Colorado is now the most crime ridden state in the US. A former cop complains that the police are leaving the profession because they don’t like all of the monitoring and second guessing that they are being forced to endure.
“Law enforcement in Colorado is facing a historic recruiting, retention, and morale crisis,” Evans said. “Nobody wants to be a cop. The cops that were cops are fleeing the profession in droves. And that’s the second prong of this kind of two-pronged issue that’s driving crime up in Colorado.” Specifically, according to Evans, one of the policies that “broke the back” of law enforcement was the passage of SB 217.
According to Evans, two parts of SB 217 are particularly demoralizing to law enforcement. The first was the requirement that every encounter be extensively documented, adding significant paperwork to an already demanding job, and the second was a body camera requirement.
What brought that law about was events like randomly shooting people from a moving car because you find it to be funny.
One of the officers admitted in court during the trial: “We went out that evening and concealed our presence so people wouldn’t flee and we’d be able to get close enough to shoot them… and we were actually having fun shooting them”
Or cops threatening people, simply because they can.
“You seem like an argumentative person. You need to take your hand, go like this, and pull your head out of your ass. Don’t mess with me, I am not the guy you want to mess with. You hear me??”
Even people like me, who worked with cops for decades and haven’t had so much as a traffic ticket in more than 20 years, yet get threatened with death because a cop wants to prove who is boss now see police for what they are- criminal gangs with badges.
Cops have no one to blame for this but themselves. There are loads of bad cops out there. Now we can argue as to just how many of the cops out there are bad, but they have to take responsibility for the “thin blue line” nonsense where cops are not cleaning up the problems in their own ranks because they view the very public that they are supposed to serve as being the enemy. Get rid of your own bad cops, clean up your own ranks.
The police are making enemies of both sides in this conflict.
9 Comments
Miguel GFZ · April 24, 2023 at 6:43 am
I am sorry, any cop bemoaning to use a body-worn camera is automatically a suspect. BWC have saved more cops’ careers than anything else.
D · April 24, 2023 at 9:20 am
> The cops that were cops are fleeing the profession in droves.
Good. They’re half way there. Now drop all the stupid gun restrictions and allow law-abiding citizens to defend themselves properly and within a few years all the criminals will be in the ground (except the politicians) or too scared to harm others.
Dirty Dingus McGee · April 24, 2023 at 11:21 am
It’s been said by many, but bears repeating; If you have a problem and call the police, you now have two problems.
If someone else involves the police, as soon as you can call someone if you’re alone and let them know what is going on and WHERE it’s going on. If you are in your vehicle, secure it before the cops arrive. If at your home, secure it with you on the outside. Prepare to be arrested, because you MUST remain silent without the presence of an attorney. Cops are no longer interested in investigating any claim or statement, only in making an arrest. Doesn’t matter who is right or wrong, SOMEBODY is going to jail.
There is much more to consider than the above, but they are far too involved for a comment, and most of y’all already know them.
Gryphon · April 24, 2023 at 2:50 pm
“Police” are no better than a Gang, not so much that there are ‘Bad Cops’ but that like a Gang, they Defend their own Miscreants instead of Removing them. Thus, NONE of them can be trusted in any way. The ‘Militarization’ of the Po-Lice is another matter – there is NO EXCUSE for automatic Weapons and Armored Vehicles for “law enforcement”. None. And anyone who tries to Justify that is, IMO, just another pro-fascist idiot.
Ever Notice how ‘police’ refer to non-police as “Civilians”?
The term “Civilians” has a specific, Legal (in both national and international Law) and in means people who are NOT members of a Military Organization, or Army. Any Po-Lice ‘official’ who uses the Term “Civilians” is stating, (usually without understanding) that Po-Lice are in fact, “Military” in a Legal Sense. In Fact, “police” are CIVILIANS, and giving them the trappings of “Military Troops” make them the Enemy of the People; an Occupation Army, of sorts.
If they want to be treated with Respect ‘for doing a Dangerous Job’ (it really Isn’t, look at the Department of Labor and OSHA Statistics- it’s down on the List) then “police” need to be subjected to the Same Legal Requirements as any other Citizen- If they Threaten, Beat, or Shoot someone, they need to be subjected to the same Scrutiny that everyone else is – and the Bodycam is the way to do it. Remember, “If you are not Committing a Crime, Why are you worried about being “Watched”? Especially since you are (putatively) a “Public Servant”.
oldvet50 · April 25, 2023 at 6:29 am
I have never experienced first hand any of the ‘bad’ cops’ behavior but I have read about it in the news. I am not surprised by their actions because it is obvious that since most everyone seems to hate them, the only people that are now attracted to that job is people wanting a ‘license to kill’.
The reason that the military refers to non-military as civilian is because non-military people still have ‘civil rights’, military people do not. They are governed by the UCMJ. It now appears the police do not have civil rights either by the way the courts are prosecuting them and them having to prove their innocence instead of the other way around (courts proving their guilt).
Aesop · April 25, 2023 at 5:05 pm
@oldvet50
1) You should get out more.
2) The police have been ignoring everyone’s civil rights pretty much non-stop since first hired, going back centuries.
Now they’re not even shy about admitting it openly.
3) About 90% of the hate they’re feeling now is self-earned.
4) It didn’t used to be this way, nor this widespread, but the days when it was other-than are no longer within most of the country’s living memory.
joe · April 24, 2023 at 3:52 pm
they seriously lack training in every aspect…how to talk to people…how to apply the law…when to arrest and not arrest…searching…part of the issue is just that…all the older officers are leaving/retiring and the younger officers who don’t have the experience are training new officers so they don’t learn anything…it’s happening everywhere…how to do any damn thing…i see it every day…
Aesop · April 25, 2023 at 5:10 pm
This is what happens when they deliberately self-select mid-wits and half-wits for hiring.
The average police recruit could not intelligently comment on the Federalist Papers, nor participate as an equal in a high school discussion of the Bill Of Rights. (And by definition, if you could do so, you’re above-average). Worse, most of those who could do so no longer GAF.
After 40 years of that, it is its own reward.
When you hire morons to enforce your laws, you get moronic enforcement.
That’s where we are.
Imagine where we’ll be in another decade.
Divemedic · April 26, 2023 at 4:54 am
It’s not that they are hiring morons. They are hiring people who view the enforcement of laws as some sort of qui-military sporting contest, where they are all that stands between war’s desolation and a free society. They view the very public that they are to protect as the enemy, and the enforcement of laws as a war.
It’s a dangerous combination.
Comments are closed.