Now ye're talking - to a US police officer Part II

What's your opinion of how the Capitol cops behaved in the riot - seems to have been some being complicit and others trying to do something about it.
Is there political bias in the police?

Capitol PD on the day probably did the best they could. There were some intelligence failures which are being hotly debated about how much was known about an actual violent threat to the building. There was also some executive level concern about a too heavy-handed response after the backlash to the BLM protests earlier in the year. And while everyone is up in arms about the “intelligence failure”, we have to be careful here. Free speech is protected speech, and its tough to draw the line between someone saying “down with the government” (free speech) as opposed to “we need to burn the building down & hang them all” (threat). And even then, is it a realist threat or just a gob****e moaning on.

Any officer who participated/facilitated in this deserves to be sanctioned, end of. Have your personal beliefs, fine, but when you don the uniform, its time to be neutral. If they were off duty and at the rally, fine, but if they participated in unlawful activity, then they are probably done as cops.

How many trainee police academy graduates have you mentored so far in your career? What are the most common mistakes made?

Biggest challenges rookies have is not understanding officer safety/awareness and failing to learn that “street sense” and how to deal with people. One can learn the laws, rules, etc., but picking up how to handle people & have awareness is a you get it or not thing which some people never get.

What's your thoughts on redirecting funding from arms and military style gear and other non-community policing items back into social work social care and community operations so you can get back to actual criminal police work and move away from all round babysitting. Comes under the banner but inappropriately named defund the Police.

Philosophically I support the idea of expanding social services, mental health, homeless outreach, etc., as ultimately this population have needs which cannot be met by the criminal justice system. However, gutting police budgets is simply moving the deck chairs. There is probably a middle ground which is lot in the current environment. I sense cities who slash their police budgets will be struggling to address a loss of police capacity from their citizens in the future. Where I live, due to the loss of police budget, in order to keep officers on the street, several specialty units have been disbanded. Now there is no gang unit, no parks unit, bomb squad at a bare minimum, no lake patrol, 70% reduction in traffic unit. All this will be fine until the public start clamoring about gang crime, traffic accidents, etc. Then what? My point is this is a complex social issue and not easily fixed by making less cops.

When you interact with members of the public do you have to be constantly on guard and looking out for threats to your safety?

Yes, everyday I plan on going home to my family. It keeps you safe. Basic street skills, becomes instinct.

Does the Rookie look realistic to you?

Haven’t seen it, TBH, I don’t really watch too much TV

Have you noticed even more hatred towards the badge from civilian.

There was more open hassle I suppose over the summer, we couldn’t get out of the car without five iPhones filming everything we do. But things are back to whatever passes for normal now, some like us, some don’t, same old same old.

Do you feel due to BLM and the race card constantly coming up that other officers or even yourself taking more time to think or process an issue which in turn could end up deadly due to taking longer to act due to not wanting to look like or coming across as a racist due to the perp been black or Asian for example.

There is an element of that to a small degree. I know some officers who won’t write a person of colour a ticket, just give them a warning. And I’ve heard of those who’ll go more softly, softly with some people, but for the most part we just do our jobs. It’s not like we’re going let a perp walk just because of their race.

What do you make of this BLM and antifa rubbish?

Peacefully protest, say your piece, whatever. When you start throwing petrol bombs, burning businesses and hurling then you are breaking the law and need to be sanctioned. People have a right to be heard, just don’t start throwing things. BLM is helping a national conversation about race, diversity & inclusion which is long overdue IMHO. I see it as a symptom of a larger issue in the US, as a country we have a long way to go.

What do you think this 4-year president term will be like and will we see all these protests, but mainly peaceful riots and shootings so CNN says...? again before the 4 years are up.

No idea, can’t predict the future.

Do you think the training practices of police recruits is appropriate for preparing them for the job? What is the pass rate of a typical class and approximately how many applications are there for every place on the training class?

