I was chatting with an acquaintance earlier today. I said something to the effect of “I would consider it the worst parenting fail if my daughter became a cop”. This acquaintance then asked why that was, probably with about 50% indignation and 50% genuine curiousity.
Honestly, I kind of drew a blank. Like, I know how to explain it in a long post or like a missive, but I really couldn’t think of how to explain to someone who probably isn’t a leftist in just a quick comment. So I just went with:
“Well all they do is beat up on black kids”
Which… is of course correct. But tbh I fell that answer is just missing a lot. A beat later I almost said something about how cruel they are to homeless folks around here but by then moment had passed.
How would you all explain - in the span of a single one-liner - why cops are bad? I’m not looking to knock someone over with my impressive rhetoric or whatever. Not looking to convince them. Just so I can feel I articulated my position correctly. Just got my own sense of pride. Help me out here.
Nearly every police department in the entire country was filmed committing thousands upon thousands of violent crimes against peaceful protesters in 2020, and maybe 5 are facing even the slightest consequences
Police’s only response to this is arguing that they shouldn’t be filmed.
That everyone didn’t just walk away at this point blows my mind
Here’s another: They neither prevent nor solve crimes.
There is no evidence that consistently links higher police budgets with lower crime. They will often neglect to intervene in domestic abuse situations, and the conviction rate for most crimes is abysmally low.
Police are trained to see people as potential criminals instead of human beings having a hard time.
They can kill you and the people you love, and get away with it.
The police are an occupying force invading their own country. You are an enemy combatant to them.
Even if you don’t sell them, that idea will stick in their brain the next time a cop fucks them over.
Go for the whole system with:
“Ever seen a small business owner who’s skipped out on paying tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of wages go to jail?”
They’re class traitors who enforce the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie
Every police officer is either a Derek Chauvin or a Tou Thao.
If they’re not the ones doing the crimes against humanity, they’re protecting the others who are, and preventing regular citizens from doing anything about it.
Every police officer is either a Derek Chauvin or a Tou Thao.
Sometimes they’re a
…not nearly enough of the time, though
Talking to a non-leftist, your one liner is already great imo.
You could maybe add “they are worthless psychopaths with a license to kill and total impunity with huge paychecks and retirements yet all they do is beat up black/poor people while claded in tacticool and tanks that costs millions of dollars. And that’s their legal ‘job description’, they all inmersed in organized crime”
But it’s too long. Again your one liner is great
“They enforce and uphold the laws of an unjust society that are mostly aimed at victimizing minorities”
You can even just shorten it to “they enforce unjust laws.” It’s a great one liner because it so easily leads into all other sorts of conversation threads if the other person bites, and stands well on its own if they don’t bite.
Unjust laws like what? Vagrancy laws, private property laws, etc.
What if they’re really good cops and don’t enforce any of those laws? Then they get fired.
Can’t we change the system and fix those unjust laws? Sure, maybe, but until we do the people who uphold the law are bad.
And so on.
In the same vein, if you happen to be talking to someone who puts a lot of stock into the 2nd amendment I’ve found some (limited, sometimes the brainworms are just too tangled) success by asking “who do you think would enforce a gun grab?”
It’s like a 60/40 where sometimes the brainworms take over and they wholeheartedly believe every cop would join them and take up arms against the government
If the person is on the left: cops are the first line of defense for neoliberalized fascism and will be the people arresting and killing is when we build enough power to pose even a minor threat to the capitalist order.
To someone that doesn’t know anything about politics: cops are there to protect business owners’ interests and not public safety to the point that they actually make all of us less safe just to make sure some storefront continues to “look nice” or someone struggling with a drug addiction gets additional pain.
“They are protectors of private property, not people.”
Piss
I think this one is underutilized in modern discourse
I would say “cops fucking suck” then take a bong rip.
Oh, you’ll need a comically large bong for this one line refutation of the police force to fully land.
