
Police Unit Resigns in Protest - Drip33
https://www.investigativepost.org/2020/06/05/police-unit-resigns-in-protest/
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mullingitover
This headline is very misleading. They didn't resign from the police force,
just the deployment where they attacked that elderly gentleman.

It's unfortunate that _all_ of them weren't immediately fired for their
conscious decision not to address the assault and battery committed by one of
their ranks, or to render first aid, and when the man finally was attended to,
they _dragged_ a man with what was very likely a cervical spine injury.
They're all trained first responders and they knew better.

Final point: if this is what they're comfortable doing in broad daylight in
front of a news crew, imagine what they're doing without cameras rolling.

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Drip33
>This headline is very misleading

I was not sure if I am allowed to editorialize titles a bit but I agree
because they are still sworn officers. If dang is around, he should change it.

~~~
mullingitover
Oh that's no knock on you for posting it. I prefer that we stick to article
headlines as post titles.

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Drip33
>The announcement comes one day after two members were suspended without pay
when a video surfaced, showing them pushing over a 75-year-old protestor,
causing injury.

>“Fifty-seven resigned in disgust because of the treatment of two of their
members, who were simply executing orders,” said John Evans, PBA president.

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zucker42
This is baffling. 57 police officers symbollically resigning because two
officers who nearly killed someone are suspended (not even charged or fired).
The union president specifically invokes the Nuremberg defense.

I say symbollically above because the protesting officers will still be paid
by the city.

> All officers who resigned from ERT will remain on the job in their regular
> duties

Is the argument that what happened in the video is acceptable? Maybe they
think it's unacceptable but doesn't warrant major action? Can someone explain
the ideology here?

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verdverm
The suspension and response is only part of the story told in the article.

Another reason seems to be that a prior court case allows cities to opt out of
paying legal costs for officers accused of these wrong doings. In light of the
risk of being sued and the lack of support from their legislative and
executive representatives, they have opted out of riot duty. I would also not
be surprised if they feel like they are being classified bad people as a group
for the transgressions of a few. Perhaps a bit of getting what they (we all?)
have been dishing out?

This weekend in Buffalo could be very enlightening, we'll have to wait and see
how this goes.

If we, as a society, believe we can operate with a less powerful policing
contingent, can we behave ourselves and not increasingly wrong each other?

~~~
mullingitover
> I would also not be surprised if they feel like they are being classified
> bad people as a group for the transgressions of a few.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. They don't seem to have
trouble applying that logic to peaceful protesters when there are a handful of
protesters who start getting violent.

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uberman
Just to be clear, they "resigned" from the special unit not the police force.
None of them is going to resign from the force.

The article suggests that these additional officers "resigned in disgust
because of the treatment of officers who were simply executing orders".

I have to ask, what orders were those exactly.

I'm sure they were tasked with clearing the area. I'm also certain they were
not tasked with critically injuring a citizen (let a lone a senior citizen)
while doing so. Those officers were not suspended for "simply executing
orders", but how they did so and perhaps more importantly how they were
susceptible to the peer pressure inappropriately applied by uninvolved
officers egging them on. This was 50+ officers vs one 75 year old guy asking
questions. They have all taken a public oath.

I was a military dog handler, I have family in state police. My closest cousin
wears a police ring as his wedding band. I have the up most respect for law
enforcement in general and feel that the overwhelming majority of officers act
heroically in the face of daily uncertainty.

However, this entire group of officers needs retraining. Officers who are
susceptible to peer pressure (either applying or receiving) need to be
retrained or discharged. This not an appropriate career path for those not
confident enough to resist being bullies or cowards.

