You ever get the sense that the sort of people who get off on weilding and abusing power are attracted to being police.

The truly scariest part of this is he either genuinely was unaware his gun fired or thought he could say that like it was no big deal.

But has he been jailed or fired and banned from law enforcement Nah I doubt it He'll be promoted within a year

Ya think?

The history of Policing in the USA is unique in first world nations, and it’s roots in oppression and racism run strong to this very day.

Wholesale reform is needed but unlikely to happen until the so called back the blue become frequent victims of it themselves.

Even then it will be an uphill struggle. No state relinquishes power without a struggle.

we just had a drunk on duty psp guy around here.. smh.

He should be fired and charged, tired of these power hungry cops.

I recently learned that the pennsylvania state police are a result of the homestead strike in Pittsburgh in 1892. Carnegie and other robber barons of the time hired pinkertons to break the strike, and those same pinkertons later became the state police.

The origins of modern-day policing can be traced back to the "Slave Patrol."

The creation of what may be termed “modern policing” on the East coast followed the same principles and enforced Jim crow laws and the protection of business owners rights rather than citizens rights.

Over the years we had amendments to the constitution and some low ball attempts to reign in the abuse of power but nothing of major substance.

It’s weird that you need a license to shampoo a dog but not to remove a persons liberty 🤷‍♂️

There is a huge clue in the self definition of Law Enforcement and not a Police service.

It speaks volumes to the mindset of LEO

Power attracts dangerous people. That is why you decentralize it the best you can.

> Levy, of Kennett Square, was drinking at a bar...

Found the problem...

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You can't have thousands of cops with the physique of a pro football player and a master's degree in criminal justice.

Absolutely. It’s no different from people who have a desire to abuse children purposely work in fields with access to them. These kinds of people typically put themselves in positions that give them easy access.

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Pa state cops need to have 60 college credits or 4 years of military experience and 30 college credits to even apply.

You also have to take the civil service test. Once you score high enough on that they then invite you to an interview. If you move on from the interview you then have to get a polygraph test and pass a PT test.

After that you go to the academy which is like 32 weeks or something like that. Even once you graduate you still have a 3 year probationary period.

It's not easy to be a state cop.

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Yep, we did. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Only in Pennsylvania. "Pennsylvania State trooper charged with oppression"

What is that? The body of the article is better:

>In all, Levy is charged with official oppression, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, simple assault, and four counts of recklessly endangering another person.

Oooh a state cop... now how about sheriff and smaller area positions?

Crazy eye guy

Man I gotta get a dash cam!l.
Can you imagine what could have happened if that family had not ALREADY been recording?

It’s literally in the headline, but if you ALSO read the article he’s been arrested, charged and released on bail.

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There was a cop in Pittsburgh that pistolwhipped and shot some random that he thought mouthed off to him after leaving a bar. No charges, wasn't fired, took nearly twenty years of repeated incidents to get rid of the guy.

 
https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/controversial-pittsburgh-police-officer-paul-abel-reportedly-off-the-job/Content?oid=18536399

 
They wield the real power in our cities and they're quite open about how untouchable they are.

They pay state cops starting 60k a year or somewhere around that. Sheriff deputies and municipalities pay less. Indeed puts it around 47k a year for a cop in PA.

I'm not a cop. I decided to not do that because I don't like the long hours and how much negative press comes with the position so I backed out and I am so glad I did because I make WAY more than that and I only work 40 hours a week.

All LEOs in PA do need to be Act 120 certified. I guess HACC provides an academy training program for Act 120 and so that is what you go through in order to become a cop in this state. It's probably not that hard, but they aren't making 6 figure salaries either so if you want more quality cops you need to attract the talent. Otherwise you're going to get what you're going to get.

Lol why did you change to talking about pay? We're talking about qualifications necessary.

Qualifications are a "want" list buddy.

The only qualifications that matter is have Act 120, be 21, have a high school diploma or GED, and don't have a criminal record.

Even the initial hiring may be conditional where the department will pay for you to get your Act 120.

Pay is a correlation to qualifications because it shows what the market values in said qualifications for the position.

You add additional requirements and you're going to have to pay more for it.

> how much negative press comes with the position

 
Yeah, the negative press that definitely comes out of nowhere and is completely undeserved. Spontaneously-generated negative press.

"Either I was so drunk and enraged that I didn't even notice shooting a hole in my own dashboard, or I'm just outright lying about it because my enormous cop ego thinks I can get away with literally anything. So six of one, half dozen of the other, I'm a piece of shit."

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