Police reform by another name: COVID mandates causing cops to complain -- and quit

[marmar]

Police reform by another name: COVID mandates causing cops to complain — and quit
Complaining cops are inadvertently revealing themselves to be among the problem officers in their department

By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 20, 2021 9:56AM


(Salon) One of the only federal legislative initiatives that had any hope for bipartisan agreement in the last few years was the police reform bill that was being negotiated by Senators Corey Booker, D-NJ, and Tim Scott, R-SC, along with Rep. Karen Bass of California. Although it always seemed like a difficult lift considering the acrimony on both sides surrounding the issue, it seemed for a while that they were actually making some progress. Unfortunately, those talks finally fell apart and now don't seem to have any chance of revival.

Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, dishonestly said that he refused to agree to the Democrats' insistence on "defunding" the police — which they were not doing. Booker explained that he finally pulled the plug when Scott backed out of the agreement to codify Donald Trump's executive order. No doubt Scott knew he would be all alone in the GOP if he signed on and simply decided he'd be better off politically if he just abandoned ship altogether.

....(snip)....

There has been a legal consensus that in order to provide public safety, police must be allowed to exercise their own professional judgment in the course of their jobs. They are given much greater leeway than in any other employment and are legally protected from most civil liability. And as we have unfortunately seen in too many cases, expecting the criminal code to protect the public from police is a long shot.

....(snip)....

Today we are witnessing an unusual situation which reveals that for all the protestations that cops have such a dangerous job that they must be allowed plenty of room to make decisions that they believe will save their own lives and protect the citizens, there are members of police departments who clearly just believe they should be above the law.

The New York Times reported last week that COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among police officers last year, nearly five times the number who died as a result of firearms. Nobody knows how many have fallen ill from the disease but departments across the country have reported large outbreaks. And yet they are having a very difficult time getting some officers to take the vaccine. Now that many cities are mandating the shots the Police Unions are in an uproar and officers are quitting rather than adhere to the law. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/10/20/police-reform-by-another-name-mandates-causing-cops-to-complain--and-quit/

[Walleye]

1. Of course we don't know how many other people they infected with the reckless behavior

It’s to protect part of protect and serve and apparently they don’t believe in either

[lark]

2. Great, removing themselves from a position where they could actively harms us!

This is a good thing. Now, I hope they stay out of any type of so called public service because I would not trust any single one of these with my life or rights. They are a danger to society, worse than the rest because they are mainly white authoritarians who hate & abuae minorities and women.

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. This is a good article.

But, it just seems to me, that people of all occupations are quitting their jobs, going to do other work, changing careers, or otherwise undergoing life changes. And not just because of vaccine requirements.

It just seems a time of upheaval, somehow, with people wanting/needing/demanding change. Law enforcement is dangerous, stressful work. Add in a global pandemic, and that stress will soon manifest itself in law enforcement occupations, just like it does in the rest of the population.

[SpankMe]

4. Selective reasoning

So, they'll go into dangerous situations risking their lives against armed and drug-fueled crazies; they'll risk being burned and disfigured by climbing through flaming auto wreckage to save a baby. They'll go undercover into the domains of violent drug lords.

But take a vaccine that's proven safe and effective in order to protect fellow officers and the public from a virus that's killed over 700,000 americans in the last 18 months? TYRANNY! DANGEROUS! WE DON'T KNOW IF THIS VACCINE IS TRULY SAFE! I QUIT!!!

Bastards.