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[EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a reprint of an article which first appeared in the G21 Dangerous Visions edition,"TRIO" section ---now discontinued --- on April 7, 1998.]
THE POLICE - AUSTIN, TEJAS - We need to stop lying to ourselves about the police.
I have some Dangerous Visions for you, Pardner. How about a nation comprised of sincere politicians, truthful lawyers, and honest cops?
To my way of thinking, a place like that would be one gawdawful nightmare. But some of you politically correct liberals, cloud cuckoo libertarians, and utopian idealists might just cotton to a twisted place like I'm envisioning.
My article this week opens on this vision because what I really want to talk about is a phenomenon that chaps my ass. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it seems to me that every time you pick up a book or essay by a Western writer abroad --- including some of the writers here --- you invariably end up reading about corruption and bribery among the local police. If the only picture of the world you had was from the view of these writers, you might believe that all the police in all the developing countries of the world were on the take or the pad, and -- further --- that the police of the "First World" were all paragons of immaculate honor and virtue.
This is just plain arrogance.
You cannot pick up a reputable newspaper in any of the fifty states of this country (USA) and not find stories of cops going to jail for illegally holding money back from drug raids, sales of stolen property, or outright taking bribes.
The CineMax cable movie channel is running a "Classics of the 70s" series this month. One of the featured flicks is "Serpico," starring Al Pacino. You remember what this flick was about? I'll tell you. It was about a young cop going from precinct to precinct to precinct in New York City and not being able to find a single one where 99.48% of the cops WEREN'T taking money, bribes, from pimps, loan sharks, bookies, and the mob.
When this cop tried to work to make New York's Finest accountable, he was harassed, vilified, set-up to be shot in the face, and eventually went into self-imposed exile in Switzerland. I don't know if he found any honest cops in Switzerland, but I doubt it.
What I'm getting at here, Gentle Reader, is that a lot of otherwise thoughtful and seemingly intelligent people --- with coaxing from media and other monied interests --- allow themselves to think in a totally delusional manner about the police.
WE NEED TO STOP LYING TO OURSELVES ABOUT THE POLICE
The majority of your police have a tattoo on their metaphorical butts which reads, "Property of the Mayor, the City Council, the Chief of Police---and the owner of the Downtown Mall." The owner of the Downtown Mall gets the most cheek-space.
TO SERVE AND PROTECT
You notice how a lot of police forces have taken that motto, "To Serve and Protect," as a way of making themselves seem more benign --- instead of the hoodlums, thugs and enforcers that they really are?
You want to know what I've always wondered? WHY CAN'T THEY COMPLETE THE PHRASE?
Hey! To serve and protect WHO?
And there you have it.
Even cops aren't so shameless as throw the whole insult into your teeth.
If the police force were to say, "To Serve and Protect the Biggest Payday," you wouldn't have the luxury of continuing to lie to yourself about the police force. You might have to admit that the police force is simply a private army hired by the dukes and barons to keep your lazy ass in line.
You might have to stop acting appalled when poorly-armed, semi-literate, slave-wage policeman in poor-as-shit countries pocketed the equivalent of $10 (US) for some infraction.
Hell! You might even get it into your head that it was your social and civic duty to stop lying to yourself about the cops and the way our whole system operates.
Now that's a truly dangerous vision.
This week's Poll: Veganism.
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