| Rat's Nest |
| Bloggage, rants, and occasional notes of despair |
Musings on police, stimulated by a thread of the S.M. Stirling mailing list:
By its nature, the job may attract a disproportionate percentage of adrenalin junkies. Basically, however, policemen (and policewomen) are of the same sprit and flesh as me and thee. Therefore:
- "Disproportionate responses" probably aren't. You may just be having a "good time" by getting drunk, breaking a few windows, and setting fire to a couple of trash cans. It may not look like it to them, however. Hard-core anarcho-capitalist freshmen may also wish to contemplate the owner(s) of those windows having a gun, a billy, and a can of pepper spray, and being allowed to go after them.
- When they are, they often adrenalin caused. When you have half a second to decide whether I'm flashing a screwdriver or a -- BOOM! Too late; you're writhing on the ground in agony whilst I kick you in the head and piss in your face. If you recover, you may not take that half-second next time to check. If, that time, I am flashing a screwdriver, you will be crucified for a trigger-happy, authority-drunk sociopath. Have a nice day.
- Unless you are a doctor and a policeman, your mistakes will probably not kill people. That doesn't mean you make them less frequently, or even that they are less serious in nature (though perhaps not in consequences). It means that what you do is so trivial that you can have a meldown in the midst of your job and the worst that will happen is that the boss will fire your ass for inconveniencing somebody.
- Niven's First Law: Do not throw shit at an armed man. The corollary to Niven's First Law: Since nobody's aim is perfect, do not stand next to someone throwing shit at an armed man.
- The police are only human, and face the temptation to larceny like the rest of us. Think about that next time you get ready to cheat on your taxes or your SO.
- The police are only human, and do not wish to die. That is why they are handing out traffic tickets to outraged, middle-class, middle-aged white people like you instead getting their faces blown off in the ghetto.
- The police do not make the laws (although they may interpret them in "creative" ways). If you think that the speed limit on that stretch of highway is too low, get off of your fat ass, and go down to the town meeting, or vote in that referendum or election. (The question of how far I should be expected to go to look after your rights and privileges will be the topic of a future article).
- No, you do not actually pay their salary (if you do, that's bribery and is illegal). Police salaries are paid by the local chief or police commission, either themselves elected or appointed by an elected mayor. Get off your fat ass, etc.
- To right-wingers: the police are not your private storm-troopers, to be sent out to break the heads of anyone whose complexion is darker than yours.
- To left-wingers: when you are nabbed throwing a Molotov cocktail whilst wearing a black ski mask, it is not "police brutality" when you are handcuffed.
Thank you for your time.
John "Akatsukami" Braue Tuesday, April 23, 2002