Trump didn’t order CMPD to pepper spray protestors in Charlotte, Trump’s Marines didn’t open up with tear gas in LA, Trump didn’t tell cops in Savannah to detain a protestor for wearing a medical mask. It’s worth asking why electeds in those heavily blue places won’t answer for any of that. - ThreadSky

peark.es • 4 days ago

Trump didn’t order CMPD to pepper spray protestors in Charlotte, Trump’s Marines didn’t open up with tear gas in LA, Trump didn’t tell cops in Savannah to detain a protestor for wearing a medical mask. It’s worth asking why electeds in those heavily blue places won’t answer for any of that.

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romancaturday.bsky.social•3 days ago

They will - if there's an effective Democratic tea party movement next year. The Dems have been more resilient against that than the GOP, but nothing lasts forever.

triplesteakguy.bsky.social•4 days ago

it's part of the reason that the 'brunchlord' insult has such staying power, directed towards dem-adjacent voters who immediately tune out as long as 'their side' is in power and just assume that therefore everything is working out just fine

lessdismalsci.bsky.social•4 days ago

Obviously many of the electeds are cowards and the cops are a protection racket at best, but it kind of comes back on the voters? How many mayors have actually paid a political price for allowing police to run rampant vs. paid a price for not paying the Danegeld to their local stationary bandits?

oscaracostajd.bsky.social•3 days ago

It’s the opposite that happens. Local politicians are terrified of police. Police unions are very political and their members vote. Most local politician are terrified to be on the wrong side of that. It’s very hard, or impossible, to overcome in so many local elections.

lessdismalsci.bsky.social•4 days ago

Even in blue strongholds the median voter is inclined to reward cops failing at their jobs by throwing more money at them and remove anyone who wants to reign them in from office.

skoryy.bsky.social•4 days ago

Thinking back to how the CBC supported the infamous crime bill of the '90s

peark.es•4 days ago

Yeah fully agree this is as much a crisis of voters as representatives.

thefred.bsky.social•4 days ago

There's the political price, yes, but more immediately, a mayor who does this risks assassination by the police.

ericblyler.bsky.social•4 days ago

The LA Sheriff’s Dept were the ones who escalated yesterday. Their top leader, The LA Sheriff is elected every four years and reports to the Board of Supervisors. They are notoriously undisciplined, corrupt in places, and right wing-friendly. It would be a surprise to no one living in LA if —>

ericblyler.bsky.social•4 days ago

someone like Stephen Miller called up and told them to raise some hell at the march and they did.

hobbidysparks.bsky.social•4 days ago

If police dont get to police the way they want, they don't police at all, so Democratic Mayors have to negotiate

doremusjessup.bsky.social•4 days ago

Does Karen Bass have any say on when to authorize the use of these?

https://www.defense-technology.com/product/exact-impact-40-mm-standard-range-sponge-round/

peark.es•4 days ago

It goes beyond Bass, but elected officials absolutely have the ability to dictate rules of engagement for the police forces they oversee yes.

peark.es•4 days ago

The biggest challenge to a nonviolent national mass protest movement big enough to overwhelm the tenuous grasp on power that Trump has is the local instruments of power ostensibly controlled by people who ostensibly represent the very groups trying to lead that movement.

louisevans.bsky.social•4 days ago

The big question is which of those “ostensibly”s is more load-bearing

louisevans.bsky.social•4 days ago

I kinda suspect the former? But the sociology of the blob is understudied imo

peark.es•4 days ago

Very intentionally phrased so we could have that debate :)

louisevans.bsky.social•4 days ago

Slick (laudatory)

scottmccaskill.bsky.social•4 days ago

Every time we go after cops for terrible behavior, it seems to blow back against us. Even (or especially) when mayors try to rein them in

kootafoot.bsky.social•4 days ago

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely". Lord Acton and others before him expressed this interesting human trait.

amywsalvucci.bsky.social•4 days ago

Folks worry about the liberal monolith in academia like it’s existential threat. But there are other monoliths and they’re armed.

cpo10za.bsky.social•4 days ago

Key word: “Obstensively”.

texaskrusty.bsky.social•4 days ago

The military has a true ethos of service. Cops hate the communities they serve and are taught to use violence to control them.

Mayors in big cities cannot control or change their police.

I do not think the professional military is going to be with Trump. The fascist boys in blue are 💯 on board.

largesseadultson.bsky.social•3 days ago

A lot of the answer is cop “unions” which are really just well-funded cop PACs. Back in 2000 I heard directly from a city council candidate (not LA) that they were limiting what they said about police because we’d all seen the cop machine destroy another candidate two years prior (we had)

socio-steve.bsky.social•4 days ago

I don't think the police are actually fully accountable to elected officials anymore. As in, the mayors don't actually have control over them. See what the NYPD did when DeBlasio tried to rein them in.

stephenburtch.bsky.social•4 days ago

This seems to be the point where defunding is necessary.

If they answer to nobody then they shouldn't exist.

peark.es•4 days ago

Very dependent on local context but if Democrats in elected office don’t make clear they will not tolerate efforts to interfere with peaceful assembly of their coalition it gets a lot harder.

jordanw2382.bsky.social•4 days ago

It would be great to see high level attention to this. The biggest problems are the labor supply monopoly on the policing service, and negative polarization on recruitment. Police unions are a severe problem, and stigma of cops as thugs makes recruiting non thugs a problem.

okjess.bsky.social•3 days ago

If they do, they get inundated with claims that they are "anti-police" and departments engage in wildcat strikes.

lilflonase.bsky.social•4 days ago

‘The Police’ is an Institution with powerful labor union protections. The LA Co. Sheriff for ex. is prosecuting the lady brought in there by for oversight. Politicians come and go but it’s the same (unelected) cops. It’s not like they can be changed out liberal cops, there are none

hex720.net•4 days ago

Yep, and then they went after the person in oversight as well
Look at the lengths they went to after Christopher Dorner. They literally shot up a bunch of random civilians.
LAPD needs to be started over and LASD disbanded.

semiquaver.bsky.social•4 days ago

Yes indeed - mayor bass, the city council, and the supervisors should answer for this (dependable) debacle

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