One other thing I meant to say about this case is that the Zehm family settled with the city of Spokane for 1.7 mil. That's taxpayer dough folks.
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Now look, everyone knows how I feel about cops. I keep hearing about a few bad apples but when it comes right down to it, aren't the ones who ignore and defend the bad cops just as dishonest or corrupt? For example, recently two cops were filmed beating the hell out of a guy who had eluded them. The good cops stood around and watched. Good cops? The ones who watched their blue buddies assault a dude and didn't intervene? A pretty skewed version of good vs bad.
The Guardian News website on a daily basis publishes how many citizens have been killed by American "Peace Officers". This morning I checked, to see what the number was and was startled to see that in the space of several hours, the death toll had increased by a few more people to 697. I don't care how many people there are in the U.S., that's a shitload of people being killed in our names. If you don't care and think that the cops are doing a bang-up job (no pun intended), support them no matter what rights they violate then you're not thinking clearly. It costs you money. Big money. Every time a cop beats up someone or kills or injures a person (whether or not they're suspected of a crime), they or their survivors end up in court to sue the shit out of whatever jurisdiction these bullies happen to work for. "Hey, it's no skin off my ass. They're getting the bad guys off the street". Wrong Bubba. Everyday local governments decide whether or not to pay out huge sums of money to settle claims of police misconduct out of court. Others end up in court with massive damage awards to the plaintiffs. The folks who decide on how much to offer in settlement couldn't care less about the amount...It's not their dough. It's ours. Money that I'd rather see going to schools and public health. Sure in the big scheme of things the money that comes directly out of my pockets for these awards is minuscule. But that's my dough as well as yours. Cops investigate themselves and for the most part find that they acted properly. Then the attorneys look at the legal ramifications of the cops actions and figure they're going to lose big in court and offer up great settlements to avoid the publicity and the possibility of a larger award. In the meantime, cops continue to violate citizen rights, injure and kill in the name of the people. How do we change the system? It would take a few years but I believe I have an idea that change can be had by utilizing the free market and natural selection. First off, we all agree that we need police forces to keep the peace. Unfortunately Sheriff Andy left the building years ago and that leaves the bully culture running the departments. Reigning in the errant cops and taming the powerful police unions will be the hardest part. Entire forces will need to redesign their training programs and toss out the old guard. The phrases "I feared for my life" or "Quit resisting" while beating the shit out of someone have to be eliminated. (Allow me to interject some hearsay. An acquaintance of mine who was a cop at one time, told me that during police academy training an instructor mentioned off the record that those two phrases would give them Carte Blanche. Bullshit? Boasting? Possible). Salaries will come into play. Officers should be well paid for their work. Let's say a starting cop is paid 60k a year. Top cops and those who have been around for years probably rake in in excess of 100k. I would propose that all cops get a pay raise. That raise in pay would be equal to 110% of the price of personal liability insurance. In essence, a small increase to their overall salary. Let's say an entry level cop is paid 60k a year. Not bad dough for a job that doesn't require a college degree or high I.Q.,s and requires less training than a hair stylist or veterinary technician. The seasoned cop makes 100 grand a year but he's already tainted by the blue code. With my plan insurance companies would be invited offer up competitive rates of personal liability policies for all officers. As i said previously, cops would be given an insurance allowance of 110% the price of coverage. If the going rate for insuring a rookie cop was say, 3,000 then the cop would get $3300 a year. If the seasoned cop is pulling in 100k and his premium is $5,000 (old cop, old methods, equal higher liability risk) then his pay would increase by $5500. Every year, the insurance companies will look at their payouts and adjust premiums accordingly. A standard rate increase for all cops would be reflected by an increase in their pay. A rate increase for cops who have caused insurance losses would naturally be higher but the department would only pay for a standard premium. So, the rookie cop in the second year who has cost the insurance company nothing and who's standard premium increased to $5500 will see his pay increased $6,050. A slight increase in his take home in addition to normal cola raises. On the other hand. the rookie cop who generates a lot of complaints and cash settlements ends up with a higher than standard premium. He's riskier and costs a lot more dough to cover. His premium increases to $6500 per year however, his pay is increased the same as the non-offending rookie cop. His pay is increased the standard premium amount of $6,050 but his risk assessment has raised and if he wants to keep his job, he has to cough up the additional $450 for the coverage. Money talks and bullshit walks. Older cops who routinely violate citizen rights and generate lawsuits will have the incentive to change their outlooks because their jobs and standard of living will be at risk. You can pretty much figure that the older cops are going to have higher standard premiums which will skyrocket and eventually with any luck police abuse of authority will decrease. Sure, there are flaws to my plan but hey, it's a beginning. With all the cases of police abuse being published daily there is one that stands out for me and still reinforces my disdain for the cops (yeah I know, the next time I need help, call a crack addict. If my choice is between a crack addict or a cop, I'll take the crack addict). OTTO ZEHM. Otto was a developmental disability afflicted janitor who at 36 years old was beaten to death by a Spokane cop. He was mistakenly suspected of trying to rob an ATM. After the cops investigated themselves they found no wrong-doing and exonerated Officer Karl Thompson. A couple of years later the Feds charged Thompson with unreasonable use of force and basically lying to the FBI with a written statement. He was found guilty and the most disturbing thing to me is this excerpt from Wikipedia: On November 2, 2011, the jury found Thompson guilty on both counts; excessive use of force and lying to investigators about the confrontation. Over 50 police officers were in attendance when the verdict was announced and saluted Thompson in a show of solidarity. That's the part that pisses me off. The cops were WSP, and cops from assorted jurisdictions. Gotta change the culture. I see this as nothing more than a pipe dream since the police unions have more power than the people. |