Comments on: Who Needs A Stinking Badge?

By: blaskowitz

blaskowitz — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 18:51:28 +0000

A bit of a stretch Steve. I do agree with the lack of oversight however. No badge needed for that…just an honest, apolitical man or woman of integrity who doesn’t like the coast.

By: Steve Crea

Steve Crea — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 15:20:52 +0000

OK, badges it is then.

The proliferation of badges may be consistent with the proliferation of bad law enforcement personnel. Bad law enforcement personnel are “fakes”, and “wannabe somebodies” with too much authority, too little education, too much power, far too little meaningful and effective oversight, perhaps too little training, and a lot of bad, bad, and misguided attitude. Unfortunately, the era of the true “peace officer” may be long gone. I hope not, but I am concerned.

And, with the risk out there of bad cops, wannabe cops, wannabe somebodies, rogue cops, fake badges, poor and ineffective oversight of cops, there are going to be too many train wrecks.

By: Steve Crea

Steve Crea — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 02:33:36 +0000

Law enforcement officers, along with prosecutors, along with the judiciary and court officials, will not gain the respect that they crave, unless and until, they take decisive action to clean up their conduct, raise the bar of their performance, pro actively and aggressively deal with criminality, misconduct and substandard performance within their ranks, and cease using ticketing, charging prosecutions, and fines to prop up the crumbling finances of their municipalities.

You all have a long and hard road to gain trust and respect!!!

EDITOR NOTE–Off topic comment! Please respond only about badges.

By: mdk85

mdk85 — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 21:13:57 +0000

It’s amazing to me that everytime there is a story touching the police, in this case the use of badges by everyone; the commenters come out of the woodwork with their tales of corruption, unions and intimidation that have nothing to do with the story. “Nice story, but I’ll push my own agenda.”
Maybe Dave, you can just skip the story, put a title up and watch the show instead of investing your time and energy.

By: Sal Nez

Sal Nez — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 19:39:33 +0000

You have no idea what I have done Rick, just as I have no idea what you have done to be so jaded!

By: rick

rick — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 02:18:42 +0000

Your police “experience” is like 30 years ago, so please don’t act as if you are in the know!
Sal I will be the last one to defend Dave but you really need your eyes opened. The comments about the big blue blanket are true and you know it. Cops will NOT honestly investigate other cops… cover for them…lie on reports… you bet… omission is a lie…
At least Dave did something for his fellow man… what have you done… except shoot off your keyboard on here?

By: blaskowitz

blaskowitz — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 16:28:33 +0000

In reference to the comments above: saying all cops are bad is the same as saying all humans are bad. They reflect society with all it’s problems just on a smaller scale. Having said that, BPD has used the “personnel issue” so much that there is a very strong reason citizens do not trust them. The excuse that we have “beaten this dead horse enough” in reference to the infamous and now dead Federal investigation into the BPD narc division is not the truth. The fact of the matter is, the horse was never touched and we will NEVER know what actually went on. Now that the “chief” is long since “officially ” retired is meaningless. He claims he never knew a thing about it and i believe him. He was clueless in the worst sense of the word. And the ONE man who could have opened this can of worms for the general public to see….welll….he ran off to the coast with everything he knew about it. The bottom line is this: if something of this magnitude was made to disappear, then what in the hell really matters here? I could care less if a cop cusses or is rude or any number of ombudsman investigations that amount to nothing at 100k a year. There sure as hell is a “wall” at that department but it doesn’t revolve around a blue uniform or a badge.

By: Easterner

Easterner — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 03:41:55 +0000

“they shy away from confronting, arresting, reporting, the bad cops”

You said it Guardian!
So doesn’t that make them a bad cop?

When all cops and UNIONS (made up of cops) stop protecting bad cops – and instead confront, arrest, and report, the bad cops, then the police will deserve respect.

By: L.D.

L.D. — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 01:44:14 +0000

Yes, broad indeed. I do so with the knowledge that there are potentially people who choose to wear a badge that retain some sense of human decency. Although, I also know that turning a blind eye to atrocities is as evil as committing them yourself.
http://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil

By: Sal Nez

Sal Nez — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 01:42:42 +0000

Thats a statement Editor you can’t back up. You have no idea on personnel matters within a department and who is disciplined or loses a job based on other officers saying something. Your police “experience” is like 30 years ago, so please don’t act as if you are in the know!