Defund the Police

Heaven forbid police officers have to follow rules

Thread:

It is not the hill I would die on if I were representing a police union. But legally, I would expect they are probably correct.

Seattle presumably cannot unilaterally impose conditions of employment on its police officers, even with very good and lifesaving reasons.

All the more reason to crush public sector unions once and for all.

I'd be surprised if there wasn't already some provision in the existing contract that allowed for the employer to impose mandatory safety precautions or health requirements for certain positions. They can't require hepatitis shots if you're in a role where you're coming into contact with questionable fluids?

I don't see why the public/private sector distinction is meaningful here. If you believe it's fair to have unions object to employers unilaterally imposing conditions of employment for private sector employees, I don't see why public service employees should not also get to have unions oppose that. And of course if you believe employers should get to unilaterally impose conditions of employment, then why not just say time to crush unions once and for all.

The Seattle Police Officer Guild collective bargaining agreement seems to be here:

http://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/OPA/Legislation/SPOG_CBA_expires_12-31-20_111418.pdf

As I read it (keeping in mind of course that I'm not a labor lawyer or familiar with Washington law at all), the general section Article 15 Management Rights gives broad authority to create reasonable rules of conduct for employees and to do what is deemed necessary in emergencies, both of which could cover the notion that cops need to be vaccinated in a pandemic. But the contract also allows officers or the guild to grieve matters and have an arbitrator decide them. And on p. 41, the department is supposed to conference in good faith with the union before implementing significant changes.

If I'm an arbitrator, I would probably say the more polite version of "wake up and smell the pandemic" if the case were brought to me. But I could also see someone more versed in this saying that there had to be some negotiations before this rule is imposed. Or when the first officers challenge that they don't want to get the vaccine because they don't trust it, having some sort of rule imposed where at least some officers can qualify for exceptions. If you have a religious aversion to vaccines because you are a Christian Scientist or something, I don't see how a city can force you to have one without violating freedom of religion.

An individual right versus the public health, safety and/or welfare.

Atlanta PD are poised to get permission for a $90M training facility dubbed "Cop City", despite public opposition - which they have prevented from being heard in their online consultations - not taking questions and even disabling chat so protestors were reduced to holding up placards to their cameras.

https://theintercept.com/2021/08/11/atlanta-police-training-center/

Meanwhile, Austin PD are refusing to show up and telling callers there's no point because "reform-minded DAs" aren't going to prosecute anyway, so why bother? The bit they aren't saying is that Austin PD is currently campaigning for a ballot measure that would require hiring 300-500 new officers, in an effort to bypass a budget cut that the City Council voted for recently.

https://theintercept.com/2021/08/04/austin-police-complaints-district-attorney/

From that:

Schultz also told the woman whose plate he racked up the tolls on that it was being taken care of and gave her a mobile number, but when she tried calling it she got "invalid number". I'd be checking if this fucker is taking phones out of evidence lockup too.

I had a feeling this was Louisiana before I even read the story.


Trooper Hits Black Motorist 18 Times With A Flashlight, Calling It 'Pain Compliance'

Defund the Police

We need a chinbeard emoji. Look at the fucking guy. He has a chinbeard. That should be probable cause to start looking into his shit if he is working for the police. Sometimes you can judge a book by it's cover and in this case you can do it. Let us be real here, a chinbeard is a choice. It does not grow like that naturally. You have to actively maintain a chinbeard. It is a huge fucking sign.

Leaving aside this guy's dishonesty, do you not have some form of entrapment laws?

We used to. Back in the 70s. I don't know if they still exist, but, I wouldn't be surprised if the 80s and the Reagan administration destroyed that as well.

Generally, entrapment as a criminal defense requires that the cops used such tactics or put such pressure that an otherwise innocent person would be corrupted. It is saying, "Sure, the criminal activity happened but it is excusable because the government made me do it."

That does not seem to be the sort of issue here with this undercover detective, from just skimming the story. Assuming that the detective was lying about the criminal activity he testified to, that's different from manipulating someone into committing criminal activity. The defendants in these cases are saying, "I didn't commit any criminal activity and Bad Detective is lying when he says I did."

There's one case mentioned where the cop got a guy to sell him ONE pill (all he had on him - it was his own prescription) because he needed cash desperately.

Apparently though stings like getting someone underage to ask an adult to buy them alcohol are considered fair game. You'd have to prove you wouldn't have done it anyway.

I never understood why someone would say yes to buying some rando kid alcohol. As an employee it was always a little bit of joy to tell someone no when they did not have ID. It was especially fun when they sent their friend in to purchase it after that. If i know you are going to give it to someone who I did not ID, then you are a moron. Just go down the road and do not send the person without ID in.

Years ago me and my parents were shopping for supplies for a party. Mom did not have her ID with her and was on line with us. They would not sell to us. We did not argue with the cashier, but mom took a lot of abuse. I kept asking her to show her ID every time I saw her drinking at the party.

I remember when some folks here were fapping themselves over the idea of being able to hunt Somali pirates.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...en-officers-separated-toddler-during-n1279134

Raise your hand if you thought Tim Scott was going to bring the Republicans along to support a police reform bill. Didn’t think so, but the media sure took the bait.