43....

Fair enough.  I honestly forgot that was this thread.  I usually ignore most of what that user says because of the way she says things. 

That said, I can't think of anyone else discounting her fear in this thread.  And if there are, they are far and few between.  A majority are validating her fears but trying to get her to acknowledge or understand the other side of that coin.

Because it’s absolutely insane to compare apples and oranges.

A person of color cannot change their skin color. A cop can take off the uniform.  PERIOD

A cop may “always” be on duty but without a uniform...and gun...nobody knows they are a cop. That cannot be said for a person of color.

If a person cannot acknowledge that then my original statement stands.

ETA: The OPs fears about her husband’s safety are valid. It’s just her statements I referenced above are absurd. Apples ands oranges.

Also, NO PLACE in the post I Originally quoted did the OP mention her fear for her husband.

My dh drives straight to work and straight home. He does not stop at a store or get gas because he wears his uniform to and from work. I used to think it was odd, but over the years I’m glad he is careful. 

We also have several layers of home security. I thought that was odd at first too, but I’ve come to appreciate it. 

I did ask him why he carries his gun on him when he is out of uniform. He said it’s because the inmates do recognize them when they are out. 

Those precautions are because he is in LE, not because he’s Latino. He was never like that when he was in the military.

Couple of points.

Half of the people on this board don’t put paragraph breaks when they post something.  So instead of calling out just one person for not including paragraph breaks lets make it a general announcement. 



*****To anyone who posts, especially long posts, can you please please remember paragraph breaks.  It will make it soooo much easier for us to read what you are trying to tell us.  Thank you.*****



Almost 50 years ago there was a case involving an old woman in my neck of the woods.  The woman was cooking dinner and started acting strangely so the family became concerned and called the police.  An officer showed up and shot and killed her.  The reason, the old woman was Asian and was holding a vegetable peeler.  This guy believed because she was Asian she must know some martial arts and could harm him with her vegetable peeler.  

In 2017 the Tubbs Wildfire took out several neighborhoods in northern Santa Rosa.  The fire moved so fast that the only notice many of the residents received were police officers and sheriff deputies knocking on their doors telling them to get out.  A couple thousand homes burned in these neighborhoods so there were more then a few doors these guys had to knock on and they saved a lot of lives that night.

To me this represents the best and the worse of what the police do.  Like everything in life, nothing is perfect.  The goal with all police is to acknowledge the good that they do fix the worse that they do.

What do I think need to be done?

1.  When a person decides to work in law enforcement they get an expertise most of us will never have.  The officers need to maintain and expand this expertise.  That is done through training.  When the officers hit the streets they should be well trained.  And that training should continue through their entire career.

2.  Do I think it’s a good idea to defund please police departments?  No because by doing so it’s going to put more of the public at risk and it’s not going to bring about the changes that need to be made.

3.  There is a reason police are included under the term of “first responders “ and that is because in many cases they are first to arrive on a scene.  And the reason is because they are out and about as opposed to sitting around throwing spitballs into wastebaskets.  

Many feel that the police shouldn’t respond to calls involving mental health or drug related episodes.  That the ones who should respond to these calls mental illness or drug counselors.  It certainly would have helped the old lady above.  But in some cases a quick response is needed.  So unless those counselors are going to drive around waiting to be called wouldn’t it make more sense to provide enough training so that these first responders could stabilize the situation until the experts can get there?   Instead of nothing being done until they can arrive?

4.  The fact is not everyone is cut out to be police officers for various reasons.  More care should be given to those that are hired.

5.  The biggest change has to come from the officers themselves.  They can’t stand around watching the bad behavior of some officers and not say anything. They can’t automatically support other officers if they step across “the” line.  And to be honest every officer should know and understand the difference between right and wrong and if they don’t they have no business being in law enforcement.

6.  I do believe officers should be held accountable for their actions but it has to be justified and not to quote BunkerBoy, a witch hunt.

Now imagine feeling the way peas feel about their LEO spouses but about your BIPOC family members - every day, day in and day out for something they didn't choose as their employment. Something they can never change. Something from which they never vacation or retire.

Gosh I’m so sorry, that’s awful.

How awful! I’m very sorry.

I am SO sorry. How terrible for your nephew and his friend.

I wish more of us could see all sides, not just our own. If our empathy for our loved ones could expand to others' loved ones, what a world this could be.

Actually we don't have that stuff. Why? Because mental health is so limited because of:

Area

Cost

Insurance (you can only go to these 3 covered places even though there may be 10)

Waiting lists


There needs to be a huge overhaul to mental health care and facilities.

@leowife You ask where to cut the money from police budgets? How about NOT arresting people for simple drug possession? How often does ARRESTING someone actually cure their drug addiction? Almost never. How about not arresting people for marijuana at all? How much money could we save (and put into addiction services, instead)? How much time would we free up for police? 

Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: $47+ billion

Number of arrests in 2018 in the U.S. for drug law violations: 1,654,282

Number of drug arrests that were for possession only: 1,429,299

Number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2018: 663,367

Number of those charged with marijuana law violations who were arrested for possession only: 608,775

Percentage of people arrested in 2017 for drug law violations who are Black: 27% (despite making up just 13.4% of the U.S. population)

Number of people in the U.S. incarcerated in 2016: 2.3 million – the highest incarceration rate in the world

Number of people in the U.S. incarcerated for a drug law violation in 2016: 450,000

www.drugpolicy.org/issues/drug-war-statistics