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Title: Armed and Dangerous: If Police Don’t Have to Protect the Public, What Good Are They?
Source:
Information Clearing House
URL Source: [None]
Published: Mar 2, 2018
Author: John W. Whitehead
Post Date: 2018-03-02 23:38:06 by U don't know me
Keywords: None
Views: 859
Comments: 14
Armed and Dangerous: If Police Don’t Have to Protect the Public, What Good Are They? By John W. Whitehead “After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military.”—Author William S. Burroughs March 02, 2018 "Information Clearing House" - In the American police state, police have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later. In fact, police don’t usually need much incentive to shoot and kill members of the public. Police have shot and killed Americans of all ages—many of them unarmed—for standing a certain way, or moving a certain way, or holding something—anything—that police could misinterpret to be a gun, or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officer’s mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety. In recent years, Americans have been killed by police merely for standing in a “shooting stance,” holding a cell phone, behaving oddly and holding a baseball bat, opening the front door, running in an aggressive manner holding a tree branch, crawling around naked, hunching over in a defensive posture, wearing dark pants and a basketball jersey, driving while deaf, being homeless, brandishing a shoehorn, holding a garden hose, and peeing outdoors. So when police in Florida had to deal with a 19-year-old embarking on a shooting rampage inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., what did they do? Nothing. There were four armed police officers, including one cop who was assigned to the school as a resource officer, on campus during that shooting. All four cops stayed outside the school with their weapons drawn (three of them hid behind their police cars). Not a single one of those cops, armed with deadly weapons and trained for exactly such a dangerous scenario, entered the school to confront the shooter. Seventeen people, most of them teenagers, died while the cops opted not to intervene. Let that sink in a moment. Now before your outrage bubbles over, consider that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed (most recently in 2005) that police have no constitutional duty to protect members of the public from harm. Yes, you read that correctly. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, police have no duty, moral or otherwise, to help those in trouble, protect individuals from danger, or risk their own lives to save “we the people.” In other words, you can be outraged that cops in Florida did nothing to stop the school shooter, but technically, it wasn’t part of their job description. This begs the question: if the police don’t have a duty to protect the public, what are we paying them for? And who exactly do they serve if not you and me? Why do we have more than a million cops on the taxpayer-funded payroll in this country whose jobs do not entail protecting our safety, maintaining the peace in our communities, and upholding our liberties? Why do we have more than a million cops who have been fitted out in the trappings of war, drilled in the deadly art of combat, and trained to look upon “every individual they interact with as an armed threat and every situation as a deadly force encounter in the making? I’ll tell you why. It’s the same reason why the Trump Administration has made a concerted effort to expand the police state’s power to search, strip, seize, raid, steal from, arrest and jail Americans for any infraction, no matter how insignificant. This is no longer a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” It is fast becoming a government “of the rich, by the elite, for the corporations,” and its rise to power is predicated on shackling the American taxpayer to a life of indentured servitude. Cops in America may get paid by the citizenry, but they don’t work for us. They don’t answer to us. They’re not loyal to us. And they certainly aren’t operating within the limits of the U.S. Constitution. That “thin, blue line” of loyalty to one’s fellow cops has become a self-serving apparatus that sees nothing wrong with advancing the notion that the lives—and rights—of police should be valued more than citizens. As one commentator remarked, “‘Protect and Serve’ are the words we see on the side of many police cars and is the motto of most police forces. The words define the mission of the police, which is to ‘protect’ citizens and ‘serve’ the public. However, it has become increasingly clear that in far too many police forces those words have been twisted beyond recognition. Too often they appear to mean, ‘to protect officers and serve the police force.’ ‘Force Protection’ has become the primary motivating force for many in the Police. That term is actually a military concept which means that you do everything you can to protect the troops when planning and executing a combat mission.” The myth of the hero cop really is a myth. Cops are no more noble, no more self-sacrificing, no braver and certainly no more deserving of special attention or treatment than any other American citizen. Yet, as journalist David Feige explains, “For the last three decades, police unions have managed to portray their members as indispensable heroes in a deadly and dangerous war. [In] the years since the Sept. 11 attacks, the story of the hero cop has become so powerful and pervasive that even questioning police behavior is decried as disloyal, un-American, and dangerous.” This misplaced patriotism about police and, by extension, the military—a dangerous re-shifting of the nation’s priorities that has been reinforced by President Trump with his unnerving knack for echoing past authoritarian tactics—paves the way for even more instability in the nation. Feige continues: “There are real-world harms that follow from the myths perpetuated by police unions. Arguments about the dangerous nature of police work drive the increasing militarization of police departments. The