Avatar feed
Responses: 9
SFC Mark Merino
8
8
0
I disagree. That needs to be the Chief of Police responsibility. What works in Huntington Beach, CA probably will be a disaster in Chicago, etc. the police tactics that work for our heroes in NYC will be gestapo tactics in Carmel, CA. Let's focus on not breaking the law and obeying the lawful orders from the police.
(8)
Comment
(0)
SGT Infantryman (Airborne)
SGT (Join to see)
8 y
I agree SFC Mark Merino. But, what, and how, will it take to make that a workable solution?
(1)
Reply
(0)
SFC Mark Merino
SFC Mark Merino
8 y
5217d8d
SGT (Join to see) - this media over exaggeration is sickening. A little cold hard facts from the FBI would go a long way, but there's no money in reporting the truth apparently.
(1)
Reply
(0)
SGT Infantryman (Airborne)
SGT (Join to see)
8 y
SFC Mark Merino - That's so true the truth isn't exciting as blowing things out of proportion. Example: When I found out I was going to be in the documentary ITSOTB, I was excited about it and I called a local television station and talked to the lead newscaster about the reunion with a guy I helped save his life, I explained what the documentary was about, and asked if they would like to come out and see the reunion and put it in their news. The guy I was talking to is a Marine Vietnam veteran. He told me no, they weren't interested in stuff like that. If it was blood and guts, they liked that. Not the exact words but you get my drift.
(0)
Reply
(0)
Avatar small
LTC Owner
6
6
0
SGT (Join to see) This article opens a lot of questions in my mind.

Is this a step toward a nationalized police force?

A police officer facing a situation where his life may be threatened often has a fraction of a second to make a decision that may take a life or cost the police officer their life. One's actions with the police have a lot to do with the outcome.
(6)
Comment
(0)
SGT Infantryman (Airborne)
SGT (Join to see)
8 y
LTC (Join to see), It sounds that way to me, but after reading it again, this is one person's idea. His idea of all police forces operating under a form of UCMJ, won't work. IMHO.
He paints a rosy picture at the end of his article, writing, if the police forces were under the same standards of the military there would be less problems and more trust with the police.
The reason I believe this is what he's trying to say is from this, he wrote.
"The need for this new “National Law Enforcement Code of Conduct” is clear. Congress should establish a national standard overseeing the conduct of all law enforcement personnel through nonbinding guidelines. Similar to the advisory but integral role of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, this code of conduct would provide definitions of terms such as “excessive force” to clarify the constitutional boundaries of police conduct."

Is he including the FBI, ATF, Game Wardens, and Border Patrol, or is he mainly writing about city cops? He wrote "overseeing the conduct of all law enforcement ", so I don't know which group of policing he's writing about.
(1)
Reply
(0)
SGT Infantryman (Airborne)
SGT (Join to see)
8 y
SFC Mark Merino - It reads like that is his suggestions.
(0)
Reply
(0)
LTC Owner
LTC (Join to see)
8 y
SGT (Join to see) - I would be willing to wager that all police agencies in the US have a code of conduct and they are probably quite similar. The question comes back to who is going to enforce this new set of rules? If the locals cannot do it, then it will need a police tsar at the federal level to oversee it.
(0)
Reply
(0)
SGT Infantryman (Airborne)
SGT (Join to see)
8 y
LTC (Join to see) - I'm sure they do. I know they have general orders, they have to follow. I wouldn't want it for the very reason you stated. It might start out as a good thing, but it gives the government a way to get involved and I don't want that. You're correct, it would be like a tyrannical government
(0)
Reply
(0)
Avatar small
COL Jean (John) F. B.
3
3
0
Edited 8 y ago
SGT (Join to see) I believe that all police departments have such standards already in place. The issue is not the standard but that of a small number of officers not following them, which is not a different problem than any other profession.

The article has a definite liberal bias, stating that "police brutality against minorities, especially black men, is seemingly woven into the fabric of our national history..." and, therefore, loses its credibility with me. The actual number of brutality cases (against all races) is minuscule, compared to the number of police/public interactions. The whole issue is just overblown BS with a racist/liberal agenda.

While there have certainly been situations where the police have committed brutality against minorities, there have been a great many more that have been committed against whites. Each case of police brutality/excessive use of force is wrong and, in my opinion, race has little to do with with (or, at least, not to the extent propagated on the public by the liberal media, groups like Black Lives Matter, and even the President and his racist minions). In my experience, it has more to do with the actions of the subject. A person who fails to obey the lawful orders of the police, assaults the police or brandishes a knife or gun towards a police officer is not a victim of anything, except his own stupidity.

