zlacker

Gosh if only the cities that are burning to the ground right now had dem senators, dem congresspeople, dem governors, dem mayor, dem city councils we could solve this thing. Alas!

>>kylebl+(OP)
This (inadvertently) highlights a major part of the issue right now. Cops are largely invulnerable to civilian oversight. Democratic elected officials won’t save you from the NYPD - they can’t really be fired, the police union doxxes the mayor’s daughter, they instigate police riots, and they do work stoppages when criticized.

An example from Minneapolis, from a City Council member:

https://twitter.com/MplsWard3/status/1267891878801915904

> Politicians who cross the MPD find slowdowns in their wards. After the first time I cut money from the proposed police budget, I had an uptick in calls taking forever to get a response, and MPD officers telling business owners to call their councilman about why it took so long.

>>ceejay+DR
This is a result of public unions. Which party caused those to be so strong?

>>beeran+jm1
Police unions are fairly unique, and heavily supported by the Republican party in recent political history.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-gop-and-police-unions-a-lo...

> When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker cracked down on collective bargaining rights of public-sector unions, he exempted cops and fire fighters. He feared the police might go on strike and join the protestors. Videos of that pairing could have doomed Walker’s entire effort. “It’s a decision by politicians not to bite off more than they can chew,” explains James Sherk, a labor policy expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Their impunity to civilian oversight should be concerning to both parties. You're not hearing much concern from the Republicans on this right now.