Law Enforcement's "Warrior" Problem (2015)

jqpabc123

And citizens become the "enemy".

NDlurker

There's a war going on outside no man is safe from.

jmclnx

Yes, the days of Andy Griffith is long gone, at least in the US the country is slowly turning the local police into storm troopers. But even back then, some groups of people were treated badly by the local police in some areas. Now it seems the bad treatment is has become "DEI" instead of good treatment expanding to everyone. :( Ref for non-US people and the very young: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andy_Griffith_Show

NoMoreNicksLeft

This is a shallow piece, if ever there was one. Sure the word "warrior" and its connotations are dangerous, but that barely skims the surface of the problem. Why are police given military ranks? Corporals and sergeants and captains. Hell, some are majors and colonels too. Why are their uniforms styled to look martial at all? Has anyone considered that perhaps they shouldn't be armed like soldiers? There doesn't need to be an assault rifle in the trunk of each squad car (isn't this the point of having SWAT? why bother if everyone is SWAT?). Can we even safely call them officers? We call the command structure of the army and navy "officers", but we also use that term for those who aren't military, so maybe it's safe.

Zigurd

When a Karen calls the cops you have to hope a Proctor doesn't show up.

trhway

Look at some cities Animal Control officers - athletic guys, black uniform, black high boots - real Warriors-Stormtroopers protecting the defenseless community from that kitten.

red_admiral

Actual military officer (at the time of writing) doesn't thing much of "warrior mindset" even _in the army_: https://angrystaffofficer.com/2016/12/14/stop-calling-us-war... Worth reading together with the OP article.

Animats

This is a price the US pays for the right to keep and bear arms. US cops have to assume that everyone is armed. That leads to a paranoid style of policing. As gun laws have become less restrictive, cops have armed and armored up.

alexpotato

Reminds me of the study that showed that you got very different types of people signing up to be police officers if your town's police recruiting brochure had pictures of a SWAT team versus pictures of a police officer doing community outreach at a school and shaking hands.

tearwear

semantic reinterpretation on Austrian overload. knock your favorite downer down with at least 3 bottles of wine and you'll feel only slightly behind ... an IVY LEAGUE AFICIONADO got something to say. what's the shape of his intent? levels down, I mean, not the superficial that he modestly commands ...

tearwear

the fear to lose control due to incompetence .... is that how all those former and current self-driving/self-flying/self-digging engineers and founders feel? jeez must they be grateful to all that stupidity their ( practically ) grand- daddies established among the rest of the world! #HerrenRasseViaSabotageForTheWin #Austria #SouthAfrica #USA #USA #USA

copindustrial

Those who get to brand a thing rules a thing! This quote comes to mind: "Ain't no Uzi's made in Harlem. Not one of us in here owns a poppy field. This thing is bigger than Nino Brown. This is big business. This is the American way."

pstuart

I think it should be pointed out that we have the police we have because enough of the population is ok with it -- because they operate with the assumption that the cops exist to harass "others" but not themselves. If the entire citizenry said "no more!" to this nonsense we could have better policing all around.

yndoendo

Warrior mentality creates an US vs Them framework vs We. In Game Theory, with two parties, this equates to Win, Loose scenario. The best outcome in Game Theory is Win, Win. Society will fall part in the long run when not focused on the best outcome for all parties.

Jtsummers

Two past discussions on this one (it seemed familiar): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23441606 - 6 years ago, 78 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9699893 - 11 years ago, 151 comments Some interesting comments in there.

FireBeyond

> it has become a point of professional pride to refer to the “police warrior.” Conversely, in a large portion of the fire service, the movement has been to eschew the title "firefighter" for "fireman" (regardless of gender). Part tradition but also part a belief that being "a man of fire", living, breathing... understanding... it goes a long way towards being able to control and manage it safely. Backdraft was cheesy and cringy in many a way, but one thing it touched on is the predictability of fire, and how absent variables (sadly a rare thing in the real world) it is possible to understand how it moves and grows and how best to contain it.