life-and-death nature of the job is used to push for extremely generous medical leave, overtime, and pay packages. Most insidious of all, the exaggerated danger and trumped-up heroism drives an us-versus-them mentality that suffuses contemporary big-city policing and bleeds into the criminal justice system, causing systemic imbalances that chronically favor the police over citizens. Together, this creates a sense of invincibility and righteousness among the police that is used to justify even outrageous behavior while simultaneously creating the perception among the public that the police are untouchable.” For years now, we’ve been told that cops need military weapons to wage the government’s wars on drugs, crime and terror. We’ve been told that cops need to be able to crash through doors, search vehicles, carry out roadside strip searches, shoot anyone they perceive to be a threat, and generally disregard the law whenever it suits them because they’re doing it to protect their fellow Americans from danger. We’ve been told that cops need extra legal protections because of the risks they take. None of that is true. For the record, any police officer who tells you that he needs tanks, SWAT teams, and pepper spray to do his job shouldn’t be a police officer in a constitutional republic. Never Miss Another Story Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Unfortunately, “we the people” don’t get to call the shots anymore. And we no longer live in a constitutional republic. Welcome to the American police state, funded by Corporate America, policed by the military industrial complex, and empowered by politicians whose primary purpose is to remain in office. It’s a short hop, skip and a jump from the police state we’re operating under right now to a full-blown totalitarian regime ruled with the iron fist of martial law. The groundwork has already been laid. The events of recent years have only served to desensitize the nation to violence, acclimate them to a militarized police presence in their communities, and persuade them that there is nothing they can do to alter the seemingly hopeless trajectory of the nation: the invasive surveillance, the extremism reports, the civil unrest, the protests, the shootings, the bombings, the military exercises and active shooter drills, the color-coded alerts and threat assessments, the fusion centers, the transformation of local police into extensions of the military, the distribution of military equipment and weapons to local police forces, the government databases containing the names of dissidents and potential troublemakers. The sight of police clad in body armor and gas masks, wielding semiautomatic rifles and escorting an armored vehicle through a crowded street, a scene likened to “a military patrol through a hostile city,” no longer causes alarm among the general populace. Few seem to care about the government’s endless wars abroad that leave communities shattered, families devastated and our national security at greater risk of blowback. Indeed, there were no protests in the streets after U.S. military forces carried out air strikes on a Syrian settlement, killing 25 people, more than half of which were women and children. And then there’s President Trump’s plans for a military parade on Veterans Day (costing between $10 million and $30 million) to showcase the nation’s military might. Other countries that feel the need to flex their military muscles to its citizens and the rest of the world include France, China, Russia and North Korea. Connect the dots, people. This stealthy, creeping, silent coup that is the same danger that writer Rod Serling warned against in the 1964 political thriller Seven Days in May, which put the military in charge of a coup that would institute martial law packaged as a well-meaning and overriding concern for the nation’s security. On the big screen, the military coup is foiled and the republic is saved in a matter of hours. In the real world, however, the plot thickens and spreads out over the past half century. We’ve been losing our freedoms so incrementally for so long—sold to us in the name of national security and global peace, maintained by way of martial law disguised as law and order, and enforced by a standing army of militarized police and a political elite determined to maintain their powers at all costs—that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when it all started going downhill, but we’re certainly on that downward trajectory now, and things are moving fast. The question is no longer whether the U.S. government will be preyed upon and taken over by the military industrial complex. That’s a done deal. We’ve allowed ourselves to be acclimated to the occasional lockdown of government buildings, Jade Helm military drills in small towns so that special operations forces can get “realistic military training” in “hostile” territory, and Live Active Shooter Drill training exercises, carried out at schools, in shopping malls, and on public transit, which can and do fool law enforcement officials, students, teachers and bystanders into thinking it’s a real crisis. Still, you can’t say we weren’t warned. Back in 2008, an Army War College report revealed that “widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.” The 44-page report went on to warn that potential causes for such civil unrest could include another terrorist attack, “unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters.” In 2009, reports by the Department of Homeland Security surfaced that labelled right-wing and left-wing activists and military veterans as extremists (a.k.a. terrorists) and called on the government to subject such targeted individuals to full-fledged pre-crime surveillance. Almost a decade later, after spending billions to fight terrorism, the DHS concluded that the greater threat is not ISIS but domestic right-wing extremism. Meanwhile, the government has been amassing an arsenal of military weapons for use domestically and equipping and training their “troops” for war. Even government agencies with largely administrative functions such as the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Smithsonian