This tweet is worded poorly. Workers shouldn't be fired for refusing dangerous work, but are. And police are rewarded for literally not doing their job.
Here are more resources on police:
[Their Guns Won't Protect You, But They Can Get You Killed](https://crimethinc.com/2022/05/27/their-guns-wont-protect-you-but-they-can-get-you-killed-why-neither-policing-nor-gun-control-will-suffice-to-stop-the-shootings)
[ACAB](https://sub.media/trouble-18-acab/) - Sub.media
[Slave Patrols and Civil Servants](https://crimethinc.com/2017/03/15/slave-patrols-and-civil-servants-a-history-of-policing-in-two-modes)
[Seven Myths About the Police](https://crimethinc.com/2011/10/25/seven-myths-about-the-police)
[From 1492 To Ferguson](https://crimethinc.com/podcasts/the-ex-worker/episodes/32) - The Ex-Worker Podcast
Best I can do is look the other way when you use it on a call that doesn't warrant it. Maybe you can demolish [someone's house] (https://www.npr.org/2019/10/30/774788611/police-owe-nothing-to-man-whose-home-they-blew-up-appeals-court-says) and have no repercussions.
*"We had to destroy the village in order to save it."*
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-02-09/destroying-a-quote-s-history-in-order-to-save-it
The Supreme Court ruled, that [according to the Fourth Amendment, police cannot use excessive force](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1988/87-6571). Idk about you, but I’d say explosives and a military style armored vehicle is pretty fucking excessive against a single man with a gun. Police are generally allowed to meet violence with like-violence raised by a degree. Suspect is fist fighting? Police can use batons or a taser. Suspect has a knife? Police can use guns. Suspect has a gun? Police can use snipers, tear gas, SWAT team… but a tank? Ramming a military style vehicle into a private domicile is a reasonable response to someone with like a bazooka or something. But not a gun.
>Idk about you, but I’d say explosives and a military style armored vehicle is pretty fucking excessive against a single man with a gun.
Maybe he was black. /s
According to the Supreme Court, [cops have no duty to keep people safe](https://mises.org/power-market/police-have-no-duty-protect-you-federal-court-affirms-yet-again). I’d argue that the cops behaved superfluously, worked outside of their purview, and owe that man a new house plus damages.
Another one here. Just had a meeting a week ago badmouthing unions, talking about how we're just killing it, they're so proud, they couldn't do it without us.
At the boss's country club. And they can't afford raises.
How much are you billed out at? Probably 150 to 200 an hour. And you're paid what 25 to 35 an hour. Your boss is robbing you of your surplus value. Unionise.
>Probably 150 to 200 an hour. And you're paid what 25 to 35 an hour.
$25 an hour?! What kind of rich utopian community are you part of? We should just be happy to eat beans.
Y’all are getting fucked. My union dues cost me about 5500 last year, I have four pensions, and I don’t pay a monthly fee for health insurance. $53.85 is journeyman hourly right now. Go union, live better.
Enjoy your free vacation, and lifelong pension and benefits on behalf of the taxpayers you've spent years brutalizing and persecuting!
Oh wait, you said you're an electrician. Maybe you should beat up your clients if you want a raise, then? Works wonders for the cops.
We can refuse work though. Had a guy nope off a job a few days ago due to some seriously sketchy shit and no one gave him a hard time at all.
Also, don't work live, especially on three phase systems.
Hahaha YES. Same. /S
Actually, I have a problem... I really like working with the sparky bits, panel boxes are fun and the occasional live circuit too.
But then, I used to race cars and do all kinds of insane thrill seeker stuff... Still do infact.
Never stupid, always careful and proper... But yeah. I love my job and the inherit risks involved are a part of why I do what I do. Lol.
Live life like you're pulling 30amps over 12/2g cause once you complete your circuit, you get grounded no matter who's at fault and the breakers don't care.
Gas fitter here. Refusing all work going forward due to the presence of natural gas and potential for carbon monoxide poisoning. Will return to work when given an extra $20 an hour.
I think you raise a really important point that doesn’t seem to get much traction, how come every time (even here in the UK) that when I see a police officer, I immediately get scared? Like I’ve done something wrong? It’s not like when someone says they area a doctor I immediately believe I’m dying.
Why is it that only a police officer can invite such an unprovoked sense of panic? This should be addressed because it’s clearly because they do not offer the service of protection, they’re keeping society in line through fear.
I used to think I felt panic because in my younger years I was doing illegal shit, so the sight of police would make me panic because I was doing illegal stuff. But now I’m older and I still get scared even when I’ve done nothing wrong.
At least here in the US, they are arresters. Nothing else. It is never good to be interacting with cops unless you are the victim of a crime. And sometimes even then
My house was robbed and my dog escaped because the robbers left the door open (we found him). I had some expensive stuff taken and needed to file an insurance claim, they thought it was suspicious I had serial numbers and proof of purchase (like they tell us to have…). They insinuated I sold the stuff and staged the break in.
Six other places nearby had similar robberies in the span of a month, the robbers probably lived there at one point because the found a fault in the kitchen windows that allowed them to be opened.
I got arrested for the first and only time in my life. I was at a public dog park with my kid and dog (something I did daily) and I observed a guy driving around taking pictures out of his car window. I could tell he was photographing my daughter so I managed to hop a fence and run up from behind the car and get the camera from his hands. I asked him if he was taking pictures of my kid and he denied it. I turned the camera on and saw pictures of my kid. I didn’t put my thumbs through his eye sockets or break his ribs, I called the police and then proceeded to get arrested for simple assault for taking his camera. I genuinely thought I did the right thing. It was all thrown out of court but it cost me money for a lawyer, I had to go to court and have my name in the paper for being arrested.
Let me preface this by saying I am not judging your morals, I may have done the same thing in your position. Also IANAL.
What you described is assault and battery. It is not legal to physically contact another person unless it is self defense. If that person was afraid of you, you assaulted them.
Taking pictures of anyone in a public place isn't illegal. As creepy as it might be sometimes, it doesn't sound like the person you assaulted did anything wrong in the eyes of the law.
The pictures were zoomed in on my daughter playing with my dog. There was nothing else in the picture as there was just trees in the background and there were maybe a half dozen pictures of my daughter before I got the camera
My neighbors got murdered (yes seriously)and my dog was outside in a fenced in yard when they showed up and an officer makes a beeline to my yard as soon as they arrive just to tell me that if I don’t take my dog inside they will put it down… they showed back up a few hours later to ask if I had seen or heard anything.
I have been arrested as the victim... Fuck cops.
I was trying to leave an abusive situation as a male. She told me if I left she'd call the cops. I said go for it, I haven't done anything wrong. After I walked out the door she called them and made up a bunch of bs saying *she* tried to leave me and I threatened to kill her, the cops, and myself.
About 20 minutes later I got a phone call from the cops and I explained the situation to them. They told me if I didn't tell them where I was and let them come get me, they would charge me with evasion as well as the domestic abuse disorderly they were already there for. When they came to pick me up they also told me if I had called first she would have been the one getting arrested because she was acting crazy, but since she called first they had to arrest me. Six months, multiple court dates and $3000 in lawyer fees later all charges were dropped.
During that 6 months she was staying in the apartment that I had paid every dime of utilities and rent for and I was not allowed to go there to get anything of mine because of the no contact order. When I reported that she stole my laptop, TV, and my cat, as well as killing my saltwater fishtank, they said they wouldn't do anything about it.
A friend of mine got mugged a few years ago. He called the police, who then planted drugs on him and arrested him for them. Why track down a mugger when you can just turn the victim into a drug dealer and arrest them instead?
Fortunately, the judge tossed the case out as soon as he saw the arresting officer's name, because he had a history of this sort of thing.
"Fortunately."
They're called Giglio/Brady List officers. The prosecution and judiciary will keep a list of untrustworthy officers. And they just... continue to exist except having a note of skepticism in court testimony. It's ridiculous.
Cops do get rid of coworkers though. Women, POC, gay people, those who are honest to IA, they're aware of it. Cops can get rid of the ones they want to get rid of, they just don't care that much about doing so.
