this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2026
580 points (98.7% liked)

THE POLICE PROBLEM

4241 readers
1724 users here now

    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.

♦ ♦ ♦

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.

♦ ♦ ♦

RULES

Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.

If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.

Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.

Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.

Please also abide by the instance rules.

It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.

♦ ♦ ♦

ALLIES

!abolition@slrpnk.net

!acab@lemmygrad.ml

r/ACAB

r/BadCopNoDonut/

Randy Balko

The Civil Rights Lawyer

The Honest Courtesan

Identity Project

MirandaWarning.org

♦ ♦ ♦

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

♦ ♦ ♦

ORGANIZATIONS

Black Lives Matter

Campaign Zero

Innocence Project

The Marshall Project

Movement Law Lab

NAACP

National Police Accountability Project

Say Their Names

Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration

 

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Right after ICE Agent Johnathan Ross executed a US citizen in cold blood

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Gotta say, first time I've seen a police group so dedicated to driving home the ACAB messaging.

Any police organization standing behind what is clearly shown to be an abuse of authority by plainly recorded evidence should be disbanded, as they are clearly more interested in threats to their authority than why they have the authority in the first place.

[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't "presume innocence" when I see someone shooting someone else in the face. Kind of stupid.

It doesn't matter if a judge and jury says so or disagrees, he still shot her in the face while in absolutely no danger.

He's guilty, independent of any court ruling, it's not debatable.

[–] Feedback17@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

The fake cop/murdeter gets innocence presumed, but not the innocent woman he executed? Every cop should get what they deserve.

[–] NorthoftheBorder@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago

Killing and kidnapping citizens is what ACTUALLY makes law enforcement work more dangerous, and yet this letter sure sounds a lot like "stop resisting." Hmm.

Pigs gonna fucking "oink".

[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

When citizens are accused of a crime, they are given the presumption of innocence as afforded by due process. When there is an incident involving law enforcement, politicians and activists immediately condemn those involved and are scrambling for sound bites.

Law enforcement officers wield a significant amount of power over civilians, and should be held to a higher level of standard and scrutiny. You know, with great powers comes great responsibilities.

Maybe one reason why there is systematic condemnation when a law enforcement official is involved in a crime is because the population is increasingly mistrustful because of incompetent officers that tarnishes your profession by acting recklessly and with apparent impunity?

An important aspect of policing is to defuse and deescalate situations when possible, not make a bad situation worse. This communication does none of that. If you want to regain trust, be the better person and use this tragic event to improve, not double down.

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 5 points 1 day ago

You are asking fascist paramilitary goons to be the bigger person. It's not gonna work.

[–] AlexanderTheDead@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago
[–] demonmariner@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Where did this come from? I'd like to see the original and it's not on their website.

[–] MountainVeil@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I found a Breitbart article and an X post from the MNFOP. Still looking for a non-nazi source, but it's legit. Fucking disgusting pigs. The facts are already out, have been since the start.

And of course, nothing about all the bald-faced lies coming from Trump or Norm. No calls of restraint to them. These fuckers make me sick.

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Did this shitty letter come from the GOP HQ in fucking Moscow? If not, the Fraternal Order of Police is fucked in the head.

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They aren't Russian, nor are they "fucked in the head", they're fascists, doing fascist stuff. ACAB.

[–] Feedback17@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Do Republicans have posters of Hitler in their homes?

[–] Lianodel@ttrpg.network 3 points 1 day ago

I mean, they did rush to clear out Jonathan Ross's home before anyone else could get to it...

[–] Bosht@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Fucking bootlickers

[–] DeICEAmerica@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

So the dirty fuck PIGS have drawn their line. Cool. You are still WOEFULLY outnumbered.

[–] Cyberflunk@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago

ACAB verified

[–] GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

So what's the plan? Continue paying your taxes and support them?

[–] agent_nycto@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

If they were doing their jobs, and their jobs are "shoot people in face", then that's a job that shouldn't exist

[–] Hypnotoad_@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago
[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

Oink oink is all I see here

[–] bluesheep@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Fraternal Order of Police

What kind of cringe ass fucking name is that?

