Police training has a major flaw which makes not only the citizens less safe, but almost guarantees Civil Rights violations by today’s police force. After watching hours of police body cams and bystander video, there are certain training techniques that seem to be universal across all departments. These tactics encourage police officers to both use force and punish those who do not comply. In short, training instills the mentality of a rapist upon our police.
I do not say that lightly. In fact, I would not have organically come to that conclusion if I hadn’t spoken with and seen videos of women discussing their encounters with the police. There are many phrases they teach police in training that are also common phrases women who endure rape often hear. Below are just some of many phrases people hear that could come from either police or a rapist.
- If you did what I asked, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
- Comply and you won’t get hurt.
- You brought this on yourself. Why didn’t you just do what I told you?
- Either you do what I say or we are going to have to do it the hard way.
- Now why did you have to make it so hard on yourself?
- All you are doing is making it worse for yourself.
- If you’d just do what I asked from the start, we wouldn’t have had to go this route.
- When I tell you to do something, comply or else!
- It’s going to only go one of two ways and neither is going to be good for you.
- Just do what I say and nothing will happen to you.
- All you had to do was comply.
- Why couldn’t you just comply with me?
Many police today see themselves existing in opposition to non-police officers. Regular citizens are dehumanized as “subjects” and therefore they can be treated however the officer wants without guilt or remorse. Police regularly use intimidation and the threat of force to force citizens into compliance. When a citizen does not comply with their demands, they punish the citizen. Unfortunately for the citizenry, police have almost unbridled power to employ unlawful action or force without actual fear of consequences. Even when they cannot take direct action, they often find illegal or unethical ways of striking out at the individual to reassert their dominance.
Because of horrible training and willful ignorance, they have trained police to bully and intimidate “subjects” into compliance. When their primary tactics don’t work, police often find creative ways of retribution. Often, police will act upon their impulses and violate basic Civil Liberties and sometimes state or federal laws to take out their frustration immediately. The culture of the Blue Line creates a division where police feel they are above those they should be protecting.
Where there is no fear of consequences, individuals will commit atrocities they would not consider while in a rational discussion. This is what we see in modern policing. Human nature has provided us with a predatory instinct that is misused by many police officers. When dealing with women, often officers will use their physical size and demeanor to force their will upon the “subject”. The predator drive floods the officer’s brain with chemicals that provide a type of high and gives them positive reinforcement for their actions. They can get addicted to this high and misuse their authority to reach this high in situations where force or intimidation isn’t warranted. When these officers become frustrated in their attempt to get high, they act as any addict would and lash out at those they see as responsible for denying them their pleasure. This happens more with women than men and is probably the reason the statistics on spousal abuse amongst police are so high.
Modern police training does not provide officers with the knowledge it takes to uphold the laws and protect the Civil Liberties of citizens. Instead, police are trained that “officer safety” is the primary concern. Often, departments will have policies that instruct officers to ignore the plight of citizens if it would put them in harm’s way.
Simply look at the high-profile debacle of Parkland Florida. The on campus police officer did not move to intervene when the shooter opened fire. Instead, he hid in a stairwell and waited until officers from multiple jurisdictions arrived as backup before leaving the safety of the brick walls. Even though the shooting was over, he would not leave until they assured him of his safety. It wasn’t long after that when the police department revealed that he was simply following their policy and they did not have a duty to protect anyone. This sobering situation made many people realize that police no longer fill the role the citizens created for them.
With abuses of power and violation of Civil Liberties, police are often unable and unwilling to accept any fault in a fellow officer’s actions. In almost every case where someone sues that doesn’t get dismissed, police will settle without admitting fault and often also promote the offender. Police will often destroy or hide evidence of wrongdoing by a fellow officer. There are many instances of police fabricating police reports contradicted by video evidence. Many instances of police being caught planting evidence or doing retaliatory arrests result in the offending police officer going unpunished because of the brotherhood mentality all police are now taught. In Los Angeles, this has even led to a Federal court recognizing the existence of criminal gangs working within the police department.
In the mid-1990s, I had the occasion to train with police officers. There was a certain amount of ego and pride that came with the badge, but most of the police I trained with appeared to have the motivation of helping people. After September 11, 2001, all of that changed. They taught the police to treat everything with suspicion. Terry v. Ohio became the basis for “officer safety” being a mantra that allowed anything. This was a perfect storm brought on by Qualified Immunity and a “See Something Say Something” culture. They gave police more leeway in how they policed a community, and most departments took the pathway of becoming overlords and not servants or custodians.
Someone could do a simple search on the Internet and find multiple stories of police corruption taking down an entire department. Videos on sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram often show abuses we like to think would not have happened 30 years ago. Nearly everybody today has a phone with a camera that can take pictures or record a video. People who are in the wrong place at the right time have circumvented the resistance some departments have displayed to getting body cameras.
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