For the Forum To Consider: DC Police Force Struggling To Keep Up
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...mepage%2Fstory
The couple of DC police I know personally say leadership is one of the big issues.
They also think marijuana legalization was a good thing, allowing them to focus on more serious crimes.
Cody
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
You like to hear that marijuana legalization is a good thing. Did that add the other part that goes with that? Also....there wasn't a street cop worth their salt arresting folks with a couple joints or a small Baggie of weed. Those were always a means for probable cause to dig deeper, and rarely an arresting offense (unless the violator was a total ass or it solved another problem).
As far as the rest....news flash, older leO's see the writing on the wall and are hanging it up as soon as the can, especially in places with people like Lanier running the ship.
Just a Hairy Special Snowflake supply clerk with no field experience, shooting an Asymetric carbine as a Try Hard. Snarky and easily butt hurt. Favorite animal is the Cape Buffalo....likely indicative of a personality disorder.
"If I had a grandpa, he would look like Delbert Belton".
In years past, I had to deal with DC PD a fair bit.
Anyone who thinks that legalizing marijuana is the right way to go is really not smart. Or observant.
Can you expand on this?Originally Posted by SLG
I ask because most of the arguments I've heard against legalizing Marijuana aren't very convincing.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
I only have two DC cops I know so it is just anecdotal.
It does reinforce my view that spending tax dollars to arrest, prosecute and jail weed users and dealers is a waste. Just so you know I also think chronic weed use is bad for people and they need to seek help and stay sober. As long as they don't get behind the wheel or the stick or be in a critical job, and use it in moderation, I don't see the issue.
But I was more interested in the changes going on inside police forces. Is getting a younger generation of police going to change policing?
Cody
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
Arresting people for minor amounts of weed is dumb, and real cops almost never do, unless there is something else going on, or an outside motivation for the cop (OT, or something like that).
I don't study drug use in America, so I don't have any scholarly arguments to point to. I did live in a state that legalized marijuana. Turned it to shit pretty quick. between the druggies themselves, the stores that opened up to sell it, and the influence all that had on younger people, you'd have to have something wrong to think that condoning drug use is a good thing.
It's fine to say "non-critical job", or some other such nonsense, but people are people. If you think otherwise, I suggest that you are living in a bubble.
I'm sorry if I sound like a dick about this, but there really is no middle ground here. I'm a libertarian in most ways, but people are irresponsible and cannot be trusted when it comes to regulations and the stuff they ingest. Why is drunk driving such a problem? Alcohol is legal, isn't it? If guns simply disappeared, we would still have crime. If pot and other illegal drugs disappeared, we would have a better society. Wishful thinking, of course.
That sounds like what the teetolaters said about prohibition, yet the sun has still come up every morning. I don't see that as legal justification, being it's essentially an opinion....and, respectfully, you even admitted an uninformed one.
I also don't see "well, I can find pot and use the SIA to find greater evil" as legal justification for criminalizing something on its own....especially when that something is absent any harm, and something that most of society partakes in without being associated with other legitimate criminal activity.
Last edited by TGS; 12-27-2015 at 12:01 PM.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
The sun has come up every morning? That's your argument for it? At least mine is based on first hand observation.
Be grateful the line of LE you are going into will keep you from having to worry about these types of issues on a professional level. I have to deal with it everyday.
How much of what you have to deal with is the result of weed being illegal? or put another way, if weed were legal would you still have the same things to deal with or just the ones any LEO has to deal with when for example dealing with alcohol abuse?
I am no expert on the matter and I don't like marijuana (tried it once before college and it gave me the worst headache of my life), however, it seems to me that legalization (effectively removing it from criminal enterprise -not totally, I know- and putting it in regular stores, just like alcohol) would have more benefits than drawbacks. I'm no fan of people drugging themselves (with whatever) and realize that whether the drug is legal or not those who get high (or drunk or whatever) can still very much be a danger to themselves and others, but eliminating a whole segment of a criminal market is far from a bad thing and if the effect on society is the same as the legalization of alcohol was, I don't see the problem. But then again, I don't deal with the same populations that you LEOs do, so .. just my opinion :-)
My experience with marijuana users is that they tend to have a lot more going on than just pot smoking. The marijuana charge is almost always stacked with other violations. This generally applies to all drug and alcohol use......likely due to the effects of an altered mental status causing the subject to do things they would likely not do while sober.
In locations that I have worked where alcohol has been prohibited due to excessive crime related to health and safety, the criminal activity has dramatically dropped. So, prohibitions when they are "mostly" enforced do work from my experience on mind altering substances. Would legalizing marijuana increase the use of it......most likely. Would increased use put the public at higher risk for health and safety issues?.....most likely.
Reply With Quote