Cops deserve our respect, President Obama says

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Politico

Americans can and should do more to ease the tensions between police and the communities they serve, President Barack Obama said Friday at a ceremony for peace officers who died on the job.

“We can do everything we have to do to combat the poverty that plagues too many communities in which you have to serve,” Obama said at the outdoor ceremony on Capitol Hill. “We can work harder as a nation to heal the rifts between law enforcement and the people you risk your lives to protect.”

Obama’s tribute to fallen officers comes as he tries to tread a delicate line between supporting law officers and criticizing police excesses. The Department of Justice issued a report earlier this year excoriating racial bias within local police departments in Missouri and has said it will investigate the Baltimore Police after the death of Freddie Gray in custody.

Obama has made reform of law enforcement and incarceration practices a central goal for his last two years as president. He established a task force that has sought ways to improve trust even as anger grows with each new killing of unarmed blacks by police in places like Ferguson, Mo., Cleveland, North Charleston, S.C., and Baltimore.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/obama-police-deserve-our-respect-117996.html

[bravenak]

1. They only deserve what they give out.

Nothing more.

[randys1]

26. Exactly. Imagine a community where the police reflect the residents.

Not just race or religion or whatever, but ATTITUDE.

Therein lies the problem, cops, including many minority cops, have an ATTITUDE that they are king and can inflict the law on us, not enforce it.

Or on AfAm especially.

Change that and you really got something.

[bravenak]

31. I agree.

Those with the authority need to change. The community reflects back what the cops give out. In areas where cops treat the citizens well, cops are respected. In areas where they are abusive, they are distrusted, for good reason.

[KingCharlemagne]

66. One of my FB friends wrote a great piece about how cops are differently perceived in

middle- and lower-class communities:

In an upscale neighborhood, if somebody breaks into your house, you call the police with the expectation that they will help you and perhaps make things better. In a poor neighborhood, if somebody breaks into your house, you do not call the police because your expectation is that they will make things much worse. You find another way to deal with the problem. You call friends and neighbors or take matters into your own hands, perhaps even with a weapon. This vast difference in expectations between an upscale neighborhood and a poor one has very little to do with the inclinations of the people living in those neighborhoods; most people just want to feel safe and secure. The difference in expectations has much more to do with how the police are experienced in each of those environments.

~snip

http://www.tampaservant.org/ct-menu-item-7

[Jackpine Radical]

36. I think we tried that business of sharing our values with the Pi…uh, Guardians of Democracy

back in about 1968.

[BrotherIvan]

50. Exactly

They have made this situation. No one else but the police. I wonder why he didn't call them thugs.

[Taitertots]

2. I'll respect them when they start policing themselves

I enough of them are criminals that they don't deserve to be respected.

Being in a factory is more dangerous than being a cop. When are people going to start "respecting" me for risking my life to make sure you have a car?

[MillennialDem]

20. On reddit, a cop couldn't believe being an airline pilot or driver was a

more dangerous job than being a cop. I had to explain to him being killed in a car accident is a relatively rare event... but far more common than being murdered (much of the risk of being a cop involves being in car accidents too).

[Taitertots]

51. People like that drive me crazy. What's not to believe? it's basic arithmetic

Number of incidents divided by the subject population, times 100,000 (per 100,000 being a common measure).

[FrodosPet]

58. Or driving a cab in Detroit

And even that only has a 5% chance of getting you robbed (except for jump-outs, which everyone gets sometime in their career) and a 0.1% chance (1 out of 1000) of getting you murdered.

[lark]

3. I'll respect them when they start respecting us and doing the serve and protect stuff.

No respect for what some are doing now and others are covering up. I read a report that a cop has killed an unarmed person every day this year. Sorry, that's not just 1-2 rogue individuals, that's a corrupt system. When cops no longer are a criminal element, when they don't constantly kill and lie about it and cover it up, then I'll respect them again.

A friend of my daughter's husband is a cop and he's a good one, he treated a family member very well during a bad time. I respect Adam because I know him and he deserves it. The others, nah.

[Jackpine Radical]

37. An old friend of mine just retired from a career on the Sheriff's force.

He was a detective at the time he retired, and went on to b a part-time chief in a very small town.

