• SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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    5 days ago

    Most cops have some kind of tactical gear kept in the trunk of their car. They don’t mess with it for each call they grab and go.

    I’d rather have them wear night vision for nothing than spend an extra 10 minutes fucking around in the parking lot to not.

    But I do agree with the main point of the post. Clothing plays a part in our psyche. If you dress sharp you’ll act sharp. If you dress slopply you’ll act sloppy. If you dress like a soldier you’ll act like one, and that usually isn’t what cops should be doing. Hammers seeing nails and all that.

    • flandish@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      i’d rather they not exist as a paramilitary arm of the state with a license to murder people. the same people they pretend have rights.

      • Guidy@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        In this case both points are correct:

        That shit probably sucks to install and remove, and only SWAT should need it.

    • Muad'dib@sopuli.xyz
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      5 days ago

      It always embarrassed Samuel Vimes when civilians tried to speak to him in what they thought was “policeman.” If it came to that, he hated thinking of them as civilians. What was a policeman, if not a civilian with a uniform and a badge? But they tended to use the term these days as a way of describing people who were not policemen. It was a dangerous habit: once policemen stopped being civilians the only other thing they could be was soldiers.

    • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Point blank, cops shouldn’t have swat gear or be treated as a paramilitary group. They’re supposed to protect and serve. Cops shouldn’t be a tactical force, they should be public servants.

          • lechekaflan@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            Tough changing things back to where they were – cops armed only with a pistol and a nightstick. Now they have to use all that gear and weaponry to up the intimidation factor and to make clear they mean business. Whether it’s a store robber on meth or a heavily armed group of narcos. It’s so worse now that some procedures have to be rewritten.

            I do not forget that the United States has the most firearms in private hands, more than any country.

            Where I come from, gun laws are very strict and the only people carrying heavy firearms other than military and police are either the few with special licenses, or stolen weapons used by bandits, separatists, and terrorists. So by consequence the police in my country are locked in an arms race against those outlaws, cops now equipped as much as the soldiers sometimes they have to work with.

      • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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        4 days ago

        I agree, however I could argue there are times when having a tactical force IS the public service. Not saying the pic posted would be one of those times though

        • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          Then send in a tactical unit for those situations that is specifically trained for the situation. We’ve seen how police handle those situations and I really don’t feel like escalation is the best approach for guys who can’t be bothered to do their job in the first place, let alone be properly trained and ready for a tactical de-escalation. Fuck off with the excuses for these fucking pigs.

          • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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            4 days ago

            Okay so ordinary police are out. You’re in charge of this new tactical unit, what does it look like? Where is the line between a ordinary response and a tactical response? What gear/technologies would they have as default and what would they have access to?

            I’m not trying to be a dick, I’m truly curious because if we want reform we have to have a goal to reach. Change is cool but change to what?

            • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world
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              4 days ago

              Police should be there to cordon off the area for a tactical response in these situations, then negotiators communicate while a properly trained and equipped tactical team prepares a response and infiltration plan with the intent of non lethal response and a contingency for lethal action if the perp escalates it to that level, this part would be something like snipers, who’s first priority would be observation, keeping watch until they get a signal. Planning would be situational, as there is no universal outline for these situations. The job of the police in a tactical response situation should be crowd control, everything else is above their expertise.

              • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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                4 days ago

                For a lot of stuff that would work I think. But it also sounds a lot like how they used to respond to active shooters back in the late 90s. Terrorists used to hijack or take hostages to negotiate political demands, not just try to kill people.

                So in that case that plan isn’t great when people are helpless inside while waiting on a tactical team. That’s why Uvalde caused such an outcry against the police response. They were crowd control when they had every chance to engage the shooter. You’re right, there’s no perfect plan for everything. I do think a negotiate/deescelate approach would be very helpful

                The way it currently works for departments around here is their SWAT guys do ordinary patrols but they have extra training and gear to respond to tactical stuff too. I wonder if we could do the same for the other side of the spectrum and have some officers with extra training as negotiators?

                • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world
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                  4 days ago

                  A state set up tactical response team that was trained and prepared for the situation solves that problem entirely. Less funding for militarized police and just transfer that funding to a tactical response outfit. You’re acting like doing something new is simply impossible when it’s realistically the only logical conclusion, the funding and supplies are there already it’s just being used on complete bullshit.

                  • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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                    3 days ago

                    I never said it was impossible and I don’t believe that either. My point with that active shooter part was that even if you have a really good dedicated team, sometimes the response time matters or things get way worse by the time they arrive.

                    So if the tactical dream team was a thing how many of these teams would be needed to get a reasonable response time? Would it be one per city, or a set amount per region?

                    And yeah the police currently have a bunch of tactical stuff they have around and use on stuff they shouldn’t “just in case”

      • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        They do, but it’s cops so it might take them a minute lol. Other than speed taking off the nvgs also fucks with the balance of the helmet. The other stuff on the back acts as a counterweight. Still removable but still I bet they just wanted to grab and go

        • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          5 days ago

          This. They’d have to pop off the counterweight too, especially if these are bump helmets not ballistic, which tbh 50/50 could be either.

          But why only two have ears? I’d rather have ears than nods, honestly! Weird choice.

          (It’s possible there’s just not enough pixels to see the last guy’s ears lmao)

              • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world
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                5 days ago

                Mic pointed up in case Jesus whispers down on comms or something I dunno. Watching these bumblefucks walk around in tactical gear they’ve clearly never worn except in front of a mirror is just embarrassing.