Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Held to a Lower Standard

Diving deeper on a conversation mentioned previously with a friend who teaches at a police academy, this individual stated that "civilians get way more leniency (in justified use of deadly force) than police officers do." Based on this statement, and another conversation with a different law enforcement officer, it got me thinking. 

These police officers will most often say that they are held to a higher standard. But it is not reflective of what happens in court. Cops charged with murder / manslaughter are convicted about 30% of the time, often of reduced charges; while civilians in the same boat are convicted 54% of the time. So why do so many believe that police are held to a higher standard? 

It must be that police are told this by their departments. 

This false propaganda has the effect of sheltering these police officers from the realities that civilians face in the "criminal justice" system. Perhaps this is a contributing factor as to why police officers often act the same as other individuals who are sheltered from reality. 

There is also another contributing factor: Police simply do not know the law. 
A police officer of high rank in this author's city of residence recently stated in a meeting that a person in Tennessee had to have a "license" to carry a firearm. This is not true, and hasn't been since July 1, 2021. And the "license" is called a carry permit - and Tennessee has two levels of permit: "Concealed" and "Enhanced." 


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