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Policing the Police
Protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN quickly devolved into several days of riots and looting, and the phenomenon spread rapidly across the country. From New York City to Los Angeles, a growing distrust in law enforcement reached a flashpoint and burst into protests - many violent in nature. But this has been brewing since long before Mr. Floyd's death
Liberty Nation’s Scott D. Cosenza explained:
"Policing for profit is the now common truth that police officers are used to increase revenue for the government agencies they work for, not to protect and serve the people. The awesome power of detention and arrest can’t be motivated by the opportunity to take money from the citizenry’s pocket. This manifests itself in the officer who positions his cruiser at the precise place where the speed limit drops from 55 to 45 but there is no sign. Also, when the command staff tells the rank and file they need to write x number of tickets or they will find themselves in trouble when their performance is reviewed.
This type of policing encourages real victims of crime to distrust the police and feel they are not helpful agents, but fearsome ones. Then, while police are out soft-pedaling genuine criminal acts, they are busting citizens who break no laws to pad stop and frisk logs. Is it any wonder so many people show such abject contempt for the police? All that’s needed to end these policies is the political will to do so."
What to Watch for
While the officer who killed Mr. Floyd has been charged and the others involved fired, don't expect any real change in the policing methods mentioned by Mr. Cosenza. There will probably be pressure on law enforcement agencies to tread lightly for a while, but the political will to hold police officers as servants to the public rather than enforcers for the statist masters seems unlikely to appear.
Who's the Enemy, Anyway?
No matter how justified the anger over Mr. Floyd's death or the state of policing in America, there's no justification for looting and burning local businesses and neighborhoods - but don't tell that to the so-called protesters or the elites who support them. In the end, they aren't the ones who will have to suffer the consequences of this for years, possibly decades to come.
Liberty Nation’s Pennel Bird explained:
“The neighborhoods that suffer the most are almost always the lower- to middle-class communities in which the riots begin.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media and leftist elites cheering on the arson, vandalizing, and mayhem do so from the comforts of their hermetically sealed lifestyles in places far from the epicenter of the violence. The usual race-baiting suspects, Michael Moore and Maxine Waters, weighed in almost immediately to fan the flames of racial hatred. Moore said the police headquarters in Minneapolis had to burn as an act of 'contrition to black America' while Waters naturally blamed George Floyd’s death on President Trump.”
What to Watch for
The residents of Minneapolis have some hard times ahead. Historically, riots such as these cause cities to suffer economically for decades as new businesses refuse to move in, current ones flee to safer areas, and property values plummet. That's in addition to the immediate and short-term cost of rebuilding now. Despite this, you can expect politicians to capitalize on the suffering to get their sound bits and sling mud at their opponents. It is an election year, after all.
Washington Whispers & Other Juicy Tidbits
Be on the lookout for:
Three more states have mobilized the National Guard as nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd continued to escalate. While looting, burning, and violence must be stopped, reinforcing the police with the Guard may have an unfortunate side effect, given the cause. As rioters head home rather than fight the National Guard, will the distrust and disgust for law enforcement felt by many Americans right now grow to include the military?
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