t&y
t&y
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- Jan 9, 2010
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Well here we go again. There is all kinds of information out there and some of it s a bit misleading. I figured why not give this community a bit of insight into how the cops around SoCal are responding to the "Peaceful Protest" and what you can expect from us in return. Any and all associated with Law Enforcement here in L.A. or across the nation that are on the boards are welcome to join in the discussion.
********* This is not a thread asking for pats on the back. There is plenty of that from members already and it is much appreciated but not necessary ***********
********* Here is my perspective. As usual, I know there are some real haters on here, so understand these are my views and opinions. I am not a spokes person from my department, nor am I promoting any policy or procedural actions that should be followed by anybody sworn or civilian. **********
Couple things I will address that I have heard repeatedly on here and on the news.
Why are the cops just letting the "Peaceful Protestors" riot and loot with simply arresting them and kicking everyone out?
1) That is logistically impossible.
2) Our hands have been tied in regards to what we can actually do to affect an arrest in these situations and we DO NOT have the backing of the politicians in this state to really stop this quickly
3) With exception to direct acts of physical violence towards a person, the "Peaceful Protestors" are basically destroying property. Unless a life is in danger in that situation, we will not risk harm to individuals or ourselves to stop them from damaging property or looting. Much of this based on how many "boots on the ground" we have at the time. Do not mistake this for a free pass to loot.
4) California has made it VERY CLEAR that they do not care about enforcing actual laws on the books in regards to petty theft, vandalism, out right destruction of public property, or assaults against police. This was already in place long before these riots starting with AB 109 all the way through Prop 47. California voted for it, the police are simply following the guide lines.
Why don't the cops just stop everyone from protesting?
1) IT IS EVERY CITIZENS RIGHT TO PROTEST, AND IT IS THE DUTY OF POLICE TO PROTECT THAT RIGHT.
2) If you understand #1, then you already understand why they simply will not shut down every protest until it goes bad. Believe it or not, Cops DO RESPECT the Constitution and are sworn to protect it.
Why didn't the cops stop this earlier in the week or Friday when things started to get out of hand?
1) This situation is not a simple one. There are many things going on behind the scenes in regards to managing employees and having personnel available to respond. When things got out of hand on Friday many departments started ramping up their response teams in anticipation of the escalation of events.
2) If you understand personnel management then you might also understand logistical arrangements. Once the national guard was deployed it took them almost 12 hours to ramp up and start getting personnel and equipment on scene. Cops have a bit of advantage here because we are already in the field with minimal response gear.
3) Politicians. We can not simply shut down protests, mobilize entire filed forces, or close neighborhoods without the involvement of our local politicians. They are notified when anything significant goes on anywhere I know of, and you can imagine how many of them respond when faced with this type of police action.
Above are the three main questions I hear repeatedly asked on the news and from victims of this thing. Below is more of my personal perspective on this thing.
These protests are well organized and funded from somewhere. There are absolutely good people on the protest lines trying to get their voice heard in regards to things they believe in. I respect that and understand that. As always, there are small groups infiltrating these protests to incite violence and cause panic. As someone who "hypothetically" would be on the front line of those protests, ABSOFUCKINGLOOTLY it would be easy to place a couple pepper ball rounds directly in the face of those inciting violence. The problem with that is one miss and you may hit a non violent person simply exercising their rights. It is a very fine line we have to walk, and based on actions of the past, in most cases we are forced to simply hold the line while being expected to absorb the violence and abuse from those there to cause harm.
If we responded with a heavy hand, it would only feed into the false narrative that was promoted heavily under our last President, and has carried on through our media and local domestic terrorist groups. One of the things we are seeing is police stations being attacked. I can tell you right now, everyone in my cop shop has made it very clear. Some idiot vandalizing a window is just an idiot, but if that idiot breaks through and enters, there is only one reason for that. That action will be addressed immediately and people may be seriously injured or die. They will not take our building period. It is crazy that this is even something being discussed but that is the reality of what we are dealing with.
Aside from dealing with Protestors, the men and women who work Law Enforcement and Fire/Paramedic/EMT are still having to handle the every day calls for service in their areas. This is a whole other level of awareness because while doing so, you don't have an entire squad of partners backing you up. We have already experienced a higher number of random people driving by while we are out on an investigation shouting things or making hand gestures. It wouldn't take much for something bad to happen on one of those routine calls daily.
It will be interesting to see how long this all plays out. Now that the National Guard is in place to hold positions, things in the active areas will be much easier to control. Who knows how long that will go on. Much of it has to do with how long our State Governor is willing to use the national guard. I would assume his political party will only tolerate so much of that due to the upcoming election cycle.
