Police Reform Passed in Washington State

 

The last legislative session in Olympia passed a package of “police reform” measures, supposedly designed to “undo racial inequity” in policing in the state. The effects of this reform package can be easily predicted. The article at KOMO today lists some of the changes to law enforcement in the State of Washington.

The laws constitute what is likely the nation’s most ambitious police reform legislation. Supporters said they would help undo racial inequity in the justice system — “a mandate from the people to stop cops from violating our rights and killing people,” said Sakara Remmu, of the Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance.

Below, I have listed the changes, and some possible effects of those changes.

  • Banned chokeholds…one less way for a policeman to subdue a violent suspect, possibly putting the officer’s life in danger
  • Banned neck restraints…same as above
  • Banned no-knock warrants…giving criminals time to destroy evidence or escape out the back door
  • Requires officers to intervene when they see a fellow officer using excessive force…making officers rat each other out, since “excessive force” is subjective
  • Required officers to report misconduct by other officers…who will now be looking over their shoulder to see who is watching them at all times.  This destroys camaraderie among officers.
  • Made it easier to decertify officers…destructive of police morale
  • Creates a new state agency to investigate police use of excessive force…more government spending, again “excessive force” is subjective and can change with the circumstances.
  • Restrict when officers can engage in car chases…allowing criminals to escape
  • Make it easier to sue individual officers…destructive of police morale, making them doubt themselves and fail to respond to emergent situations for fear of being sued.
  • Require police officers to exhaust “de-escalation” measures…which are NOT defined, change with circumstances, and cause police officers to hesitate before responding to emerging violent situations.

If you were a law enforcement officer, would you wish to work under these onerous restrictions?  This so-called police reform makes it extremely difficult for any law-enforcement officer to do his or her daily job.  It puts the onus on police to defend their actions, and essentially puts the criminals in charge.  Anyone wishing to break the law will know that from here on, the police are hobbled by their SJW overseers, and the criminals will be able to do what they wish with impunity.  All a criminal will need to do is yell “excessive force!”, and they know that the officer will back off and let them get away, since the criminal knows that the officer is not permitted to give chase.

It is an objective fact that more black people than white people commit crimes.  More murders are committed by blacks than whites.  More gangs and drug dealers are black than white, and none of these facts has been taken into account in these “police reform” policies.  We are all aware that Black Lives Matter and other organizations like them assume that all disparities in criminal justice are the result of “discrimination” by whites against blacks, and that society is “systemically racist”.  We all know that those views are wrong.  Dead wrong.

The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town.  Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods.  Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

And the “legislators” in Olympia will go on blithely believing that their actions are improving the situation in cities.  Well, they might just get an unpleasant surprise, as police officers resign in droves, like they are already doing in many places in Washington, especially cities like Seattle which have reduced police budgets.  Lack of law-enforcement resources, and fearful officers, cannot adequately protect the public from the ravages of violent crime.  And those legislators might just find their own ritzy neighborhoods are less safe from those criminals.

No Law Enforcement Leads to No Law.

[originally posted at RushBabe49.com]

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  1. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Is a three battery flashlight upside the head still allowed?

    If I were in need of being calmed down, I think I’d prefer the chokehold. 

    • #1
  2. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Why don’t they just remove the laws that police have to enforce?  Maybe say that they do not apply to POCs since they can not follow them or laws are racist or some such language?

    • #2
  3. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    Making matters hereabouts worse is the fact that once the current King County Sheriff’s term is up, her successor will not be elected, but will be nominated and appointed by our left-dominated county council. Of 39 counties in the state, only one — King County — has decided via voter-approved amendment to the county charter not to allow the people of the county to vote on their sheriff.

    Just as a taste of what that may mean, recall that in 2018 Seattle did a nation-wide search for a new police chief. The city council found itself facing backlash from the “community” because SPD’s black female assistant chief, who had been with the department for decades, had applied for the top job but was not one of the three finalists. So the mayor caved, announcing that asst. chief Best would in fact be a finalist. Then one of the others took another job, and IIRC the others withdrew their names. And Best got the gig.

    Only to retire in 2020, shortly after the city council not only cut the SPD budget a few months after the riots and CHOP/CHAZ,  but also specifically slashed the salaries of a specific dozen non-union officers in her command staff. That’s the kind of support the sheriff can expect from those elected to the council.

     

    • #3
  4. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Ah, hell, just go ahead and hire social workers and be done with it. 

    • #4
  5. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    I think there should be a Freedom From Police Violence Day—a simultaneous day off for all cops in the state.  There might well be a big cognitive shift among the survivors.

