quote:

ORIGINAL: MstrPBK
Personal biased opinion here:

I silently have the same concern as you and your fellow neighbors might have. I can't let my fear become a phobia. I would like to think that most officers are above board and honest; but at the same time I have realize we live in a society which seems to be acceptable to believe "that if your not caught do what ever you want".

As a Caucasian I probably do not sense your level of anxiety, but I have 'heard' the stories and one I feel ought to take a balanced care. (passing thought) It would be interesting to understand where the mistrust originated from in your neighborhood, maybe as a student in Law Enforcement student you could do a study to try to find a systematic way to defuse the tension of mistrust within your neighborhood.

MstrPBK
St. Paul, MN USA

quote:

ORIGINAL: LorraineCA

quote:

ORIGINAL: MstrPBK
Personal biased opinion here:

I silently have the same concern as you and your fellow neighbors might have. I can't let my fear become a phobia. I would like to think that most officers are above board and honest; but at the same time I have realize we live in a society which seems to be acceptable to believe "that if your not caught do what ever you want".

As a Caucasian I probably do not sense your level of anxiety, but I have 'heard' the stories and one I feel ought to take a balanced care. (passing thought) It would be interesting to understand where the mistrust originated from in your neighborhood, maybe as a student in Law Enforcement student you could do a study to try to find a systematic way to defuse the tension of mistrust within your neighborhood.

MstrPBK
St. Paul, MN USA

Right in the beginning of my post a member put this link:

POLICE STATE USA

Isn't this enough to cause mistrust of the Police, even have a phobia about it?

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen
So IOW you got nothing. How utterly unsurprising.

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen
So IOW you got nothing. How utterly unsurprising.

Baca's failures, and the horrific abuses in his department, are well documented, even without a hysterical media turning him into a symbolic devil.

Here is just one good read on the subject.

http://www.laweekly.com/2011-12-08/news/wheelchair-hell-in-men-s-central-jail/

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

Someone getting more Alinsky like every day.....
OH Squirrel...

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lucylastic
Rent free

quote:

ORIGINAL: BamaD

FR
I have spent most of my life around cops.
About 5% shouldn't be allowed out without armed adult supervision.
About 85% it is a job like any other.
About 10% are genetically predisposed to protect people. You could almost call them heroic.
The problem with most peoples view of cops is that the 5% get 95% of the press.

quote:

ORIGINAL: chatterbox24

I am more afraid of mad lunch ladies with a spatula.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

quote:

ORIGINAL: BecomingV

Why does the oath for enlisted soldiers differ from that of the officers? I've bolded the part that's different.

I do see the change listed as happening between 1959 and 1962. So why then, did deployed soldiers have to swear a new oath which shifted power to the President? Civilians have always been in charge of our military. Pre-Bush, Jr, that is.

Lots of hugely important changes happened to America, and the choices that made them happen were made in an ignorant rush. I can believe that something as profound as a shift of power from civilians to the President can happen under the radar. Just because no change date is listed on the Army site, does not convince me that the change didn't happen.

Back on point, though, America's police force is being trained in military techniques, being outfitted in combat gear and supplied with tanks. SWAT teams and regular police are not so different anymore. Why send a military-looking police force to an American gathering of free speech and public protest?

When cops look like cops, no problem. When cops look like the military - there's a problem, and fear is appropriate.

http://www.history.army.mil/html/faq/oaths.html

The wordings of the current oath of enlistment and oath for commissioned officers are as follows:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

quote:

ORIGINAL: BecomingV

I'm white and I don't fear police, generally speaking. I am, however, keeping an eye on them. YouTube has videos of peaceful, American demonstrators being surrounded by forces that are dressed as soldiers and ride in on tanks. People have been hurt and arrested for doing absolutely nothing at all.

I was told by a guy who had been in the military, was deployed to Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan and worked at the NSA, that some years ago, during Bush, the American soldier's oath changed from, and I'm quoting loosely, "I promise to protect my President against all enemies, both foreign AND domestic." It used to say they'd protect their country. This change allows the President to treat citizens with lethal and military force.

I asked the soldier, without breaching any confidences, what was his advice for how any American family can prepare for the future. I was thinking of global warming and if I should move out of Florida soon, and if there was a better place to reside. But, his answer, "Every American needs to own a gun and be proficient in using it." Goosebumps.

So, I'm seeing the American police force become more militarized and I know that Bush expanded presidential powers to use them against us. Not afraid... but definitely paying attention.

Bullshit.

The oath is unchanged.

Enlisted men are at the bottom of the chain of command and are expected to obey the orders of the officers above them.