The Associated Press read a strange story about a mass shooter who invaded an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Reportedly, the local police refused to attack the shooter for about 40 minutes, instructing them to call for help before apprehending him. Instead, the police waited for a tactical unit from the Border Patrol to arrive. Despite parents nearby urging them to go, the police reportedly killed another student before finally taking action.
During the attack, Jacklyn Cazares’s child was killed. According to a cellphone video apparently taken at the scene, the parents were screaming and desperate to stop them, so the police threatened to tase them. It seems that the police only stopped them, but not the parents. The parents tried to rush in, as if they were supposed to do something, but the police didn’t even try to delay them.
Angeli Rose Gomez, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, drove 40 miles to the school where her two children attended, after they brought pepper spray to school and sprayed it in a crowd of sprinting students. She then sneaked around the crowd and was tackled by a parent, while the police tackled her and let her out of the handcuffs, as some local cops talked to the federal marshals who were actively investigating the scene. Instead, she begged the police to intervene, but they arrested her for “actively intervening” in the investigation.
Additional content by Ryan Cooper.
It simply illustrates what the American police culture is: a cowardly action. The horrifying story should come as no surprise. Contrary to the chest-thumping rhetoric of police unions, they are neither legally expected nor trained to protect citizens in danger. Even elementary school kids are frequently charged with protecting their own safety, putting them in a pinch.
NBC News states that the “district implemented a variety of security measures that encompassed its own police force, evaluation teams at every school, a system for reporting threats, software for monitoring social media, barriers surrounding the schools, and a policy requiring teachers to secure their classroom doors,” in accordance with a 2018 Texas legislation enacted in reaction to a separate instance of a school shooting. It is important to highlight that this educational institution had taken all the necessary steps advised by conservatives and professionals in the school safety consulting field, as a starting point.
Violence is on the rise and there is an extraordinary increase in violent crime that police officers are facing. According to Grossman, the American society is facing an explosion of creepy and obsessive individuals who are killing others with bombs, assault rifles, and organized opposition. In this context, police officers must be prepared to face armed opponents and take on the role of “cop warriors,” as described by Justin Peters in his article for Slate. Grossman, one of the most influential police trainers in the country, considers the overall police culture and training to be responsible for instilling fear and exaggerating the ambient risk in society. This is the reason why police are often seen as a powerful force. However, it is important to note that the tactics approved by the police in these days are polar opposites. Instead of rushing to the scene and trying to stop the killer, police officers are now supposed to wait outside for hours, bleeding the scene of death. This approach is in stark contrast to the tactics used during the Columbine shooting, where police officers were supposed to quickly enter the scene. Unfortunately, neither approach seems to be effective in stopping the killers.
Contrary to the chest-thumping rhetoric of police unions, they are neither trained nor legally expected to protect citizens in danger.
Following the availability of vaccines, there was a 63 percent rise in COVID-19 fatalities among police officers from 2020 to 2021. This increase can be attributed to the fact that police officers are predominantly conservative and therefore susceptible to right-wing propaganda. The pandemic has been the primary cause for the surge in officer deaths. In comparison, being a logger is more than four times riskier than being in law enforcement, which ranked as the 25th most hazardous occupation in 2019. Despite a significant increase in homicides in recent years (and a particularly alarming rise in certain cities), the overall rate of violent crime remains considerably lower than the peak levels observed in the early 1990s. It is important to note that these claims are entirely baseless.
Enjoy and relax, find a job that comes with many perks. Both partners are very invested in intense sex. But don’t worry, Grossman claims that you will have the best sex of your life and then someone will kill you in another training. He darkly warns that any cop needs to be willing and ready to kill without suppressing any humanitarian instincts. “Killology” is a scholarly study of the destructive act, just like sexology is a scholarly study of procreative sex. This hyperbole shrieking about crime is necessary to justify Grossman’s perverted obsession.
If I were a detective in the police force, I would be examining the sicko depraved, which is one of the most popular trainers among police officers in the country.
In accordance with the trend observed in previous years, a significant factor contributing to the police killing of 406 individuals this year is the pervasive presence of self-imposed fear. Little attention is given to diplomatic approaches, de-escalation techniques, or maintaining composure in stressful situations. The primary focus remains on the safety of the police themselves rather than the well-being of the general public. Law enforcement officers are trained to constantly live in a state of intense fear, viewing the local population as riddled with violent criminals, and prioritizing their own protection above all else. The main themes of this message are commonly found in police training programs across the country, which lack national standards and heavily rely on dubious scientific claims. However, as highlighted by Isaac Scher in Insider, Grossman stands somewhat apart from the mainstream in this regard.
Supreme Court precedent strongly reinforces this message. In the 2005 case Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales, a woman sued the local police department for not arresting her husband, who had violated a protective order and subsequently murdered her three children, as discussed by Ramenda Cyrus in the Prospect. However, the Court ruled against her, stating that unless the police have made a specific written promise, they are not obligated to protect the public. Antonin Scalia, in his opinion, established this unattainable standard. This is exemplified by a case in New York City, where a man lost a lawsuit against the NYPD after an officer failed to assist him during a confrontation with a knife-wielding attacker. As Cyrus points out, the police are not required to intervene when someone is actively being harmed, nor are they obligated to arrest individuals who have violated orders. Furthermore, they do not bear any responsibility for safeguarding individuals from others.
The parents in Uvalde, at least some of them, were willing to risk their lives to try to stop the shooter, even though the police had not been trained without body armor or weapons. This is not an innate propensity. The word “coward” is only for reducing personal risk, but there is a word for someone who is fixated on being ready to kill people who only appear threatening and is almost entirely obsessed with imaginary dangers, someone who walks around terrified.
In civilized countries like Norway or the U.K., Police officers are not supposed to act or appear like troops. It is true that this undermines the notion that American police officers act like soldiers, as some critics and Grossman have heard. They don’t drive around in tanks or heavy body armor, equipped with high-powered weapons, and they don’t act or look like troops.
In a genuine war zone, where the risk of fire is mentioned as being friendly, it is important for a comrade to avoid mentioning it. In order to engage the enemy and show courage, it is necessary for a rescue route to be downed and for there to be a fear of hair-trigger fire. In this patrol situation, Littles Chicken does not want you to be terrified, as being willing to kill someone is not as cool as remaining calm under fire and enduring the mortal risk. The sad truth is that if the actual soldiers of the U.S. Army were to replace their current police departments, it would likely be a lot better for most American communities.
The Uvalde massacre is a graphic illustration of two of America’s worst problems – the incompetent, lawless police departments and the epidemic of gun violence. In many American cities, there is a real problem of murder, with the majority of culprits getting away with it and the police often letting them go. We have too many guns that are too easy to get, and our culture is sick, tearing us apart.
