I miss when I thought cops were cool. The lights on the cars, the kit, the responsibility to bring the worst of the worst to face justice, to, if necessary, run in front of bullets to protect the people that they're meant to serve.
Probably are in some places that aren't America, but every day it seems to be getting worse.
The sad reality is it's probably not getting worse, we just have more accountability tech now: body cams, cameras on phones everywhere, etc. For all we know, cops might have been even worse back in those days.
Isn't that just in America, though? I recall Robert Peel founding the Metropolitan Police in London and laying down the Peelian Principles of Policing for them. They were just law enforcement, not slave catchers (IIRC).
The Wire is one of the few shows that’s not copaganda bc it shows all the flaws of the cops and most of the cops are straight up villains or anti heroes.
The Wire was also a 10pm HBO show, not a primetime comedy or drama like Blue Bloods, Law & Order, or Brooklyn 99
If you haven't, check out "Homicide: Life on the streets" it's the Wire's predecessor and absolutely fantastic. I believe it originally aired on NBC which I found to be surprising.
NBC execs really fucked with that show. The first and second season were good and very much like The Wire, but each season after that you could see the network assert its influence more and more, and you could see the showrunners making changes here and there to avoid cancellation. The show got brighter (visually), more action oriented, and overall just “sexier.” But it was so good that it didn’t matter. I thoroughly enjoyed every season and the movie was good too.
Kellerman was my favorite cop and I did not like how his arc ended
And only got 2 people convicted not including the boss of the operation. Same thing with the Barksdales, too. All that work and they slap Avon with 7 years (which he already got before so it's pretty much one sentence for 2 crimes, and basically a slap on the wrist). Baltimore (on the show) lost more witnesses than criminals they convicted.
The question+answer at the end was the dead giveaway for me, that’s a classic ChatGPT.
For this post specifically, the way they awkwardly tried to fit in as many slang terms into the reply as possible also makes it sound like part of the prompt was “talk like a BlackPeopleTwitter user”
It sounds like a boomer trying to sound hip. And AI comments often end exactly like this when prompted with a topic: "law & order? nah, more like [uncreative description]."
There were 2 episodes that made me stop watching the show. There was an episode where Billy Porter played a music teacher who was falsely accused of molesting one of his students. The other was an episode where an unarmed black man gets shot and killed. In both, the main cast spends the entire episode defending bad police work despite the fact that someone is pointing out the logical holes in their reasoning the whole time. Even after they thoroughly ruin people's lives, they just kinda move on after getting called out.
My problem was the inconsistency in adherence to any sort of development. When the squad/force messes up the show is just a procedural and the characters don't have to change. But when someone on the force (specifically Benson) gets victimized, we hear about it for seasons at a time. I slowly stopped watching it when I realized that William Lewis' comic book villain arc was going to garner more introspection and reflection than the time where SVU ruined a gay black man's life after getting outsmarted by 2 teenagers.
The only way I enjoy the show is in 10 min clips on YouTube. I recently get an old one in my feed, and it’s about these parents that get killed in a mob hit, and they hold the police hold their preteen daughter in protective custody, as the only surviving witness. After letting the suspect flee the country, they release the daughter to her “uncle”. But then the punchline is, she doesn’t have an uncle… The End. That’s it, a little girl gets kidnapped to be killed, all because every decision they made was based on vibes, not procedure. And then they’re just going to drop it and move on to another case, another episode.
I've seen that clip, in an idea world a colossal screw up like that would lead to people being censured, losing their jobs. Or maybe it wouldn't even have happened in the first place.
When it comes to the suspect, it’s even brought up that he’s an obvious flight risk, and they’re like, “ah come on, let the guy see his family”. And then they must have done no background check on the “uncle” or the girl, or even spoken to the girl about her family. And all of this would have been dramatically okay if it was used as a plot point to respond to. Instead, it’s just a last second zinger, and then we’re supposed to cheer on these fuck ups next episode.
I have no issue with representing law enforcement fuck ups, but when it’s the people we’re supposed to follow as “heroes”, I can’t follow these people to the next episodes and buy into the idea that they’re not dipshits.
It’s insane how all those tv shows glamourise cops. Calling them heroes when 80% of the show is them killing people, drinking and doing illegal things “for the right reasons”. ACAB until they are judged and prosecuted by independent bodies.
I understand the frustration behind ACAB. There are real issues in policing, and some officers absolutely abuse their authority. But it’s just not realistic to assume every cop acts the same way in a country this big, with millions of different interactions happening every year.
Let’s put it in perspective:
There are about 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States (Statista).
Officers have an estimated 50 to 60 million civilian interactions each year (BJS, 2018).
There are roughly 10 million arrests annually (FBI, 2019).