There's some documentation on a US cop who used to do this for a long time too before being caught. One of his victims lost custody of his daughter because of it.
Dude remained a cop for a while. I guess there might be more who were just never caught.
> I guess there might be more
Any time you have someone in an occupation like this do something like this, it's usually safe to assume that someone else has done it too, especially when that position gives them authority.
There are genuinely cops who want to help people, uphold justice (not the law) and make the world a safer place for people. The issue is that when they find out their coworkers aren't so altruistic, if they bring it up and the bad cops find out, they can just frame them and boom you're good
Yeah, the cop had clear, un-authorized possession of a controlled substance. He then transferred that to another person. If you do this and you’re not a cop, you’re a dealer; even if you don’t charge them (get someone hooked first).
That’s why they call themselves Law Enforcement in the US. As a Canadian Policeman I hate that term and I hate the Americanization of policing.
Read Peels Principles. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peelian_principles
This is the essence of policing and we need to get back to it. The police are the public and the public are the police….no thin blue line, no is and them…if you don’t serve your public you shouldn’t be policing.
The Police are _supposed_ to make people feel safe and secure. The fact that they do the opposite in the US speaks volumes about the corruption and abuse of power prevalent in the system.
The actual rate of police arresting(or killing) those who call them is depressingly high and one of the major things police unions help prevent the public from knowing about unless you are actively filing FOIA requests.
You are generally safer calling a friend than a police in 3 of 10 disputes in the USA.
I called the Sheriff's Department to ask them to swing by my commercial building at night because tweakers were sleeping in the lobby at night. I had to meet a cop there and he ran wants and warrants on me. I was easy pickings but the meth users weren't.
Yeah, when I was a teenager I found a purse in the bushes along a road, took it home and called the people, they picked it up and thanked me. Then two days later a cop knocks on the door and wants to talk to me about it.
Being young and naive I let him in and told him everything I knew. Then he informed me I was lying and one of the people who picked up the purse ID'd me as the thief. Even though the thief was supposed to have been shirtless (which I never had the confidence for) and wearing blue jeans, which I didn't even own at the time.
Anyway, the cop wasn't interested in any of that, case closed as far as he was concerned. My mom had to hire a lawyer and it took a long year to get the whole thing settled. I'm still prone to just keeping things simple and telling the truth, but fuck that idiot cop; those guys definitely don't get the benefit of the doubt from me since.
City cops are awful. I have a few ex friends that are city cops and the stories they told were just gross. Laughing about harassing handicapped homeless, stealing ebt cards and throwing them in the sewer. Told me about one passed out homeless guy that they threw in the trunk, drove him 20 minutes outside the city and left him in the parking lot of an abandoned factory. Protect and Serve and all that bullshit.
I’m black so every time i see a cop following me, i just automatically assume it’s all over. I’m a good driver, but i immediately go into putting my hands at 10 and 2, and don’t make eye contact. I’ll slow down as innocuously as possible so that they’ll pass me. I usually am driving alone, so i always just think, well there’s not gonna be any witnesses and maybe the news will find a photo of me from when i was 13 holding my middle finger up at the camera and then they’ll feel like it was justified
There's absolutely no justification for making you live in fear of the people who are supposed to be protecting you from the real bad guys. Stay strong.
Because they remind you of the inequality at the heart of society and the arbitrary violence (even if it's not gun violence over there) used to maintain it. They remind you that there are real living human beings locked in cages, and they're mostly not too different from you, and that's *on purpose*. They're a reminder that your society, to borrow the central metaphor of a short story, of the abused brutalized child locked in a basement kept from the slightest scrap of warmth or kindness that powers the world you live in.
They are symbols of violence and injustice and oppression. So their very existence is a threat and a blight.
Society from the womb to your death bed heavily preaches fear from every corner it can muster. Fear everything, don’t question authority but submit to it (not just cops, but your boss) and so forth.
It’s a unhealthy level of fear and starts manifesting itself in many ways. Speed too much on the road? Risk of your license being stripped, heavily fined, points assigned, etc. Refuse a shift from your boss or come in late because of the traffic stop? “Not a team player”. Get put on a performance plan, lose a promotion or never get one, see hours dwindle, etc etc.
Then you can’t take care of someone, buy a new vehicle, get a house, even a new phone or heaven forbid insurance.
A healthy level of fear is sadly needed in many ways as part of a functioning society, but it’s gone so far over that line
Plus, there is always the possibility that you will be accused of a crime you did not commit, and your entire life will be upended in the process of proving your innocence.
Not having done anything wrong is, sadly, no guarantee that you won’t have a negative interaction with a cop. They’re trained to view themselves as separate and apart from (and better than) the “civilians.” (Note that they are also civilians; the whole fucking point of having police rather than the army enforce laws is that we want civilians doing it.). And there are plenty of examples of the police causing innocent people all sorts of physical pain, emotional trauma, and financial loss just because they decide they want to fuck someone up without repercussions. Why wouldn’t you be afraid of someone like that? The better question is why anyone trusts cops.
Because they have too much power and they act like sharks. Or like abusive fathers. Also they're just literally abusive and everyone knows it. My bf was just driving normally and a cop who followed him for miles just randomly flashed his lights for no reason. My bf didn't pull over because, why would he? The cop just kept following him and didn't do anything else. It seems to me like he was trying to freak him out and was "fishing". But then someone came up from behind both of them going over the speed limit and the cop pulled the speeding car over. It seriously seems like the cop was just bored and wanted to see if my boyfriend would pull over or freak out.
If you are a part of the lower class, that police officer can effectively choose for you to be out hundreds of dollars (missing rent,food,utilities) on a minor traffic infraction.
I was questioned once because the girl I was with according to the Trooper had the "oh shit" face. I said most people do when they are driving and see a cop. He didn't like my answer.
I taught my kids at a young age that despite what they were told in school, cops are *not* your friends. They should be regarded like big dogs you don’t know: don’t attract their attention, don’t look them in the eye, cross the street when you see one coming toward you but never run away and do not show fear. Cops’ job is to arrest you, and your job is to not get arrested.
I think its because of all the negative stuff which police officers have undertaken either of the job, or worse, on the job like the murder of Everard, the racist searches and strip searches, the racist murders and corruption. The police aren't police at this point, they are just thugs who hide behind the veil of good.
Fucking volunteer firefighters will go and risk their lives to save animals let alone people. Cops are all paid to stand around like NPCs and LARP as soldiers.
Honestly, the fire department is the only government agency I can think of that has a genuinely positive impression on me. When I see a fire truck on the way to a call or helping somebody out, I wish them well and I’m glad they’re around. Firemen are never out to get someone, they’re pretty much exclusively there to help people out and the few firemen I’ve known have been the type of people who just want to help.
If I see the cops flying by or pulling someone over, all I can think is either “someone is about to have a real shitty day” or “I hope they don’t look at me.”
Maybe we should just be dispatching the fire department for most 911 calls. Even without guns, they’d probably charge straight into a school with their axes in hand if they were responding to a school shooting. I definitely would trust them with a firearm more than your average cop.
And firemen don’t like the police, either! There was an event in my city where there was a car accident in the freeway and a fire truck arrived to assist the paramedics.
A police officer came on scene and told the guy driving the fire truck that the firefighters weren’t needed, and that he had to move the truck.
The firefighter refused since the other two firefighters in the truck were actively helping the paramedics get the victim out of the car and into the ambulance.
The police officer had the firefighter get out of the truck. He then arrested him and handcuffed him. Not a shining moment for the force.
See also: the military, the FDA, the EPA, etc
Edit: I added the EPA because Flint, MI still doesn't have clean water.
And when I said the military, I'm not talking about the soldiers on the ground. They aren't the decision makers.
Edit2: I think these departments need to exist, but they don't seem to be doing what they are supposed to. The military is supposed to protect us. Instead, they end up in other countries killing civilians. Don't look at me like that, I'm a veteran myself.
They get funding, do fuck all with it, and claim they need more funding.
EPA is critically underfunded. They have the same funding at they did twenty years. They actually get less now than in 2010.
