JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
On thing I can pretty much guarantee you right now, is that the entire law enforcement profession is having a major, serious, no sh!t gut check after the recent events, and this is NOT going to be any good for We the People! I would say that the vast majority of Law Enforcement Professionals are good people and that they are now operating in a heightened state and maybe even on edge, knowing that the people they serve now believe that ALL of them are racists, bigioted, and likely to murder them for the slightest perceived offence! Imagine your self in their shoes if you will, and ask your self, what do I do now?

I'm seeing a lot of back and forth here where folks just need to agree to disagree and move on, rather then argue about banal non tangential crap! get over it and move the discussion along rather then bog it down into the incessant "you just don't understand" lemme 'splain it to you some more crap!
 
I'm no genius but when your Taser's grip and manual of arms and your Sidearm's grip and manual of arms are essentially the same, combined with an officers lack of training time and reps, this was going to happen.
 
I'm no genius but when your Taser's grip and manual of arms and your Sidearm's grip and manual of arms are essentially the same, combined with an officers lack of training time and reps, this was going to happen.
Lack of training is the key.
 
Just because he was convicted of 2nd degree murder doesn't mean he wouldn't have been one of the ones running towards the Towers. A few things that should cause folks to go hmmm...

Derek Chauvin, shot one suspect, was involved in the fatal shooting of another, and received 18 complaints over his 19-year career as a police officer, but 16 of them were closed without discipline.

Chauvin had a reputation for being overly aggressive and combative, according to the nightclub owner who employed him as a security guard where he worked with George Floyd. (Unclear if they knew each other)

Yet, he was awarded a Medal of Commendation in 2008 after he disarmed a man during one of his nightclub security shifts.

One woman who filed a complaint against him in 2007 said Chauvin and another officer pulled her out of her car with no explanation. Saying that the officers approached her car, reached inside without a word, unlocked her door, pulled her out, and then put her in the back of a police cruiser. She said Chauvin and the other officer released her roughly 15 minutes later without an explanation. The reason for the traffic stop? Driving 10 miles over the speed limit. Records state that Chauvin was later told that he "did not have to remove complainant from car."

Yet two other women commended him in 2008 and 2013 after he handled their domestic-violence calls.

He was even recommended for a Medal of Valor in 2006 in connection with the fatal police shooting of Wayne Reyes. Six officers shot at Reyes while responding to a report that he had stabbed two people; the police said they opened fire after Reyes pulled out a shotgun.

Yet Reyes' daughter Leanne told The Washington Post that she was horrified to see Chauvin's name surface again in the news. "I already knew what kind of monster that man is," she said. "And all I could feel was heartbreak that this had happened again." The Post said it was unclear which officers fired at Reyes and what Chauvin's involvement was.

Whether or not he or other Cops will run towards danger isn't the only question that needs to be asked by Law Enforcement Agencies or their communities. To me the lack of training, (displayed skills and poor decision making) lack of resources and community policing is glaring in the videos all over the internet. The big questions involve not systemic racism but rather a systemic lack of improvement. The questions needing answers all involve a dehumanized policing. The answers all involve better training, more resources, and better relationships individually, and with the communities they serve and protect.

We need Police Reform all right, but what we don't need is a national police force, which is where I think this false racism narrative and community destruction is all going.
 
I would say that the vast majority of Law Enforcement Professionals are good people and that they are now operating in a heightened state and maybe even on edge, knowing that the people they serve now believe that ALL of them are racists, bigioted, and likely to murder them for the slightest perceived offence!
I doubt that's the case here in Smalltown Oregon. I'm not that fussed about the big cities anymore. Hell with them .
 
I doubt that's the case here in Smalltown Oregon. I'm not that fussed about the big cities anymore. Hell with them .
Same here! In fact, every single Officer or Deputy I have had interactions with or just spoken to are with out doubt some of the finest people I have ever met, despite being in or around our state capital! OSP, not so much, talk about Jack booted thugs!
 
The problem is you put education as a requirement and you pool of applicants shrinks even more. I think LE is a career field that a lot of individuals gravitate to simply for the reason you don't have to go to college/higher education. I think it should be an affordable system like a trade school. Spend some quality time learning. Training. Communicating. Getting punched in the face and adapting. Weed out the people who are going to be a liability. We all know the academy for entry level cops is a joke. The physical and mental requirements are pathetic. Which leaves us with unqualified and undertrained officers.
So here is my, "I walked to school uphill in both directions in six feet of snow," story about the police academy. My academy was 16 weeks (now 26) and in my time you were done for the day when they said so. Usually 12 hours at a minimum with of course no overtime. You went home, cleaned your gun and wrote reports. It's just what you did and you were happy to be there that long, getting yelled out all day, running PT in the sand in summer heat and learning in between. About 30-40% dropped out. Some very good folks but either decided it was not for them or the staff decided they were not cut out for it and would be a liability.