have been acquiring body armor, riot helmets and shields, cannon launchers and police firearms and ammunition. In fact, there are now at least 120,000 armed federal agents carrying such weapons who possess the power to arrest. Rounding out this profit-driven campaign to turn American citizens into enemy combatants (and America into a battlefield) is a technology sector that has been colluding with the government to create a Big Brother that is all-knowing, all-seeing and inescapable. It’s not just the drones, fusion centers, license plate readers, stingray devices and the NSA that you have to worry about. You’re also being tracked by the black boxes in your cars, your cell phone, smart devices in your home, grocery loyalty cards, social media accounts, credit cards, streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, and e-book reader accounts. All of this has taken place right under our noses, funded with our taxpayer dollars and carried out in broad daylight without so much as a general outcry from the citizenry. It’s astounding how convenient we’ve made it for the government to lock down the nation. Mind you, by “government,” I’m not referring to the highly partisan, two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats. As I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, I’m referring to “government” with a capital “G,” the entrenched Deep State that is unaffected by elections, unaltered by populist movements, and has set itself beyond the reach of the law. I’m referring to the corporatized, militarized, entrenched bureaucracy that is fully operational and staffed by unelected officials who are, in essence, running the country and calling the shots in Washington DC, no matter who sits in the White House. This is the hidden face of a government that has no respect for the freedom of its citizenry. Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His new book Battlefield America: The War on the American People (SelectBooks, 2015) is available online at www.amazon.com. Whitehead can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
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#1. To: U don't know me, Deckard (#0)
Deckard posted this one in a thread on 2/26, it seems. It's second-from-the-bottom in the sidebar right now. He only got one comment and it was from me. However, if you subsequently reply to this comment, then your thread will be twice as successful as Deckard's was. ; )
Sheriff Israel brought in Jordan and made her Commander. She commanded the officers to stay outside and form a perimeter" They followed her orders. Perhaps she and Israel should be up for gross incompetence; but the officers should be scapegoated for "following orders."
Liberals are like Slinkys. They're good for nothing, but somehow they bring a smile to your face as you shove them down the stairs.
But, wouldn’t it seem like a prudent idea through the use of clear logical thinking to at least wait until Florida Department of Law Enforcement completes their investigation and get all the facts as to “why she did what she did” before “hanging” her? Is you “taste for blood” so insatiable that you can’t wait? If so….then, I suggest you: “CHILL IT.”
Nothing. I guess the enforcers of drug laws will never make you drug loving Paultards happy. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
You can add "holding a WII video game controller" to the list of things that cause cops to shoot and kill. So when police in Florida had to deal with a 19-year-old embarking on a shooting rampage inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., what did they do. Nothing. Hey give the "heroes" a break - they were just fulfilling the prime directive of police work - to "make it home safely at the end of the day". Nothing. I guess the enforcers of drug laws will never make you drug loving Paultards happy. Yeah, right - some of the kids being massacred may have smoked pot a few times. Why should these "heroes" be expected to risk their lives for them? How many enforcers of the drug laws could themselves pass drug tests for illegal drugs (including steroids)? We'll probably never know because their unions resist tooth and nail any attempt to institute random drug testing of cops.
I think Ibjenson intended to say "should not be scapegoated". He just missed the 'not' when he typed it. He's blaming the sheriff and the lady commanderette, not the deputies on the scene if they were just following lawful orders from their superiors.
Not all. The department I retired from conducted RANDOM drug tests. The municipality wanted drug testing and its contractual. So, all of us cops voted 100%, during contract negotiations to allow random drug testing for a 7% raise (might have been a little less or more... hard to remember that far back) They got their drug testing... we had NOTHING TO HIDE and made BANK! To this day, 10 years later, not one positive drug test. We profited from your skepticism. We thank you for that skepticism. lol All joking aside, drug testing should be mandatory for checks and balances. However I doubt you would ever see LE have any more fail work place drug test than any other professional type career employee. Steroids are only a LE epidemic in DickTards cop hating brain. You'd probably find way more opioid or prescription drug abuse than steroids. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
They got their drug testing... we had NOTHING TO HIDE and made BANK! To this day, 10 years later, not one positive drug test. We profited from your skepticism. We thank you for that skepticism. lol I'm so glad we could help you buy more primers. LOL
I think Ibjenson intended to say "should not be scapegoated". He just missed the 'not' when he typed it. He's blaming the sheriff and the lady commanderette, not the deputies on the scene if they were just following lawful orders from their superiors. I still want to wait for investigation to be completed before I lay any blame at the feet of the “commanderette.” I caught the use of your “cutesyism” in an earlier post. There is no indication there that you are a male chauvinist. is there?
