4 Cops abandon security posts at basketball pregame when players come out wearing BLM t-shirts - Polidicks

[quote]Black Lives Matter T-shirts worn by Minnesota Lynx players with a message of "justice and accountability" after the fatal police shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling prompted four off-duty Minneapolis police officers to abandon their posts in protest during pregame warmups Saturday. The officers were working private security for the game at Target Center when they decided to walk out over the display, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I commend them for it," said Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the Minneapolis Police Federation. Kroll did not know the names of the officers but said they removed themselves from consideration to work future games. “Others said they heard about it and they were not going to work Lynx games,” Kroll told the Star Tribune. “If (the players) are going to keep their stance, all officers may refuse to work there."[/quote] [url]http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/philando-castile-alton-sterling-minneapolis-minnesota-lynx-warmup-t-shirts-black-lives-matter/1wbcqe2ouznqj18w1jmbkp2b7h[/url] They should seriously be reprimanded, not commended for this shit.

If you are going to be that salty about BLM then maybe you don't need to be a police officer.

Why do Officers think BLM = You are personally a shit cop, and all officers are responsible. They should agree, excessive force is something never to be used on suspects.

Yes, the idea that we should stop systemically exploiting minorities is deeply offensive to me, too.

I find it weird how it seems that most cops do private security and other security-related jobs on the sideline. Wouldn't there be a conflict of interest?

[QUOTE=Megadave;50695863]If you are going to be that salty about BLM then maybe you don't need to be a police officer.[/QUOTE] Or maybe they don't need to volunteer to do security at sporting events when they're off duty, which is what they did.

[QUOTE=angelangel;50695876]I find it weird how it seems that most cops do private security and other security-related jobs on the sideline. Wouldn't there be a conflict of interest?[/QUOTE] In what sense?

[QUOTE=angelangel;50695876]I find it weird how it seems that most cops do private security and other security-related jobs on the sideline. Wouldn't there be a conflict of interest?[/QUOTE] What exactly is the conflict?

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;50695882]In what sense?[/QUOTE] In the sense that they get paid to provide security by the state, but charge for private protection? Isnt this kinda like a government owned contractor taking commercial contracts on the side? people go to jail for that stuff here, and rightfully so. Publicly funded should never compete with privately funded, only leads to corruption or tax expenditure abuse.

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;50695900]In the sense that they get paid to provide security by the state, but charge for private protection? Isnt this kinda like a government owned contractor taking commercial contracts on the side? people go to jail for that stuff here, and rightfully so. Publicly funded should never compete with privately funded, only leads to corruption or tax expenditure abuse.[/QUOTE] I don't understand where the competition is. Event security and police work are two different things. Why should a police officer not be allowed to use his free time to work private security? His publicly funded job has no effect on his private one.

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;50695900]In the sense that they get paid to provide security by the state, but charge for private protection? Isnt this kinda like a government owned contractor taking commercial contracts on the side? people go to jail for that stuff here, and rightfully so. Publicly funded should never compete with privately funded, only leads to corruption or tax expenditure abuse.[/QUOTE] I still don't quite understand the conflict. Either way they're using their skills in security and are still protecting 'the public', their paycheck is just coming from a different source. Unless you think that this basketball stadium will somehow use its compensation for them as leverage against them being a cop later on?

Maybe they left because they don't want to risk getting shot. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Trolling, just banned" - Big Dumb American))[/highlight]

[QUOTE=orgornot;50695925]Maybe they left because they don't want to risk getting shot.[/QUOTE] Doesn't that sort of contradict the point of being a police officer?

[QUOTE=orgornot;50695925]Maybe they left because they don't want to risk getting shot.[/QUOTE] Have you ever thought of just....[I]not[/I] being a troll?

