Who the Hell is watching the watchmen?

I’m going to break from writing on law enforcement reform. BLM and other advocacy groups have decided to get rich rather than care. That means any serious reform package is dead. Hate to say it, but in America, even tyrannical government oppression gets boring for the public.

But first I have something that is a must read. This is the most definitive look at police corruption all within the Sheriff’s department in LA County. It is a historical truth about how bad things can get when power goes unchecked. To this very day there are upward of 15 plus different gangs within the department consisting of over 10,000 deputies.

Murder ✔
Thievery ✔
Assault on the public ✔
Assault on other deputies ✔
Corruption ✔

I ran out of checkmarks.

There is no political agenda involved. It is recorded history. There is no dispute. There is only how to deal with it. It’s very long, but read a section here and there — you’ll get sucked in. Please do read it , feel the lives wasted, feel the sense of evil. Wonder how the Nazis had plenty of people to man the camps? Read this.

Our fellow citizen’s, and their families’, lives are being ruined daily by criminal misconduct by police. You know it, I know it. I hope this nightmare never visits you and yours. I know it’s hard to imagine.

Hard to imagine here. I thought this was America?

I was taught that we were bound together in mutual self-interest and by a solemn oath. To swear on my life, to protect your rights if you protect mine. If your rights are threatened, then so are mine and we will fight all threats to the constitution — foreign and domestic. Even if I disagree with the next generation, I will lay down my life for those who come after.

Mutually assured success, better than the alternative.

As divided as we are it should not be surprising to see cracks appearing everywhere. This issue should be one that all could rally around. It strikes at the soul of who we are. Currently we are doing it exactly wrong. We allow bad cops to create their own fulfilling crime prophecy. The cops are crooked. They abuse the community for decades. What do you get?

A widely accepted principle of sociology and criminology called “Branding” Branding principle posits:

If authorities brand individuals as criminals or deviants and interact with them based on those brands, eventually those individuals will accept it; and, in time, will conform their behavior to fit the brand. In other words, if cops treats poor people by the label of criminal or deviant, then poor people will internalize and accept it as ‘fait accompli’.

A closed-loop, self-generating crime matrix. Only in America.

The best part is — we are unwitting participants. I don’t know how or why, but we all were brainwashed to fear ex-cons. Without a single bit of information we mentally assume the worst and we refuse to hire or work with an ex-con. A minute later we turn around to laugh about recidivism rates without noticing an obvious connection. People talk redemption on Sunday, but never seem to live it. How is a man supposed to redeem himself if we deny him access to fair pay for fair work?Even then chances at redemption are almost nil, we won’t let people prove that they are more than that brand.

I am probably inside a tiny percentage of the population to successfully claw, fight, and subvert the system until I could defend my reputation against the brand they put on me. And still, not a day goes by that I don’t think about my experiences, what they put us through, and the brand I carry.

I’m asking for empathy to bridge the divide. I am asking you to read the narrative linked here. Just read and feel the truth of their stories. We must get people on the right engaged here. I came up with good reforms ideas, so it is doable. I can think of 50 politically craven reasons for the zombie GOP take over this issue, but not a word. As our once grand experiment crumbles beneath the weight of “who gives a shit”, there is one question — are you willing to anything at all about it?

Post Script:
You thought this was America?
Pardon me?
That’s what I said, home of the free?

Oh, forgot about that,
we lost the way
to the land of the free & home of the brave..

that Star-Spangled Flag, hung high on parade;
flopping over in wind, refusing to wave.
dawn’s early light, they killed all the brave.

A spark lit the cause, rekindle the Spirit of ‘76;
sound the call for revolution,
a new experiment.

They were of the enlightenment,
on a season of change,
Our grand republic but a whisper
Too fragile to name.

Then a clarion call, and a barbaric yawp,
A choice for all would-be Americans; we
hang together or surely we’ll be hanged apart.

For consent to be governed,
is our Divine right;
We gave no consent for oppression,
every man will fight.

How safe are my rights, when you have none;
Kings, Dictators, and Cops; rule with
justice the sword, and mercy a gun.

A new Revolution is neigh,
patriots and tyrants go first.
The Tree of Liberty is angry;
But blood slakes its thirst.

Sic Semper Tyranus