this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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THE POLICE PROBLEM

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    The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.

    99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.

    When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.

    When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."

    When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.

    Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.

    The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.

    All this is a path to a police state.

    In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.

    Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.

    That's the solution.

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Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.

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ALLIES

!abolition@slrpnk.net

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r/ACAB

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Randy Balko

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INFO

A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions

Adultification

Cops aren't supposed to be smart

Don't talk to the police.

Killings by law enforcement in Canada

Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom

Killings by law enforcement in the United States

Know your rights: Filming the police

Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)

Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.

Police lie under oath, a lot

Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak

Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street

Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States

So you wanna be a cop?

When the police knock on your door

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ORGANIZATIONS

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David Mascarella returned to the Suffolk County Police Department in New York on Thursday following an 18-month unpaid suspension for driving drunk and crashing into a car carrying two children, one of whom was permanently injured. In August 2020, Mascarella spent his day off golfing and lunching during which he claimed he drank up to three 12-ounce vodka soda cocktails, Newsday reported after an extensive investigation.

That day, the off-duty police officer drove his pickup truck 20 mph over the speed limit while texting and rear-ended a compact vehicle driven by Kevin Cavooris. Cavooris's two young sons were passengers in his car.

When the crash occurred, instead of calling 911, Mascarella called his union delegate. At the scene, a detective said he wanted to administer a breathalyzer test but the responding sergeant contacted a Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association delegate who drove Mascarella away before the test was given, according to Newsday.

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[–] snekerpimp@lemmy.world 65 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] skeezix@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

All Anglos Can't Actually Ball

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 51 points 3 days ago (2 children)

There are times I become cynical, and say that this world is filled with assholes. That I am surrounded by assholes. People hear me say that, and say that if I can't find a common denominator, that I must be the common denominator.

No, the common denominator is that society lets this guy live. There should be lynch mob ready to put this guys head on a pike. Yes I blame the cop. The cop is 100% at fault here. But I also blame every single person who interacts with this cop. He lives somewhere. The line to justice should have started at his neighbors houses, and grew from there. Everybody should have been out for this guys blood.

The fact that he walks free, is a testiment to how much society is willing to swallow. If he can cripple a kid for life, and just live his life worry free, tjat essentially says that he can do it again. He probably has drank and drove again. What's stopping him? Certainly not the courts. Certainly not society. He can do it, and he can get away with it. Which means in my eyes, society may not be just as guilty as he is, but they're certainly not innocent either.

The world is filled with assholes.

[–] kemsat@lemmy.world 16 points 3 days ago

Evil happens when many decide to do nothing.

[–] BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What can be done besides impotently complaining online about this?

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Start with making sure your family, friends and neighbors are ok. If they need help, help them. Get armed and do mutual aid work.

[–] Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml 30 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Protect their own and serve the rich.

[–] Eddbopkins@lemmy.world 17 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Some people are pure evil. David Mascarella is one of those people rotten to the core, as evil as can be. No remorse, no jail time, leaving the scene to escape a breathalyzer test. I don't trust him behind the wheel of a vehicle and I didn't not trust him to be an honest good member of society. He need jail for life. If this guy is on the police force you can't trust the force.

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The thing is, most of the cops are just like him. You can't trust any police force in the United States. Don't talk to cops.

[–] Makhno@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Only good pig is a dead pig.

[–] Numenor@lemmy.world 21 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Cavooris's two young sons were passengers in his car.

Cavooris was treated for a broken nose and his 2-year-old son, Riordan, was placed in a medical coma to repair multiple skull fractures, Newsday reported. Two years on, Riordan still needs leg braces, cannot run or jump and suffers from lasting neurological injuries

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Can they not at least sue the bastard? Make him pay for all the medical expenses, estimate future medical expenses and make him pay that. Make him pay for the mental damage this has done. And finally load up the punitive damages for being such a piece of shit. He wasn't working so no qualified immunity.

Who am I kidding. He's a cop.

[–] Whorehoarder@lemmynsfw.com 28 points 3 days ago

Big CEO energy from this guy

[–] Cypher@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don't understand people, if that were my child I would not rest until the person responsible was worm food.

[–] LowtierComputer@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (4 children)

The kids would be in worse shape with a parent in the prison system.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

you think the ~~mafia~~ NYPD would let him go to prison for killing a deadbeat cop?

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

Where's a Luigi or Dexter when you need them?

[–] Coreidan@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

And the world and the rest of the community will suffer more as a whole while the person who did this gets to run around and continue to be a menace

[–] LowtierComputer@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Likely. There should be a punishment system in place for when someone drinks and drives or negligently injures someone else.
Oh wait...

[–] Cypher@lemmy.world -4 points 3 days ago (2 children)

You are the kind of person I don't understand.

[–] LowtierComputer@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

What don't you understand?

[–] zqps@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 days ago

"Was this long enough for most people to move on? Just the kids' families now? Okay perfect, back on the road with you."

[–] wheeldawg@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Fuck his career- his regular life itself should be so tortured he offs himself.

He just completed a speedrun of how to do everything in life wrong at one time. I hope he never stops suffering from it. I mean his department apparently stopped punishing him, but that doesn't mean his life can't suck in every other regard. Absolutely every other way. Just complete mental pain at the vet last constantly focusing on it until whatever humanity he has starts to finally give into the guilt and that's when you get the popcorn.

Watching people suffer from their own blatant mistakes is so damn satisfying until idiots not enforcing rules get in the way.

[–] Coreidan@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Ya right. There is no guilt. This guy doesn’t give a fuck.

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Yep this was pure cope. Cops are unlikely to be capable of feeling guilt.

[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago
[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

...and MascaWTF will rise through the ranks and eventually become Suffolk's County's Police Chief. The bastard should be in prison, stripped of his driver's license and booted out of law enforcement.

[–] Thorry84@feddit.nl 8 points 3 days ago (2 children)

How can any cop make 6 figures? Like what kind of job do they have that warrants that much money? Seems crazy high

[–] mdd@lemm.ee 9 points 3 days ago

In Oakland California many cops make that much in overtime pay alone.

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

He's in a high cost of living area, but as the other commenter mentioned, police self report their overtime and massively abuse this. I am guessing that the six figure pay isn't even counting the overtime though.

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I am surprised he didnt get a promotion

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

I'm shocked that his suspension was unpaid.

[–] TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

Absolutely disgusting.

[–] AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago

Sounds like someone needs to "accidentally" ram into this cop's car and permanently injure him.