If you want to know what kind of people will be in a job, on average, consider what the job incentivizes and how that might appeal to the motives of different kinds of people.
Law enforcement ostensibly promotes an image of community service and protection. So you will find people that wish to do those things seeking to become police officers.
But the reality is that police work itself, policies, and legal protections for officers is far more focused on the state sanctioned use of force, the strict adherence to laws for citizenry but far more lax enforcement on officers themselves, and the authority of command given to officers in interactions with them. So for someone who wants to posture as a tough guy, to dominate over people with legal authority, to commit acts of violence with little, if any, consequence for themselves or recourse for he victim, and to remain in good standing in much of society because of the aforementioned promoted image, it serves those desires too.
And due to the us vs them mentality, the lack of liability, and the tight community formed just within law enforcement and those who work directly with them (prosecutors/DAs, judges, mayors, etc) that do not hold each other accountable unless they do something to violate that community (like reporting abuse of authority, excessive force, gross negligence, etc. on fellow officers), then the police culture itself incentives pushing out the cops with good intentions that may stir up “trouble” in the community in favor of those who will allow or actively propagate corruption and collusion.
If a job incentivizes and/or protects aggression, violence, and pretty crime, don’t be shocked when it’s full of aggressive, violent, petty criminals.
“Male bullies become cops, female bullies become nurses” is something I hear often and it makes sense. Power over vulnerable people attracts these specimen. Are ALL in these professions like that? Of course not but probably a higher average than in other fields.
Nowhere that has hierarchy, and therefore power and wealth held in the hands of a few to pay others to commit violence on their behalf.
But who are the police and the soldiers who protect the capitalists against you, against the people?
If they were capitalists themselves, then it would stand to reason why they want to protect the wealth they have stolen, and why they try to keep up, even by force, the system that gives them the privilege of robbing the people.
But the police and the soldiers, the defenders of ‘law and order’, are not of the capitalist class. They are men from the ranks of the people, poor men who for pay protect the very system that keeps them poor. It is unbelievable, is it not? Yet it is true. It just comes down to this: some of the slaves protect their masters in keeping them and the rest of the people in slavery. In the same way Great Britain, for instance, keeps the Hindoos in India in subjection by a police force of the natives, of the Hindoos themselves. Or as Belgium does with the black men in the Congo. Or as any government does with a subjugated people.
It is the same system.
Here is what it amounts to: Capitalism robs and exploits the whole of the people; the laws legalize and uphold this capitalist robbery; the government uses one part of the people to aid and protect the capitalists in robbing the whole of the people. The entire thing is kept up by educating the people to believe that capitalism is right, that the law is just, and that the government must be obeyed. Do you see through this game now?
Honestly, I rarely hear about the police here in Japan doing anything too crooked. On the other hand, I hear stories about foreigners being a target of “random questioning,” online. There’s probably a good amount of bias on both sides.
However, even if they weren’t crooked or violent, they’re still—in the end—our government’s lapdogs and I wouldn’t trust them to protect the people over them.
Actually, now that you mention it, I have heard of that conviction rate issue, and I sorta have experience with it too.
This is strictly anecdotal (I just learned about the term “anecdata,” lol), so take it with a grain of salt, but I do feel like the prosecutors I work with seem quite concerned about getting the accused to admit to the crime. I think it might be because of the nature of the crime—usually something really stupid like DUI, assault, public nuisance, or trespassing with lots of evidence. I think it has less to do with keeping the conviction rate up than the prosecutor not wanting to waste time and resources handing out prison sentences. First-time offenders tend to get away with lower fines and summary trials if they just tell the truth and admit to their crimes, apparently.
The point of my comment is not to defend the Japanese police. In the end, I don’t trust them just like how I don’t trust any authority.
Ironically despite not being from there I know more about that phenomenon in the American system than that of my own country but I should imagine a similar dynamic is at play here, there, in Japan and everywhere. It takes a great deal of time and money to conduct trials and there’s a lot of pressure to clear backlogs so if you can persuade someone to either admit the crime they really did because there’s overwhelming evidence or simply capitulate even though they actually didn’t do it because the risks if they lose at trial are so high then you manage to help to this end. I’m sure that’s happening in what you’re observing but it sounds like those types of incentives operate everywhere whereas the negative commentary about Happen in particular seemed to be about an unusually high conviction rate which is used as indirect evidence of a lack of fair process so if that’s sticking out even with this phenomenon occurring then it sounds fishy. But again I’m really just repeating rumours.
