Re: Pittsburgh protesters shut down highway for hours over fatal police shooting of unarmed teen Ant
I'll meet you there...some of this HAS been brought on to themselves by the police themselves. Even if it's only 1%, that's a lot of cops. But that's not the REAL reason for the massive distrust in my opinion. It's the penchant of good officers closing ranks to protect the few bad that has eroded certain factions of the publics trust. However, I also understand the police point of view as well, as this story, and countless untold numbers of others illustrates.
Yes, man, I agree with you completely. I think the closing ranks around that 1% of bad cops (or whatever the number is...I tend to think it's higher, but by no means the majority....though, that would change from precinct to precinct, region to region, and I have no way to prove it, so we'll use your number for this chat) does imply complicity, at least to some extent. Cops need to own that, and figure out how to make it better.
That said, I also have sympathy for the police...for the good ones I have nothing but admiration, respect, and gratitude. I've met good cops, great cops. They have a tough job, and today's climate is incredibly difficult...though, per the above, a lot of the complications are of their own making. And the world isn't getting less crazy...
But, good grief, they need to get a handle on their body count. If they're not careful, they are going to get to the point where the majority of people stop trusting them, and then what are they going to do? I think we need to pressure the cops to clean house, if only for selfish reasons, as once the general public stop trusting and respecting the police, they are completely ineffective, and we are completely unprotected.
As for this case specifically, I always try hard to be disciplined about keeping an open mind until the investigation is done, but I have to admit, my gut always pulls towards suspicion. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying that's how I've come to feel. As I said, a mess.