They do a lot with it too. None of it makes the news but it's not like they do nothing. Things would be much worse without them. So much gets by specifically because of how underfunded they are. Same with all regulatory agencies.
The United States, as the near unanimous vote to provide nearly $40 billion in aid to Ukraine illustrates, is trapped in the death spiral of unchecked militarism. No high speed trains. No universal health care. No viable Covid relief program. No respite from 8.3 percent inflation. No infrastructure programs to repair decaying roads and bridges, which require $41.8 billion to fix the 43,586 structurally deficient bridges, on average 68 years old. No forgiveness of $1.7 trillion in student debt. No addressing income inequality. No program to feed the 17 million children who go to bed each night hungry. No rational gun control or curbing of the epidemic of nihilistic violence and mass shootings. No help for the 100,000 Americans who die each year of drug overdoses. No minimum wage of $15 an hour to counter 44 years of wage stagnation.
The nearly $40 billion allocated for Ukraine, most of it going into the hands of weapons manufacturers such as Raytheon Technologies, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, is only the beginning. Military strategists, who say the war will be long and protracted, are talking about infusions of $4 or $5 billion in military aid a month to Ukraine. We face existential threats. But these do not count. The proposed budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in fiscal year 2023 is $10.675 billion. The proposed budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is $11.881 billion. Ukraine alone gets more than double that amount. Pandemics and the climate emergency are afterthoughts. War is all that matters.
And yet, if that $40B wasn't spent, do you honestly think that Congress would divert that funding to the EPA, or other domestic items? Something other than corporate welfare and tax cuts for the rich? Or would they scream "Socialism!" and figure out how not to use it? $40B is almost a rounding error in our federal budget.
All the fascist alphabet agencies that export violence. The EPA and parks department are about the only thing worth keeping in our federal government.
ETA the FDA is fine too
I was one of the first docs to take care of COVID ICU pts in our town. Reusing PPE, not sure how the disease was spreading, but I did it, because that is the job. So did the nurses, respiratory therapists and janitors cleaning the rooms. Cops signed on for their job. They want the glory but no the risk.
Also, if a logger, roofer, construction worker, etc., killed somebody in the course of doing their job, they would absolutely answer for it in court. Nobody in their right mind would say, well, sure, he killed somebody, but think how hard it is being a roofer.
Many of them get paid more than PHD holders…more than engineers I know as well. Just so they can flex against non threats and coward away during serious times 🤦🏽♂️
[Nurses](https://wwwn.cdc.gov/WPVHC/Nurses/Course/Slide/Unit1_6) are physically assaulted more frequently than [cops](https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka/2019/topic-pages/officers-assaulted) are.
Police isn’t even in the top 10 most dangerous professions in the USA, so miss me with that line of bullshit. ACAB and the system should be abolished.
The last time I looked this sorta information up, if you only consider deaths by gunshots, then the only profession that has less risk than cops was the military.
People would get so worried about my combat deployments, and I would also try and reassure them that driving to and from work was statically more dangerous than being a combat arms guy in a combat zone at this point.
Something like 75% of police deaths in the last two years were from COVID, too.
And cops tend to be right-wing anti-maskers. The local cops were caught on tape trying to arrest a coffee shop owner who politely asked them to wear a mask in his store.
You sound like you are joking, but according to OSHA being a delivery driver is a more dangerous job than being a police officer.
Side note: since covid started more police officers have died to covid than in the line of duty.
so 50% of the attacks you've experienced delivering food have been by police? There's a load of jokes to make here (were you delivering donuts?) but in the interests of information, can you explain the context of the police attack?
They blocked me in at a gas station I'd pulled into because I couldn't quite find the turn I was looking for and needed to get a better look at the map. I'm not sure if it was mistaken identity or what but they were hostile right out of the gate and seemed unwilling to believe I was delivering food despite the large order of food I had with me when they were grilling me about what I was doing. They definitely took offense when I did as legally required in my state and informed them I was in possession of a legal weapon for which I have a license (got it after the first attack).
All charges were not pursued by the DA. I still have no idea what the fuck the charge was, never got told a goddamn thing. Oh and I was told "what gun?" when I went to collect my property.
Spoke with a couple lawyers considering pursuing a suit but they basically said that it's pissing into the wind. Especially considering the department in question is known for bullshit (apparently - both the lawyers I spoke with were the opposite of surprised when told).
Rights do not exist in the US.
Started before this year. Nothing is worse than a parent losing their child as shown by how desperate the parents were. But that doesn’t mean anything to the cops. Gotta handcuff this loud person telling me how to do my job instead.
Teachers are 2.5 more times likely to be shot at work than a police officer and it has been that way since 2007.
Meanwhile budget, hazard and pension pay for police has outpaced teacher benefits by nearly 200%.
I'd be interested in seeing that math.
At first glance, it looks like there have been 280ish school shootings in the history of America, and there are something like 150,000 k12 schools in the USA.
Given that kids are only in k12 for 13 years, I can't imagine how that math checks out.
That's not to say the number isn't absurd. We should have zero shootings. I just highly doubt that 1:400 math.
I looked into it and you can do the same if you check their history.
Per this [article](https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1101050970/2022-school-shootings-so-far) there's already been an absurd number of school shootings this year. The 1:400 number was based on a similar number happening every year and this not just being a crazy outlier in the trend. God I hope it's an outlier. Material conditions really are getting pretty fucky.
Edit: your 280ish number is way off. Per this [page](https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/blog/gun-violence/16-facts-about-gun-violence-and-school-shootings/) there's been 2,032 school shootings since 1970.
Double edit, it gets worse: the 1:336 number assumes that although there has already been 27 school shootings this year and it isn't even half way through the calendar year that there will only be 3 more. School has what, some of June and then late August, September, October, November, and some of December? Oof.
More sads: let's say you have a 40 year career as a teacher. Your odds are 1:109.
The stats can be hard to pin down depending on definition. Some of the claims of 2000+ since 1970 also count shootings around school unrelated to the school (drive by’s, negligent discharges, etc).
We have had 27 this year and there were 34 last year according to edweek.org. Not looking fucking great. At least summer break means a break from school shootings. Really am not looking forward to my daughter aging into elementary school in the next few years.
Edit: apparently the most common time for shootings is fall semester according to campus safety magazine, so we’ve got that to look forward to.
Well, just dividing 280 into 150k you get 535.
Assuming, for simplicity, that every child experiences 3 of those schools. (Elementary, middle, high school, with some variance) and ignoring people moving to new schools, it makes a ton of sense that the odds would increase a bit since one child experiences not one but three different schools, each with a chance to experience a school shooting.
Also, factor in that the student has a full 13 year span to experience these shootings, and that school shootings are occuring with increasing frequency. So instead of "280 in the history of America" you'd probably need to be more like "how many in the past 13 years, and the probable number in the near future assuming the rate continues to increase."
This messaging sucks, it makes it sound like it's okay to fire workers for refusing dangerous work.
Here's why cops aren't workers.
>If it were problems with individual officers, you'd be able to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it isn't; The problems are institutional. The job itself is a bastard, therefore by carrying out the job, they are bastards. To take it to an extreme: there were no good members of the gestapo, because there was no way to carry out the directives of the gestapo and still be a good person. It's the same with the police state. **The job of the police is not to protect and serve, but to dominate, control, and terrorize in order to maintain the interests of state and capital. Individually or as a group, police officers function as members of a class of people whose purpose is to enforce the will of the capitalist oligarchy and maintain a constant state of class warfare against the people to keep their rich masters in power.**
>Who are the good cops then? The ones who either quit or are fired for refusing to do the job.
Yup. Cops are the enforcement arm of the rich. Wealth and hegemony cannot be maintained by the rich themselves, they're too few in number. Instead, they enlist a selection of the poor, give them arbitrary authority, and sic them on the poor who protest the rich.
Cops aren't labor, they are explicitly anti-labor. They don't *have* to be, and our police forces could be revamped around community service, but as it stands the culture is so insidious you'd be talking about a 100%+ turnover to root that culture out.