With few exceptions, women should not be cops or infantry soldiers. Call me sexist, I really don't care.
With few exceptions, women should not be cops or infantry soldiers. Call me sexist, I really don't care. The gate guard who checked my ID as I entered Luke AFB recently, was a young girl who had some type of long gun hanging over her shoulder. I really didn’t pay any attention to the make of the weapon because I was devoting all my attention to the girl who appeared to stand about four feet and ten inches tall… and the tip of the weapion barrel hung down to about the middle of her calf. After she handed me back my ID card, she saluted like she was holding a cup cake upside down in her right hand. I just sat there for a moment, and when my wife felt I was about to say something….under herebreath, she muttered: Drive On. And with discretion being the better part of valor, I did. As I drove away, I could not help but think about the millions, well at least hundreds of thousands, of dollars that was spent on making the driveway to the base into multiple “s” turns, the speed bumps that rattle your teeth even at two miles per hour, and the multiple planted pop up barriers…then place this little pip squeak on gate duty. I even shake my head now….just thinking about it.
We're very brave here on this anonymous forum. : ) And the Pentagon is telling us that over 70% over today's youth can't qualify for induction. Your petite gate guard was one of the elite. Yeow.
#2. To: Tooconservative (#1)
#3. To: IbJensen. Tooconservative (#2)
She commanded the officers to stay outside and form a perimeter" They followed her orders. Perhaps she and Israel should be up for gross incompetence …
I agree with you that we have read enough information from different objectively creditable sources to condemn Israel for gross incompetence. … but the officers should be scapegoated for "following orders.
Again, why don’t you just “hold your horses” and wait until the investigation is over and facts are know before “scapegoating” those police officers?
#4. To: U don't know me (#0)
In recent years, Americans have been killed by police merely for standing in a “shooting stance,” holding a cell phone, behaving oddly... So when police in Florida had to deal with a 19-year-old embarking on a shooting rampage inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., what did they do?
#5. To: GrandIsland, U don't know me (#4)
n recent years, Americans have been killed by police merely for standing in a “shooting stance,” holding a cell phone, behaving oddly...
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.
#6. To: GrandIsland (#4)
In recent years, Americans have been killed by police merely for standing in a “shooting stance,” holding a cell phone, behaving oddly... So when police in Florida had to deal with a 19-year-old embarking on a shooting rampage inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., what did they do?
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.
#7. To: GrandIsland, Deckard (#4)
I guess the enforcers of drug laws will never make you drug loving Paultards happy.
#8. To: Gatlin, IbJensen (#3)
Again, why don’t you just “hold your horses” and wait until the investigation is over and facts are know before “scapegoating” those police officers?
#9. To: Tooconservative (#7)
(Edited)
How manyWe'll probably never know because their unions resist tooth and nail enforcers of the drug laws could themselves pass drug tests for illegal drugs (including steroids)?
#10. To: GrandIsland (#9)
Not all. The department I retired from conducted RANDOM drug tests. The municipality wanted drug testing and its contractual. So, all of us cops voted 100%, during contract negotiations to allow random drug testing for a 7% raise (might have been a little less or more... hard to remember that far back)
#11. To: Tooconservative (#8)
Again, why don’t you just “hold your horses” and wait until the investigation is over and facts are know before “scapegoating” those police officers?
It’s possible that he meant to say that. but what he did say was following in line with his condemnations. I took it to mean the officers should have disregarded the orders and charged into the building. We shall see what he says in a clarification post to you. He stated he will no longer post to me because I was brusque to him, which I definitely was about one of his asinine comments, and he is pissed at me.
#12. To: Gatlin (#11)
There is no indication there that you are a male chauvinist. is there?
#13. To: Tooconservative (#12)
There is no indication there that you are a male chauvinist. is there?
--------------------
. There is no indication there that you are a male chauvinist. is there? With few exceptions, women should not be cops or infantry soldiers. Call me sexist, I really don't care.
I take the same position….so, we both can be called smart.
#14. To: Gatlin (#13)
I take the same position….so, we both can be called smart.
As I drove away, I could not help but think about the millions, well at least hundreds of thousands, of dollars that was spent on making the driveway to the base into multiple “s” turns, the speed bumps that rattle your teeth even at two miles per hour, and the multiple planted pop up barriers…then place this little pip squeak on gate duty.
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