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dopkick t1_iud5qfe wrote

Reply to comment by ShieldMaiden3 in 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. by Dr_Midnight

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.

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KorayA t1_iudp68k wrote

So there is no effective difference.. got it.

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ShieldMaiden3 t1_iue7xtg wrote

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.

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dopkick t1_iueae8o wrote

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.

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ShieldMaiden3 t1_iueclq4 wrote

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.

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