Sometimes I genuinely feel that common sense is lacking when it comes to law enforcement in the US. Arresting people and violence is the first response when it should be the last response.
I wonder why the US, as a country that defines itself as the "land of the free" or "leader of the free world", is so prone to resorting to these kind of extreme actions? There's a certain disconnect between the propaganda and the reality and it's sad because people suffer for it.
Militarization of the police in both equipment and training, largely due to a surplus from the various Middle East wars and a need to expand the military industrial complex (this isn't a political statement, the way budgets are determined in the military highly incentivizes branches to get rid of old equipment) is a large factor.
Training dollars have largely fallen across the board, and there has been a growing emphasis on combat/SWAT training while training for things like neighborhood policing, de-escalation, non-violent combat, and situation management have dropped significantly.
Falling real dollar salaries for police don't necessarily attract the best and brightest, which means most people who join for personal reasons (i.e. your stereotypical bright eyed rookie trying to make a positive difference) leave the force rather quickly due to the myriad of problems within modern police culture. This reduces the force to people mainly interested in pensions and knocking heads.
Largely misplaced political and social fury put on individual actors instead of systemic problems has created an us vs them mentality where departments circle the wagons and refuse to regulate internally, while conversely most people have never been less likely to help, trust, or assist police.
Economic incentives (private prison industry, asset forfeiture, speed ticket revenues, etc) have created a culture where "good policing" is policing that turns a profit.
We had (have?) a "War on Drugs" where the opposing combatants were the police and the populace.
Zero tolerance rules, repeat offender policies, license plate scanners, and policies largely stemming from the Drug War incentivize a shoot first, ask questions later mentality. Police are also much more likely to assume the worst of a citizen they are approaching regardless of race or sex compared to 20 and 30 years ago (there was a this american life about this a while back I believe).
We've woven a very tangled web. Hopefully we can get out of it, but it'll be very difficult.
Thanks, that's a very detailed and interesting reply.
Yes, a lot of those factors are most likely to have an effect. I hadn't thought about the equipment surplus coming from the Middle East wars.
It's very unfortunate and it's a problem I believe when the public learns to be fearful of the police. As soon as the police is no longer seen as public servants who are here to help, their stated mission and reason to exist is compromised.
The response here is surprisingly harsh on the police and lenient on the school.
Key passage: "she and her son had been called into the school for state standardizing testing April 12; while they were there, she said, officers arrested her son for an incident that occurred in October"
Why is the school having children arrested without parental notification? Why is the school deceptively luring a student into the school to be arrested? Why didn't the police just arrest him at home?
The policeman may or may not have any context re: WTF is going on. He has a warrant an an obligation to act, and without context he's going to assume the worst.
This is a failure of the system. If a 10 year old child is doing something that rises to a felony, there should be an intervention involving child protective services and social workers. The police should be the last line of intervention, as they are by nature a blunt instrument not equipped to handle children in this context.
I'll go further and say that the very concept of defaulting X offense to Y level is flawed as it does not respect context. This is self-serving on the part of the legal system - we often see crimes lawyered down dramatically from automatic jail time to a small fine. It hurts those who are ignorant, can't afford a lawyer, or both.
In the case of a special needs student, afflicted by a condition that professionals know can include lashing out physically, there's no damn reason to treat/charge this kid as a felon. Once more, a school should be a nurturing environment aimed at educating, not a stand-in sting operation.
While I don't disagree, I do think there's a general lack of empathy here; we're so overloaded with information, our senses are always tingling at 11/10, making it even more difficult to understand others or appreciate their version of the human condition.
It does not take a lot to become a cop. I don't think you even need a HS Diploma. A large majority of Police are already mentally unstable to even want the job. The best advice I can give anyone is avoid them as much as possible. Their resources are endless and yours are finite.
Incredibly distressing to see an imbecile treat a fragile child like an animal. I really hope the cops and school are sued for millions.
I wonder why the US, as a country that defines itself as the "land of the free" or "leader of the free world", is so prone to resorting to these kind of extreme actions? There's a certain disconnect between the propaganda and the reality and it's sad because people suffer for it.