370
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 31 May 2026
370 points (97.9% liked)
THE POLICE PROBLEM
5098 readers
446 users here now
The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.
99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.
When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.
When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."
When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.
Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.
The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.
All this is a path to a police state.
In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.
Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.
That's the solution.
♦ ♦ ♦
Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.
♦ ♦ ♦
RULES
① Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.
② If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.
③ Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.
④ Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.
Please also abide by the instance rules.
It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.
♦ ♦ ♦
ALLIES
• r/ACAB
♦ ♦ ♦
INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
• Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• Killings by law enforcement in the United States
• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
• Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.
• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
• Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street
• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
• When the police knock on your door
♦ ♦ ♦
ORGANIZATIONS
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
If you want to know what kind of people will be in a job, on average, consider what the job incentivizes and how that might appeal to the motives of different kinds of people.
Law enforcement ostensibly promotes an image of community service and protection. So you will find people that wish to do those things seeking to become police officers.
But the reality is that police work itself, policies, and legal protections for officers is far more focused on the state sanctioned use of force, the strict adherence to laws for citizenry but far more lax enforcement on officers themselves, and the authority of command given to officers in interactions with them. So for someone who wants to posture as a tough guy, to dominate over people with legal authority, to commit acts of violence with little, if any, consequence for themselves or recourse for he victim, and to remain in good standing in much of society because of the aforementioned promoted image, it serves those desires too.
And due to the us vs them mentality, the lack of liability, and the tight community formed just within law enforcement and those who work directly with them (prosecutors/DAs, judges, mayors, etc) that do not hold each other accountable unless they do something to violate that community (like reporting abuse of authority, excessive force, gross negligence, etc. on fellow officers), then the police culture itself incentives pushing out the cops with good intentions that may stir up "trouble" in the community in favor of those who will allow or actively propagate corruption and collusion.
If a job incentivizes and/or protects aggression, violence, and pretty crime, don't be shocked when it's full of aggressive, violent, petty criminals.
"Male bullies become cops, female bullies become nurses" is something I hear often and it makes sense. Power over vulnerable people attracts these specimen. Are ALL in these professions like that? Of course not but probably a higher average than in other fields.