Merged Copaganda/Torturing the English language whenever a cop kills someone

[Checkmite]

Not involving police specifically; but it seems the passive voice is infecting reports of gun violence generally. This New York Times tweet reports that former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe "collapsed after a gunshot was heard". A follow up tweet elaborates that Abe was "apparently wounded" and "appeared to be bleeding" after the hearing of said gunshot.

 

[Donal]

Here's another example:

More Police Are Committing Suicide Due to Demonization

It notes an increase in a few specific places of police suicides. But the only person the article cites for this theory also fails to provide any supporting evidence.

Apparently, actual criticism of their crimes and overall methods is causing them heightened stress.

No actual statistics. No comparison between the suicide rates of police officers with the rest of the population. No mention of the fact that police departments have been known to rule suicides by police officers as accidents or homicides so their families can get the benefits.

Taking advantage of suicides for public relations.

I should note that any death should be mourned. Also, this is one of the things the media does in a lot of cases that I hate. You can't diagnose anyone from TV. This daytime talk pop psychology BS has done a lot of harm in society.

 

[Suddenly]

Here's another example:

More Police Are Committing Suicide Due to Demonization

It notes an increase in a few specific places of police suicides. But the only person the article cites for this theory also fails to provide any supporting evidence.

Apparently, actual criticism of their crimes and overall methods is causing them heightened stress.

No actual statistics. No comparison between the suicide rates of police officers with the rest of the population. No mention of the fact that police departments have been known to rule suicides by police officers as accidents or homicides so their families can get the benefits.

Taking advantage of suicides for public relations.

I should note that any death should be mourned. Also, this is one of the things the media does in a lot of cases that I hate. You can't diagnose anyone from TV. This daytime talk pop psychology BS has done a lot of harm in society.

That's a wild one.

It's not unusual that these copaganda pieces are, if we look closely, advertising for something, basically a press release that a paper picks up and runs like it's their article. The shoplifiting scare articles just always happened to quote and mention people in the private security business, for example. This sort of thing is done all the time as advertising. It's a PR staple.

This one is basically that trauma grief counselor advertising her firm. The article includes a picture of her when the article purports her to be a background source. Which, come on.

Cops here or there also pass out from touching fentanyl because they so believe it is possible to OD that way that they have panic attacks. The intensity of the persecution and fear complex among cops is so grotesquely absurd it's not at all surprising that they'd be killing themselves over criticism and being asked to be accountable.

 

[Donal]

It's not unusual that these copaganda pieces are, if we look closely, advertising for something, basically a press release that a paper picks up and runs like it's their article. The shoplifiting scare articles just always happened to quote and mention people in the private security business, for example. This sort of thing is done all the time as advertising. It's a PR staple.

The New York Times is horrible with this. Their go-to guy for analyzing perceived spikes in crime in NYC is the guy who runs CompStat for the NYPD. And their 2 go-tos for crime contract with the other PDs. One also works with the CIA and helped found Palantir. And then they had that last guy write a news article. Not an opinion piece. It was posted as actual news. Without disclosing his ties to police and intelligence industries.

And they never actually push for statistics or anything to support their "experts" claim. Just take whatever comes out of their mouths as gospel.

"Bail reform" is being blamed for all kinds of violent crimes. The police unions push the idea that violent killers are just being set free when bail reform specifically focuses on nonviolent quality-of-life charges, especially for minors. they want us to be stupid enough to believe that people are being murdered in the streets because they can't throw a 14-year-old in Rikers for jumping a turnstile.

 

[Suddenly]

"Bail reform" is being blamed for all kinds of violent crimes. The police unions push the idea that violent killers are just being set free when bail reform specifically focuses on nonviolent quality-of-life charges, especially for minors. they want us to be stupid enough to believe that people are being murdered in the streets because they can't throw a 14-year-old in Rikers for jumping a turnstile.

...and many of the rank and file believe this so hard that they are adversely affecting their own mental health out of a frustrated sense of persecution. They literally don't understand that the abuses aren't the job. The culture is that twistedly toxic.

 

[Suddenly]

There has to be some middle ground between "The cops can do no wrong" and "We need to get rid of the police" which seems to be the only two postions here.
You either the have the police enforcing the laws or you have vigilante every man for himself justice.

"Getting rid of the police" and "having no entity responsible for law enforcement and public safety" are two very different things.

Of course, recognizing that makes it harder to play the both sides are less wise than me game, but so it goes.

 

[JoeMorgue]

Literally nobody outside of Twitter and Tumblr is talking about getting rid of the police.

We'll always have someone in a society to enforce the society's rules. That's the police, everything else is just semantics and branding.

 

[Donal]

Well, they certainly enforce rules. I think what some of us are contesting is exactly whose rules.

 

[JoeMorgue]

My point is going "We aren't saying we don't want people who's role in society is to enforce laws, we just don't want cops" is a "I don't a cheeseburger, I want a hamburger with cheese on it" statement. It's semantics at best, branding at worst.

I'm reminded of the many, many, discussions with edge lord anarchists where I get told "Anarchist aren't against organized structures of power, just government."

 

[Donal]

But the concept of police and law enforcement is part of the problem. If you separate the PR pieces and slogans spouted by police-friendly sources and put their actions in the historical context of what police have been, you start to wonder if they really are there for the public good.

Our current crop of paramilitary municipal workers is really terrible at actually solving crimes.

 

[Suddenly]

My point is going "We aren't saying we don't want people who's role in society is to enforce laws, we just don't want cops" is a "I don't a cheeseburger, I want a hamburger with cheese on it" statement. It's semantics at best, branding at worst.

Say we lived under martial law and I said that I wanted to end the military run summary tribunals. Would it be fair to call this semantics unless I wanted to have no law enforcement?

 

[JoeMorgue]

Fine you can have a hamburger with cheese on it and not a cheeseburger if it makes you happy.

 

[Donal]

That assumes you are really comparing a cheeseburger to a hamburger with cheese. Some of us are pointing out we're actually preferring a cheeseburger to a turd sandwich.

 

[JoeMorgue]

I'm saying "Police" is a universal term for people who's role in society it is to enforce that society's laws. The terminology is not the problem nor what we should be focused on fixing.