Why Are U.S. Police So Bad?

[PureX]

Actually the police had it's roots in the US as a force to hunt down slaves.

History Daily

historydaily.org

Yes, so the video states, as property protection for the wealthy. Later, after emancipation, they rounded up black people using vagrancy laws to be sent to prison work camps. Often as slave labor for the wealthy whites that once owned them. "Policing" the black community was clearly never about serving them. And it still isn't. Look what happened to George Floyd over a fake $20 that he may well have had no idea was fake. Protecting the integrity of money was still a far more important priority to the police than a black man's rights or well being.

 

[Stevicus]

The courts still see the police as our "overseers", and protect that status for them. Because that's what the police were established to be. And because that's what a lot of people in this country still see them as being. Especially the people of wealth and property that have no reason to fear them.

A lot of people see them as protectors, including those among the lower classes. I see a lot of people defending the police whenever anyone tries to criticize them. I see similar defense of the military or the government in general whenever anyone criticizes them. The media often take this view as well. If the people are too passive or submissive to stand up for themselves and question authority, then we get what we get. Even worse are those among the hoi polloi who run interference for and defend the government from every accusation.

 

[PureX]

A lot of people see them as protectors, including those among the lower classes. I see a lot of people defending the police whenever anyone tries to criticize them. I see similar defense of the military or the government in general whenever anyone criticizes them. The media often take this view as well. If the people are too passive or submissive to stand up for themselves and question authority, then we get what we get. Even worse are those among the hoi polloi who run interference for and defend the government from every accusation.

The police have always served and protected the (white) wealthy land and business owners. It's why they were created. As that came to include (white) upper middle class as well. So of course all those people believed in the "protect and serve" motto of the police. Brcaue it was true for them.

But poor people and people of color were never intended to be served or protected. They were to be 'overseen'. Kept in line. And most of all, kept from disrupting the course of the status quo. And some of them approve of this. As there will slways be those who agree with their masters as a way of pretending they aren't enslaved.

 

[Revoltingest]

Actually the police had it's roots in the US as a force to hunt down slaves.

History Daily

historydaily.org

This is just as the Democratic Party is rooted
in defending slavery. However, both they &
police seldom favor slavery these days.
Groups aren't always what they once were.

 

[Stevicus]

The police have always served and protected the (white) wealthy land and business owners. It's why they were created. As that came to include (white) upper middle class as well. So of course all those people believed in the "protect and serve" motto of the police. Brcaue it was true for them.

But poor people and people of color were never intended to be served or protected. They were to be 'overseen'. Kept in line. And most of all, kept from disrupting the course of the status quo. And some of them approve of this. As there will slways be those who agree with their masters as a way of pretending they aren't enslaved.

Well, our whole society was based on the idea of Manifest Destiny. The police are/were a reflection of that, although the rise of organized crime indicates the point where the police were irrevocably compromised. For example, J. Edgar Hoover always claimed that "there is no mafia" and repeatedly denied the existence of organized crime, while his main focus was on political dissent, targeting liberals and progressives, as well as any group trying to elevate the status of people of color. In his view, Martin Luther King was more dangerous than the Mob and the KKK combined.

This view is still largely maintained in America, although it's presented in seemingly innocuous, politically correct terms.

The only real solution that I can see is to challenge the government and weaken the hold of the mentality in question. Anything that weakens the faith and confidence people have in government should be encouraged. A government's power directly correlates with the level of faith supplied by the body politic.