    • #5
  6. Retail Lawyer Member
    Retail Lawyer
    @RetailLawyer

    So its going to get worse before it (hopefully) gets better.

    • #6
  7. David Foster Member
    David Foster
    @DavidFoster

    Hedgehogs, Ideologues, and the ‘Woke’

    https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/66386.html

     

     

     

    • #7
  8. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    RushBabe49: Banned no-knock warrants…giving criminals time to destroy evidence or escape out the back door

    I think this should be universal.  Kudos to Washington for making it the law.  More than one person is dead or in jail because the police broke down the wrong door with a no-knock warrant.

    • #8
  9. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Percival (View Comment):

    Is a three battery flashlight upside the head still allowed?

    If I were in need of being calmed down, I think I’d prefer the chokehold.

    So would almost any martial artist ever. But what do they know that our thought leaders don’t? 

    • #9
  10. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    RushBabe49: The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town.  Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods.  Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

    Law and Order conservatives got to make a pitch to these people. They haven’t needed to care about crime since the 1990s but now they might rethink their votes.

    • #10
  11. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town. Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods. Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

    Law and Order conservatives got to make a pitch to these people. They haven’t needed to care about crime since the 1990s but now they might rethink their votes.

    It’s nice to have hope, but too many people seem to be like a lot of my neighbors from when I lived in Phoenix:  “Wow, the Democrats have really made a mess!  We have to elect more Democrats to fix it!”

    • #11
  12. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town. Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods. Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

    Law and Order conservatives got to make a pitch to these people. They haven’t needed to care about crime since the 1990s but now they might rethink their votes.

    It’s nice to have hope, but too many people seem to be like a lot of my neighbors from when I lived in Phoenix: “Wow, the Democrats have really made a mess! We have to elect more Democrats to fix it!”

    I really hope more Democrats say. “I really hate doing this but I have to vote for a Republican.” A Giuliani type guy. Loves homosexual rights and won’t touch abortion but will, you know, fulfill the most basic roll of government and protect people.

    Kedavis, you make a very good points that Dave Rubin talks alot about. California is becoming an empty space in the ground filled with homeless fecal matter and yet California won’t stop voting for the people that tarred the Golden State.

    • #12
  13. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town. Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods. Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

    Law and Order conservatives got to make a pitch to these people. They haven’t needed to care about crime since the 1990s but now they might rethink their votes.

    It’s nice to have hope, but too many people seem to be like a lot of my neighbors from when I lived in Phoenix: “Wow, the Democrats have really made a mess! We have to elect more Democrats to fix it!”

    I really hope more Democrats say. “I really hate doing this but I have to vote for a Republican.” A Giuliani type guy. Loves homosexual rights and won’t touch abortion but will, you know, fulfill the most basic roll of government and protect people.

    Kedavis, you make a very good points that Dave Rubin talks alot about. California is becoming an empty space in the ground filled with homeless fecal matter and yet California won’t stop voting for the people that tarred the Golden State.

    Well, we know that the dead vote for Democrats, and I would expect that even if People’s Republic of California emptied out completely there would still be landslide election victories for Democrats.

    • #13
  14. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town. Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods. Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

    Law and Order conservatives got to make a pitch to these people. They haven’t needed to care about crime since the 1990s but now they might rethink their votes.

    It’s nice to have hope, but too many people seem to be like a lot of my neighbors from when I lived in Phoenix: “Wow, the Democrats have really made a mess! We have to elect more Democrats to fix it!”

    I really hope more Democrats say. “I really hate doing this but I have to vote for a Republican.” A Giuliani type guy. Loves homosexual rights and won’t touch abortion but will, you know, fulfill the most basic roll of government and protect people.

    Kedavis, you make a very good points that Dave Rubin talks alot about. California is becoming an empty space in the ground filled with homeless fecal matter and yet California won’t stop voting for the people that tarred the Golden State.

    Well, we know that the dead vote for Democrats, and I would expect that even if People’s Republic of California emptied out completely there would still be landslide election victories for Democrats.

    There is something appropriate about an ideology that enervates societies having dead people vote for it.

    • #14
  15. Gazpacho Grande' Coolidge
    Gazpacho Grande'
    @ChrisCampion

    David Foster (View Comment):

    Hedgehogs, Ideologues, and the ‘Woke’

    https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/66386.html

     

     

     

    Never go full hedgehog.

    • #15
  16. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    I don’t think all of those reforms are bad ideas.  Cops are human beings.  They are not angels.  Any large city is going to have a police department large enough for at least a few bad apples.  Is it really a bad thing if a cop who likes beating people up gets reported by a fellow officer? 

