and enthusiastically applauded.
There’s your “few bad apples”, heartily embracing the “Law and
Order President” casually endorsing the idea of brutalizing suspects in custody.
What happens when cops become the thugs?
Nothing good can come of it. Nothing resembling justice.
Citizens are killed and
injured. Families then sue the city that employs the thugs in uniform. Respect
for police diminishes. Then someone decides to take further revenge against
random officers that are the epitome of professionalism, and more cops die.
Is that really worth this stupid “Please don’t be too nice” tough
guy talk?
Time will tell. It isn’t hard to picture the day when some thug
cop capriciously kills or maims someone, and we see his grinning face and
clapping hands in the video of that speech.
Trump is an ignorant, thuggish, stupid asshole. Cops who get a
tingle up their leg at Trump’s tough talk are also stupid thuggish assholes. We
don’t need them in uniform. But there they were, basking in the vile ignorance of our president.
Instead of culling these authoritarian bullies from police
departments, we doom ourselves to more unwarranted deaths by cops, and we doom
more cops to acts of retaliation.
But since our nation is now under an authoritarian bully of a
president, don’t hold much hope for more sanity, professionalism and good
judgment from those “few bad apples”.
Trump the "Bad-Apple-in-Chief" just enabled and encouraged those bad apples in uniform into more violence and bloodshed.
That is what authoritarian bullies do.
==
This is how professionals in law enforcement responded to Trump's thuggish remarks:
==
This is how professionals in law enforcement responded to Trump's thuggish remarks:
Gainesville Police:
The @POTUS made
remarks today that endorsed and condoned police brutality. GPD rejects
these remarks and continues to serve with respect.
Suffolk County PD:
The SCPD has strict rules
& procedures relating to the handling of prisoners. Violations of those
rules are treated extremely seriously.
As a department, we do not
and will not tolerate roughing up of prisoners.
International Association of
Police Chiefs:
Managing use of force is one
of the most difficult challenges faced by law enforcement agencies. The ability
of law enforcement officers to enforce the law, protect the public, and guard
their own safety, the safety of innocent bystanders, and even those suspected
or apprehended for criminal activity is very challenging. For these reasons,
law enforcement agencies develop policies and procedures, as well as conduct
extensive training, to ensure that any use of force is carefully applied and
objectively reasonable considering the situation confronted by the officers.
Law enforcement officers are
trained to treat all individuals, whether they are a complainant, suspect, or
defendant, with dignity and respect. This is the bedrock principle behind the
concepts of procedural justice and police legitimacy.
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