There have been cases where it seemed that the japanese police, prosecutors and judges where more interested to send the first person to jail they had get a hold of although they knew they were innocent just because the police and courts are always right.
Is there anyplace in the world that doesnt have lowest common denominators just itching to brutalize and murder in positions of law enforcement?
If you want to know what kind of people will be in a job, on average, consider what the job incentivizes and how that might appeal to the motives of different kinds of people.
Law enforcement ostensibly promotes an image of community service and protection. So you will find people that wish to do those things seeking to become police officers.
But the reality is that police work itself, policies, and legal protections for officers is far more focused on the state sanctioned use of force, the strict adherence to laws for citizenry but far more lax enforcement on officers themselves, and the authority of command given to officers in interactions with them. So for someone who wants to posture as a tough guy, to dominate over people with legal authority, to commit acts of violence with little, if any, consequence for themselves or recourse for he victim, and to remain in good standing in much of society because of the aforementioned promoted image, it serves those desires too.
And due to the us vs them mentality, the lack of liability, and the tight community formed just within law enforcement and those who work directly with them (prosecutors/DAs, judges, mayors, etc) that do not hold each other accountable unless they do something to violate that community (like reporting abuse of authority, excessive force, gross negligence, etc. on fellow officers), then the police culture itself incentives pushing out the cops with good intentions that may stir up “trouble” in the community in favor of those who will allow or actively propagate corruption and collusion.
If a job incentivizes and/or protects aggression, violence, and pretty crime, don’t be shocked when it’s full of aggressive, violent, petty criminals.
“Male bullies become cops, female bullies become nurses” is something I hear often and it makes sense. Power over vulnerable people attracts these specimen. Are ALL in these professions like that? Of course not but probably a higher average than in other fields.
That’s how they got the job.
Nowhere that has hierarchy, and therefore power and wealth held in the hands of a few to pay others to commit violence on their behalf.
from Now and After by Alexander Berkman, Chapter 3: Law and Government. Available to read for free here.
Nope.
Perhaps, Japan…
Honestly, I rarely hear about the police here in Japan doing anything too crooked. On the other hand, I hear stories about foreigners being a target of “random questioning,” online. There’s probably a good amount of bias on both sides.
However, even if they weren’t crooked or violent, they’re still—in the end—our government’s lapdogs and I wouldn’t trust them to protect the people over them.
I’ve heard some dodgy stuff about their conviction rates and tendency to stitch people up but I’ve not really read in to it.
Actually, now that you mention it, I have heard of that conviction rate issue, and I sorta have experience with it too.
This is strictly anecdotal (I just learned about the term “anecdata,” lol), so take it with a grain of salt, but I do feel like the prosecutors I work with seem quite concerned about getting the accused to admit to the crime. I think it might be because of the nature of the crime—usually something really stupid like DUI, assault, public nuisance, or trespassing with lots of evidence. I think it has less to do with keeping the conviction rate up than the prosecutor not wanting to waste time and resources handing out prison sentences. First-time offenders tend to get away with lower fines and summary trials if they just tell the truth and admit to their crimes, apparently.
The point of my comment is not to defend the Japanese police. In the end, I don’t trust them just like how I don’t trust any authority.
Ironically despite not being from there I know more about that phenomenon in the American system than that of my own country but I should imagine a similar dynamic is at play here, there, in Japan and everywhere. It takes a great deal of time and money to conduct trials and there’s a lot of pressure to clear backlogs so if you can persuade someone to either admit the crime they really did because there’s overwhelming evidence or simply capitulate even though they actually didn’t do it because the risks if they lose at trial are so high then you manage to help to this end. I’m sure that’s happening in what you’re observing but it sounds like those types of incentives operate everywhere whereas the negative commentary about Happen in particular seemed to be about an unusually high conviction rate which is used as indirect evidence of a lack of fair process so if that’s sticking out even with this phenomenon occurring then it sounds fishy. But again I’m really just repeating rumours.
There have been cases where it seemed that the japanese police, prosecutors and judges where more interested to send the first person to jail they had get a hold of although they knew they were innocent just because the police and courts are always right.