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;50695900]In the sense that they get paid to provide security by the state, but charge for private protection? Isnt this kinda like a government owned contractor taking commercial contracts on the side? people go to jail for that stuff here, and rightfully so. Publicly funded should never compete with privately funded, only leads to corruption or tax expenditure abuse.[/QUOTE] Hmm. Yeah, I suppose I can see where you are coming from to a point. That's not something I'd really considered before, though I honestly couldn't say that I've heard of instances where it has become a problem. I wonder what restrictions there are in the type of work that an officer can perform outside of duty hours, if any? I know that at least some state-governed, licensed positions do you have pretty strict criteria on extracurricular work activities. Real estate licensees, for example, have a hefty list of conditions.

[QUOTE=Megadave;50695936]Doesn't that sort of contradict the point of being a police officer?[/QUOTE] Unfortunately not in America anymore, when the courts rule that a police officer has no legal responsibility to protect the public. [editline]12th July 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Big Dumb American;50695942]Hmm. Yeah, I suppose I can see where you are coming from That's not something I'd really considered before. I wonder what restrictions there are in the type of work that an officer can perform outside of duty hours, if any? I know that at least some state-governed, licensed positions do you have pretty strict criteria on extracurricular work activities. Real estate licensees, for example, have a hefty list of conditions.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't understand the restriction in this case. "You're allowed to protect the public, but only when you wear this particular uniform" Just doesn't make sense to me

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;50695945]Unfortunately not in America anymore, when the courts rule that a police officer has no legal responsibility to protect the public. [editline]12th July 2016[/editline] I wouldn't understand the restriction in this case. "You're allowed to protect the public, but only when you wear this particular uniform" Just doesn't make sense to me[/QUOTE] Yeah, doing security for sporting events and such doesn't seem like it would be a problem, but I could potentially see some conflict when it comes to handling affairs on a more individual level. If you are a private security guard at some rich fellow's estate on nights and weekends, are you as likely to remain professional in the line of duty if you cross paths with him as an officer?

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;50695966]Yeah, doing security for sporting events and such doesn't seem like it would be a problem, but I could potentially see some conflict when it comes to handling affairs on a more individual level. If you are a private security guard at some rich fellow's estate on nights and weekends, are you as likely to remain professional in the line of duty if you cross paths with him as an officer?[/QUOTE] In a perfect, true, but I don't believe there's anything to stop a cop from being unprofessional with crossing paths with any particular person. What if a cop pulls over an old high school buddy of his, so to speak?

Fair point.

Well assuming that police officers are always warranted and deemed on duty 24/7 like there are here, wouldn't there be a conflict of interest when you are performing private security while also vested with the powers of a police officer? So would you work for the interests of the private security firm or uphold your police powers?

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;50695942]Hmm. Yeah, I suppose I can see where you are coming from to a point. That's not something I'd really considered before, though I honestly couldn't say that I've heard of instances where it has become a problem. I wonder what restrictions there are in the type of work that an officer can perform outside of duty hours, if any? I know that at least some state-governed, licensed positions do you have pretty strict criteria on extracurricular work activities. Real estate licensees, for example, have a hefty list of conditions.[/QUOTE] I don't think theres many restrictions. I know some cops will do asset-protection work at retail stores like walmart off duty since it's mostly the same work but with better pay.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;50695945]Unfortunately not in America anymore, when the courts rule that a police officer has no legal responsibility to protect the public. [editline]12th July 2016[/editline] I wouldn't understand the restriction in this case. "You're allowed to protect the public, but only when you wear this particular uniform" Just doesn't make sense to me[/QUOTE] How about... when on duty, the cop does it for free, off duty he charges by the hour (and uses the fact that he is a cop, has a gun, badge, uniform and could potentially make arrests or get a buddy to do it for him in his stead and vice versa) as extra advertisement to sell his 'protection'. I agree its not as clear as for example 'car salesmen cant be also government car quality inspector' or something like that but i do feel its kinda iffy at least.

[QUOTE=angelangel;50695976]Well assuming that police officers are always warranted and deemed on duty 24/7 like there are here, wouldn't there be a conflict of interest when you are performing private security while also vested with the powers of a police officer? So would you work for the interests of the private security firm or uphold your police powers?[/QUOTE] You're looking at this private security work at a sporting event like it has some sort of political agenda. All a cop doing there is making sure crowds don't get too rowdy and run off any belligerent ass holes. They wouldn't be doing anything at that sporting event they wouldn't be doing normally while on duty.

