What is your theory on why police brutality exists?

I think cops are either too bored or too paranoid

The boredom theory

Cops feel pretty much bored, especially in safe towns and cities. When they realize the crime rate is de-creasing and so they start arresting people just for the heck of it and make up excuses and stuff like that. With that being said now is time for the paranoid theory

I think cops get frequently tired so they know assume everyone is a criminal blah blah and they go and start arresting everybody and they also make up laws to do it. So yeah

It could also be ignorace, but most cops kinda know what they're doing.

What is your theory?

Oh and by the way police brutality is everywhere around the world not just America. Britain, Mexico, Spain, you name it

So yeah

I wouldn't say it is brutality, it is more an effect of citizen goading them into it. 99% of the time it is justified.

Cops get a power trip, mob mentality, Us or them thinking.

Police academy just like the military indoctrinates the young and inexperienced. Except instead of chasing down ISIS they'd rather shoot 17 year old girls, ethnic minorities and dogs on leashes dead.

Baker brutality can be awesome though...apparently they're great against Spanish invaders.

Indeed...I wasn't bready for that joke, dough.

@thegerg: @korvus:

The dad joke thread is this way

They hate young black Americans because they see a future millionaire via sports and entertainment.

Darn it, I was waiting to use that one XD Oh well, better get used to the idea that if I can do it, you can probably do it batter...

@thegerg: Thanks for making me laugh. If more people could be in high spirits all the time maybe there would be less police brutality... (I kneaded to get back to the thread somehow before I got in trouble for derailing)

Some people are just bad eggs, or half baked loons that are just waiting to crumble

No, not for the same reason.

Putting people in a position of authority, especially if that authority includes having a gun at your side, can bring the worst out in people. They'll just go on a power trip.

@gamerguru100: I see

They are the future Dredds. Fear is the answer, to show you who's Boss.

That's horseshit.

Humans have and will always abuse power. Just the nature of the beast.

Basically this.. On top of the fact that many police departments seem to be incredibly lax/incompetent in policing themselves or corrupt... The more I see police under scrutiny the more cliquey many departments seem to be getting in defending actions of a certain officers in the precinct even when we have clear evidence that show their guilt.. We saw this shit with the Cleveland police department..

Authority can always be abused. It's an unfortunate circumstance of humanity in general. I think we can institute better policies to limit its extent, but you cant eradicate it.

I couldn't say what motivates a lunatic to inflict unnecessary harm on another. The reason why it persists is pretty obvious, imo; lack of accountability. Sympathetic departments, prosecutors and juries continue to enable this shameful behavior. Even the law sanctions deadly force when there's no danger present.

It's my personal opinion that the lack of accountability (i.e. the word of the police officer is taken more seriously than the public's) causes most of the issues with police over-stepping their authority.

Having external auditing authorities and using wearable recording technology will take away most abuse of the authority they get.

I don't think "police brutality" refers to arresting people without good reason, it usually refers to using excessive force against suspects. My guess is that most of this happens when cops in certain high-crime areas are feeling stressed and burnt out, and maybe angry over certain crimes and the suspect mouths off and gives them attitude. I think there would be a lot less police brutality in America if suspects didn't give the cops attitude, but I think in a lot of inner-cities a lot of people are pretty raised (both by their parents and the liberal school system) to resent cops and be disrespectful of authority and to think the cops are out to get them.

@whipassmt: your theory is almost close to one of mine

The paranoid theory

Sometimes people are dicks.

That's it.

Yeah, kind of. Though I think it's more frustration than paranoia.

Cops beat their wives at twice the national average. Is that also 99% justified?

Yes.

The 99% is always justified. We are the 99%, occupy, occupy, occupy, huzzah!

we have a culture of fear.

that gets transmitted to the cops.

plus we have 800,000 cops, you are bound to have psychopaths, dunces and accidents.

statistically it's impossible for a police force that large to not murder the citizenry.

sorry folks, that's the price of civilization.

now really it's infinitely more complex than that with infinitely complex humans in unique situations during millions of encounters.

so try working that shit out and coming up with a broad stroke short answer.

lol.

@Riverwolf007: one of the reasons why millions want to move out of America

It isn't rocket science: police brutality exists mainly because the police corps attracts the lower strata of society-that should become a platitude already. And for the sake of objectivity, it isn't only the U.S; in every country where the population is hard-pressed to make a living the less bright will flock to join the security forces in order to secure a decent and relatively estimable living. The saying that power corrupts is true, but is infinitely truer when the weak-willed and half-witted are concerned, and those constitute the multitude of the state's security forces.

Now this may not be the only reason, but I assure you its the main one. In the case of the U.S you certainly have many other factors at play such as ethnic diversity, racism, high crime rates, gun violence, to name a few. It will, however, always come down to the poor quality of recruits. The reason why this is becoming a high-profile issue in the U.S is because it finds itself in the peculiar position of being a presumably progressive and prosperous country while suffering from an ailment that is characteristic of less affluent and poorly governed societies.

The Third World model; small sectors of great privilege, growing numbers of people sinking into poverty, and a superfluous population confined in slums or expelled to prisons.

then they can be infantile crybabys and leave instead of sticking around and trying to make things better.

if running away is their big idea for a solution then who needs them around anyway?

although technically every person i have ever heard say anything like that is full of shit and just pissing and moaning.

I'd say having to deal with people who are constantly running, fighting, resisting, and (sometimes) trying to kill you tends to take it's toll on police officers after a while. They are constantly dealing with the dregs of society, who lie, cheat, steal, and commit violence and having to try and deal with that stuff on a daily basis probably has a negative impact on how officers view the people they are trying to protect.

This in turn even further creates turmoil, where cop's negative actions further inflame the communities they serve, and adds back in a sorta negative feedback loop. I think that's where we are now...a sorta "boiling over" of a bad situation progressing worse and worse that's being fed on both sides.

I also think the laws in place largely voted on by citizens looking for "tough on crime" politicians has had a large part in this. Stupid tough laws, a focus on punishment above all, lengthy jail sentences for minor (especially drug) offenses...our cops are the enforcers of unjust laws and punishment, the citizens victims of it, they get even worse after being sent to criminal college, and the cycle repeats and get's even worse.

I think frustration play a large part in a brutality incident along with an the intensity of the monument.

because cops don't get laid. it's their sexual energy turned into violence.

Power corrupts and it's one of the professions that many sociopaths and psychopaths target for the sake of having that "undisputed power"

Granted not all who are within Law enforcement is this way, the majority are people who got into the job because they wanted to serve the community and make the streets a little safer for everybody. But they're overshadowed by the opposite ones and frankly it's not going to change.

Lack of accountability, prosecutors refuse to prosecute for political reasons rather than merits of each case, they can even sabotage grand juries, police also have interest to suppress and hinder investigations over worry of civil liability. Let's not also forget powers of police unions. Plus those who face the worst of it are most marginalized socially and economically and that effects how receive justice at every step of process, up to and including civil legal recourse.

This is probably one of the reasons.

I remember talking to my friends from Russia about the military there, the way they described it was "It's so full of sadistic scum that the only people who would want to stay there are sadistic scum" It's a positive feedback loop. The same can apply to the US police, why would someone who's not sadistic want to join something with a reputation of being so unnecessarily violent?