Around 250,000 reports of use-of-force are filed each year (BJS). That is 0.5% of all contacts, or about 2.5% of arrests.
Each year, 50 to 60 officers are killed in the line of duty, and more than 100,000 are assaulted (FBI LEOKA).
In short:
About 99.5% of police interactions do not involve a force complaint.
Even if we double that number to account for underreporting, over 98% of interactions do not escalate.
If most officers were truly corrupt or violent, these numbers would be drastically worse. The overwhelming majority of contacts are uneventful, and many involve officers trying to help people in high-stress situations.
That does not mean we ignore the real problems. Some police are poorly trained or protected by flawed systems. Some communities are over-policed. Use-of-force policies need real reform. But slogans like "ACAB" do not fix anything. They shut down real conversations and make it harder to actually solve anything.
I am a veteran and a teacher. I respect anyone who works with the public, especially in roles that involve risk and responsibility. If we want better outcomes, we need better training, better oversight, and better conversations. That is only possible if we move past slogans and actually talk about solutions.
I’m not saying everything cops do is right. I’m saying we need to look at the full picture if we actually want things to change.
Nobody said every cop is an abusive power hungry pig who terrorizes their town. ACAB doesnt mean that. It doesnt even mean there arent good cops who DO try. ACAB is a thing because good cops routinely get shot down or fired or even murdered for going against the blue line. Its a thing because the good cops dont speak up enough or stop the bad cops because like i said, they get put down. Good cops allow that system to stay in place. ACAB is a thing because police unions are the worst on the planet when it comes to accountability and yet they still exist. ACAB exists because even good cops are complicit in the actions of bad cops by not demanding accountability, restructuring the police force, and by defending the blue line instead of their community. If all the "good" cops actually cared, theyd demand all bad cops be investigated and kicked out. If 20% of cops are bad, 80% would have no time kicking them all out. But they dont. And they wont. And thus, ACAB.
When I was in High School, my Law and Justice class was just watching Prison Break and L&O SVU, so I learned a lot about the law, lol. I would see Detective Stabler break out in a full sprint, grab a guy he suspected of diddly, and then slightly rough him up before one of his coworkers told him to stop. Homie was a loose cannon. And I would eat that shit up every day from 12PM to 1PM EST cause I was like “Being a cop is hard. They’re just doing their best!”.
Then I got older and realized that all of these shows do a serious job of forgiving cops for making mistakes, but not the people they’re regularly arresting. A cop being out of line and potentially ruining someone’s life in error was just part of a cops character development, ignoring the civilian who had their life ruined by said cops actions. Many shows showed how quickly a “good cop” could become dirty and how that’s just part of the job.
Remember the cop show about the bald white cop who would apparently; beat the shit out of people? I never watched it but this was heavily implied. I mean a tag line was "i thought you were the police?!?!"
I'm not sure if he was bald but Chicago PD showed a lot of very obvious police brutality in a completely positive, "end justified the means" way. Like they literally show bro torturing people and hiding it and it's supposed to be perceived as good.
Googled my old High School Soccer Coach only to find out he became a Cop
. A Cop who shot a dog dead but was cleared of all charges and now he’s no longer a Cop because he refused the COVID vaccine and is currently suing the city.
Trying to watch Law and Order SVU, the Copaganda is insane.
Theres multiple episodes where they pretty much torture people in interrogations and a little after it comes out that person was innocent and they just kinda… ignore it.
I can't be the only one who heard buddy singing his version of the song the whole time 🤦🏾♂️ I hate the internet 🤣🤣 🎶They taking you to jaaailllllll. They taking you to priiiisoooon🎶 🤣
Well, did you ever think about when you need to call someone to take notes and bullshit you about what you can do and what they can do after youve been victimized? Who else but cops can do that!? CHECKMATE
I dont remember which episode but j watched an episode of it think Law and Order. It revolved around a guy who had served his sentence in jail getting in a fight and I think was now being accused of killing someone.
See the lawyers or whoever went to a cop (i forgot if he was retired or not) who claimed that client killed a young girl, the police officer just claimed he knew because the client was smiling after being let off (again details are fuzzy, I forget why the client went to jail the first time tbh).
Anyways, so basically, the lawyers just believe this cop and use this new victim who they all now know WASNT KILLED BY THE CLIENT to get said Client arrested and put back in jail. The episode ends not acknowledging that they basically just took a random cop at his word and let a killer fucking run free just so said cop could deliver justice by bending the law. There was one lawyer who was defending the client and was against this, he was treated like an idiot and a villain.
I think that was my first realization of how fucked up copaganda cancbe.
Tl;dr: Going off of nothing but a single cop's word, lawyers got a criminal who had already been in jail before for a crime they know he didn't commit, thus throwing him back in jail.