    I am sure good officers are demoralized when the public judges the whole police force by the actions of the worst of them.  But are good officers really demoralized when they see a cop who is a jerk and a bully brought to heel?

    • #16
  17. KevinKrisher Inactive
    KevinKrisher
    @KevinKrisher

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    I am sure good officers are demoralized when the public judges the whole police force by the actions of the worst of them. But are good officers really demoralized when they see a cop who is a jerk and a bully brought to heel?

    The reform that would probably make the most difference is to stop contracting with the police union. It would also be a good precedent for dealing with all public sector unions, especially teachers.

    • #17
  18. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    The Soviet Socialist Republic of Washington has too long been ruled by morons with D’s behind their names. When the state legislature passes laws based on the alleged behavior of cops in Seattle and Tacoma which affect the rest of the state it goes beyond absurd. This is especially true as most Seattle/Tacoma cops are damned fine people who do a very difficult job under mayors who are little better than the people police are paid to arrest.

    I am not sure when the reset will occur and organizations like BLM will be forced to crawl back under the flat rocks they came out from, but it cannot be too soon for me. I will never understand the people who voted into office the ridiculous buffoons currently running Washington’s two largest cities and the governorship. I do suspect that most of them are transplants from California who came up here and destroyed paradise back in the 1980s. Surely, the disgusting messes that cover Seattle streets cannot be ignored, the beggars in Pioneer Square, the tent encampments, the incredible deterioration of a once beautiful and clean city should disgust anyone. That is not to mention the increasing burglaries and assaults, or the drive-by shootings in the city’s south and southwest ends. And, of course, the total destruction of what was, at one time, one of the best school systems in the country.

    The left in Seattle has turned the city into a petrie dish. Anyone who has ever started a bacterial colony in such a device knows what happens. The bacteria and fungi grow and grow until they reach the edges of the dish, then they excrete waste that, ultimately, destroys all life within. Seattle is beginning to look like an advanced bacterial colony in such a device.

    • #18
  19. Britanicus Member
    Britanicus
    @Britanicus

    I think I would support a ban on “no-knock warrants”, but I’m open to a debate on the subject. Especially since I don’t know all that much about the specifics. All I know is, that as a gun owner in a very blue state, I’d prefer that the ATF doesn’t kick down my door and shoot my dog (or my family). 

    • #19
  20. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    Britanicus (View Comment):

    I think I would support a ban on “no-knock warrants”, but I’m open to a debate on the subject. Especially since I don’t know all that much about the specifics. All I know is, that as a gun owner in a very blue state, I’d prefer that the ATF doesn’t kick down my door and shoot my dog (or my family).

    I wouldn’t necessarily endorse a blanket ban on them.  Police carry guns for a reason.  Sometimes (very rarely, really) they have to deal with extremely dangerous people.  That doesn’t mean it’s kosher for a cop to pull his gun every time he is going to cite someone for speeding or littering.  If the police are there to arrest El Chapo, a no-knock warrant may be there only hope of catching him.  The problem is when the SWAT team is called in to arrest someone for credit card fraud who has never been accused of a violent crime.

    • #20
  21. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    Urban areas like Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, WA to include the counties that are included in those areas will see an end to proactive policing. Portland is already experiencing the beginning of the end of proactive policing. The Gun Violence Reduction Team of the Portland Police Bureau has already been disbanded. The GVRT targeted known felons, to include gang members that possessed firearms. Portland is trying to bring back the team but they cannot find officers that are willing to volunteer for the team. Portland also lost the Rapid Response Team. The RRT specialized in crowd control. Once again officers were volunteers and did not receive extra pay for that duty. RRT members resigned as a unit after a little over 150 nights of rioting in Portland.

    Did this make Portland any safer? The answer is no. Portland is losing officers, and calls for service are delayed. Investigations have been hampered by the loss of experienced officers. It’s not going to get any better. It does not help that Multnomah County has a Soros District Attorney, and a State Attorney General that is more interested in prosecuting police officers, and deputies, rather than criminals.

    Here is a link to shooting statistics from the PPB.

    • #21
  22. Victor Tango Kilo Member
    Victor Tango Kilo
    @VtheK

    This demonstrates exactly the argument I have been making that puts me at odds with literally everyone on this issue. 

    1. Yes, police operations have gotten too militarized, too un-accountable, and this has led to serious abuses that cry out for thoughtful, intelligent reform measures.  (The pro-cops side hates me for this.) 
    2. Politicians are incapable of approaching police reform with thoughtfulness and intelligence, so the result of their reform efforts will be to make things worse.  (The anti-cop side hates me for this.) 

