Anyone who chooses to become a police officer now is seriously misguided at best.
You don't get promoted to detective out of the private sector, buddy. Plus, pensions.
Well there's the problem: the Fraternal Order of Serial Killers doesn't offer a pension. Nor does the Brotherhood of Puppy Kickers. Now, if they started offering pensions with an opportunity for career growth, certainly it would be morally okay to join those organizations.
Oh, bother.
I'm done with the "bad apples" argument. These aren't isolated incidents. These are pervasive issues. We know police are trained to use violence and we know they rarely face justice when they are videotaped committing crimes. I see a lot of people of color fighting for their lives during routine traffic stops and I see communities reeling for justice in the wake of ANOTHER senseless killing of an unarmed civilian who was not convicted of any crime. I see that as systemic. I see that as something I don't believe you enter without understand what you're getting into. It's possibly to enter with good intentions, but those good intentions sour when solidarity with fellow officers becomes more important than justice.
Sorry for the rant--I haven't posted lengthy thoughts on this on the forum, I've been getting them out elsewhere, but I'm going to say my piece because it's important for me to express what I'm feeling in a place where discourse is supposed to be welcome.
who was the last cop who did the bad things who didn't get in trouble for it? I was under the impression that the last half dozen or so examples we saw in the national media were all fired and sent prison (or are on their way there). I don't remember any recent "bad cop" stories where the cop(s) didn't in trouble. Also, there are many tens or hundreds of thousands of interactions everyday with cops and poor Americans, often minorities, every day and they very rarely go south.
edit-anyway, I would not suggest anyone who doesn't want to be a cop to be a cop. But if someone I loved
wanted to be a cop (and for the right reasons) I would be 100% supportive while also pointing out the obvious difficulties with the job. I would suggest the military for certain types of young adults at least or the peace corps for other types....but my go to for young adults not sure what to do is always trade school. Pick a good field and you'll do just fine in life. You don't have to love your job, most don't, so pick one you won't hate that pays decent and do it. You'll have plenty of free time to pursue your passions.
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