
Why Are Police Unions Blocking Reform? - mhb
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/why-are-police-unions-blocking-reform
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david38
There are other considerations as well. No community likes being reformed by
others. Nobody likes being told to “be more like us” by others who (maybe)
don’t understand the issues at hand.

For sure, there is entrenched power, but there are other issues like “what am
I allowed to do when a suspect high on PCP attacks me? I can no longer use a
choke hold, so I guess I have to use my gun. What if it’s crowded?”

Here are a few glaring problems that people have admitted need(ed|s) fixing
that resist outside dictating: * Removal of Saddam Hussein * Improving inner
city schools * Removal of children from a household * Endorcement of civil
rights in the south

In all cases, there are/were people on the inside who agree the thing must be
done, but objected to outsiders doing it because * it made them feel annexed *
it made them feel like they would be judged poorly on everything else * they
suspected they would be punished forever * they questioned the real motives
for the intervention * they didn’t trust the intervention to go all the way.
If the greater power left part way through, the local leaders would extract
revenge. * ...

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vertex-four
The fact that the police is a community which is “other” than us is the
problem, though. This is never going to be solved as long as there’s an
external group with power over us which rejects accountability.

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ineedasername
I think the only people who would say "yes, I want more oversight and
accountability" are those who weren't seeking power in the first place, having
it thrust upon them by circumstance and fully understanding the responsibility
they bear, and maybe a little horrified at the potential for abuse.

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nappa-leon
Maybe because the power they get from beating people without accountability is
one of the perks of their jobs. They're super power hungry and know that even
the slightest amount of oversight will show that the breadth of corruption is
much deeper than anyone though

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smegger001
because the incentives for a union is to maximize the compensation and
privileges for their members not to curtail their own behavior. this is why
you hear stories about union shops not firing employees that show up drunk and
cause accident because it would cost more to fight the union than to deal with
it.

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Diesel555
Why are unions blocking reform? - I think is a slightly more appropriate
question. If you can answer that question I think you can then add the police
prefix to specify why they are different than other unions.

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torstenvl
> _" A work stoppage to punish a player for expressing his opinion may seem
> extreme"_

They said, without any hint of awareness of the irony...

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klyrs
Care to spell that out? I'm missing the irony

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torstenvl
CK wasn't protesting on his own time, he was at work, in uniform, and refused
to do something.

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olliej
He took the knee, to protest the train wreck of criminal justice. He was still
respecting the flag.

He wasn’t stopping the game, he wasn’t delaying anything. He did it at the
same time as everyone else.

All he did was a different position to respect the flag, while also protesting
the treatment of PoC in America.

If we want to talk about disrespecting the flag then we need to talk about
those football ceremonies with the flag dragged horizontally across the field,
or flag themed clothing and costumes, or advertising that uses the flag.
Because those are explicitly disrespectful, and a violation of the flag code
(4USC section 1)

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gremlinsinc
Don't forget worshiping the confederate flag which is to disown everything
America stands for.

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olliej
oh yeah. The confederate flag is by definition the flag of treason. If you are
flying or using the confederate flag then you're literally pro-treason. Well,
that and slavery.

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bargle0
Unions protect the interests of their members. That’s their job. From their
perspective, the regulation needs to be better than the alternative.

