A Mississippi sheriff said he was “ashamed” and apologized after five of his former deputies pleaded guilty to charges related to the torture of two Black men.
He is ashamed they got caught. He knew goddamm well this was going on and didn’t care.
I’d have a very very difficult time believing 5 persons could all maintain a lie, and collaborate to keep it covered up, and not under the watchful eye of their superior. Completely agree.
I dislike the constant narrative that these types of actions are by select few. If so many cops can hide their misconduct over years, then others can too.
In this case, it’s probably the department that has the issue, not a select few within the department. As in, the sheriff has constructed a culture where this kind of behavior is more than just tolerated.
In many other cases, the bad apples just change departments. If they get caught in one, they apply elsewhere and keep at it. That’s a separate problem, and imo there should be permanent repercussions for bad officers. These can come from anywhere, but they’ll likely concentrate at the departments where it’s tolerated.
The solution imo is a systemic change in how we handle policing. Some ideas:
- end qualified immunity - sure, courts should consider the line of work, but it shouldn’t absolve you of charges
- reduce the number of armed police, and have certain patrol vehicles that are clearly unarmed - if most interactions are with an officer that cannot shoot you, people will feel more comfortable
- increase salaries of good officers, and fire bad officers - could require dismantling the police union, which may not be possible, but surely the union can get on board when it comes to public safety
- increase standards for who we hire as police - I’ve heard we essentially target less intelligent people, we should change that; I want empathy to be a major trait in who we choose to handle policing
The last is only partially relevant here since it’s talking about a sheriff (elected position) instead of a police chief (appointed position), but surely we can find some systemic changes that actually help. The first is my number one priority and absolutely would help here.
Those deputies had a record of abuse complaints. I have absolutely no doubt everyone else there either participated in the abuse or participated in covering it up. The whole department needs to be fired, and they need to be prohibited from ever being in any form of law enforcement ever again.
Yet a few more “bad apples”
If they were ashamed they never would’ve let this happen to begin with, but records now show it’s been a constant theme with cops all across America
They’re just ashamed they were caught, as always
“records” aka “all of recorded history”
They’re no way he didn’t know this was happening.
And if he didn’t, he should be removed from office for being so bad at his job that he doesn’t know what his deputies are doing.
I hope they investigate the whole damn police department.
What the actual fuck
Pretty sure any black citizens or people of color arrested by these mother fuckers…. Ever…. Should be exonerated
I am sure he knew nothing about it
