Timmah_1984 t1_iud397u wrote on October 30, 2022 at 12:37 PM

You demand that change from city leadership and vote in people who are serious about weeding out corruption. The problem with Baltimore is we vote in people like the Mosbys because they talk a big game. When they don’t deliver or worse, are unmasked as corrupt themselves that’s when they should be booted out at the next election. Instead we keep voting and re-electing the same people.

dopkick t1_iud5qfe wrote on October 30, 2022 at 1:01 PM

Based on how I’ve seen workplace complaints play out I can’t fault anyone for being reluctant to say something. There is always some form of retaliation, including termination. The best thing to do in the interest of self preservation is to just move on. Not the most satisfying answer but the righteous path that leads to unemployment doesn’t pay the bills.

It’s easy to say someone should report something when you have no stake in the matter. It’s much harder to do it when you know it will start a witch hunt for you. This is by no means a police exclusive trend.

Ideally there would be mechanisms in place to better protect people who report illegal activities, EEO discrimination violations, etc. In theory some of this exists. In practice… good luck.

KorayA t1_iudp68k wrote on October 30, 2022 at 3:31 PM

So there is no effective difference.. got it.

ShieldMaiden3 t1_iue7xtg wrote on October 30, 2022 at 5:39 PM

I get all of that. But, the problem is that in terms of how that plays out practically speaking, not saying anything is basically the same as condoning it. If there were enough cops who came together to say something all together at the same time (like how the police union does with pay and overtime) as publicly as possible, then it'd be much harder to ignore the problem and target the cops who are against the corruption. If nothing is risked, them nothing is gained, and so they are still being complicit in the corruption and further degredation of the society they're supposed to be protecting, whatever their personal views may be.

Again, I completely get your argument, and I even understand the reasons they're not saying anything. But, ignoring the wound only serves to worsen the problem by allowing it to fester and become gangrenous. And there are generally only two solutions once a limb has become mostly gangrenous: 1) do nothing and allow the whole body/person to die, or 2) amputate the necrotic limb and eventually replace it.

dopkick t1_iueae8o wrote on October 30, 2022 at 5:55 PM

This is basically game theory, not too unlike the prisoner’s dilemma. The best outcome comes if a critical mass of police come forward. But if a critical mass is not reached the people who come forward will be punished worse than if they had said nothing. I assume officers are aware of the odds being stacked against them.

I suspect if there were strong protections and safety nets in place we’d see A LOT more reporting of illegal business activities. Wage theft is a gigantic problem and often goes unreported. If you know your employer is screwing a coworker over on pay do you put your neck out and brace for termination? Or update your resume and move on. Most people pick the latter.

We need stronger worker’s rights, IMO. Nothing short of that will level the playing field.

ShieldMaiden3 t1_iueclq4 wrote on October 30, 2022 at 6:09 PM

It's also an issue of police culture. If the culture, and let people within that culture, supports keeping things the way they are for their own benefit, and they are allowed to continue in those positions, then nothing will change.

Basically, this is a multifaceted problem. No one single solution, by itself, will work. There needs to be worker protections, independent oversight, higher psychological standards (since they were lowered to allow people with combative/abusive personalities to join), higher educational standards (BPD only requires a high school diploma for people who are supposed to enforce and know the law), a requirement for cops to live in the communities they police (or at least in the city limits and within a certain radius from that community), taking welfare checks and non-violent interactions with the unhoused away from the police and giving them to teams of social workers and psychologists (who we need more of) who are far more qualified to deal with such situations, and actively working to increase the community's trust in the police through active engagement with the community.

the_Expletus t1_iud9zlt wrote on October 30, 2022 at 1:38 PM

It's not the rank and file... it's the command staff that sweep it under rugs.

BeSmarter2022 t1_iucn2ks wrote on October 30, 2022 at 9:11 AM

Stop with the anti police hate speech. This is not 2019 where that was cool. Try substituting a race instead of police in that sentence and see how ridiculous it sounds. People are the company they keep it is not like all cops see bad acts. Do you see a lot of people committing crimes?

AreWeCowabunga t1_iucpgza wrote on October 30, 2022 at 9:46 AM

The choice to be a cop is in no way equivalent to race. Your comment is nonsense.

ShieldMaiden3 t1_iucnsgx wrote on October 30, 2022 at 9:22 AM

False equivalency. A uniform can be taken off, skin cannot. I don't care about cook, I care about the reality of the situation.

Also, I don't hate the cops, but I'm also not going to ignore ongoing systemic issues that exacerbate societal issues.

Police departments are relatively small closed communities, in relation to the populations of the environments in which they exist. Everyone is aware of everyone else's business, to varying degrees, in such small, closed, communities. Even if you don't know the details, you'll still know enough to know that something is up.

Soon-to-be-former States Attorney Marilyn Mosby and City Council President Nick Mosby decided to attend a Halloween Party as a SWAT Cop and a Plain-clothes Cop (or Knocker). The photo was briefly posted on Marilyn Mosby's Instagram account before being deleted.

ShieldMaiden3 t1_iucmkzs wrote on October 30, 2022 at 9:04 AM