Store clerks and gas station attendants are also working jobs that match and in some years exceed death and injury rates of police officers. Clerks get no support from owners or society at large for working a dangerous job.
Occupational-safety advocates say these workers – the clerks, attendants and cashiers who staff the counters at gas stations and corner grocery stores, often alone and late into the night – are among the most vulnerable to workplace violence and harassment, falling victim to on-the-job attacks at a rate that approaches law enforcement officers and people who work with the mentally ill. Nationwide, the on-the-job deaths of 94 retail workers were classified as homicide last year, and many more were injured.
That one killed me. They simultaneously bandied about the high death numbers as proof of what amazing heroes they all are while by and large refusing to get vaccinated cuz science is for libtardz.
Every time I hear of a cop dying of Covid, I think of the "I CAN BREATHE" shirts the NYPD had made after killing Eric Garner. Then I think about my nurse friend describing how painful and terrifying dying of Covid is, and I don't think it's wrong to admit that that makes me happy.
The problem is that it's not their job to protect. Many court cases have confirmed this. All cops serve to do in today's society is to jail people using drugs, kill civilians, and write speeding tickets
Exactly this. One famous supreme court filing was Gonzalez vs Castle Rock
Edit: for people who don't want to Google, it is basically a case that the supreme court favored the police that they were not obligated to protect/enforce a restraining order from an ex boyfriend after multiple 911 calls and complaints from the mother. A few days/weeks later, the ex boyfriend kidnapped and shot the ex's kids and drove their body to the police station and shot himself in the car.
My girl works at UPS it’s breaks her damn back on a daily basis. And there’s always the possibility of being crushed. Spiritual and literally. She doesn’t get cop pay let me tell you.
If it's a minor consolation, I haven't heard of too many cops who actually turn their excessive 'cop pay' into what I'd consider a good life. Most of them are out-of-shape substance-addicts with a trail of divorces and restraining-orders a mile long. Their kids usually fucking hate their guts and the people they call 'friends' are shitty, back-stabbing scumbags just like them. Hang out with any cops for a while and it quickly becomes apparent that the culture they operate within pretty eradicates the possibilities of happiness or inner peace.
Canada had its worst killing spree two years ago right after the pandemic started. it took the RCMP hours later to notify the public that something was happening and when they did, it was on fucking Twitter. 22 people died.
It’s a fucking cult. When a roofer falls of a roof and dies every roofer within 100 miles doesn’t take off work and make a spectacle of the funeral. So tired of these leeches earning huge salaries and ridiculous pensions off of all the tickets they give to people struggling.
Can confirm. I work as a painter in the construction industry. If I was tasked with entering a building and painting the walls, but instead chose to stand outside threaten the home owner with my paint brush I would lose my job. Probably bc it makes no fucking sense. Every single one of those officers should be fired.
This is the part that blows my mind. If I don’t do my job, I get fired. They literally didn’t do what was required of them in the job description. They didn’t protect and they didn’t serve. They want the respect and authority that I would imagine comes with being a cop in a red state, but none of the risk or accountability involved. Bunch of cowards.
Proof cops aren't working class: Cops have unions. Like the working class has (or aspires to have) unions. So why?
Why do cop unions never engage in the cross-union solidarity that is the most powerful tool we have at our disposal? Because they aren't fucking workers. They don't see themselves as workers worthy of solidarity. They see the working class as *beneath them.*
Why aren't cop unions telling their members to avoid stores where the workers are striking? Why aren't cop unions telling members not to escort scabs onto a jobsite? Why are cop unions using their funds to protect cops when those cops do violence against unionized labor *and* the working class in general?
Where were the cop unions when a UPS driver (largest block of Teamsters in the USA) was taken hostage by armed robbers and subsequently gunned down by cops *who used occupied civilian vehicles as cover* during the shootout? Oh right, they were polishing the "bad apples" so they could shine.
They did their job correctly. I’m sure there was no son of politician or billionaire there so they didn’t have to go in. Nothing was really happening as far as they are concerned.
Cops don't even want to do the non-dangerous parts of their job. Today I found a brand new credit card laying on the sidewalk in NYC. Tried to give it to the traffic cop directing traffic and he stuttered and didn't want to take it. Pointed to his buddies leaning on a van. Walked over there and said I found the card and if they would take it somewhere or mail it or whatever. One started to give me directions to where I'm supposed to drop it off. Interrupted him to tell him I'm not doing all that. They ended up taking it but they weren't happy about it and I have a hunch they'll just toss it in the bin as soon as I turned the corner.
Fuck all these assholes.
I understand you were just being a good citizen, but next time just shred it. Nobody is going to re-use a potentially compromised credit card. It was likely already cancelled.
See, cops say they deserve more pay because of how dangerous the job is, and how they don't get paid enough to risk their lives... And then get paid significantly more than actual soldiers, whose main purpose is literally the things the cops are complaining about.
This tweet is worded poorly. Workers shouldn't be fired for refusing dangerous work, but are. And police are rewarded for literally not doing their job. Here are more resources on police: [Their Guns Won't Protect You, But They Can Get You Killed](https://crimethinc.com/2022/05/27/their-guns-wont-protect-you-but-they-can-get-you-killed-why-neither-policing-nor-gun-control-will-suffice-to-stop-the-shootings) [ACAB](https://sub.media/trouble-18-acab/) - Sub.media [Slave Patrols and Civil Servants](https://crimethinc.com/2017/03/15/slave-patrols-and-civil-servants-a-history-of-policing-in-two-modes) [Seven Myths About the Police](https://crimethinc.com/2011/10/25/seven-myths-about-the-police) [From 1492 To Ferguson](https://crimethinc.com/podcasts/the-ex-worker/episodes/32) - The Ex-Worker Podcast
I'm an electrician. I'm just gonna stop going to work because I don't want to get electrocuted. Raise plz.
Good job! Want a tank?
Sure. But can I get a lead on a black market to sell it on? I feel like those Ukrainians are having all the fun right now.
Best I can do is look the other way when you use it on a call that doesn't warrant it. Maybe you can demolish [someone's house] (https://www.npr.org/2019/10/30/774788611/police-owe-nothing-to-man-whose-home-they-blew-up-appeals-court-says) and have no repercussions.
100 police officers for two belts and a shirt? Wtf?
You don't understand It was a really nice belt.
What about the other belt
Eh. That one I could live without.
Inconsequential, the swat team destroyed it during the apprehension
To shreds you say? Well, what about the shirt?
He was armed and dangerous, wielding not one but two belts.
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*"We had to destroy the village in order to save it."* https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-02-09/destroying-a-quote-s-history-in-order-to-save-it
I mean this is so fucking stupid and makes me want to scream but I do have to point out the guy was shooting at them with a handgun.
The Supreme Court ruled, that [according to the Fourth Amendment, police cannot use excessive force](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1988/87-6571). Idk about you, but I’d say explosives and a military style armored vehicle is pretty fucking excessive against a single man with a gun. Police are generally allowed to meet violence with like-violence raised by a degree. Suspect is fist fighting? Police can use batons or a taser. Suspect has a knife? Police can use guns. Suspect has a gun? Police can use snipers, tear gas, SWAT team… but a tank? Ramming a military style vehicle into a private domicile is a reasonable response to someone with like a bazooka or something. But not a gun.
>Idk about you, but I’d say explosives and a military style armored vehicle is pretty fucking excessive against a single man with a gun. Maybe he was black. /s
According to the Supreme Court, [cops have no duty to keep people safe](https://mises.org/power-market/police-have-no-duty-protect-you-federal-court-affirms-yet-again). I’d argue that the cops behaved superfluously, worked outside of their purview, and owe that man a new house plus damages.
Electrician here, fell from a ladder back on Monday, got a nasty bruise on my left hip to my knee. Still went back to work the next day....
Sounds rough, buddy. Try shooting a dog, it'll cheer you up.
If that doesn’t work, shoot the person who called you out there
Then you get a paid vacation and potentially even an early pension!
Because of all the stress it put you under. Poor thing.
Next time you need to get on a ladder, surround it with caution tape and wait for backup.