He was also the chair of his county Democratic Party. And not above a toke in the old days. He is smart, level-headed, has my trust, and is a good leftist.

[rock]

4. Unquantified noun phrase: Cops

Some, all, a few, none, many, the majority of... Well, you get the point. This is the cheapest rhetorical device I can think of, it doesn't even cost a word and makes the statement almost surely true or at least arguable (if you pick the right unstated phrase).

[rock]

4. Unquantified noun phrase: Cops

-- double post - ignore --

[L0oniX]

24. We'll ignore both of your posts just to make sure.

[rock]

32. Good thinking

It's the only reasonable thing to do.
P.S. Don't ignore this one!

[F4lconF16]

6. Can I just say...

Fuck the police?

In all seriousness, no. I won't give them respect. Not when black men are being killed at staggering rates. Not when they pepper spray people for no reason. Not when they enjoy beating the shit out of the homeless. Not when they're white supremacists. Not when they ignore 1000s of backlogged rape kits. Not when they enforce racist and oppressive laws. Not when they serve as a tool of the state to assault and terrify the proletariat.

They want respect? I'll tell you what: I'll give them my respect when they quit their jobs and become community activists fighting for real justice.

I'll respect them when they're no longer the police.

[Ned Flanders]

7. Lessons for my children

It has been my own personal experience that waving hello to police, smiling at them, or even just making eye contact, is an invitation to be pulled over and hassled. I have taught my children to avoid any contact with police, unless absolutely necessary.

It is difficult to give respect when they respond with threats.

[Garion_55]

8. not if they are enforcing immoral laws

and doing it with excessive force and getting away with it.

no one forced these fuckers to become cops.

[samsingh]

9. i beg to differ

[hobbit709]

10. Respect is a two way street.

they get the amount of respect they give.

[Dawson Leery]

11. Two way street.

Americans must stop with the uniform worship. Without a society to protect, the police would be worth nothing.

[Robbins]

12. well

I guess he sold out the black community just like he sold out all those ant-war people who helped elect him with the unions and american workers as well.

When police stop executing young black men and stop protecting their own I will respect them untill then no.

I will be even more blunt.Untill politicans are willing to critze police they should shut up when young black men are killed.

Despite their words many are fine with familys not getting justice If it's a cop who kills their son.

Michael brown's family as example will never get justice.Darren wilson got off and will be making tonsof money for his story.
Michael Brown's lefe was only worth 40 dollors.Of course that assumes wilson actully knew he was suspect in robbery.

[sarge43]

14. Respect is earned

It can't be demanded by force or intimidation.

[Joe Chi Minh]

15. You have to sympathise with the President, and wish more power to his elbow, in

eliminating the murder and electrocution of African Americans by police, simply on a whim, but my first thought was: 'No. The malefactors among them deserve a lot of things, but respect would not be one of them.

There is just one word missing from the thread header, and it begins with the letter, 'o'. Difficult to respect them, if you don't know whether to put your hands straight up or to lie prostrate on the road, when you see them. What would it take for an A-A male to be certain of surviving an encounter in the street with John Law, I wonder?

[PumpkinAle]

16. What? Okay what happened to the guy we elected President?

It used to be that you have respect for a position, but each person earns their own respect.

When "peace" officers are using more and more violence against Americans they are losing respect across the board. I used to have respect for law enforcement as a whole, but about 10 years ago I started to see where policing was becoming disrespectful to the "have nots" and that is most of America and a two-tier system was taking hold.

When the law enforcement community starts speaking out against those within their ranks that are doing wrong, then may be people will have respect - until then.............

[CBGLuthier]

17. Is the the Miami racist cops, the SF racist cops, the St. Louis/Ferguson racist cops, the NYC racist

cops, the incompetent Tulsa deputy or the Chicago torture squad?

[KingCharlemagne]

67. For DUers wanting to know more about the shit going down in Chicago

on Rahm's watch:

The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site.
Held for hours at secret Chicago 'black site': 'You're a hostage. It's kidnapping'

The facility, a nondescript warehouse on Chicago’s west side known as Homan Square, has long been the scene of secretive work by special police units. Interviews with local attorneys and one protester who spent the better part of a day shackled in Homan Square describe operations that deny access to basic constitutional rights.