For the most part the training process seems fine. I’d like to see more time in academies on social issues, communication skills and mental health. If I had anything to say, I think all cops should have a college degree too, helps with maturity & critical thinking. Pass rate, it varies by academy, ours is around the 78% mark. Applications, depends on the agency & who wants to live where. The bigger, attractive agencies will be more competitive of course. The US is achingly short of police officers, combination of good economy (pre-COVID), millennial generation not as single career oriented, police is not seen as attractive as it used to be with all the protects, violence, etc.

Why is the armour under your shirt rather than over it?

Designed to be more professional & less intimidating. Latest trend is moving the armour to a vest worn over the uniform. This the weight off the belt to prevent back issues and allow a little more comfort in the heat. Agencies are going to a wicking polo style shirt to be worn under the vests.

In addition to your mentioned personal kit do you have carbines etc. in the car?

We do, M-4 carbine and shotgun lives in the car.

Are there areas that are "no-go" to the police? Like we see in the movies, do you avoid certain areas such as "the hood"?

No, movie bollocks. Sure, some cites have dodgy areas, but not no-go ones. Urban myth. Portland had their little police free zone & it didn’t go well did it? This is not Iraq, we serve the people, not fear them.

You get to create a brand-new law, making it illegal to do anything you want - what is that law?

More restrictive gun laws.

Do US police actually eat much doughnuts?

Answered on previous thread.

Do you think that US policing and indeed, the US in general has a 'force first' mentality towards problem solving?

Maybe to some extent. I mean we are all taught to de-escalate, verbal skills, etc. This is a complex subject and currently undergoing a lot of needed study. I certainly agree we tend to have a more directive and to some degree aggressive posture compared to the UK & Ireland. However, they are different societies, so its not a simple comparison. Bear in mind, he US is a very armed society, so you have to have officer safety in mind during an encounter. I'm telling you firmly to show me your hands as they might have a gun which could kill me, I can't take a chance.

Follow up, you get to throw out an existing law, making it legal... What goes?

I’d decriminalize some low-level offenses and divert smaller stuff like shoplifting (under a certain value), to an alternate resolution process.

What's your take on the George Floyd incident and the subsequent BLM movement/riots? Do you think it was a just reaction, or was it something that was coming anyway?

I’ll separate the two. George Floyd’s death was a series of bad judgement decisions culminating in the death of a man. If you watch the whole incident bodycam video (about 35 min), the officers never made an attempt to de-escalate the encounter. They started aggressive and stayed that way. Floyd was a little jerky and somewhat non-compliant at the start, ok, they went hands on and restrained him. All good. At that point, there were opportunities to sit him down and sort the scene out. He was reluctant to get in the car and they forced the issue which started them down the road of dragging him to the ground & ultimately choking him. Without knowing anything else, I have to ask the question “why didn’t you just sit him down & figure it out?” He was restrained, there was three of you, granted there were two other subjects to he dealt with on scene too, but I’m not aware of any weapons involved, so it could have gone another way. Even if they did have to fight him, once he was under firm control, relax things. Most agencies prohibit chokehold and have so for years, authorizing it as a force option is just a bad idea. MPD obviously has a serious police cultural issue, the officers feared intervening with the senior officer and FFS, they use chokeholds.

I offer BLM was probably coming anyhow. As much as the US like to think we’ve made race & equality progress, we have a long way to go. This was the match that lit the fuse IMHO. Unfortunately, due to the previous administration’s portrayal, BLM became associated with violence, which in turn drew in Antifa, anarchists and general-purpose troublemakers. Encouraging heavy handed police responses didn’t make life better for anyone. I also suggest BLM was a catalyst for general discontent with whole sections of the population who feel marginalized and disenfranchised; be it unemployment, COVID, lack of access to real jobs, student debt, and polarization of all politics. The encouragement of Proud Boys, the 3%ers, and the rest of the gun toting, Q-Anon crowd who are looking for a fight further fanned the flames. We all have some work to do, unfortunately, the police get stuck in the middle in many ways and bear the brunt of the anger.