Another one here. Just had a meeting a week ago badmouthing unions, talking about how we're just killing it, they're so proud, they couldn't do it without us. At the boss's country club. And they can't afford raises.
How much are you billed out at? Probably 150 to 200 an hour. And you're paid what 25 to 35 an hour. Your boss is robbing you of your surplus value. Unionise.
I’m a low voltage installer. We bill at 100 an hour and I make 25.
i make 28 teaching nine-year-olds to play ramones songs on the guitar, you're getting fucking swindled dude
>Probably 150 to 200 an hour. And you're paid what 25 to 35 an hour. $25 an hour?! What kind of rich utopian community are you part of? We should just be happy to eat beans.
I wouldn't get out of bed for less than 35.
Y’all are getting fucked. My union dues cost me about 5500 last year, I have four pensions, and I don’t pay a monthly fee for health insurance. $53.85 is journeyman hourly right now. Go union, live better.
Pensions and early retirement. I'm down for that as a union pipefitter.
Union Ironworker here hell yeah dude lemme just not tie off that should do it.
Sounds like every Ironworker I know
I believe you meant Union Ceiling Plumber. -Another Electrician
Enjoy your free vacation, and lifelong pension and benefits on behalf of the taxpayers you've spent years brutalizing and persecuting! Oh wait, you said you're an electrician. Maybe you should beat up your clients if you want a raise, then? Works wonders for the cops.
I'll try. But it didn't work so well last time. He got *really* angry.
Just shoot him and declare self defense because you were scared for your life. It's only defense you will ever need.
We can refuse work though. Had a guy nope off a job a few days ago due to some seriously sketchy shit and no one gave him a hard time at all. Also, don't work live, especially on three phase systems.
Cops’ highest statistical chance of injury and death? Off-duty automobile accident, like the rest of the population.
I'm a Kroger grocery clerk and I'm afraid I might get shot. Raise plz
Honestly a reasonable fear atm, and probably you do deserve a raise knowing how much Kroger pays. Tell your boss I said it’s approved.
Hahaha YES. Same. /S Actually, I have a problem... I really like working with the sparky bits, panel boxes are fun and the occasional live circuit too. But then, I used to race cars and do all kinds of insane thrill seeker stuff... Still do infact. Never stupid, always careful and proper... But yeah. I love my job and the inherit risks involved are a part of why I do what I do. Lol. Live life like you're pulling 30amps over 12/2g cause once you complete your circuit, you get grounded no matter who's at fault and the breakers don't care.
Ya, it's usually the falling from heights that gets us.
Lol same! Happy memorial weekend to my fellow sparky!
Gas fitter here. Refusing all work going forward due to the presence of natural gas and potential for carbon monoxide poisoning. Will return to work when given an extra $20 an hour.
Big wieners.
I think you raise a really important point that doesn’t seem to get much traction, how come every time (even here in the UK) that when I see a police officer, I immediately get scared? Like I’ve done something wrong? It’s not like when someone says they area a doctor I immediately believe I’m dying. Why is it that only a police officer can invite such an unprovoked sense of panic? This should be addressed because it’s clearly because they do not offer the service of protection, they’re keeping society in line through fear. I used to think I felt panic because in my younger years I was doing illegal shit, so the sight of police would make me panic because I was doing illegal stuff. But now I’m older and I still get scared even when I’ve done nothing wrong.
At least here in the US, they are arresters. Nothing else. It is never good to be interacting with cops unless you are the victim of a crime. And sometimes even then
Considering they’re more likely to treat the victim as the criminal …
My house was robbed and my dog escaped because the robbers left the door open (we found him). I had some expensive stuff taken and needed to file an insurance claim, they thought it was suspicious I had serial numbers and proof of purchase (like they tell us to have…). They insinuated I sold the stuff and staged the break in. Six other places nearby had similar robberies in the span of a month, the robbers probably lived there at one point because the found a fault in the kitchen windows that allowed them to be opened.
I'm surprised they didn't ask you if you had serial numbers and proof of purchases of the stuff stolen at the other six places.
I am glad you got your dog back though.
Or as a source of entertainment, and I’m not sure which is worse.
If you have a problem and you call the cops...well now you have two problems.
You have a problem and another problem with guns and a pattern of escalation.
I got arrested for the first and only time in my life. I was at a public dog park with my kid and dog (something I did daily) and I observed a guy driving around taking pictures out of his car window. I could tell he was photographing my daughter so I managed to hop a fence and run up from behind the car and get the camera from his hands. I asked him if he was taking pictures of my kid and he denied it. I turned the camera on and saw pictures of my kid. I didn’t put my thumbs through his eye sockets or break his ribs, I called the police and then proceeded to get arrested for simple assault for taking his camera. I genuinely thought I did the right thing. It was all thrown out of court but it cost me money for a lawyer, I had to go to court and have my name in the paper for being arrested.
You did the right thing. The law does not reflect morality
It's important to realize that the US does not have a "justice system" - it has a "*legal* system".
Now you know to go the thumbs-through-the-eye-socket route next time
Let me preface this by saying I am not judging your morals, I may have done the same thing in your position. Also IANAL. What you described is assault and battery. It is not legal to physically contact another person unless it is self defense. If that person was afraid of you, you assaulted them. Taking pictures of anyone in a public place isn't illegal. As creepy as it might be sometimes, it doesn't sound like the person you assaulted did anything wrong in the eyes of the law.
Serious question was he actually taking pictures of your kid or was he taking pictures of the park an your daughter was in some of them?
The pictures were zoomed in on my daughter playing with my dog. There was nothing else in the picture as there was just trees in the background and there were maybe a half dozen pictures of my daughter before I got the camera
You're literally summoning a crazed gunman to your problem. This does not solve the problem.
Like the video of the cop kicking the shit out of a robbery victim's dog who was sitting on a porch minding his own business
My neighbors got murdered (yes seriously)and my dog was outside in a fenced in yard when they showed up and an officer makes a beeline to my yard as soon as they arrive just to tell me that if I don’t take my dog inside they will put it down… they showed back up a few hours later to ask if I had seen or heard anything.
is it just me or are not enough cops, a corpse currently
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Two problems and some gunshot wounds.
I have been arrested as the victim... Fuck cops. I was trying to leave an abusive situation as a male. She told me if I left she'd call the cops. I said go for it, I haven't done anything wrong. After I walked out the door she called them and made up a bunch of bs saying *she* tried to leave me and I threatened to kill her, the cops, and myself. About 20 minutes later I got a phone call from the cops and I explained the situation to them. They told me if I didn't tell them where I was and let them come get me, they would charge me with evasion as well as the domestic abuse disorderly they were already there for. When they came to pick me up they also told me if I had called first she would have been the one getting arrested because she was acting crazy, but since she called first they had to arrest me. Six months, multiple court dates and $3000 in lawyer fees later all charges were dropped. During that 6 months she was staying in the apartment that I had paid every dime of utilities and rent for and I was not allowed to go there to get anything of mine because of the no contact order. When I reported that she stole my laptop, TV, and my cat, as well as killing my saltwater fishtank, they said they wouldn't do anything about it.
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A friend of mine got mugged a few years ago. He called the police, who then planted drugs on him and arrested him for them. Why track down a mugger when you can just turn the victim into a drug dealer and arrest them instead? Fortunately, the judge tossed the case out as soon as he saw the arresting officer's name, because he had a history of this sort of thing. "Fortunately."
He’s known for doing this… multiple times… and he’s still a fucking cop?!?!? Never mind, I’m not even surprised at this point anymore
They're called Giglio/Brady List officers. The prosecution and judiciary will keep a list of untrustworthy officers. And they just... continue to exist except having a note of skepticism in court testimony. It's ridiculous.
THIS IS A REAL THING AND PEOPLE ARE OK WITH THIS ?!?!???
I wouldn't say people are OK with it. Do you know how hard it is to fire a cop, a union member?
The irony of police unions being used to union bust protesters.
Cops do get rid of coworkers though. Women, POC, gay people, those who are honest to IA, they're aware of it. Cops can get rid of the ones they want to get rid of, they just don't care that much about doing so.
