Marsupialized wrote:See, it's only gangbangers they do this to. Who cares?

Fine by me.

unsaved wrote:

Ekkssvvppllott wrote:

unsaved wrote:I've always agreed with the idea that all the gangs in Chicago be given all kinds of guns and other hand weapons and let them use Soldier Field to shoot it out, the last guy alive gets to be alderman or something.

This is a long-standing conservative fantasy.

I'm an unrepentant liberal, but when it comes to gang activity here, my personal experiences over the years would make me dance on the grave of any gang member. I worked in Englewood for 7 years during the 90's when the murder rate here a couple of those years was approaching 1,000 by only July. I've had to take care of more than a few children shot right in the head or back from crossfire, and on an even more personal note a friend of mine was standing at the intersection of Chicago Ave. and Wood 10 years ago and got it right in the liver fron worthless gangbangers shooting at each other across a busy street with no fucking regard for who might be in the way. His girlfriend watched him turn gray and die in the street. 29 years old.

It's to the point that I don't even care what fucked up things the Chicago police do and have done to them--I've seen some shit that I'll never tell.

Death to every last one of them.

Not by capital punishment, though--they can rot in prison. See what a bleeding heart I am?

that damned fly wrote:i finally got that joke right...

"what does an asshole do for fun?"
"he's a cop."

Two men at a bar rail, one telling the other a joke.

"What does an asshole do for a living?"

"I don't know, what does an asshole do for a living?"

"He becomes a lawyer."

A woman walks over to the bar rail and says to the two men, "I find that joke incredibly offensive!"

The two men turn to the woman and ask, "What, are you a lawyer?"

The woman responds, "No. I'm an asshole."

Marsupialized wrote:“This is a very difficult, challenging job and they’re always afraid of beefs because, once they get a beef, you write about it. [You say], ‘He has 25 C.R. numbers [complaints registered], all unfounded.’ You say, ‘Why? This fella must be a problem’. And you find out most of them are gangbangers and dope dealers [who] filed charges.”

Our mayor both doing his best 'Goodfellas' impression and explaining why the media should stop reporting it every time the cops beat or torture someone.
See, it's only dope dealers and gangbangers they do this to. Who cares?

Our fine ex-mayor, Guiliani was in the ghoulish habit of releasing police shooting victims' prior arrest records to the media...after they were killed stone dead.

"See look! He was a bad guy anyhow! He sold weed!"

CRAP.



We do need cops though. You're stupid if you don't think we need cops.

I'm pretty sure I'd bet NYPD over CPD in a fist fight.

Dr. Venkman wrote:We do need cops though. You're stupid if you don't think we need cops.

I do not need cops. We do not need cops.
The system is set up right now with police being there. They have always been there. That's why you think there's no way we could go on without them. You can't imagine a world without them. I can.
It would take a transitional period but we could easily get along without a police force.
People would just police themselves. If someone did some shit to you, you would take care of it how you saw fit.
The idea of a police force keeping people in line is fairly new to human civilization. People just did it themselves before that. If someone did something, the people in the area would decide what his punishment should be.
You don't trust yourself or the people around you? You think the police are some sort of superintelligent beings and they alone can decide someone's fate? Let me tell you, from what I have seen police officers for the most part are about a step below a garden slug in the brains department. I wouldn't trust one to wipe my butt for me.

Instead of calling a fucking cop to the bar when some dude is throwing chairs around, the people in the bar stop him and throw him out.
If someone kills someone, their family decides how they want it handled. Go out and track him down? Hang him? Let it go? Up to them.
Simple as that.

Marsupialized wrote:

Dr. Venkman wrote:We do need cops though. You're stupid if you don't think we need cops.

I do not need cops. We do not need cops.
The system is set up right now with police being there. They have always been there. That's why you think there's no way we could go on without them. You can't imagine a world without them. I can.
It would take a transitional period but we could easily get along without a police force.
People would just police themselves. If someone did some shit to you, you would take care of it how you saw fit.
The idea of a police force keeping people in line is fairly new to human civilization. People just did it themselves before that. If someone did something, the people in the area would decide what his punishment should be.
You don't trust yourself or the people around you? You think the police are some sort of superintelligent beings and they alone can decide someone's fate? Let me tell you, from what I have seen police officers for the most part are about a step below a garden slug in the brains department. I wouldn't trust one to wipe my butt for me.