For the foreseeable future, I along with the majority of LEO's, Fire/Paramedics/EMT's will be working everyday. The paycheck will be awesome, but the headache will probably be non stop
To anybody else out there on the frontlines in any capacity, stay safe and keep your head on a swivel.
********* This is not a thread asking for pats on the back. There is plenty of that from members already and it is much appreciated but not necessary ***********
********* Here is my perspective. As usual, I know there are some real haters on here, so understand these are my views and opinions. I am not a spokes person from my department, nor am I promoting any policy or procedural actions that should be followed by anybody sworn or civilian. **********
Couple things I will address that I have heard repeatedly on here and on the news.
Why are the cops just letting the "Peaceful Protestors" riot and loot with simply arresting them and kicking everyone out?
1) That is logistically impossible.
2) Our hands have been tied in regards to what we can actually do to affect an arrest in these situations and we DO NOT have the backing of the politicians in this state to really stop this quickly
3) With exception to direct acts of physical violence towards a person, the "Peaceful Protestors" are basically destroying property. Unless a life is in danger in that situation, we will not risk harm to individuals or ourselves to stop them from damaging property or looting. Much of this based on how many "boots on the ground" we have at the time. Do not mistake this for a free pass to loot.
4) California has made it VERY CLEAR that they do not care about enforcing actual laws on the books in regards to petty theft, vandalism, out right destruction of public property, or assaults against police. This was already in place long before these riots starting with AB 109 all the way through Prop 47. California voted for it, the police are simply following the guide lines.
Why don't the cops just stop everyone from protesting?
1) IT IS EVERY CITIZENS RIGHT TO PROTEST, AND IT IS THE DUTY OF POLICE TO PROTECT THAT RIGHT.
2) If you understand #1, then you already understand why they simply will not shut down every protest until it goes bad. Believe it or not, Cops DO RESPECT the Constitution and are sworn to protect it.
Why didn't the cops stop this earlier in the week or Friday when things started to get out of hand?
1) This situation is not a simple one. There are many things going on behind the scenes in regards to managing employees and having personnel available to respond. When things got out of hand on Friday many departments started ramping up their response teams in anticipation of the escalation of events.
2) If you understand personnel management then you might also understand logistical arrangements. Once the national guard was deployed it took them almost 12 hours to ramp up and start getting personnel and equipment on scene. Cops have a bit of advantage here because we are already in the field with minimal response gear.
3) Politicians. We can not simply shut down protests, mobilize entire filed forces, or close neighborhoods without the involvement of our local politicians. They are notified when anything significant goes on anywhere I know of, and you can imagine how many of them respond when faced with this type of police action.
Above are the three main questions I hear repeatedly asked on the news and from victims of this thing. Below is more of my personal perspective on this thing.
These protests are well organized and funded from somewhere. There are absolutely good people on the protest lines trying to get their voice heard in regards to things they believe in. I respect that and understand that. As always, there are small groups infiltrating these protests to incite violence and cause panic. As someone who "hypothetically" would be on the front line of those protests, ABSOFUCKINGLOOTLY it would be easy to place a couple pepper ball rounds directly in the face of those inciting violence. The problem with that is one miss and you may hit a non violent person simply exercising their rights. It is a very fine line we have to walk, and based on actions of the past, in most cases we are forced to simply hold the line while being expected to absorb the violence and abuse from those there to cause harm.
If we responded with a heavy hand, it would only feed into the false narrative that was promoted heavily under our last President, and has carried on through our media and local domestic terrorist groups. One of the things we are seeing is police stations being attacked. I can tell you right now, everyone in my cop shop has made it very clear. Some idiot vandalizing a window is just an idiot, but if that idiot breaks through and enters, there is only one reason for that. That action will be addressed immediately and people may be seriously injured or die. They will not take our building period. It is crazy that this is even something being discussed but that is the reality of what we are dealing with.
Aside from dealing with Protestors, the men and women who work Law Enforcement and Fire/Paramedic/EMT are still having to handle the every day calls for service in their areas. This is a whole other level of awareness because while doing so, you don't have an entire squad of partners backing you up. We have already experienced a higher number of random people driving by while we are out on an investigation shouting things or making hand gestures. It wouldn't take much for something bad to happen on one of those routine calls daily.
It will be interesting to see how long this all plays out. Now that the National Guard is in place to hold positions, things in the active areas will be much easier to control. Who knows how long that will go on. Much of it has to do with how long our State Governor is willing to use the national guard. I would assume his political party will only tolerate so much of that due to the upcoming election cycle.
For the foreseeable future, I along with the majority of LEO's, Fire/Paramedics/EMT's will be working everyday. The paycheck will be awesome, but the headache will probably be non stop
To anybody else out there on the frontlines in any capacity, stay safe and keep your head on a swivel.