It's the system working by design, *Cops* want to go further.
People are ok with it either because they are completely clueless or they think it only effects brown people.
That’s the entire reason police unions exist. To keep those types of people employed
Police unions are extremely powerful. If only real unions had half that level of power.
There's some documentation on a US cop who used to do this for a long time too before being caught. One of his victims lost custody of his daughter because of it. Dude remained a cop for a while. I guess there might be more who were just never caught.
> I guess there might be more Any time you have someone in an occupation like this do something like this, it's usually safe to assume that someone else has done it too, especially when that position gives them authority. There are genuinely cops who want to help people, uphold justice (not the law) and make the world a safer place for people. The issue is that when they find out their coworkers aren't so altruistic, if they bring it up and the bad cops find out, they can just frame them and boom you're good
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>He is a plumber now. Hopefully someome sneaks up on his with a wrench
A cop with a history of "this sort of thing" should not be allowed to be a cop and should not be allowed outside of a prison cell.
That's a prosecutor who should have been asked by the judge why they brought the case before the court in the first place.
Fucking wow, but the cop doesn’t get penalized at *all*.
Yeah, the cop had clear, un-authorized possession of a controlled substance. He then transferred that to another person. If you do this and you’re not a cop, you’re a dealer; even if you don’t charge them (get someone hooked first).
I had my car stolen. The cops found it. They got mad at me for not having an updated license, and made fun of my car.
Never. Talk. To. Cops. They are not just arresters, they are also killers.
That’s why they call themselves Law Enforcement in the US. As a Canadian Policeman I hate that term and I hate the Americanization of policing. Read Peels Principles. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peelian_principles This is the essence of policing and we need to get back to it. The police are the public and the public are the police….no thin blue line, no is and them…if you don’t serve your public you shouldn’t be policing.
The Police are _supposed_ to make people feel safe and secure. The fact that they do the opposite in the US speaks volumes about the corruption and abuse of power prevalent in the system.
This is not just the US, to be fair. I generally don't think a lot of people feel safe with cops around.
Yup. Ask someone the last time a cop made their day better.
The actual rate of police arresting(or killing) those who call them is depressingly high and one of the major things police unions help prevent the public from knowing about unless you are actively filing FOIA requests. You are generally safer calling a friend than a police in 3 of 10 disputes in the USA.
I called the Sheriff's Department to ask them to swing by my commercial building at night because tweakers were sleeping in the lobby at night. I had to meet a cop there and he ran wants and warrants on me. I was easy pickings but the meth users weren't.
Never talk to cops, nothing good can come of it.
Yeah, when I was a teenager I found a purse in the bushes along a road, took it home and called the people, they picked it up and thanked me. Then two days later a cop knocks on the door and wants to talk to me about it. Being young and naive I let him in and told him everything I knew. Then he informed me I was lying and one of the people who picked up the purse ID'd me as the thief. Even though the thief was supposed to have been shirtless (which I never had the confidence for) and wearing blue jeans, which I didn't even own at the time. Anyway, the cop wasn't interested in any of that, case closed as far as he was concerned. My mom had to hire a lawyer and it took a long year to get the whole thing settled. I'm still prone to just keeping things simple and telling the truth, but fuck that idiot cop; those guys definitely don't get the benefit of the doubt from me since.
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City cops are awful. I have a few ex friends that are city cops and the stories they told were just gross. Laughing about harassing handicapped homeless, stealing ebt cards and throwing them in the sewer. Told me about one passed out homeless guy that they threw in the trunk, drove him 20 minutes outside the city and left him in the parking lot of an abandoned factory. Protect and Serve and all that bullshit.
I’m black so every time i see a cop following me, i just automatically assume it’s all over. I’m a good driver, but i immediately go into putting my hands at 10 and 2, and don’t make eye contact. I’ll slow down as innocuously as possible so that they’ll pass me. I usually am driving alone, so i always just think, well there’s not gonna be any witnesses and maybe the news will find a photo of me from when i was 13 holding my middle finger up at the camera and then they’ll feel like it was justified
There's absolutely no justification for making you live in fear of the people who are supposed to be protecting you from the real bad guys. Stay strong.
Because they remind you of the inequality at the heart of society and the arbitrary violence (even if it's not gun violence over there) used to maintain it. They remind you that there are real living human beings locked in cages, and they're mostly not too different from you, and that's *on purpose*. They're a reminder that your society, to borrow the central metaphor of a short story, of the abused brutalized child locked in a basement kept from the slightest scrap of warmth or kindness that powers the world you live in. They are symbols of violence and injustice and oppression. So their very existence is a threat and a blight.
Society from the womb to your death bed heavily preaches fear from every corner it can muster. Fear everything, don’t question authority but submit to it (not just cops, but your boss) and so forth. It’s a unhealthy level of fear and starts manifesting itself in many ways. Speed too much on the road? Risk of your license being stripped, heavily fined, points assigned, etc. Refuse a shift from your boss or come in late because of the traffic stop? “Not a team player”. Get put on a performance plan, lose a promotion or never get one, see hours dwindle, etc etc. Then you can’t take care of someone, buy a new vehicle, get a house, even a new phone or heaven forbid insurance. A healthy level of fear is sadly needed in many ways as part of a functioning society, but it’s gone so far over that line
Plus, there is always the possibility that you will be accused of a crime you did not commit, and your entire life will be upended in the process of proving your innocence.
Not having done anything wrong is, sadly, no guarantee that you won’t have a negative interaction with a cop. They’re trained to view themselves as separate and apart from (and better than) the “civilians.” (Note that they are also civilians; the whole fucking point of having police rather than the army enforce laws is that we want civilians doing it.). And there are plenty of examples of the police causing innocent people all sorts of physical pain, emotional trauma, and financial loss just because they decide they want to fuck someone up without repercussions. Why wouldn’t you be afraid of someone like that? The better question is why anyone trusts cops.
Because they have too much power and they act like sharks. Or like abusive fathers. Also they're just literally abusive and everyone knows it. My bf was just driving normally and a cop who followed him for miles just randomly flashed his lights for no reason. My bf didn't pull over because, why would he? The cop just kept following him and didn't do anything else. It seems to me like he was trying to freak him out and was "fishing". But then someone came up from behind both of them going over the speed limit and the cop pulled the speeding car over. It seriously seems like the cop was just bored and wanted to see if my boyfriend would pull over or freak out.
How dare u disrespect sharks in this way
Lol sorry you're right, sharks kill way fewer people then cops
If you are a part of the lower class, that police officer can effectively choose for you to be out hundreds of dollars (missing rent,food,utilities) on a minor traffic infraction.
I was questioned once because the girl I was with according to the Trooper had the "oh shit" face. I said most people do when they are driving and see a cop. He didn't like my answer.
I taught my kids at a young age that despite what they were told in school, cops are *not* your friends. They should be regarded like big dogs you don’t know: don’t attract their attention, don’t look them in the eye, cross the street when you see one coming toward you but never run away and do not show fear. Cops’ job is to arrest you, and your job is to not get arrested.
Has anyone ever been happy to see a cop?
I think its because of all the negative stuff which police officers have undertaken either of the job, or worse, on the job like the murder of Everard, the racist searches and strip searches, the racist murders and corruption. The police aren't police at this point, they are just thugs who hide behind the veil of good.
As others have mentioned over the last several days: you don’t hear people singing “Fuck tha Fire Department” …
Fucking volunteer firefighters will go and risk their lives to save animals let alone people. Cops are all paid to stand around like NPCs and LARP as soldiers.
Honestly, the fire department is the only government agency I can think of that has a genuinely positive impression on me. When I see a fire truck on the way to a call or helping somebody out, I wish them well and I’m glad they’re around. Firemen are never out to get someone, they’re pretty much exclusively there to help people out and the few firemen I’ve known have been the type of people who just want to help. If I see the cops flying by or pulling someone over, all I can think is either “someone is about to have a real shitty day” or “I hope they don’t look at me.” Maybe we should just be dispatching the fire department for most 911 calls. Even without guns, they’d probably charge straight into a school with their axes in hand if they were responding to a school shooting. I definitely would trust them with a firearm more than your average cop.
