Today's PWSLTJ is Jim Pasco, head of the Fraternal Order of Police, who recently said the following about the explosion in private surveillance and recording of police officers:
The proliferation of cheap video equipment is presenting a whole new dynamic for law enforcement. It has had a chilling effect on some officers who are now afraid to act for fear of retribution by video. This has become a serious safety issue. I'm afraid something terrible will happen.
Now I realize that Pasco, as head of a police union, is supposed to have the backs of the cops. But "I'm afraid something terrible will happen"? Dipshit, terrible things have already happened. They happen basically every fucking day, because you and your kind let your profession be infected by a military mindset rather than a public service one.
Hell, if your union brethren weren't doing terrible things already, you wouldn't have to worry about being scrutinized so much.
Oh, and by the way? Fretting about civilian surveillance of the boys and girls in blue isn't even like worrying about the horse after its already escaped the barn, it's more like worrying about the horse after it's already been made obsolete by the automobile.
I suggest to the Fraternal Order of Police that they need someone running their union who isn't quite as ignorant of what's actually happening in the world, and might actually be able to help you figure out how to navigate the new environment you find yourselves in, rather than just pissing into a hurricane.
