Now that the peaceful protestors have bashed a few cops, toppled some statues, burned cars and looted a little jewellery, maybe its time to gauge what they’ll actually achieve. While announcing new laws is not the same as enacting them, in the US the Democrats are set to introduce legislation to combat police violence and racial injustice. They want to ban chokeholds and racial profiling, make body worn video mandatory, civillianise the police complaint system, require officers to intervene when they witness misconduct, and limit lethal force. They also want to abolish the legal doctrine of ‘qualified immunity’ which protects police from civil litigation, making every cop financially liable for illegal or unconstitutional acts. May I also point out that this is not what the Republicans are saying. They are uniformly mute on this issue, and they are (for the time being) still in charge.
But as an academic exercise, you really only need the last of the Democrat’s proposals — forget the rest. Threaten to bankrupt an officer for a split-second decision made under horrific conditions which no civillian critic will ever endure, and you’ll cure ‘police brutality’ for sure, because you won’t have any police left. Why would they hang around? It’s already the most thankless job on the planet, and getting more so every day. Law enforcement in the US would be reduced to a rump populated by cowards and career-climbers — and these ‘Olympic flames’ (because they never go out) are your preference, over the cop who trusts his training, instincts, body armor, and above all that his department to back him if he acts in good faith? Be careful what you wish for. By making cops scared to do their job, you’re giving crime the green light.
That’s the problem with politicians. They’re self-obssessed hypocrites who front the media, talking tough, making their declaration of solidarity with the mob on the latest ‘big issue’ — but in a years time they’ll be in lock-step with the police forces of the world, driving down crime to safeguard their re-election and all that lovely gubmint money. The BLM movement is not just as a protest against ‘police brutality’ — it’s an omen. With hundreds of millions of newly-unemployed people worldwide, is anybody seriously considering knobbling the cops at the time you’re going to need them most? How about this vision: a more paramilitary police force with wider discretionary powers to combat widespread civil unrest and crime on a scale unseen this century. Before you shoot the messenger, research the correllation between crime and unemployment. Let peeps go hungry for a year or two, and there won’t be crowds in the streets because everyone will be too afraid to leave their homes.
But yeah, go ahead, sue the cops. That’ll work.
My final advice, because I am bored with this topic now, is be ready to bunker down with your family, safe in the knowledge that the wolves at the door will be met by the same cops you’ve been screaming your hate at these past six years. Pretend you’re in danger, even though EVERYBODY KNOWS that most violent crime perpetrated upon the ‘black community’ is committed by black offenders. Why don’t they paint that on their flags? I am perplexed! But, of course, if we just close our eyes and smile dreamily, imagining a world where everyboy is equal in every way, then all the nasty reality will just dissolve. Poor young black males with mental health issues, substance abuse issues, or simply a criminal disposition will metamorphose into billionaire basketball players or hip-hop artistes. All they gotta do is distract the world from the fact that they’re killing each other, by pointing the finger at the police. ‘Nuff said.
Nope, I’m just wide awake.