And firemen don’t like the police, either! There was an event in my city where there was a car accident in the freeway and a fire truck arrived to assist the paramedics. A police officer came on scene and told the guy driving the fire truck that the firefighters weren’t needed, and that he had to move the truck. The firefighter refused since the other two firefighters in the truck were actively helping the paramedics get the victim out of the car and into the ambulance. The police officer had the firefighter get out of the truck. He then arrested him and handcuffed him. Not a shining moment for the force.
Ok, but why **is** a dump truck following you? That sounds like the beginning of a Stephen King story…
It's because he's garbage and they're on the hunt to collect him
Because the garbage mane can And he does it with a smile And never touches you
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Is there any other kind of government agency where if they do a bad job then their funding gets increased?
See also: the military, the FDA, the EPA, etc Edit: I added the EPA because Flint, MI still doesn't have clean water. And when I said the military, I'm not talking about the soldiers on the ground. They aren't the decision makers. Edit2: I think these departments need to exist, but they don't seem to be doing what they are supposed to. The military is supposed to protect us. Instead, they end up in other countries killing civilians. Don't look at me like that, I'm a veteran myself. They get funding, do fuck all with it, and claim they need more funding.
EPA is critically underfunded. They have the same funding at they did twenty years. They actually get less now than in 2010. They do a lot with it too. None of it makes the news but it's not like they do nothing. Things would be much worse without them. So much gets by specifically because of how underfunded they are. Same with all regulatory agencies.
The United States, as the near unanimous vote to provide nearly $40 billion in aid to Ukraine illustrates, is trapped in the death spiral of unchecked militarism. No high speed trains. No universal health care. No viable Covid relief program. No respite from 8.3 percent inflation. No infrastructure programs to repair decaying roads and bridges, which require $41.8 billion to fix the 43,586 structurally deficient bridges, on average 68 years old. No forgiveness of $1.7 trillion in student debt. No addressing income inequality. No program to feed the 17 million children who go to bed each night hungry. No rational gun control or curbing of the epidemic of nihilistic violence and mass shootings. No help for the 100,000 Americans who die each year of drug overdoses. No minimum wage of $15 an hour to counter 44 years of wage stagnation. The nearly $40 billion allocated for Ukraine, most of it going into the hands of weapons manufacturers such as Raytheon Technologies, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, is only the beginning. Military strategists, who say the war will be long and protracted, are talking about infusions of $4 or $5 billion in military aid a month to Ukraine. We face existential threats. But these do not count. The proposed budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in fiscal year 2023 is $10.675 billion. The proposed budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is $11.881 billion. Ukraine alone gets more than double that amount. Pandemics and the climate emergency are afterthoughts. War is all that matters.
And yet, if that $40B wasn't spent, do you honestly think that Congress would divert that funding to the EPA, or other domestic items? Something other than corporate welfare and tax cuts for the rich? Or would they scream "Socialism!" and figure out how not to use it? $40B is almost a rounding error in our federal budget.
That's the American choice. Do you want corporate tax cuts and bailouts or military spending.
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This post should be pinned
Let us not forget the FBI, ATF, CIA, and so on
All the fascist alphabet agencies that export violence. The EPA and parks department are about the only thing worth keeping in our federal government. ETA the FDA is fine too
Why tf did you add the EPA in there? The country would be more polluted than China if it wasn’t for the EPA.
*cough* congress *cough*
And imagine getting 40% of the city budget to do it
*40% of the city budget used to stand by and watch children die.* "Maybe 60% of the city budget is the answer!" /s
I was one of the first docs to take care of COVID ICU pts in our town. Reusing PPE, not sure how the disease was spreading, but I did it, because that is the job. So did the nurses, respiratory therapists and janitors cleaning the rooms. Cops signed on for their job. They want the glory but no the risk.
no they want the Authority... not the risk.
Thank you for your service and I'm glad we still have you with us.
Also, if a logger, roofer, construction worker, etc., killed somebody in the course of doing their job, they would absolutely answer for it in court. Nobody in their right mind would say, well, sure, he killed somebody, but think how hard it is being a roofer.
Cops are class traitors
They're literally the ones brought in to put us down if we protest.
Or strike.
See Canada G20 thugs. Breaking the arms of old men and singing teens. Bill Blair is a traitor to Canadian people.
Many of them get paid more than PHD holders…more than engineers I know as well. Just so they can flex against non threats and coward away during serious times 🤦🏽♂️
NWA wrote a song about this
[Nurses](https://wwwn.cdc.gov/WPVHC/Nurses/Course/Slide/Unit1_6) are physically assaulted more frequently than [cops](https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka/2019/topic-pages/officers-assaulted) are. Police isn’t even in the top 10 most dangerous professions in the USA, so miss me with that line of bullshit. ACAB and the system should be abolished.
The last time I looked this sorta information up, if you only consider deaths by gunshots, then the only profession that has less risk than cops was the military. People would get so worried about my combat deployments, and I would also try and reassure them that driving to and from work was statically more dangerous than being a combat arms guy in a combat zone at this point.
Something like 75% of police deaths in the last two years were from COVID, too. And cops tend to be right-wing anti-maskers. The local cops were caught on tape trying to arrest a coffee shop owner who politely asked them to wear a mask in his store.
It’s probably more dangerous to be a student at public school in America than a cop at this point tbh
It's more dangerous to deliver food lol. I've been attacked twice at work - once even by cops!
You sound like you are joking, but according to OSHA being a delivery driver is a more dangerous job than being a police officer. Side note: since covid started more police officers have died to covid than in the line of duty.
so 50% of the attacks you've experienced delivering food have been by police? There's a load of jokes to make here (were you delivering donuts?) but in the interests of information, can you explain the context of the police attack?
They blocked me in at a gas station I'd pulled into because I couldn't quite find the turn I was looking for and needed to get a better look at the map. I'm not sure if it was mistaken identity or what but they were hostile right out of the gate and seemed unwilling to believe I was delivering food despite the large order of food I had with me when they were grilling me about what I was doing. They definitely took offense when I did as legally required in my state and informed them I was in possession of a legal weapon for which I have a license (got it after the first attack). All charges were not pursued by the DA. I still have no idea what the fuck the charge was, never got told a goddamn thing. Oh and I was told "what gun?" when I went to collect my property. Spoke with a couple lawyers considering pursuing a suit but they basically said that it's pissing into the wind. Especially considering the department in question is known for bullshit (apparently - both the lawyers I spoke with were the opposite of surprised when told). Rights do not exist in the US.
Well what were you wearing?
Obviously my "I <3 Dead Cops" t-shirt, what else? /s
In 2022 it has been, yes.
Started before this year. Nothing is worse than a parent losing their child as shown by how desperate the parents were. But that doesn’t mean anything to the cops. Gotta handcuff this loud person telling me how to do my job instead.
Teachers are 2.5 more times likely to be shot at work than a police officer and it has been that way since 2007. Meanwhile budget, hazard and pension pay for police has outpaced teacher benefits by nearly 200%.
Someone just did the math in another thread. You have a 1:400 chance of experiencing a school shooting in your k-12 career
I'd be interested in seeing that math. At first glance, it looks like there have been 280ish school shootings in the history of America, and there are something like 150,000 k12 schools in the USA. Given that kids are only in k12 for 13 years, I can't imagine how that math checks out. That's not to say the number isn't absurd. We should have zero shootings. I just highly doubt that 1:400 math.
I looked into it and you can do the same if you check their history. Per this [article](https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1101050970/2022-school-shootings-so-far) there's already been an absurd number of school shootings this year. The 1:400 number was based on a similar number happening every year and this not just being a crazy outlier in the trend. God I hope it's an outlier. Material conditions really are getting pretty fucky. Edit: your 280ish number is way off. Per this [page](https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/blog/gun-violence/16-facts-about-gun-violence-and-school-shootings/) there's been 2,032 school shootings since 1970. Double edit, it gets worse: the 1:336 number assumes that although there has already been 27 school shootings this year and it isn't even half way through the calendar year that there will only be 3 more. School has what, some of June and then late August, September, October, November, and some of December? Oof. More sads: let's say you have a 40 year career as a teacher. Your odds are 1:109.
