Bad Apples Boondoggle: Here's why cops are shooting/beating more subjects>

[goodboy]

Because The Boy-King: (of the world)
has CUT, EACH YEAR SINCE 'taking' office, C.O.P.S., "Community Oriented Policing Services" A program STARTED by BILL CLINTON IN 1994.

"COPS program placed over 118,000 new officers on the street, violent crime dropped 40 percent. The COPS Program has been a resounding success. Since 1995, COPS has awarded nearly $11 billion in grants to law enforcement agencies, putting more than 118,500 new law enforcement officers on the streets in over 13,000 communities in all fifty States. Since the beginning of the COPS program, violent crime in this country declined each year. In 2001, crime rates had declined by 40 percent since they had peaked at 4 million violent crimes in 1993."


Yep, that's right. Mr, "We'll never forget the lessons we learned on September THE Eleventh"
Didn't.Learn.Shit.

That's why in 2004, (the) "Bush administration proposed an eighty-six percent cut for COPS program. Despite its ongoing success, the Bush Administration has targeted the COPS budget for cuts every year since taking office in 2001. In fact, last year the Bush Administration proposed eliminating COPS altogether. For Fiscal Year 2005, the Administration has proposed a staggering 86 percent cut for the COPS program - from over $750 million to only $44 million, none of which is set aside for hiring officers.

Worst time to cut number of police officers on the street. With increased homeland security needs, local officers have had to leave their traditional policing duties to cover tasks such as guarding airports, borders, transportation infrastructure, utilities, and special events. In addition, many of our police officers are overseas serving as reservists and local budgets are strained in these difficult economic times. Now, more than ever, our local law enforcement agencies need the COPS program.?"


COPS cuts have had dramatic effects on local communities. The cuts in the COPS budgets have had dramatic consequences for local communities, some examples include:

In New Orleans, the COPS program helped officials add more than 400 officers from 1996 to 2000, nearly 100 have been cut in the last three years. The city now has 1,610 officers. This year, homicides are up 16 percent, and rapes are up 14 percent.

Fewer officers = more 'bad-apples' getting through.
Fewer officers = more stress, and duress on the job, which leads to more shootings, and unnecessary force.
Fewer officers = a better chance for terrorists to get through, using Bush's' own logic that "local law-enforcement are our first line of defense" and first responders in catastrophe's like Katrina.

So once again, don't fall for this "bad-apple" bullshit. The only bad taste I have in the back of my mouth is the little bit of vomit that comes up when I'm reminded that yes, that fascist theocratic dipshit is our pResident.

[goodboy]

1. .

[pitohui]

2. this looks like good information

do you have links or cites? thanks

[goodboy]

4. Shit...yes I do, I forgot amidst all the copy and paste:)

http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/dpc-new.cfm?doc_name=fs-108-2-241

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Here's something an older cop told me:

He said that a lot of the problems are coming from young graduates of community college and for-profit trade school criminal justice programs. These kids are not veterans or very worl-wise and highly indoctrinated into what he felt were strange and dangerous ideas. He does not like working with them and says all of the experienced cops feel the same, but must work within the system as it exists.

Question: just what are they teaching in these schools?

[goodboy]

6. That's a good question, TS. I think it's due to the obvious contempt

Bush has for our law enforcement community. Yes, the "great protector" has forced them to modify their course study turn out the cadets faster, to a world with higher crime, (because of the cuts) more dangerous criminals in larger numbers, (because of the cuts) and with fewer resources and support and direction (because of the cuts)

Your cop friend's comments make a lot of sense:

Let's look at why these guys want to become officers of the law in the first place.

Good Cop:

Now, for the most part I believe they are honest, strong, trustworthy, brave people who care enough about their fellow man to put their lives on the line to protect and defend us. I'll also give them the benefit of the doubt and say it must be somewhat different to be a cop today (in a post 9-11 world, are you happy now freepers...I threw in some fear-mongering for ya!) than it was when your friend first started. But that shouldn't matter at all if they're in a good academy with modern courses, top shelf instructors, materiel, and equipment.

Bad Cop:

Then there are the ones who want the power that comes with being a lawman and having that gun on their hip. They feel they can do anything they wish any time they wish. They get off on the feeling they get from knowing that they can order people around, beat 'em up if nobody's lookin', take their money or drugs, and even shoot 'em...if they think they can get away with it. They're emotionally and mentally unstable. They can snap.

The combination of Good Cop / Bad President makes an already dangerous and stressful job more so by putting the officer into a more dangerous and stressful world with less equipment, training, and support.

The combination of Bad Cop / Bad President = well, I think you get the picture.

[goodboy]

5. link to the source cited in my post here:

http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/dpc-new.cfm?doc_name=fs-108-2-241

[goodboy]

7. Let's play Good Cop, Bad Cop...

Good Cop:

Now, for the most part I believe they are honest, strong, trustworthy, brave people who care enough about their fellow man to put their lives on the line to protect and defend us. I'll also give them the benefit of the doubt and say it must be somewhat different to be a cop today (in a post 9-11 world, are you happy now freepers...I threw in some fear-mongering for ya!) than it was when 20 years ago. But that shouldn't matter at all if they're in a good academy with modern courses, top shelf instructors, materiel, and equipment.

Bad Cop:

Then there are the ones who want the power that comes with being a lawman and having that gun on their hip. They feel they can do anything they wish any time they wish. They get off on the feeling they get from knowing that they can order people around, beat 'em up if nobody's lookin', take their money or drugs, and even shoot 'em...if they think they can get away with it. They're emotionally and mentally unstable. They can snap.

The combination of Good Cop / Bad President makes an already dangerous and stressful job more so by putting the officer into a more dangerous and stressful world with less equipment, training, and support.

The combination of Bad Cop / Bad President = well, I think you get the picture.

[davepc]

8. $11 billion?

How about we just decriminalize recreational drugs and enjoy the savings of having a lower prison population and less crime overall without militarizing the police.

[goodboy]

9. Lower prison pop. AND no national debt. Almost overnight, we could

wipeout BUsh's deficits, and give everyone healthcare, fund social security until the sun swallows the earth---or Repukes destroy it.

[anitar1]

10. Naw, Little boots would pass it on to the trillionaires. n/t

[goodboy]

11. And they'd all go down in the Dimebag Revolution of 2008 (nt)

[goodboy]

12. .

[MadHound]

13. While I agree that this is indeed part of the problem

I think that a larger part is simply due to an ongoing change in attitude amongst our law enforcement officials. This mindset has changed from police being public servants to police being guards at an outdoor insane asylum. While this change in attitude got its start during the late sixties, it really got a head of steam going during the Reagan years, and has just snowballed from there.

It is a mindset that cheapens the value of life, that makes people out to be problems to be solved, rather than citizens to be helped. And as more and more of the old school police retire, they are replaced by young blood with this attitude and mindset. And now this generation of officers are moving from the street to the desk, thus perpetuating this attitude throughout the force.

Even with more money, such travesties as we've seen will still continue to occur. What is needed even more than money is a change in this attitude and mindset. Until that changes, the outrages committed by police will continue and only grow worse.