Let’s All Loot & What It Means for the LAPD
Predictably, looting has broken out in New Orleans and other locations devastated by hurricane Katrina. The image of people cleaning out stores is familiar to Los Angeles as recently as the riots after the CA state acquittal of the LAPD officers in the Rodney King incident trial.
Why is it that some people respond to disasters, both natural and man-made, in humanitarian, selfless sacrifice and others don’t? For some, the absence of immediate societal inhibitory forces allows the veneer of civilization to rapidly erode away leaving the self-centered parasite to prey on society. I guess that’s obvious enough; otherwise, there would be no need for law enforcement. But, it is not the presence of law enforcement that keeps society whole. It is the voluntary compliance with the will of the many, which is what laws are supposed to represent, that makes for an orderly society. Law enforcement is only there to keep the scofflaws from harming society. When law enforcement is not present, we get what we got in Los Angeles and now New Orleans.
What quality is it that facilitates the voluntary compliance with the will of the many? That’s not too hard of a question. It is values, and values express themselves in socially acceptable behavior. But, what happens when members of law enforcement don’t have those important values? Some members of the New Orleans Police Department answered that question by joining in with the looting. One looter complained to the media that the police were getting all of the “good stuff.”
Clearly the New Orleans Police Department let the citizens down by employing officers that do not have the necessary values to protect those they are sworn to protect. How could the department do such a thing? Do you suppose that it might have something to do with an insufficient level of requirements to become an officer?
Police departments are having a difficult time hiring officers. It seems that many applicants can’t meet the traditional stringent requirements. So, instead of increasing the incentive to attract more qualified applicants by improving working conditions, pay and benefits, let’s just lower the requirements. That is what LAPD is suggesting,
One LAPD spokesman explained that currently,
Rumor in the industry is that LAPD changed its policies long ago to hire lesser quality applicants knowing that many would fail in the academy and on the street instead of weeding them out at the get-go. That way LAPD could say that they were hiring the prescribed number of various segments of the population that previously had not qualified for hiring.
Some people might see the lowering of hiring requirements as an improvement. I call them a symptom of a devolving society. You can decide for yourself what kind of police officer you want in your community. You better yell your answer loudly in Los Angeles if you don’t agree with the Chief. Most police officers in New Orleans are probably very good officers, and I am embarrassed for them. But if you live there, I’m sorry.
Why is it that some people respond to disasters, both natural and man-made, in humanitarian, selfless sacrifice and others don’t? For some, the absence of immediate societal inhibitory forces allows the veneer of civilization to rapidly erode away leaving the self-centered parasite to prey on society. I guess that’s obvious enough; otherwise, there would be no need for law enforcement. But, it is not the presence of law enforcement that keeps society whole. It is the voluntary compliance with the will of the many, which is what laws are supposed to represent, that makes for an orderly society. Law enforcement is only there to keep the scofflaws from harming society. When law enforcement is not present, we get what we got in Los Angeles and now New Orleans.
What quality is it that facilitates the voluntary compliance with the will of the many? That’s not too hard of a question. It is values, and values express themselves in socially acceptable behavior. But, what happens when members of law enforcement don’t have those important values? Some members of the New Orleans Police Department answered that question by joining in with the looting. One looter complained to the media that the police were getting all of the “good stuff.”
Clearly the New Orleans Police Department let the citizens down by employing officers that do not have the necessary values to protect those they are sworn to protect. How could the department do such a thing? Do you suppose that it might have something to do with an insufficient level of requirements to become an officer?
Police departments are having a difficult time hiring officers. It seems that many applicants can’t meet the traditional stringent requirements. So, instead of increasing the incentive to attract more qualified applicants by improving working conditions, pay and benefits, let’s just lower the requirements. That is what LAPD is suggesting,
Struggling to lure more officers, the Los Angeles Police Department is joining a growing number of law enforcement agencies across the nation in considering less stringent recruitment rules.
Police Chief William J. Bratton said he was drawing up the proposed changes, which would end the LAPD's zero-tolerance rule toward past marijuana use and make it easier for the department to hire people with bad credit histories.
Bratton said some of the LAPD's standards regarding drug use and a candidate's financial history may be "artificially high."Come on Chief Bratton. You know that drug use and bad credit histories make officers much more susceptible to corruption. And, what makes a standard “artificially high?” Either it is high or it is not high.
One LAPD spokesman explained that currently,
“Only one in 12 candidates makes it through the process…”Is that “process” just the initial hiring or does it include becoming a successful cop? And, you call that high? When I got in the business in the 70’s, only 1 in 100 every made it from the application process to the street and off probation. It seems like maybe the standards have already slipped. The truth of the matter is that long ago police departments began overlooking the minor use of marijuana because they were having such a difficult time hiring anyone who had served in Vietnam.
Rumor in the industry is that LAPD changed its policies long ago to hire lesser quality applicants knowing that many would fail in the academy and on the street instead of weeding them out at the get-go. That way LAPD could say that they were hiring the prescribed number of various segments of the population that previously had not qualified for hiring.
Some people might see the lowering of hiring requirements as an improvement. I call them a symptom of a devolving society. You can decide for yourself what kind of police officer you want in your community. You better yell your answer loudly in Los Angeles if you don’t agree with the Chief. Most police officers in New Orleans are probably very good officers, and I am embarrassed for them. But if you live there, I’m sorry.
posted by Paul Coambs | 9:20 PM
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