Why Police Hiring Practices Create Violence
Texas Police breaking up a pool party full of teenagers
It’s an unavoidable topic. Turn on the news on any given day and there’s a questionable police shooting or police using excessive force. It seems as commonplace as the daily weather report. The first few times were shocking, but we are beginning to grow numb to the idea that the police abuse their power, may hurt or kill people, and probably get a paid vacation as punishment.
Two major factors contributing to police brutality on the job are police hiring practices and a quota system to generate money by giving out lots of tickets
84 year old NYC man bruised, bloodied, and knocked unconscious by police after jay walking. Man is suing for $5 million.
Many Police Departments are being forced to meet quotas to make money. That’s like telling a bunch of guys with guns “You need to arrest poor people to get paid.” (Charge the people in populations that can’t afford to lawyer up.) The most concerning factor though is the very real cap on IQ’s. Many police departments WON’T HIRE PEOPLE IF THEY’RE IQ IS TOO HIGH.
What did you think was going to happen? You give a bunch of power hungry people, that don’t have the strongest critical thinking skills, guns and tell them to harass people for money. We are seeing the results of these practices. Give dumb people power and reward them for picking on vulnerable people. That will never end well.
So why are the requirements for becoming a police officer SO different than other law enforcement agencies?
For instance, to join the FBI, recruits and applicants are put through a rigorous background test that includes a polygraph and extensive psychological profiling. The FBI asks questions like: “Does this person just want to join because they are a megalomaniac?” “Does this person have a history of anger problems?”
Why in the hell aren’t we doing the same thing on the local level for our police departments? The CIA, NSA, and ATF have equally strict guidelines. Of all these agencies the CIA probably has the most stringent of hiring processes.
Via VoiceGlance – “Aside from perhaps running for President of the United States, the most intense hiring process in America belongs to its own Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which often takes two years. The process will almost certainly uncover your deepest, darkest secrets and use them against you. Along with you undergoing every possible assessment out there, from polygraph exams to personality tests, your family, your exes, your neighbors and your friends will all be interrogated. Along the way, if you lie, or even exaggerate, you’ll be instantly disqualified. Obviously, you can’t take drugs or commit any criminal acts.”
My question is: Why is it so easy to become a local man or woman in blue?
Their psychological testing pales in comparison. If our local police departments treated the hiring process with as much respect as the CIA and FBI, I doubt we’d have so much corruption, abuse of power, and blatant disregard for human life.
Police using pepper spray on UC Davis students
Another interesting problem with our current local law enforcement agencies is the way the VICAP system is used (or NOT used).
The VICAP system stands of Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. The VICAP system was spurred by the capture of serial killer Ted Bundy when local law enforcement agencies realized how detrimental it was not to share information across state lines. So a computer system was developed to catalog violent crimes and track offenders on a Federal level.
Unfortunately, the VICAP system is egregiously underused. This is because there’s NO FEDERAL MANDATE stating that local police agencies even have to enter information from violent crimes. That’s right. It’s there, but if they’re too tired to finish paperwork for the day, there are no repercussions for not entering a serial rapists information. Along with systemic racism in many small towns across the country, low IQ’s, and a lack of federal oversight – it’s no surprise that many local police forces have become the equivalent to maniacal wild west vigilantes in their own minds.
These are just a few of the things that need to change to keep our police accountable and stop them from taking so many innocent lives. How and when will this change? The Black Lives Matter movement has made great strides to bring attention to some of these problems but it’s not enough.
Write your local senator, write your local congressman, and always know your rights.
You Might Also Like
