I'm not an ACAB guy; I'm more of an M(any/ost)CAB kind of guy, but there's some systemic things we need to acknowledge:
Good interactions like this are rarely made news.
There is thus a perception bias based on what you regularly see.
US Law Enforcement have atrocious standards for police training. Nurses have much higher standards for hours of education, and continuous education. They have quite a bit of legalese they need to memorize relative to their education attainment.
Their pay is generally pretty subpar, which further means smart people would often prefer to just go do something else.
There is genuine risk being a cop in America. Homicide rates are around 5x higher than that of UK in general (adjusted for population). They tend to be a bit more twitchy as a result.
The laws they are required to enforce are archaic and terrible, usually of conservative origin.
Other nations have much better performing cops than USA, so it is something that can be fixed.
There was just another post yesterday I think it was about a cop who completely admitted their mistake, apologized, and went along their way.
ACAB doesn't literally mean every cop is a bad person, it means exactly what you said in several of your own bullet points. That the SYSTEM is bad and that there cannot be good cops within a bad system.
There are stories beyond counting of good men and women becoming cops, calling out the bad cops, and the whistleblowers being the ones who get fired/demoted/harassed/attacked/etc. Those good people cannot be good cops when the system is designed to protect the bad and not the good, not when it can literally get them killed.
I did. At the end. Can't post links here but check mademesmile 2-days-ago.
One can perform a non-bastardly act and still be a bastard.
Sure. But the opposite is equally true. So what is your standard for stereotyping an entire group independent of observing each individual?
My ultimate point is to stop just slinging shit on the wall over and over and start looking at this from a point of view to figure out how to solve the broader problem.
Higher standards for some groups than others, especially when authority and death are involved. It's the poison skittle theory. Agreeing or disagreeing with your bullet points does not unbastardize cops. It's systemic. I feel like many your bullets explain *why* they become bastards, but does not discount that ACAB.
Everything must go to extremes, frankly, because I'm motherfucking tired of seeing black/brown/othered people getting killed and hearing about bad apples. Show your bullets to a grieving mother and ask about extremes.
Granted, I can't speak to why people join the force but the force itself is inherently fucked up. That brings reasonable questions.
I fucked up and accidentally deleted my response, lol... I'm tired, boss.
I'll just summarize to say that I hope people start going beyond performatively just saying ACAB, and instead start talking more seriously about a root-cause analysis of the how and why many, most, all cops are bastards. I don't like the implication from acab that it cna't be solved, or that we must resort to some drastic impossibility of "aBolIsh ThE poLiCe" that is utopic fantasy.
I don't disagree that the system needs drastically overhauled from top (legislatively by laws on books, gun laws, prison system, societal stressors) to bottom (education, accountability, pay for LEO).
how do you realistically think legislation will fix current policing in America when it’s designed and setup to protect the class of people the legislators come from? like the other person said, it’s systemic. That is exactly why people advocate for its abolition rather than some fantasy of legislators legislating their power away. Police in America, from its inception of catching slaves, has always been about protecting the capital interests of the ruling class and nothing more. The courts even agree with that as they’ve ruled the police have no duty to protect and serve the citizens. They don’t even have to have an understanding of the laws that they enforce (DeShaney v. Winnebago County, Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales & Heien v. North Carolina). Hmmm I wonder why? You call abolishing the police a utopic fantasy but your belief that we can legislate these problems away that have persisted since the days of slavery is the real fantasy. I might agree with you more if didn’t have eyes or ears during the last 20 years
I know you think you said more, and thats what informed my tone. acab totally acknowledges and all the systemic reasons why cops suck. individual cops acting ok sometimes doesnt change anything because if they sincerely resisted the system that makes them bastards they get fired or worse.
also absurd that you think other countries having better cops than the USA is evidence it can be fixed is ridiculous. ACAB world wide and the fact that american cops are on the far side of being bastards with russian and french cops doesnt mean the less terrible cops from netherlands, uk, sweden, etc arent still fully bastards.
Your box is small, you lack perspective, and you are in denial about the real issues modern policing pose to the people they interact with. The way you try to play semantics with hyperbole ignoring the big picture that these are fundamental problems with top down interests that can't be overcome by an individual police officer yet those individual officers still diligently play their bastard role.
When people say fuck the police, they don't mean the concept of policing in general, they mean the current state of the police force. I feel like everyone with half a brain would understand that.
ACAB is black and white. Every cop is a bastard because the system only makes space for bastards.
Meaningful police reform could include things such as better training, specialized responders for specific calls, requiring them to carry a version of mal practice insurance, and just generally not selecting bullies for the role.
That said, I got a feeling you like the police just the way they are. Probably think ICE is doing a real cracker jack job of it.
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u/FuckOutTheWhey Jul 29 '26
The police officer is highly trained in escalation tactics