ACAB

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] OR3X@lemmy.world 225 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

The lady they shot sure didn't get any of that due process. Hypocrites.

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Let me get this right. They are claiming ICE with a straight face!?

This has got to be a joke, who in their right mind would try to cover for ICE. This police union owes them nothing and if anything ICE is making policing more dangerous by allowing poorly trained officers to damage law enforcement reputation.

[–] RedAggroBest@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Police "unions" across the country are solidly pro-trump, so of course they love the brownshirts

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] zeppo@lemmy.world 196 points 2 days ago (10 children)

"When citizens are accused of a crime, they are given the presumption of innocence as afforded by due process. When there is an incident involving law enforcement, politicians and activists immediately condemn those involved and are scrambling for sound bits. They do not afford them the same due process but rather convict them in a public court of opinion while an investigation is barely beginning"

Well, that's an absurd claim. Simply being arrested for a crime is often enough for the public to believe that a private citizen is guilty, and they can lose employment, business deals, a marriage or relationship long before any "due process" occurs. When police are accused of a crime, often they face no consequences at all, and if they are charged, they get the exact same due process as any other citizen.

[–] BussyGyatt@feddit.org 109 points 2 days ago (3 children)

also, cops are immune to prosecution, so the court of public opinion is like, all they have

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 46 points 2 days ago (2 children)

The ruling in Harlow v Fitzgerald was actually illegal according to the full text of the law as written and passed. SCOTUS was given an illegally amended copy of the law.

http://web.archive.org/web/20230520080201/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/us/politics/qualified-immunity-supreme-court.html

Qualified Immunity is illegal.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] duckCityComplex@lemmy.world 46 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Also ironic since in this case the President and Secretary of Homeland Security immediately came out stating that the victim was a domestic terrorist and tried to murder the ICE agent with her car before any investigation was conducted, and both of which turned out to be false.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago

"The hateful and anti-law enforcement rhetoric by ...... Have made their jobs.... more dangerous and difficult"

Uh, not at all it's statements like these ones which take the side of people who are illegally kidnapping people on the streets with no due process that make it more dangerous since people get more fed up by the fact the people who are supposed to protect them are trying to murder them and lie about it.

[–] Feedback17@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Cops are pieces of shit, and here is the proof.

[–] Furbag@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Cops and Feds wallow in the same mud.

[–] fort_burp@feddit.nl 9 points 1 day ago

Jesus Christ whenever I read something about the Americans I can't help but remember most of them can barely read, not least armed ICE thugs.

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 70 points 2 days ago

"Doing their jobs"

What does that job involve? Murder, surveillance, imprisonment, harassment of the community?

Yeah jeez wonder why it's such an issue

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 61 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Innocent people don't have to hide behind masks you stupid motherfuckers.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] locahosr443@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not American.. Who is publishing this? I thought the important police guy from the area was calling it murder or near enough in the press?

[–] RedAggroBest@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is the Minnesota police union. Because cops need unions but cashiers don't. I fucking hate them so much lol

[–] ViceroTempus@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Then shoot them. That's the honest to God solution right now. Our structures need to be violently torn down and rebuilt from scratch. When the government fears us, there will be liberty and justice again, and not a moment sooner.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 57 points 2 days ago (1 children)

In the war between ICE and civilians, the police have declared they’re siding with ICE. They have identified themselves as your enemy, and everyone should act accordingly.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] rayyy@piefed.social 55 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police folks apparently are blind or totally corrupt because the videos show one of their own executing a citizen in broad daylight with many witnesses present. Their response is to lie like criminals.
They will be judged to be on the wrong side of history.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] updn@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

“Fucking bitches”

[–] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

TLDR; when SHTF, we’ll be with ICE.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 44 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I miss the days when people admitted wrongdoing occasionally. What we have now is denial of obvious facts caught on video and millions of liars contradicting said facts and they will continue to lie about them, in perpetuity.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 33 points 2 days ago

funny how the idea of felony murder is turned upside down when the police do it

load more comments
view more: next ›