     

    • #22
  23. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: Banned no-knock warrants…giving criminals time to destroy evidence or escape out the back door

    I think this should be universal. Kudos to Washington for making it the law. More than one person is dead or in jail because the police broke down the wrong door with a no-knock warrant.

    Yes and no,  I have talked to a few cops and believe there is a point to them.  I also believe like many things there usage has been expanded to almost all situation instead of the more narrow reading where they may make sense.  

    • #23
  24. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town. Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods. Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

    Law and Order conservatives got to make a pitch to these people. They haven’t needed to care about crime since the 1990s but now they might rethink their votes.

    It’s nice to have hope, but too many people seem to be like a lot of my neighbors from when I lived in Phoenix: “Wow, the Democrats have really made a mess! We have to elect more Democrats to fix it!”

    I really hope more Democrats say. “I really hate doing this but I have to vote for a Republican.” A Giuliani type guy. Loves homosexual rights and won’t touch abortion but will, you know, fulfill the most basic roll of government and protect people.

    Kedavis, you make a very good points that Dave Rubin talks alot about. California is becoming an empty space in the ground filled with homeless fecal matter and yet California won’t stop voting for the people that tarred the Golden State.

    The thing I can’t understand is how these places vote for Democrats for years and years so that no GOP has been any positions of power in like forever but all still believe all the bad in the universe is caused by the GOP.

    • #24
  25. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    • Yes, police operations have gotten too militarized, too un-accountable, and this has led to serious abuses that cry out for thoughtful, intelligent reform measures.  (The pro-cops side hates me for this.) 
    •  

    I have read a lot on this idea. It does seem to make sense until you look at what weaponry the criminals are carrying. When I was growing up the big things that youth gangs had were knives and zip guns. A zip gun, for those who don’t know, was a contraption made from rubber bands and a car antenna which could be used to shoot a single .22 caliber cartridge.  When I work in the juvenile detention facility in Seattle the majority of the kids I worked with had at least one gun charge on their record. Those weren’t zip guns. They were caught with anything from a small caliber revolver to a Desert Eagle chambered in .44 or .50 caliber, and a lot in-between. 

    I still feel a touch uncomfortable seeing a cop armed with an AR-15 on the street, but I also know that that cop’s life might depend not only on having that gun, but also being well trained in using it. I am a lot more concerned about the lives of our police officers than I am about those of criminals on the streets who they are hunting. Cops militarized their armaments in response to criminals, not the other way around. There was a classic situation which began this process. If I remember correctly, it was in Dade County Florida when FBI agents confronted a couple of armed criminals who had high powered, semi automatic rifles, Ruger Mini 14’s.  At that time FBI agents carried only handguns, and they were seriously outgunned. That was 1986. Two FBI agents were killed along with the two perpetrators, and there were a number of woundings.

    I have a number of friends who are police officers. They are all very well trained. We frequently shoot together in a local range. The fact is that most politicians don’t know squat about guns or ammunition which is why hollow point bullets are banned in New York and New Jersey. I definitely wouldn’t want those politicians making decisions about what cops should be allowed to carry and use in the performance of their duty. 

     

    • #25
  26. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    • Yes, police operations have gotten too militarized, too un-accountable, and this has led to serious abuses that cry out for thoughtful, intelligent reform measures. (The pro-cops side hates me for this.)
    •  

    I have read a lot on this idea. It does seem to make sense until you look at what weaponry the criminals are carrying. When I was growing up the big things that youth gangs had were knives and zip guns. A zip gun, for those who don’t know, was a contraption made from rubber bands and a car antenna which could be used to shoot a single .22 caliber cartridge. When I work in the juvenile detention facility in Seattle the majority of the kids I worked with had at least one gun charge on their record. Those weren’t zip guns. They were caught with anything from a small caliber revolver to a Desert Eagle chambered in .44 or .50 caliber, and a lot in-between.

    I still feel a touch uncomfortable seeing a cop armed with an AR-15 on the street, but I also know that that cop’s life might depend not only on having that gun, but also being well trained in using it. I am a lot more concerned about the lives of our police officers than I am about those of criminals on the streets who they are hunting. Cops militarized their armaments in response to criminals, not the other way around. There was a classic situation which began this process. If I remember correctly, it was in Dade County Florida when FBI agents confronted a couple of armed criminals who had high powered, semi automatic rifles, Ruger Mini 14’s. At that time FBI agents carried only handguns, and they were seriously outgunned. That was 1986. Two FBI agents were killed along with the two perpetrators, and there were a number of woundings.

