tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6230658262080394592.post3743567574875907250..comments2024-01-05T17:10:58.146-08:00Comments on Police Brutality (and Atrocity) Blog: Are Game Wardens More Intelligent and Responsible than Police Officers?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6230658262080394592.post-81422307101279482352010-01-16T16:17:34.993-08:002010-01-16T16:17:34.993-08:00I think the last comment is very much on point. P...I think the last comment is very much on point. Police assume that everyone must be rational, even after having been told by family members that the person they are dealing with has emotional problems.<br /><br />Wild animals are expected to be "wild," but a human having a diabetic seizure, or in the grips of suicidal attack, is expected to act like a normal human, even when that's impossible.<br /><br />And police assume that all refusals or failures to follow police commands are intentional or recklessly silly challenges to police authority.<br /><br />I don't believe that more training will help, because I believe that the people who want to help others with mental problems are going into social work and psychiatry. The people who want to enforce "order" at any cost are joining the police forces.<br /><br />When someone shows psychiatric trouble, it's much easier for the police to beat or electrically shock them than it is to process the paperwork for, and find a placement for, someone with psychiatric problems.<br /><br />This is why police ignored Esteban Carpio when his mother told police that <b><a href="http://police-brutality-blog.blogspot.com/2007/08/american-justice-esteban-carpio-was-he.html" rel="nofollow">Mr. Carpio was mentally unstable.</a></b> The police feel terrible about the loss of a fellow officer, but they want to and have legally put the blame on Esteban Carpio. Police showed a terrible lack of understanding of mental illness when they took Mr. Carpio into a room, interviewed him for hours, and left him there with ONE police officer who had a loaded gun.<br /><br />Police and the public will be safer when police realize that mental illness is actually quite common (all cities and towns have some of it) and everyone is safer when mentally ill people are treated with the extra care that is required.Francis Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11862777385923656061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6230658262080394592.post-87024062847976649472010-01-15T11:54:49.802-08:002010-01-15T11:54:49.802-08:00I think the big difference is that police officers...I think the big difference is that police officers assume the people they are dealing with are intelligent and aware of the legal and cultural norms of the society they live in. Therefore, when they are confronted by people who aren't following the norms and rules, they assume it's because it's an intentional and confrontational situation.<br /><br />The game warden, by comparison, would be loony to assume a bear or other animal knows the rules or even cares about the rules. Therefore a game warden assumes the animal is not intentionally being confrontational.<br /><br />A lot of the recent posts deal with people who are not able to understand and follow the rules of society--the mentally handicapped, for example--like the bear. The inability for police to diagnose these problems or the lack of effective communication from--say--the mentally deficient person's caregivers to indicate the mentally deficient person lacks the suitable ability to normally function in society creates the situation where the cop is presented with the game warden's problem without even knowing it.<br /><br />Then the mentally deficient person acts in what the cop sees as an irrational, confrontive manner and tases/shoots/nightsticks them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6230658262080394592.post-37530724337194002642009-12-16T15:02:21.491-08:002009-12-16T15:02:21.491-08:00That's an extremely insightful comparison.That's an extremely insightful comparison.Excited-Delirium.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12842600862614803819noreply@blogger.com