Alleged police practices at Homan Square, according to those familiar with the facility who spoke out to the Guardian after its investigation into Chicago police abuse, include:

Keeping arrestees out of official booking databases.
Beating by police, resulting in head wounds.
Shackling for prolonged periods.
Denying attorneys access to the “secure” facility.
Holding people without legal counsel for between 12 and 24 hours, including people as young as 15.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-site

[Beauregard]

18. Thanks, Obama! :)

[Iggo]

19. Stop killing innocent people and start arresting criminal cops and we can talk.

Fuckers.

[jtuck004]

21. Easier to say if you have the Secret Service there to prevent your kid being killed. Other's don't

Last edited Fri May 15, 2015, 03:30 PM - Edit history (2)

have that privilege.

Maybe that's harder to see from up there.

[MillennialDem]

22. A cop is the most dangerous person in your life. They can take your life, they can imprison you, or

they can maim you and there's not much you can do to prevent those facts. Even if you do, you'll end up dead, maimed, or imprisoned for preventing it in the first place.

I'm so sick of the "cops are people" "there are some bad apples in every bunch" bullshit. No, you're a cop. You're the ultimate authority besides the president in this country (who can use the cops and/or military as his weapon). You don't get do overs. Paralyzing or killing someone is not an "oops". You interact with other members of society and outside of insanely egregious behavior that is not in their job description, the worst thing that happens to you is you lose some money, you get a bad grade, or you get yelled at. With a cop, a bad experience means you can end up 6 feet under, in a box, or a wheelchair. Cops need to be held to the HIGHEST of standards. They should be disarmed of their guns other than special swat teams. Don't like it? Quit!

[TheHardWay]

40. Agreed with MillennialDem

Agreed! - De-escalation of any situation is what they should be experts in... Not fire arms!

[FrodosPet]

59. Not in my personal case, but I see what you are saying

As a middle aged white guy who does his yes sirs and no ma'ams, I am in far less danger from cops than I am robbers (there was another Detroit cabbie killed in a robbery a couple months ago).

But for a young African American, the balance of danger is higher. They are still more likely to be killed by a criminal, but they are at much more risk, even when being fully co-operative, from the police than anyone else.

This has got to be fixed.

[L0oniX]

23. US citizens deserve respect from cops. Who do they work for?

Obviously not her --->
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/11/1383983/-Let-s-be-clear-The-brutal-death-of-Natasha-McKenna-was-not-an-accident?detail=facebook

or these guys ---> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/13/1384085/-Video-of-cop-macing-handcuffed-teens-in-holding-cell-surfaces-suddenly-an-investigation-begins?detail=facebook

[frylock]

25. no, thanks

FTP

[villager]

27. ...and we deserve theirs

n/t

[randys1]

28. What else can Obama say? What else can Lynch say?

He says he wants reform, he cant say that and tell you to not respect the cops.

I dont like the sentiment anymore than anyone else, but what could he say?

[WhoWoodaKnew]

75. BINGO

[arcane1]

29. Of course they do, when they've EARNED it n/t

[brewens]

30. If you want respect, you rate respect! Start right now. I'll wait. As soon as I see a trend where

cops are taking down the bad ones, I'll start showing some respect. If the good ones so outnumber the bad ones, it shouldn't be that hard.

[fbc]

33. It would be much less of an issue with a more equal distribution of wealth

Cops help keep the poor in line so they will always be the darlings of authoritarians and our corporate mass media.

[SamKnause]

34. Deserve ???

I disagree.

I see them as a threat.

I see them as dishonest.

I see them as gang members who lie to protect one another.

I see them as disrespectful.

I see them as abusive.

I see them as vindictive.

I see them as law breakers.

I see them routinely get away with murder.

Exactly why do they deserve my respect ????????????

[Geronimoe]

35. Respect Cops

What a bonehead thing to say. They get paid well and should do the job they are paid for. That is all.

[beevul]

38. NOBODY 'DESERVES' RESPECT.

RESPECT is earned.

Or not earned.