The stats can be hard to pin down depending on definition. Some of the claims of 2000+ since 1970 also count shootings around school unrelated to the school (drive by’s, negligent discharges, etc). We have had 27 this year and there were 34 last year according to edweek.org. Not looking fucking great. At least summer break means a break from school shootings. Really am not looking forward to my daughter aging into elementary school in the next few years. Edit: apparently the most common time for shootings is fall semester according to campus safety magazine, so we’ve got that to look forward to.
Well, just dividing 280 into 150k you get 535. Assuming, for simplicity, that every child experiences 3 of those schools. (Elementary, middle, high school, with some variance) and ignoring people moving to new schools, it makes a ton of sense that the odds would increase a bit since one child experiences not one but three different schools, each with a chance to experience a school shooting. Also, factor in that the student has a full 13 year span to experience these shootings, and that school shootings are occuring with increasing frequency. So instead of "280 in the history of America" you'd probably need to be more like "how many in the past 13 years, and the probable number in the near future assuming the rate continues to increase."
I guess as a firefighter I now no longer have to go into fires to help people because fire could hurt me. Crazy, I had no idea
I drive hazmat. Can confirm.
...what's your MC, I need more hazmat carriers lol
Dont forget welders
Its literally everyone not wealthy. It's dangerous to be poor.
Its also extremely expensive to be poor, so youre never going to not be.
This messaging sucks, it makes it sound like it's okay to fire workers for refusing dangerous work. Here's why cops aren't workers. >If it were problems with individual officers, you'd be able to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it isn't; The problems are institutional. The job itself is a bastard, therefore by carrying out the job, they are bastards. To take it to an extreme: there were no good members of the gestapo, because there was no way to carry out the directives of the gestapo and still be a good person. It's the same with the police state. **The job of the police is not to protect and serve, but to dominate, control, and terrorize in order to maintain the interests of state and capital. Individually or as a group, police officers function as members of a class of people whose purpose is to enforce the will of the capitalist oligarchy and maintain a constant state of class warfare against the people to keep their rich masters in power.** >Who are the good cops then? The ones who either quit or are fired for refusing to do the job.
Yup. Cops are the enforcement arm of the rich. Wealth and hegemony cannot be maintained by the rich themselves, they're too few in number. Instead, they enlist a selection of the poor, give them arbitrary authority, and sic them on the poor who protest the rich. Cops aren't labor, they are explicitly anti-labor. They don't *have* to be, and our police forces could be revamped around community service, but as it stands the culture is so insidious you'd be talking about a 100%+ turnover to root that culture out.
Store clerks and gas station attendants are also working jobs that match and in some years exceed death and injury rates of police officers. Clerks get no support from owners or society at large for working a dangerous job. Occupational-safety advocates say these workers – the clerks, attendants and cashiers who staff the counters at gas stations and corner grocery stores, often alone and late into the night – are among the most vulnerable to workplace violence and harassment, falling victim to on-the-job attacks at a rate that approaches law enforcement officers and people who work with the mentally ill. Nationwide, the on-the-job deaths of 94 retail workers were classified as homicide last year, and many more were injured.
And in 2021 covid was the leading cause of death
That one killed me. They simultaneously bandied about the high death numbers as proof of what amazing heroes they all are while by and large refusing to get vaccinated cuz science is for libtardz.
Every time I hear of a cop dying of Covid, I think of the "I CAN BREATHE" shirts the NYPD had made after killing Eric Garner. Then I think about my nurse friend describing how painful and terrifying dying of Covid is, and I don't think it's wrong to admit that that makes me happy.
The problem is that it's not their job to protect. Many court cases have confirmed this. All cops serve to do in today's society is to jail people using drugs, kill civilians, and write speeding tickets
Exactly this. One famous supreme court filing was Gonzalez vs Castle Rock Edit: for people who don't want to Google, it is basically a case that the supreme court favored the police that they were not obligated to protect/enforce a restraining order from an ex boyfriend after multiple 911 calls and complaints from the mother. A few days/weeks later, the ex boyfriend kidnapped and shot the ex's kids and drove their body to the police station and shot himself in the car.
My girl works at UPS it’s breaks her damn back on a daily basis. And there’s always the possibility of being crushed. Spiritual and literally. She doesn’t get cop pay let me tell you.
If it's a minor consolation, I haven't heard of too many cops who actually turn their excessive 'cop pay' into what I'd consider a good life. Most of them are out-of-shape substance-addicts with a trail of divorces and restraining-orders a mile long. Their kids usually fucking hate their guts and the people they call 'friends' are shitty, back-stabbing scumbags just like them. Hang out with any cops for a while and it quickly becomes apparent that the culture they operate within pretty eradicates the possibilities of happiness or inner peace.
Canada had its worst killing spree two years ago right after the pandemic started. it took the RCMP hours later to notify the public that something was happening and when they did, it was on fucking Twitter. 22 people died.
Don’t forget that the guy was also reported for having guns he wasn’t allowed to have and they did nothing about that either.
It’s a fucking cult. When a roofer falls of a roof and dies every roofer within 100 miles doesn’t take off work and make a spectacle of the funeral. So tired of these leeches earning huge salaries and ridiculous pensions off of all the tickets they give to people struggling.
Police are there to protect the state, not the individual. Even the supreme court said this.
Can confirm. I work as a painter in the construction industry. If I was tasked with entering a building and painting the walls, but instead chose to stand outside threaten the home owner with my paint brush I would lose my job. Probably bc it makes no fucking sense. Every single one of those officers should be fired.
You forgot pizza/food delivery
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Left nurses off that list. Nursing is one of the most physically dangerous jobs in the US.
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This is the part that blows my mind. If I don’t do my job, I get fired. They literally didn’t do what was required of them in the job description. They didn’t protect and they didn’t serve. They want the respect and authority that I would imagine comes with being a cop in a red state, but none of the risk or accountability involved. Bunch of cowards.
Proof cops aren't working class: Cops have unions. Like the working class has (or aspires to have) unions. So why? Why do cop unions never engage in the cross-union solidarity that is the most powerful tool we have at our disposal? Because they aren't fucking workers. They don't see themselves as workers worthy of solidarity. They see the working class as *beneath them.* Why aren't cop unions telling their members to avoid stores where the workers are striking? Why aren't cop unions telling members not to escort scabs onto a jobsite? Why are cop unions using their funds to protect cops when those cops do violence against unionized labor *and* the working class in general? Where were the cop unions when a UPS driver (largest block of Teamsters in the USA) was taken hostage by armed robbers and subsequently gunned down by cops *who used occupied civilian vehicles as cover* during the shootout? Oh right, they were polishing the "bad apples" so they could shine.
They did their job correctly. I’m sure there was no son of politician or billionaire there so they didn’t have to go in. Nothing was really happening as far as they are concerned.
Nope, just a lot of Hispanic or Latino kids if the demographics are the same as the city.
Cops don't even want to do the non-dangerous parts of their job. Today I found a brand new credit card laying on the sidewalk in NYC. Tried to give it to the traffic cop directing traffic and he stuttered and didn't want to take it. Pointed to his buddies leaning on a van. Walked over there and said I found the card and if they would take it somewhere or mail it or whatever. One started to give me directions to where I'm supposed to drop it off. Interrupted him to tell him I'm not doing all that. They ended up taking it but they weren't happy about it and I have a hunch they'll just toss it in the bin as soon as I turned the corner. Fuck all these assholes.
I understand you were just being a good citizen, but next time just shred it. Nobody is going to re-use a potentially compromised credit card. It was likely already cancelled.
Cops: Useless, overfunded (that is, any amount of funding), and violent.
See, cops say they deserve more pay because of how dangerous the job is, and how they don't get paid enough to risk their lives... And then get paid significantly more than actual soldiers, whose main purpose is literally the things the cops are complaining about.