Friday, May 09, 2008

We're the Only Ones Affirmative Action Enough

Even now the official department line on the issue is that standards have not been lowered. “There’s no lowering of standards,” says LAPD Captain Jeffrey Greer, the commanding officer over the SWAT team. “If anything, the standards have been enhanced. We’re raising the bar, and we’re looking for the best quality individual to go into the SWAT team.” This assertion was laughable even when Greer made it, but it is more so now given the revelation that the first woman selected for SWAT school under the so-called enhanced standards accidentally fired her submachine gun on the practice range last month, a violation of weapons-safety protocols that would have disqualified any candidate, male or female, under the previous selection system.
It's a two-eged sword.

On the one hand, incompetence makes "Only Ones" more randomly dangerous.

On the other hand...

[Via Michael G and Jeffersonian]

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, if the JBTs are keeping one eye on each other because they're afraid of friendly fire incidents, they'll be less effective against free people. And maybe, just maybe, if one stitches an entire innocent family prone on their living room floor, people will start to block intersections and bridges in other cities besides NYC to demand justice.

Kent McManigal said...

The enforcers will simply blame REAL people when they kill one of their own.

Anonymous said...

I think Kent's right. Didn't I read recently about a man convicted of murder because one of the arresting officers negligently shot and killed his own partner?

Can't find it. Anybody able to cite a source?

Anonymous said...

I am not aware of the incident of which you speak gaviota, but when I was living in Iowa, a no-knock was run on a farm family. The first guy through the door broke through the outer door of the mudroom and(an auxiliary officer), his momentum inadvertently carried him across the mudroom and through the door to the stairs to the basement. He fell down the stairs, broke his neck and died instantaneously.

Despite the fact that no illegal activity or paraphenalia of illegal activity was found in the home of the elderly couple, charges of murder were filed against the elderly farm couple for the officer's death.

Fortunately, the prosecuting attorney refused to pursue charges against them. But then,they're just unenlightened rural folks who mostly (excepting, of course, the cops) have good sense.

Did you ever meet a bully who tried a damn thing if he thought he would be hurt? Or one who didn't cry for sanctions against others when he did get hurt due to his own stupidity?

I never did.

Anonymous said...

What? Cops with emma gees? But those are for killing people!

Emma Gee

Anonymous said...

Hey Defender!

Don't you remember the case out in California where the JBTs raided a house because they thought it was a grow house and killed a young kid with a 12 gauge shotgun blast as he lay handcuffed face down on the floor?

They wouldn't even tell the other members of the family the boy was dead, and kept them locked up at the jail for hours before they had to let them all go.

See, the warrant was issued because:

1) The family put their garbage out shortly before pickup, and,
2) Their power bill had risen in preceding months.

Cops considered this a sure sign that the house was being used to grow pot!

That's all it took for some brain dead judge to sign a warrant. (And what do you think about the power company turning over bills to the cops???)

But no drugs found.

Turns out the family was just neat, and routinely put their garbage out just before pickup. And the increased power bill?

The mother was taking in extra washing to supplement the meager household income.

JBTs indeed.