The Memphis 5

[AMC]

I'm curious to see if a new trend will emerge in more liberal states and large cities, where proactive patrol would just be eliminated altogether. Replace traffic enforcement with mass implementation of CCTV, like you see in many other countries. Either ignore or hand off calls related to mental health, transient issues, drug possession/use to some non-police entity. All with the intent of keeping the cops locked up at the station until an in-progress violent crime is reported. Similar to how fire sits at the station until dispatched.

From an admin's perspective, this would somewhat alleviate an agency's struggles to recruit/retain enough truly qualified officers. And more important for the agenda...it would result in significantly fewer contacts between police and citizens. Fewer contacts will inherently result in fewer UoF incidents. Fewer UoF incidents will result in less risk of an agency ending up in national headlines for the wrong reasons.

Its been a few years since I was a patrol cop. We were encouraged to be proactive, go out and find dope, find stolen vehicles, find people with warrants, etc. I'm not sure how common that attitude is today, much less how common it will be in five years or so.

In my former city, proactive policing is deader than Abraham Lincoln. Virtually no pedestrian take ons
to speak of, and essentially zero, and I mean zero, traffic enforcement. The Police Commission just passed a ban on Pretext Stops. What determines what's a pretext stop? Basically the perception of the person stopped. How's that gonna work out? Who cares! Sure....traffic fatalities are up. But use of force is down, so win!

The future is already here in many big cities. Yes, many businesses and taxpayers are beginning to get fed up and either moving or threatening to withhold tax revenue. The city government doesn't care. Half of them are completely delusional, and the other half know they'll never be held personally liable for anything. When you play silly games with other peoples lives and fortunes with no risk for yourself, moral hazard ensues.

[Borderland]

But has that actually been all that much of a motivation for those governments to do much of anything?

I don't live in Seattle or anywhere near Capitol Hill. To answer your question I think the city is addressing the problem. They've started a recruitment program to entice new candidates for the SPD. Seattle has plenty of money so it might work.

I knew and old school cop who lived and worked in Seattle in the 70's. He said it was absolutely hopeless when they started hiring women for patrol. Not because they weren't smart enough, but because they lacked the physical ability to put a suspect on the ground and cuff them. OK boomer, times have changed.

https://www.westsideseattle.com/ball...08/always-duty

[jnc36rcpd]

Of course, a ban on pretext stops guarantees that anyone who is stopped gets written hard paper regardless of whether they really need to pay retail and regardless of if it were actually a pretext stop.

[Navin Johnson]

Seattle PD ads have actors saying how much they value SPD's progressive values......

[fixer]

The future is already here in many big cities. Yes, many businesses and taxpayers are beginning to get fed up and either moving or threatening to withhold tax revenue. The city government doesn't care. Half of them are completely delusional, and the other half know they'll never be held personally liable for anything. When you play silly games with other peoples lives and fortunes with no risk for yourself, moral hazard ensues.

From Thomas Sowell:

"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong"

[Gadfly]

Damn. That’s a sobering report.

well, like i said, 50% are pretty squared away when they arrive, and there are a bunch of novice rookies, but they have good attitudes and want to learn. its about 10-15% that make you ask... "what did you think you were signing up for?"

But these days, we can't yell at recruits, we can't curse, we can't make them do push ups or PT if they need to be corrected. its kinder and gentler. That's not a bad thing, as we are not marine drill instructors. but the world of LE is not clean and sterile. it is stressful. people on the street will yell and curse at you. Crowds of bystanders will yell and curse at you, the will also throw rocks and bottles at you on occasion.

The whole concept of "Stress Inoculation" seems to be gone in favor of a college campus atmosphere. That is fine for 90-95% of encounters. But what about the 5-10% where there is not compliance, and they want to run/fight, and multiple family members want to jump in, and a crowd gathers and wants to join in the festivities? I fully admit its rare that I have to wrestle someone into cuffs. But it does happen. Young folks who have never been in a fight in their lives, who only social interact via text, who have been raised in a safe/no risk "nerf" environment ... they may vapor lock when an actual bad guy want to have an actual fight. Every generation in History says the younger generation is soft. some day this young generation will complain about kid being born now.

[TC215]

A Memphis officer was shot today and is in critical condition. The suspect was shot and killed. Doesn’t sound like it’s related to the Tyre Nichols situation, but I don’t know for sure.

[blues]

A Memphis officer was shot today and is in critical condition. The suspect was shot and killed. Doesn’t sound like it’s related to the Tyre Nichols situation, but I don’t know for sure.

Thanks for the info, T. Watch yourself out there.

[UNK]

I heard early on that the guy who got killed had some sort of interaction with one of the crews wife. I figured this was payback for that. Has anyone else heard anything like that?

ETA Looking around the net I see rumors of a relationship but thats not how I took what I originally read. I took it as he had confronted or disrespected her in some way.

[Lex Luthier]

But has that actually been all that much of a motivation for those governments to do much of anything?

<Looks across the river at Minneapolis and emits the most bitter little chortle, then swivels head 180 degrees to the state capitol, and goes to rinse the faint waft of stomach acid from mouth>