[TheHardWay]

39. Shouldn't it be up for a vote

Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where you couldn't get too upset at your officer friendly because you knew officer friendly to be a human being like you...

Instead of an authoritarian who one can/should be friendly with as long as they live under the code "anything you say can and will ONLY be used AGAINST YOU!


All the secrecy of the entire force lends itself to distrust of the police.

What do they say about when two different cultures meet for the first time... there are going to be some misunderstandings... except, in this case the people are not a different culture than the police. Except it is... on it's very own insistence, it is a different culture.

I say it's a different culture in that it is filled with the converted class who's expressions of force seem to spill onto our web browsers daily from all over the country.

It never stops. We ask questions... They remain silent... As should we all.

What would the police do if we all just stopped talking? Not to each other... just to them? Dismiss them as they do us.

[Gormy Cuss]

41. Many cops deserve our respect, but the thin blue line is toxic.

Bad cops need to be held accountable for their actions.

That and LEOs need to be retrained to lose the "them vs. us" mentality.

[phleshdef]

42. Nothing wrong with this statement. I respect cops. I have family that are (good) cops.

I believe cops probably do more to protect me than the military does, when it comes to everyday life.

There are a lot of good cops out there who put their lives on the line for the everyday stability of our society.

You can respect cops in general and still support not letting bad cops get away with racial profiling, shooting, tazing, choking or beating people for the hell of it. You can support the protest against bad police forces in cities like Baltimore and Ferguson and still have a general respect for the job and the people that do it the right way. Its not an either/or.

[Historic NY]

44. I know a lot of good cops on that wall in DC...

people here speak only of the bad and fail to acknowledge the loss of the good..go walk the paths of Judiciary Square in DC...and bring a tissue many communities grieve their losses...while the black bloc types here rejoice. ....and they can GFTS.

[Taitertots]

53. Why do you think they are "good"?

Is your opinion of their police work based on anything other than what they tell you?

I'm sure they would all confess to you if they were breaking the law.

[phleshdef]

54. I'm sure you don't know shit about it one way or the other.

And you don't deserve me or anyone else going out of their way to justify a point of view to you.

[Taitertots]

56. Using manufactured outrage to avoid thinking about a reasonable response

Neither of us know about what this person actually does while on the job. Why are you claiming they're "good"?

[phleshdef]

64. Why are you claiming I should doubt that they are?

I mean, I know these people, I know their personalities, I know their record, they work in the small community that I grew up in, I know they have a good name in that community. Based on your logic, I should assume everyone is just god awful regardless of what evidence I have to weigh it on.

I didn't "manufacture" any outrage either. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even outraged. I wasn't telling you "FUCK OFF!", it was more like "whatever, you are some irrelevant anonymous person on the internet..." and didn't even give you another thought until you responded.

[Taitertots]

69. Why doubt? Because you have no idea what actually happens when they're at work

"Based on your logic, I should assume everyone is just god awful regardless of what evidence I have to weigh it on"
No. Based on my logic, you should have reasonable skepticism of things you know nothing about.

Based on your logic, we can determine whether or not a cop is "good" by just asking what their friends and family think of them. "He must be a good cop because he's so nice to me."

[phleshdef]

70. I have more of an idea about these people than you do.

Seriously, who do you think you are? At this point, I think you are just trolling out because you got nothing.

[Taitertots]

71. Duh, I admit that I don't know...

And I've never claimed that I did. You claim that you know, even thou you have nothing to support your opinion.

"but he is so nice to me. He must be a good cop"

You're just incapable of understanding that someone can disregard your unsupported opinions without taking the opposite position.

[treestar]

60. +1

Makes no sense to zero in only on the failures and insist they are all that bad. In reality they mostly just do the job. That does not make the news.

[Earth_First]

74. The 'good cop' meme doesn't sit well with me...

The 'good cop' is dismissed when s/he looks the other way when witnessing their fellow LEO's take SOP into their own hands by protecting their own job by casually removing themselves from the situation in order to protect the 'Thin Blue Line'.

Good cops are complicit by association when they fail to report these abuses to their superiors.

EVERY cop has witnessed this.

EVERY cop is guilty.

[Punx]

43. So

Is this a plea to just blindly accept Authority? If so I just can't do that, I don't care what your title is.

