Role of Unions in keeping bad cops

Grobyc82

Obviously, that cop was temperamentally unsuitable for the work. Being a cop, especially in an inner city, requires patience and tact. The burn out must be incredible. Any ER nurse can tell you, cops endure a lot of verbal abuse.

That guy already had 18 incidents on his record. He was building up to this, probably very burnt out, and with person problems too, his wife just filed for divorce I read.

The police unions protect these guys' jobs. Like in nursing and teaching, some incompetent or ill tempered people are kept in their positions by unions. They hate what they do, but have mortgages and responsibilities, and feel trapped.

Employers do need to shed themselves of powder kegs like this cop. Is the police union tying their hands? And, what about some retraining insurance, to help unsuitable or burnt out cops move onto a different career?

toomuchbaloney · May 31, 2020

If police unions are responsible for protecting dangerous racist and dehumanizing attitudes within the police forces them they are not doing their job and should be gone.

When was the last time that anyone heard of a nurses union protecting a nurse after the nurse was shown on film suffocating a patient...held down by 2 other nurses?

nursej22, MSN, RN · May 31, 2020

That cop would never have stayed on the job without tacit approval from his coworkers. In the small part of the video I watched, 2 other cops were kneeling on this man and another was keeping onlookers at bay.

I have worked with some horrible nurses that management repeatedly looked the other way when their behavior was reported, therefore the union was never involved.

**herring_RN, ASN, BSN** · May 31, 2020

Lt. Bob Kroll is currently President of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis

Earlier this week Kroll said that the union intends to support the officers involved. “Now is not the time rush to judgment and immediately condemn our officers. An in-depth investigation is underway. Our officers are fully cooperating. We must review all video. We must wait for the medical examiner’s report,” Kroll said in a statement Tuesday. “Officers’ actions and training protocol will be carefully examined after the officers have provided their statements.”

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/president-minneapolis-police-union-wore-white-power-patch-lawsuit-2020-5

toomuchbaloney · May 31, 2020

12 minutes ago, herring_RN said:
Lt. Bob Kroll is currently President of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis
Earlier this week Kroll said that the union intends to support the officers involved. “Now is not the time rush to judgment and immediately condemn our officers. An in-depth investigation is underway. Our officers are fully cooperating. We must review all video. We must wait for the medical examiner’s report,” Kroll said in a statement Tuesday. “Officers’ actions and training protocol will be carefully examined after the officers have provided their statements.”
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/president-minneapolis-police-union-wore-white-power-patch-lawsuit-2020-5

Sure.

Code language for nothing is going to actually change but they're going to try to quiet the angry black, brown and poor people. More of the same...and who is surprised that white supremacists are in positions of authority in police hierarchy of all types?

**herring_RN, ASN, BSN** · May 31, 2020

Controversy follows Minneapolis police union president

The uproar began almost as soon as Lt. Bob Kroll took over as president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis last May. Civil rights activists and police reformers pounced on his lengthy disciplinary record, which includes civil complaints and lawsuits for wrongful arrest and excessive force. That record, they say, embodies the brash, hard-charging mentality of a rapidly fading era of policing.

The scrutiny intensified last month after Kroll spoke out in defense of the two officers involved in the Nov. 15 killing of Jamar Clark, which triggered weeks of furious protests over police aggression, racial profiling and what some called a racially biased justice system. His critics circulated a newspaper article reporting his membership in City Heat, a motorcycle club for police officers, some of whose members, the Anti-Defamation League said, “have openly displayed white supremacist symbols.”...

https://www.startribune.com/controversy-follows-minneapolis-police-union-chief/361517061/?refresh=true

Photo of Lt. Bob Kroll Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis president

Emergent, RN · May 31, 2020

44 minutes ago, nursej22 said:
That cop would never have stayed on the job without tacit approval from his coworkers. In the small part of the video I watched, 2 other cops were kneeling on this man and another was keeping onlookers at bay.
I have worked with some horrible nurses that management repeatedly looked the other way when their behavior was reported, therefore the union was never involved.

But, just as in nursing, someone with social clout and/or seniority can make the life of a whistleblower hell, driving him or her out.

toomuchbaloney · May 31, 2020

42 minutes ago, Emergent said:
But, just as in nursing, someone with social clout and/or seniority can make the life of a whistleblower hell, driving him or her out.

Indeed. And in the case of police work across the country it has the appearance that violent and racist bullies have cowered good and ethical police into silent complicity. Maybe we can change that. At least we have some police conceding that there's a problem and the problem is the "thin blue line" that protects the bad guys among them. IMV

toomuchbaloney · May 31, 2020

https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2020/05/minneapolis-cops-now-shooting

The link simply takes you to a video which was published originally on Twitter.

I wonder if the union protects the guy who shouted "light them up" before multiple police shot at a woman and several teens on their front porch? Does everyone here recognize the danger represented by the authoritarian and violent behavior of these police?