Thursday, January 28, 2016

This month's top prize for horse excrement and magical thinking.

"THINKING BIG: The case for disarming America’s police force."
(LINK NOW FIXED.)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike,
The link isn't working. When you click on it, it stays on the SSI home page.

Thanks for all you do, and may G-d grant you many more days to do it all in.

Prayers,
B Woodman
III-per

rexxhead said...

(Tracked it down)

The author admits that's a practical impossibility with the amount of (drug-war-fueled) crime on our streets, but I think there's a middle ground:

If an officer fires his weapon while his bodycam is off, it's felonious assault; if death occurs, it's Murder-1. All footage of officer-involved shootings posts on YouTube within 48 hours.

If we can't trust the police, then it's fair to conclude that we ARE living in a garrison state.

Chiu ChunLing said...

Since the author makes no mention of disarming law-abiding citizens in coordination with this plan, in fact he suggests rather the opposite by discussing Iceland.

I do think that he missteps in suggesting we could start by disarming off-duty police, but overall the suggestion that the police should primarily function by consent and support from an armed populace, and that this is facilitated by having the police remain unarmed while on duty, is far more rational than not.

Anonymous said...

Mike, I am surprised you have not caught on to the real desires of the "disarm police" folks. They, while being anti gun and anti gun right, actually know YOU are right and AGREE with you! What is it you have always shared with us? Of course it is the truth that when push comes to shove, all those arms will be immediately accessible to us because the vast majority of people staffing LEO will refuse to turn our government upon our her own people. They will not participate and when they bail, all that gear will be taken over by the people.

Now, thse folks may claim to be "for the people" in their police disarmament, but the real truth is that they really are just the same old tired disarmist tyrants as they are every other day.

Anonymous said...

As long as we're not talking about taking guns away from citizens, I wouldn't have an issue with discussing taking guns away from regular patrol officers.
I was amazed after having a chance to interact with the Irish Garda. A car I rented was driven away from a gas station by one of the other authorized drivers. The interaction with the officer was more like I was a customer. They offered to meet the other driver at a place of their convenience and deliver the money to the station, as he had left that city. It really was amazing. It does requires a populace that respects the police and wants to cooperate with them. I'm not sure that's really who we are as a country. Would it change somewhat if we disarmed the police? I have no idea. But I do know that I found the Irish Garda interaction to be way beyond what I would have expected.
Last year the Irish government prosecuted some police officers for raiding the wrong house, since their warrant wasn't valid. Again, refreshing. I would like to see some of that here.

Jim Fowley said...

Taking five minutes or more to get to a home invasion is bad enough, but to arrive armed with a stick is totally useless.

Anonymous said...

Disarm the police? I'M ALL FOR IT.

Matter of fact, I say completely dissolve and eliminate every single incorporated police department in the country.

All policing should be done by ELECTED sheriffs and deputies, NOT bureaucrat appointed thugs who are there to protect politicians and the "corporation of government".

This country needs to get back to elected "peace officers" and get rid of the jaded, trigger happy morons being hired by departments all over the country.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous is correct. Net net the republic would be much better off with unarmed peace officers than with the current batch of steroided up morons/killers we have now.

ag42b said...

I worked part time in my community as a police officer for 32 years. I was able to defuse some fights and family squabbles by my reputation for ensuring impartiality, fair play, and an ability to listen to all voices before making a decision. Even our State Police called me to single-handedly defuse situations that a group of them felt uncomfortable dealing with. Being respected by community members is one thing. When trying to protect my community against homicidal outsiders who cared nothing for it and who viewed me as only a minor impediment, I would not have done the job without a sidearm. I declined larger weaponry, except for dispatching injured bears. I did not sign up for sniper training, use of armored vehicles, or anything that smacked of duties not in the purview of a community cop. If the situation gets to that point, society has gone beyond community policing. I would not betray the Constitution, but instead turn in my badge of office, and take other predetermined steps to defend my family and Constitution by joining my State Guard militia unit, where I am currently active.