Riley24

Glad to see it and pretty overdue. It was propaganda.

I am a first responder in a diverse city who has seen all of this first-hand. The United States is a police state. Police in the United States are, for the most part, completely unaccountable. Police unions have applied pressure to politicians who refuse to criticize or reform them, and prosecutors who need good relationships with police so they rarely prosecute accusations. It is lucky to have a cop fired, let alone charged and convicted. Officers who do face consequences are often times rehired by other departments. Police in the US are famous for brutality, acquisition (legalized theft) of private property, and proven racial disparity in terms of arrests, aggressive policing, use of force, and murder. Justification for police murder is often times based on vague things such as the fear of the officer. Civil rights and First Amendment violations are not terribly uncommon, and rarely have consequences. All of this is perpetuated by a for-profit prison industrial complex, military industrial complex that profits off of police militarization, and an inhumane war on drugs. Cities are spending millions (sometimes billions) of dollars on police budget inflation as social services suffer, with no proven impact on crime. The protests/rioting you are seeing in the news are a result of ALL of this, in addition to socio-economic conditions created by decades of austerity and exacerbated by an inept response to coronavirus. Currently, we are seeing widespread and disturbing police brutality in every city across the country, with pretty much no signs of accountability. It is a massive escalation of state violence on peaceful protesters. Use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and physical violence is rampant. Get triggered by this, I don't care. Needs to be heard. Won't be debating, it'll just get shut down anyway. If you love your country, you must be willing to criticize it. Black Lives Matter ✊

We don't need new cars every year, and we don't need new cop cars every year. It's not environmentally conscious, and it's just a waste of money. Makes me chuckle when I see my departments 2015 FPIU next to a 2017 FPIU. Lol, Ford really suckered someone at the commissioners office huh. But the new Tahoe looks sweet, looks-wise at least. But I wish it was electric.

Dude, relax. All I did was ask you if you ever have. You said yes, and I shared a little bit of my opinion on the subject. Now you're berating me for the life choices we share. I and the majority of law enforcement officers support legalization, so I wasn't trying to offend your sensibilities somehow. I even thanked you for your honesty. I never asked for your advice on my future. You should keep that to yourself.

Keep your judgement to yourself. My career has been and will continue to be just fine without it.

First of all, it's legal in my state. I can't really take your critique seriously, because you just told me you also have used Cannabis. I doubt it was legal when you or any of your coworkers used it. I won't be seeking other work. Obviously I will pass all of my drug tests and comply with employer policies. And with all due respect, you're wrong about just about everything you said. I hope you do some more research into the subject, there's a lot of really surprising information out there. Genuinely wishing you a good day. If you'd like to chat more feel free to PM.

Wow. I was half joking, and I'm surprised by your answer. Didn't think people in emergency services were people that used to smoke weed. But then again I smoke occasionally now and I'm going to EMT school this summer, so checks out. Can't wait until its legal nationwide and everyone can enjoy regardless of profession. But until then, whiskey will be my companion...

Ever smoked weed?

This thread is a fuckin rager I love it.

I fully agree, dude! That's rockstar game design in a nutshell.

I thought freedom-loving Americans supported carrying guns in case you had to defend yourself from Jack-booted government thugs? IE. the police?

Whats the point of this post.

Part of what makes policing a difficult job is that they have to walk the balance between being a servant to the community while still being tactically proficient. Swinging too far in either direct is bad news. A lot of people these days seem to want the police to be a tacticool paramilitary organization. If the police continue to be militarized while we keep flooding the country with guns, the country is gonna turn into a damn warzone. Bad news for everyone. Big props to these officers for talking this person down like human beings. That's what the police is supposed to do, hostage or no hostage.

Yeah, I disagree. Get over it.

“Implying that because something doesn't work 100% of the time it's not worth doing.” -You

Well let me make it very clear to you then. I fully support a nationally enforced and mandatory gun registry, expanding funding for the ATF, banning private sales between individuals, aggressive gun buybacks, at least 4-6 month waiting periods, psychiatric evaluations, you name it. All of that, nation wide. You can disagree, and I don’t care. Look at all the security measures put in place after 9/11. It got really annoying to be a law-abiding responsible airline passenger. A lot of good Americans were inconvenienced and irritated by those measures. I believe we need to do the same thing with guns. It SHOULD annoying and inconvenient to acquire a killing machine.

Yeah, just like stronger gun control.

Three police officers were shot. Armed guards are not enough.

And you’re wrong about that. Yeah, it happens. I never said it didn’t. But the facts say that you’re more likely to shoot an innocent person or yourself than a bad guy who actually deserved to die. I could say the same to you. Pro-gun articles don’t mention gun thefts, shooting innocent people and family members, or the connection between access to firearms and successful suicide. I’m sure you apply the same objectivity to pro-gun media, right? Larger reality > anecdotes. You’re asking questions that have already been answered. I can’t force to to accept reality, you’re on your own brother. There are a ton of studies about the relationship between guns and suicide, if you don’t understand by now you’re just ignorant. Oh good god, dude. The romanticism you place on self-defense is super cringed. Yeah, I’ve been attacked. No chance of me seeing it coming. If I had a gun, he probably would’ve taken it from me and might’ve even shot me with it. Im done talking to you. You’re too deluded with self-defense machismo to be objective.

Personal anecdotes are always more reliable than statistics, right? And besides that, part of what they talked about in the article was the tendency for people to mis-report or mis-represent times when they used their gun in self-defense. If you’re telling me that if you didn’t have your gun you’d be dead, I don’t believe you. Good god, read the article. Suicides still count in the statistics, because people with access to guns are more likely to successfully kill themselves. It gives suicidal people an easy way out, whereas when suicide is more challenging, a lot of people don’t go through with it.