Is it a plea to accept a police torture chamber in Chicago, how the heck am I supposed to respect that? The statistics that are becoming known out of Baltimore are disgusting. Nope no respect there.

In my few encounters with cops in my community I have found them more than reasonable, but then I'm white, middle class (for the moment anyway), and at an age that doesn't much threaten anybody.

I am glad to hear that Obama wants to work on reform. I wish him luck.

[BrotherIvan]

45. Why is Obama calling for respect for the police and calling black people thugs?

Why doesn't he go to the funerals of the black people who have been killed by police? Why?

[Scuba]

46. /\_/\_This right here_/\_/\

[JonLP24]

48. It seems to be the standard politically "safe" statement

the mayor & so many others using the same language -- I don't know it seems Obama is speaking as if there is an election down the road to worry about but I haven't known a President -- well, except Truman his reelection year -- to start coming out and telling it like it is and I don't know why he doesn't. He'd be better off if it wasn't too worried about crafting or manipulating the right message but I don't know what it is.

Jon Stewart sometime after the 2004 election was asked on Larry King on who he'd like for President mentioned he had an interest in Obama (this was before the 2008 primary & general) but mentioned that the Senate is "where smart people go to die". He can inspire people but not the administration? Not congress? I don't know.

[BrotherIvan]

49. He is siding with the establishment

He works for the establishment and is trying to keep us from speaking out. We're supposed to give him respect and the benefit of the doubt over and over, but he doesn't side with us. Michelle has a million times more guts. She doesn't sell black people out. I respect her but I'm pretty much done with him.

[treestar]

61. Because he's considering all the cops

He's not rabidly anti-cop because he can tell the difference.

Why go to those funerals? Where is this demand coming from? Maybe he should go to each battered woman who is killed by her husband's funeral too? Or any hate crime victim? Maybe there aren't enough hours in the day.

[BrotherIvan]

62. Ah, so black people killed by cops aren't as important?

Got it.

[treestar]

63. False characterization of anything I said in the post I responded to.

Really low on your part.

[BrotherIvan]

68. Then perhaps before you jump in, you should think things through

You are so quick to defend President Obama, who in this situation is wrong.

[JonLP24]

47. I'll respect a cop if they give a reason to respect one

The way the profession is taught is to use trickery, con jobs, manipulation, lying and all of that is legal. Even with that there is still much "massaging" the facts on a police report, for a warrant, "testilying", "contempt of cop" justice, etc. Often times they behave like no one in their right mind would behave, authoritarian, so sure they know everything with arrogant certainty. When a cop says, "I know your involved" there is a good chance he is lying, it was a big clue when they use it on someone who actually isn't. Still -- do they believe that or do they care? It seems, depending on the circumstances of the encounter, their job is to start building a case on whoever the suspect might be and they seem to get locked into that tunnel vision.

Certainly there are cops out there that are admirable. Serpico, former Phoenix police chief Garcia, and probably a few others that come to mind. After awhile it becomes certain the behavior & attitude is due to climate, culture, etc. I have ZERO respect for some police departments such as the NOPD, NYPD hasn't ever seemed to change, Chicago PD is especially bad, LAPD -- hard to tell, an entire division was corrupt in the early 90's revealed shortly after OJ. Obviously, "noble cause corruption" is prevalent nationwide with a "blue wall" protecting them.

[JoePhilly]

52. Combustible Hair Club fodder.

[Kablooie]

55. Police need to police themselves. That's the main problem.

Police allow rogue police to continue to abuse citizens and they protect the rogues from any repercussions.
It's no wonder people disrespect them.
Until they start cleaning up their ranks themselves they will continue to be disrespected.

[romanic]

57. I respect good cops

who work hard and actually protect the public from harm.

But I will not respect the system that allows rogue cops to do as they please and get away with it while silencing any other cops from policing their own. I kind of wish Obama had worded it that way so everyone could agree with what he was saying.

[KingCharlemagne]

65. I'll believe there are 'good cops' when I see them arrest 'bad cops.' Until

then, meh, the cops are just another gang, albeit one operating under color of the law.

[closeupready]

72. Take their guns away, and maybe then.