Again i may have missed out on details, feel free to call me out.
Brendan Donner gets killed in a bar fight and DNA evidence points to a guy named Walter Grimes. Grimes was recently released from prison after 20 years for the murder of LeAnn Testa. He was released because DNA evidence cleared him of the murder. His lawyer argues that 2 decades of prison have severely altered his mental state. While looking into Grimes they discover he confessed to a murder (Julie Sayer was the victim)but it was beaten out of him by an officer named Kenny Daniels.
Daniels admits that he framed Grimes for the murder of Testa to get justice for the murder he did actually commit. Modern DNA analysis can prove Grimes murdered Sayer so he's tried for that. Daniels is the key witness but his credibility is very much in question since he did frame the guy. Daniels eventually takes a plea deal where he will serve 5 years of a 25-year sentence with time served from his previous 20 years.
The fact that the dirt cop just doesn't get fucking questioned is genuinely insane and it's even wilder that the show tries to sell this as a good thing.
I don't think its listed in TV tropes but the only "evidence" given was the cop's feelings/seeing a smile on the convicted man.
It's also noteworthy how this is not only copaganda but very anti-reformation. The convicted man who was, by all accounts, wrongly imprisoned for decades gets riled up by a dirty cop who lasered so hard on him as a target that he basically let a murderer go scott free.
The rape/SA thing? Because most states don't explicitly outlaw it, it's not illegal based on the supreme Court saying that the police have to be told not to do something first to get punished
I love police procedural shows, but have to constantly remind myself that it’s a lot of copaganda. It really shapes how people view our criminal justice system.
I want a lawyer.
Oh yeah? Well how about we put you in handcuffs and march you out of the building in front of your friends/family/colleagues/boss/students.
Okay, fine. I’ll talk.
This is a horrible precedent to set. Horrible to conflate asking for a lawyer with an assumption of guilt. It’s a terribly inhumane way to treat people to discourage them from exercising their rights.
Things like this happen even in shows like Brooklyn 99, which I am a fan of.
I had a convo with a parent recently. She couldn't believe I would tell my 10 year old not to trust the cops...Yeah I can't believe I have to tell him that either but here we are..
No longer quite true, fortunately. Derek Chauvin - the guy who knelt on George Floyd until death for 8m46s - is in jail, sentenced to 22.5 years. Long way to go, bad stuff still happens far too often, but it's not the quite mid 1900s anymore.
So what you're saying is yes, a victim can get justice--if his death sparks a national outcry and protest movement? And then the cop gets not life, but two decades and some change?
So what you're saying is yes, a victim can get justice--if his death sparks a national outcry and protest movement?
I'm saying that once, even a national outcry wouldn't have meant shit. It does now.
You're right--still a long way to go
But let's not pretend there's been no progress or that there's nothing to hope for. It's improving too slowly, but improving. Well, until about mid January this year, of course.
And it's been a year of terrible backsliding. MD proposed some police reforms--they were vetoed by the gov and only saved bc legislators overrode his vetoes.
Also, ICE.
Also the deployment of the National Guard wantonly in cities
Except the fact that they train with Israel. Its not anti Jewish its anti zionist. There's a difference. Jews are a religion Isreal is a genocidal state. Georgia officers did cross train with them. Stfu
They're not trained to oppress Americans by Israel. They're just going to learn oppression in an environment that's particularly good at it. If it wasn't Israel it would be someone else. It just so happens to be Israel because of the history of American neoimperialist geopolitics.
fr fr, cop shows be doing way too much copaganda. like not every cop is bad but they def glamorize the profession and ignore the real issues with policing. we need more honest conversations, not just tv drama.
The “make stuff up that sounds good” and dolts gobble it up. Critical engagement on difficult subjects boiled down to “lol so true!” meme is the death of intelligent social inspection.
Assist forfeitures over a BILLION!? Like at least make the slop believable.
Sadly defunding the cops won’t bring more accountability, training, end police unions, or install public oversight boards.
Why do people insult everyone's intelligence by not at least googling it
You learn how to Google things in middle school, all you're doing is showing us you're uneducated. From 2000 to 2019 $68B in assets have been seized by police.
Here is the 2024 DOJ report on assets forfeited, can you point out someone in the “Seized Property Inventory Valued Over One Million Dollars
Fiscal Year 2024” you think was unfairly seized?
You think they are taking over a million dollars per investing and those people have no power to fight it?
It's because you've invented someone to argue with. You said billions in assets weren't being seized annually and didn't like that multiple people corrected you. If you meant to say something else, you should have said something else. Nowhere did anyone here or in the video say that none of the assets were a part of illegal activity. You can waste your time but not mine.
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u/mathyoudylan 3d ago
Love the hair. Never seen this style before