Instead of calling a fucking cop to the bar when some dude is throwing chairs around, the people in the bar stop him and throw him out.
If someone kills someone, their family decides how they want it handled. Go out and track him down? Hang him? Let it go? Up to them.
Simple as that.

Wow - you really believe this, don't you? You should really think about this some more.

Marsupialized wrote:

Dr. Venkman wrote:We do need cops though. You're stupid if you don't think we need cops.

I do not need cops. We do not need cops.
The system is set up right now with police being there. They have always been there. That's why you think there's no way we could go on without them. You can't imagine a world without them. I can.
It would take a transitional period but we could easily get along without a police force.
People would just police themselves. If someone did some shit to you, you would take care of it how you saw fit.
The idea of a police force keeping people in line is fairly new to human civilization. People just did it themselves before that. If someone did something, the people in the area would decide what his punishment should be.
You don't trust yourself or the people around you? You think the police are some sort of superintelligent beings and they alone can decide someone's fate? Let me tell you, from what I have seen police officers for the most part are about a step below a garden slug in the brains department. I wouldn't trust one to wipe my butt for me.

Instead of calling a fucking cop to the bar when some dude is throwing chairs around, the people in the bar stop him and throw him out.
If someone kills someone, their family decides how they want it handled. Go out and track him down? Hang him? Let it go? Up to them.
Simple as that.

I understand where you are going with this, and I think I agree, for the most part. But, it is just too impractical.

I know a bunch of cops and most of them are good people. Just a job, like anything else. Sure, there are assholes who think that they're out to save the world, but I think the majority of them would prefer that their shift be quiet enough, so they can go home to their families like any other job. And who knows? You may actually end up helping someone at the end of the day. Who's going to chase after the scum-fucker who robs an old lady? Who will protect my kids from being molested by some fuck in a van? You?

Oh, good. Now I can sleep.

C'mon dude, your anarchy trip is fine, but you know it's impractical as hell.

Dr. Venkman wrote:Who will protect my kids from being molested by some fuck in a van? You?

Uh, no. YOU would.

You can't wrap your head around it. It's 'impractical'
What is? People minding their own business, attending to their own matters and looking out for themselves and their neighbors?
If there were no cops, that's exactly what would happen. It's the only thing that COULD happen.
You think there'd be absolute chaos in the streets if these few hundred dorks in boys scout outfits just weren't there one day?
There is absolute chaos in the street right now, look around. Everyone who is killing anyone is doing it already. You think otherwise peaceful people would just suddenly turn violent and bloodthirsty if god's holy army the CPD were not out driving around eating hot dogs all day?

99% of the 'crime' they 'protect' you from does not affect your life one bit.
Some dude parked too far from the curb? Didn't feed the meter? Didn't buy a city sticker?
Dude selling weed? Dude smoking weed? Dude made a left hand turn without a signal? jaywalking?
Hooker blowing some dude?
Which of these things are you most concerned with?
THIS is what the cops do for the most part. What else do you THINK they do?
The police are the strongarm collection agency of the city, that is all. That's it.
You think they are stopping someone from robbing you on the street? How? You call them AFTER you get robbed, remember.
You may think my dream of a cop-less society is silly but I think paying half retarded goons to wander the streets with weapons making sure everyone behaves and parks correctly sounds pretty fucking ridiculous.

Recently, I had a mixed experience with the cops. my car got stolen. about a week later, I got a call saying it had been found. I call the number and I get rude stolen car desk cop. I call the local precincts I get helpful cops. I still don't know the whole story of whether they caught the guy or not. I think they did. Anyway, I got my car back in relatively ok condition.

anyway, check out this video of a cop attacking a bicyclist, unprovoked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ

Marsupialized wrote:
Instead of calling a fucking cop to the bar when some dude is throwing chairs around, the people in the bar stop him and throw him out.
If someone kills someone, their family decides how they want it handled. Go out and track him down? Hang him? Let it go? Up to them.
Simple as that.

You're raising a lot of good points in this thread, but transferring police power to the general populace is a hell of a risky proposition. Maybe you'd get rid of a lot of the petty, bureaucratic hassles that the police are unfortunately called upon to enforce, but you'd also place any matter of justice in the hands of the mob. You would still have corruption and abuse of power, only occurring on a much larger scale and compounded by inexperience and direct involvement. Hypothetically, if I imagine a general sort of situation where my fate could either rest on the judgment of a lynch mob or our current system, I'd rather take my chances with the latter.