George Bell, a man from Queens who spent more than half his life in prison for a crime he did not commit, is now the recipient of the largest settlement payout for a wrongful conviction in New York City history.
How about we start making the cops sell their tanks and helicopters and drones and rocket launchers and MRAPS to pay for these settlements? Seems like it would solve several problems at once. Departments wouldn’t want to hire shit cops anymore because they’d lose their toys. The departments that DID still hire bad cops wouldn’t have any toys left for the bad cops to do as much damage with (which would make being a cop a lot less fun for the chucklefucks). And we’d start demilitarizing our police force while still letting the folks that can be trusted with the stuff to use it appropriately.
Most of that stuff is still owned by the federal government and is “on loan”. The municipality needs to prove they have a legitimate need/use for it, that they’ll maintain the equipment, and that they won’t misuse it – or the feds will take it back.
How about we start making the cops sell their tanks and helicopters and drones and rocket launchers and MRAPS to pay for these settlements? Seems like it would solve several problems at once. Departments wouldn’t want to hire shit cops anymore because they’d lose their toys. The departments that DID still hire bad cops wouldn’t have any toys left for the bad cops to do as much damage with (which would make being a cop a lot less fun for the chucklefucks). And we’d start demilitarizing our police force while still letting the folks that can be trusted with the stuff to use it appropriately.
Most of that stuff is still owned by the federal government and is “on loan”. The municipality needs to prove they have a legitimate need/use for it, that they’ll maintain the equipment, and that they won’t misuse it – or the feds will take it back.
And they do audit their “loaned” inventory.