Cops seek leads in hit-and-run death
A woman was killed in a hit-and-run near the Olympic park at the end of August, and police have set up a command post and put up a reward for information.
Every now and then, there’s a news item about police doing a command post some time after a crime. I never see any followup and would be curious to know how often this activity gets results. Not that I’m implying it never does, just wondering.
Ephraim 09:55 on 2020-10-14 Permalink
A sign that we need to reform the police… there is no relationship between the public and the police, because it’s full of mistrust. It’s a public relations move, nothing more, nothing less.
We need the police to be more friendly, more open, more members of the community. They need us to trust them and respect them and that means that they have to be stewards of the law… ie follow the law themselves, look less militarized, etc. They need to be punished when they violate the law, when they discriminate, when they don’t follow regulations.
They should have never repainted the cars with darker paint. They should have never changed the uniforms. There is a long list of things that the police have done that has alienated the public. Honestly, do you respect the police or fear them? Fear doesn’t work, because you don’t communicate with those you fear.
Kate 10:59 on 2020-10-14 Permalink
I agree with you. The whole look has gone both more military and more American in recent years. They’re watching too many U.S. crime shows.
DeWolf 11:36 on 2020-10-14 Permalink
I have never understood why (or when) police stopped foot patrols. Instead of having a couple of officers walk through the park, for example, they cruise menacingly around in their car, blocking the path and sending people scurrying off onto the lawn. They don’t even bother using bicycle cops for that kind of thing. It’s such a simple thing that could show the police aren’t totally contemptuous of the people they’re meant to serve.
Kate 17:22 on 2020-10-14 Permalink
The little I can find out about it, DeWolf, is that, in various places over the period between 1920 and 1950, it came to be felt that police could be more efficient and cover a bigger territory if they patrolled in cars than on foot. I don’t know why sheer mileage was valued so much more than the personal connections made by the cop on the beat, but evidently it was.