Portland cops are up in arms over a new "use of force rule." (Read it here.)
The policy is for supervisors to meet with those officers who have used force more frequently than most to determine if there are "... training gaps...issues... or other concerns..."
The policy hit police officers "like a ton of bricks," and caused them to be "upset, distraught and discouraged, to say the least."
Are we sure we want to put such delicate sensibilities on the street, carrying guns?
Aside from standard union posturing, ratcheting up rhetoric and portraying cops as victims, there is little news here, and little will happen.
Here's a study we would like to see: Every cop on the city's payroll should take a blood test once a year on a random basis for steroids. Any "use of force incident" should result in a blood test. If steroids are present, or any psychoactive drug, the cop looks for another job. Period. Zero tolerance. No disability pay, either.
Steroid use is well known in the macho culture of weight rooms, and "Roid rage" is well documented. Many reported "use of force" incidents by cops in Portland simply beg for a blood test for steroids.
It won't happen, of course. The unions are too powerful, the citizens too weak. They have the guns and poorly worded laws on their side, we have a free press and damn little else. We have made a trade-off, whether we like it or not.
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2 comments:
Dislike random testing on principle. But steroids are a serious problem. I knew an LA County Sheriff's Deputy, a bodybuilder and steroid user, who sought transfer from a quiet area to East LA because he wanted action.
He was primed to beat the shit out of somebody, slam their head into a car or worse. He wanted it like a person wants sex.
Another cop, a guy I grew up with... same story. Roid-head.
He ended up in a fight with somebody, hurt his knee, left the force and dying of a drug overdose at the age of 30.
Men like that, with a badge and a gun, are a menace, not only to the people the "protect and serve" but to their fellow officers.
It's a very tough and often dangerous job. Anyone who tends to escalate conflict instead of defusing it needs to be reevaluated for their suitability to the work. Perhaps instead of random testing, testing should accompany supervision of the high-complaint officers.
I guess I would want to see the level of complaint normed for the beat the cops work, too.
Well said.
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