this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
1487 points (98.9% liked)

THE POLICE PROBLEM

3299 readers
1761 users here now

    The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.

    99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.

    When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.

    When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."

    When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.

    Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.

    The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.

    All this is a path to a police state.

    In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.

    Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.

    That's the solution.

♦ ♦ ♦

Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.

♦ ♦ ♦

RULES

Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.

If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.

Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.

Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.

Please also abide by the instance rules.

It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.

♦ ♦ ♦

ALLIES

!abolition@slrpnk.net

!acab@lemmygrad.ml

r/ACAB

r/BadCopNoDonut/

Randy Balko

The Civil Rights Lawyer

The Honest Courtesan

Identity Project

MirandaWarning.org

♦ ♦ ♦

INFO

A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions

Adultification

Cops aren't supposed to be smart

Don't talk to the police.

Killings by law enforcement in Canada

Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom

Killings by law enforcement in the United States

Know your rights: Filming the police

Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)

Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.

Police lie under oath, a lot

Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak

Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street

Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States

So you wanna be a cop?

When the police knock on your door

♦ ♦ ♦

ORGANIZATIONS

Black Lives Matter

Campaign Zero

Innocence Project

The Marshall Project

Movement Law Lab

NAACP

National Police Accountability Project

Say Their Names

Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration

 

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 93 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Only one thing to do now. We have to treat all ICE agents like armed criminals until they show their face, a badge, and a warrant.

[–] arin@lemmy.world 47 points 1 day ago

I saw zero indications that ICE agents weren't criminals before this.

[–] throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Something something... bad guy with a gun... good guy with a gun?

So lets be the good guys with guns. Every American should perform citizens arrest on these so called "ICE Agents", if there is resistance, you are entitiled to use lethal force to defend yourself. 😏

Kidding, don't actually do this...

Unless... 🤔

[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

Agreed. It is easy to say "do it" ... but there are a lot of things that could go wrong for a good guy with a gun.

I was thinking more along the lines of trespassing them if they are on your property or at a business that the employees may not want ICE at. Also maybe calling the police on them ... an armed guy in a mask with a Temu printed Tshirt that says "ICE" is certainly suspicious.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is something I've thought about a lot. Obviously this is not legal advice, don't try this shit based on this comment. Say a cop shows up to your door with a warrant and says "Let me in to search your house." How the fuck am I supposed to react to this? If a cop asks to search something, you should always say no (unless there's some sort of implied consent like breathalyzers in Georgia for drivers). But if they have a warrant, how do I even know it's a real warrant? I'm not a legal expert. I don't wanna sound like a sovereign citizen type who believes random words make you immune to things but I feel like the proper thing to do is say something like "I don't consent, but I'm not resisting." Then just stand there. Don't close the door, but don't open it more either.

Like imagine a vampire. Right? They can only come in if they're invited. As humans we use certain phrases to make orders sound like requests to be polite. I used to get in trouble with my mom as a kid because of it. She'd say things like "Please do X" and I'd protest saying because she's saying please it's like she's asking, not telling. That's not necessarily the best example of it, but it helps demonstrate the point. "Let me do X" is sort of a request to be given permission to do X without actually asking to do X. If they have a warrant, why ask at all? Why not just come in?

Idk, I pray that I'm never in a situation like this.

If you are peaceful minded then speed dial your lawyer and follow their instructions.

If you want to use the castle doctrine then you have to do a lot of homework first.

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't see how that absolves them of being criminals. We should ship them to El Salvador and sort out the good ones later.

[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

Ha! We all know ICE agents dont get local warrants.

They are supposedly running around Chicago with Douglas County warrants. If that is real it means ICE is getting warrants from a judge 2 and a half hours away

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Starting yesterday?