[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;50696001]You're looking at this private security work at a sporting event like it has some sort of political agenda. All a cop doing there is making sure crowds don't get too rowdy and run off any belligerent ass holes. They wouldn't be doing anything at that sporting event they wouldn't be doing normally while on duty.[/QUOTE] Not to try and go too much off topic, but the point is not about what they do, its about they are doing it for pay and take direct benefit in the necessity of their on the clock job being unable to prevent the need for their 'off the clock' job if we simplify and say there would only be 1 cop on duty at one time in that town, he would directly benefit financially from doing his government job deliberately badly and his private job better... people would go 'if you really want to be safe, you need to actually hire him and not just trust him when he is on the clock'

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;50696016]Not to try and go too much off topic, but the point is not about what they do, its about they are doing it for pay and take direct benefit in the necessity of their on the clock job being unable to prevent the need for their 'off the clock' job if we simplify and say there would only be 1 cop on duty at one time in that town, he would directly benefit financially from doing his government job deliberately badly and his private job better... people would go 'if you really want to be safe, you need to actually hire him and not just trust him when he is on the clock'[/QUOTE] I think that's a silly precedent to set, if anything he'll do the private security poorly and pour his effort into his real job. Private security here is very boring, you literally stand around unarmed and do practically nothing other than people watch. Not to mention you need a "Guard Card" to be a rent-a-cop most of the time anyway, which is why so many off duty police/CO's end up as private security since they already have the clearance.

Terrorists 'win' when you give in to them like these four did. Standing your ground and [B]doing your job[/B] is where you don't let them win. It's disappointing to see anyone commend them over abandoning their responsibility to provide security, even in the face of perceived danger.

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;50696016]Not to try and go too much off topic, but the point is not about what they do, its about they are doing it for pay and take direct benefit in the necessity of their on the clock job being unable to prevent the need for their 'off the clock' job[/quote] Why is it an issue that a person work a second job? [QUOTE=Blizzerd;50696016] if we simplify and say there would only be 1 cop on duty at one time in that town, he would directly benefit financially from doing his government job deliberately badly and his private job better... people would go 'if you really want to be safe, you need to actually hire him and not just trust him when he is on the clock'[/QUOTE] If a person were doing that, they'd be fired, and you would also be hard pressed to find a small town that only has 1 cop in it. You're looking at this like a single cop has power on the overall scale of things, which they clearly don't. A police officer working a second job in security isn't a conflict of interests because they're both striving for the same thing in a market where competition doesn't practically exist.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;50695874]Yes, the idea that we should stop systemically exploiting minorities is deeply offensive to me, too.[/QUOTE] Responding to these sorts of situations with sarcastic dismissal doesn't really contribute to anything. Regardless of whether or not these four people were right to leave, it's undeniable that BLM has a shit reputation and the fact policemen are now willing to straight up get up and leave when it gets involved is a bad sign, no matter if they're right or wrong in their perception.

[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;50696042]Why is it an issue that a person work a second job? If a person were doing that, they'd be fired, and you would also be hard pressed to find a small town that only has 1 cop in it. You're looking at this like a single cop has power on the overall scale of things, which they clearly don't. A police officer working a second job in security isn't a conflict of interests because they're both striving for the same thing in a market where competition doesn't practically exist.[/QUOTE] Lets just agree to disagree then, the thread is already derailed enough. and i dont want to get banned by all these trigger happy mods

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;50695900]In the sense that they get paid to provide security by the state, but charge for private protection? Isnt this kinda like a government owned contractor taking commercial contracts on the side? people go to jail for that stuff here, and rightfully so. Publicly funded should never compete with privately funded, only leads to corruption or tax expenditure abuse.[/QUOTE] You're thinking about this way too hard. It's a side job for them.