You were stressed, constantly, so both you and the staff could see how you perform under pressure. The academy I attended is one of the last stress training facilities but now they are much kinder and gentler...after lawsuits and agencies who did not want to have to hire someone to replace a recruit they invested thousands on just getting them to the academy.

That said, there are many great folks going into police work now. But there are also many that are not put through much stress until they reach the streets. Not a good plan IMHO. Some agencies want a college education because some studies show they are less likely to use excessive force. What they have not studied is if they are less likely to use appropriate force. I saw another study that showed the officers who have great verbal skills have a tendency to not go force quick enough, often with fatal (to the officer) results.

This is just one of the many moving parts of law enforcement today that could be improved. Unfortunately not likely to happen as many agencies recruit on pay levels instead of ethical, stress inoculated (as much as possible) men and women who want to do the job for the right reason. Just my humble opinion.
 
I doubt that's the case here in Smalltown Oregon. I'm not that fussed about the big cities anymore. Hell with them .
I get it Wyoming is all small town except for a few small cities. Less than 600,000 total population. However my work has taken me all over the the USA and I believe what is happening in the population centers effects us in small town America. This incident and others weighs on me for many varied reasons. First that it happened, and all that has happened since. The destruction, riots and subsequent conviction of America. Our sentence appears to be our destruction, including our small fly-over communities. Perhaps especially them.
 
Same here! In fact, every single Officer or Deputy I have had interactions with or just spoken to are with out doubt some of the finest people I have ever met, despite being in or around our state capital! OSP, not so much, talk about Jack booted thugs!
I would agree wholeheartedly. In fact those communities are an example of successful policing. Where the police interact and develop relationships there. Our police live in the communities they police, not so in most the largest estate cities. We go to church with ours. Their kids go to our schools. We see them on the street and know their names and they know us.
 
So here is my, "I walked to school uphill in both directions in six feet of snow," story about the police academy. My academy was 16 weeks (now 26) and in my time you were done for the day when they said so. Usually 12 hours at a minimum with of course no overtime. You went home, cleaned your gun and wrote reports. It's just what you did and you were happy to be there that long, getting yelled out all day, running PT in the sand in summer heat and learning in between. About 30-40% dropped out. Some very good folks but either decided it was not for them or the staff decided they were not cut out for it and would be a liability.

You were stressed, constantly, so both you and the staff could see how you perform under pressure. The academy I attended is one of the last stress training facilities but now they are much kinder and gentler...after lawsuits and agencies who did not want to have to hire someone to replace a recruit they invested thousands on just getting them to the academy.

That said, there are many great folks going into police work now. But there are also many that are not put through much stress until they reach the streets. Not a good plan IMHO. Some agencies want a college education because some studies show they are less likely to use excessive force. What they have not studied is if they are less likely to use appropriate force. I saw another study that showed the officers who have great verbal skills have a tendency to not go force quick enough, often with fatal (to the officer) results.

This is just one of the many moving parts of law enforcement today that could be improved. Unfortunately not likely to happen as many agencies recruit on pay levels instead of ethical, stress inoculated (as much as possible) men and women who want to do the job for the right reason. Just my humble opinion.
I agree 100 percent. High stress training is a must. Full contact. But once again you have to worry about people getting injured which in effect will leave you short staffed. It's definitely a fine balance. I know there are a ton of great LEOs on the force and joining currently. My heart goes out to the guys/gals just joining in the political climate. They may not have experience, and their eyes may be wide open here shortly but I appreciate the courage and grit to get in the profession in today's age. With so much hate and distain for LEO. I can't imagine trying to do the job now days. Even when you do it right the mob mentality may burry you. But as long as you go into the ground knowing what you did was ethical, moral, and correct that is all that matters.
 
Training may be expensive, but Potland (thanks @Mikej) has pissed away enough money on traffic lights, crosswalks and eff'd up bus stops on Division Street to pay for a whole lot of quality training.
 
I'll bet anybody a bottle of their favorite we will eventually hear the words 'National Police force', 'Universal police force' or something to this effect but the gist will be for a Nationwide, Government funded 'Police force'.

My husband and I were saying the same thing that you wrote HERE.

Take care!

Cate
 
I would agree wholeheartedly. In fact those communities are an example of successful policing.
I think it has less to do w/ the police and more to do with the quality of the people in the community. This is not the sort of problem where a locale can just throw more money into the police force and it goes away.
 
I think it has less to do w/ the police and more to do with the quality of the people in the community. This is not the sort of problem where a locale can just throw more money into the police force and it goes away.
I agree. Throwing money at a problem seldom is the solution. Adding more Cops, better training, foot, horse and bicycle patrols takes money. Defunding only accerbates the problem, but that is their goal. The Indeed to justify the Federalization of policing in America to complete the disarming of the American Citizens.
 

Upcoming Events

Tillamook Gun & Knife Show
Tillamook, OR
"The Original" Kalispell Gun Show
Kalispell, MT
Teen Rifle 1 Class
Springfield, OR
Kids Firearm Safety 2 Class
Springfield, OR

New Resource Reviews

New Classified Ads

Back Top