    I have a number of friends who are police officers. They are all very well trained. We frequently shoot together in a local range. The fact is that most politicians don’t know squat about guns or ammunition which is why hollow point bullets are banned in New York and New Jersey. I definitely wouldn’t want those politicians making decisions about what cops should be allowed to carry and use in the performance of their duty.

    If the mind is right, the weapon doesn’t matter. 

    • #26
  27. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    Rodin (View Comment):

    If the mind is right, the weapon doesn’t matter. 

    You obviously never brought a knife to a gun fight!

    🙄

    • #27
  28. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    RushBabe49: The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town. Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods. Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

    Law and Order conservatives got to make a pitch to these people. They haven’t needed to care about crime since the 1990s but now they might rethink their votes.

    It’s nice to have hope, but too many people seem to be like a lot of my neighbors from when I lived in Phoenix: “Wow, the Democrats have really made a mess! We have to elect more Democrats to fix it!”

    I really hope more Democrats say. “I really hate doing this but I have to vote for a Republican.” A Giuliani type guy. Loves homosexual rights and won’t touch abortion but will, you know, fulfill the most basic roll of government and protect people.

    Kedavis, you make a very good points that Dave Rubin talks alot about. California is becoming an empty space in the ground filled with homeless fecal matter and yet California won’t stop voting for the people that tarred the Golden State.

    The thing I can’t understand is how these places vote for Democrats for years and years so that no GOP has been any positions of power in like forever but all still believe all the bad in the universe is caused by the GOP.

    Many people, such as my benighted mother, just aren’t very smart.

    • #28
  29. Victor Tango Kilo Member
    Victor Tango Kilo
    @VtheK

    Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    • Yes, police operations have gotten too militarized, too un-accountable, and this has led to serious abuses that cry out for thoughtful, intelligent reform measures. (The pro-cops side hates me for this.)

    I have read a lot on this idea. It does seem to make sense until you look at what weaponry the criminals are carrying.

    I don’t think every podunk police department in America needs a SWAT Team and an armored personnel carrier. If your toolbox is full of hammers, a lot of your problems are going to start to look like nails.  On an annual basis, how many situations are there anywhere outside major Democrat-run cities that really call for SWAT Teams? And so these guys end up using their special weapons and tactics to serve arrest warrants. 

    You know who also has but doesn’t need SWAT Teams — civilian Federal agencies like the FDA, the Department of Education, the National Weather Service,  and … I am not making this up…  the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

    • #29
  30. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):

    Victor Tango Kilo (View Comment):

    • Yes, police operations have gotten too militarized, too un-accountable, and this has led to serious abuses that cry out for thoughtful, intelligent reform measures. (The pro-cops side hates me for this.)

    I have read a lot on this idea. It does seem to make sense until you look at what weaponry the criminals are carrying.

    I don’t think every podunk police department in America needs a SWAT Team and an armored personnel carrier. If your toolbox is full of hammers, a lot of your problems are going to start to look like nails. On an annual basis, how many situations are there anywhere outside major Democrat-run cities that really call for SWAT Teams? And so these guys end up using their special weapons and tactics to serve arrest warrants.

    You know who also has but doesn’t need SWAT Teams — civilian Federal agencies like the FDA, the Department of Education, the National Weather Service, and … I am not making this up… the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

    I do agree with you about the arming of a lot of agencies which are not actual law enforcement. That is an absurdity. I don’t see the drive to do police reform having any effect on those. I am sure that there are a lot of small communities that don’t seem to need SWAT teams or assault vehicles that have been given to them under the Obama administration. The problem is determining where to draw the lines. I live in an area that was rural when I moved out here and now is looking more and more suburban.  Originally we had a department of four cops who patrolled a very large area. When an occasional problem developed they teamed with adjoining communities to deal with it. As we become more and more populated the need for more advanced law enforcement develops. Of course, part of the problem is that with the influx we have gone from red to purple to probably blue. We have meth labs and a fair number of “homeless” living in forested areas and committing crimes. Not SWAT eligible problems yet, but developing.

    I do get concerned about “SWATting”. Teams of heavily armed police and no knock warrants. Those definitely need some form of legislative oversight and reform. Unfortunately, a lot of criminal activity, like drug processing, takes place in rural areas like mine. A few Don Knotts type officers aren’t going to be able to handle the more sophisticated criminals those sites contain. We are definitely living in “interesting times.”

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