this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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THE POLICE PROBLEM
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The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.
99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.
When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.
When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."
When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.
Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.
The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.
All this is a path to a police state.
In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.
Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.
That's the solution.
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Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.
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ALLIES
• r/ACAB
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INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
• Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• Killings by law enforcement in the United States
• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
• Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.
• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
• Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street
• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
• When the police knock on your door
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ORGANIZATIONS
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
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If a person impersonating a cop spouted out some random digits when I asked for their badge and serial number, I doubt I would be able to tell the difference.
Exactly. I had some undercover (or plain clothes I guess?) cops show up at my workplace looking for one of my guys. I asked to see their badge and they showed me a badge but honestly, that's only gonna stop someone who didn't plan far enough ahead. The badge could have been from the dollar store and I would have a hard time refuting....
That's what the call is for- you ask the local office if they can confirm that that officer is actually on patrol, exists, etc. Idk how that would work for ICE though; I don't think you can just call up the federal ICE headquarters.
That's not what the post says. It says call 911 if they refuse. It gives no guidance on what to do if they respond.
The current state of things is that they cover their faces and refuse to give any ID. Even fake ID.
I think if you followed the post suggestion and the result was that ICE would give fake names and fake badge-numbers, that would actually be positive because "agents lie about their identity" is something new and interesting. Then the strategy will need to change, but in the mean time it was useful.
At least with 911 on the phone you can ask to be connected somewhere who can verify
Bruh... It's like 630 in the morning where I'm at. Take your non constructive bullshit somewhere else.
You were responding to someone by basically telling them the post addresses what they're saying, but it doesn't cover the scenario they're talking about. If anything it's very constructive because it's pointing out a very obvious flaw with the post with specific instructions on how to make it better (by including what you said, so I don't know why you're so grumpy with me).