No, there is no need for yet another superfluous standard... Police departments need to continue to enforce the standards they already have and the news media and race-baiters need to focus on the real problem -- black-on-black crime, the deterioration of the black family, 70% out-of-wedlock/absentee fathers rate for blacks, and the out of control abortion rate of blacks in this country. All the other stuff is just diversion from the real problem
(3)
Comment
(0)
COL Jean (John) F. B.
COL Jean (John) F. B.
6 y
SFC Marcus Belt - It may be "overly simplistic", as you state, but it is, nonetheless, a fact. Despite what race-baiters so wouid have you believe, there is no war on blacks (or other minorities) by the police. While minorities are arrested and involved in violent confrontations with police at a higher percentage than whites, the fact is that minorities commit a much higher percentage of the crime than whites, especially violent crimes.
I am fully aware of the history of our country, as well as several others. What happened in the past has little to do with the current situation faced by the police, especially in urban areas.
(0)
Reply
(0)
SFC Marcus Belt
SFC Marcus Belt
6 y
COL Jean (John) F. B. - Which means that our present conditions are completely detached from the events that led to them? I'm not sure that's possible. It would require that previous police issues, which aren't even that far in the past that denied minorities access to equal education, employment, health care, voter access...none of that has any bearing on the current situation, or perhaps more importantly, the perceptions of the police in urban areas?

I grew up in public housing, and I am not, nor have I ever been a criminal, but I was certainly criminalized by the plainclothes officer who'd stop and frisk me daily as I got off the school bus. But the majority of white people have never experienced these types of things, and refuse to accept that African Americans have and continue to deal with these types of things.

And then you use the term "race-baiting": because why? A person who's been harassed but the police and tells you they've been harassed is race-baiting? Okay.

But nothing will ever get any better because unlike the Civil Rights Movement, there are no significant numbers of white people who are even willing to accept that there's a problem.
(0)
Reply
(0)
COL Jean (John) F. B.
COL Jean (John) F. B.
6 y
SFC Marcus Belt - I am fully aware of the racial injustices of the past, however, I disagree it was "police issues" that "denied minorities access to equal education, employment, health care, voter access".

America has come a long way, but still has a long way to go in race relations. Having said that, we have come full circle where, now, in many (most?) respects, minorities are not discriminated against, they are given preferential treatment in almost every area. Whether it be preferential college admission, scholarships, hiring, promotion, or just about any other area, minorities are oven an advantage over whites. While that may have been necessary in the past, it no longer I and needs to stop. In reality, many minority people who demand "equality" don't really want equality... They want preferential treatment. Equality is not good enough. They want an advantage over non-minorities. They want racial quotas in college admissions, scholarships, hiring, and promotions. They don't want to compete on a level playing field.

I admit that I never experienced the type of "harassment" you describe. However, I also assume the police "profiling" was caused more by crime statistics than by strictly targeting due to discrimination. While some may disagree, profiling is an effective crime prevention tool.

My comment about "race-baiting" concerns the incessant claims of victimization from certain segments of society and using everything as "proof", even when race really had little, if anything, to do with the situation. Other factors generally outweigh race, but the perennial "victims" are quick to claim it was racial. Just because a white cop and a black subject are involved, it does not automatically make it a racial issue.

You and I obviously see this very differently, and that's OK. Neither of us will change the other's opinion. I respect your opinion and your right to express it, even if I think it is off-base. Thanks for the cordial discussion...
(0)
Reply
(0)
SFC Marcus Belt
SFC Marcus Belt
6 y
COL Jean (John) F. B. - Fair enough: but COINTELPRO was a Federal Law Enforcement program, just as one example. Unjust policies were sometimes gleefully-enforced by police forces. It wasn't politicians and policy makers who siccced the dogs on voters, used the firehoses on students and beat protesters. Nope. Police officers did those things.

And as to my personal experiences: once or twice or perhaps three times could be explained as a data-driven action based on my demographics and location. Still unconstitutional though. Every day is inexcusable, and that one cop has colored my experiences with law enforcement to this day.

And if you ask ten of your African American friends, assuming all of them didn't grow up in the top 1% of all earners, at least 3 will have been subjected to race-based police harassment.

But we don't have a problem? Or rather, the problem is with the black people who are being harassed, injured or killed?
(0)
Reply
(0)
Avatar small

Join nearly 2 million former and current members of the US military, just like you.

close