Do you think it is possible for the cops to switch sides and support Occupy and the 99% ?

[darth marth]

We have all seen the picture of the cop dancing along happily spraying peaceful protesters sitting on the UC Davis Quad....I am not suggesting there is hope for him.

But what about the rest of the cops that were not involved, that just stood there watching....is there a chance that they might wake up and realize they are the 99%?

I have met some pretty nice cops in my day, the type that do serve and protect and there is no way that they are all mindless fascists drones.

I have the feeling there are plenty of seriously embarrassed cop`s out there, cops that are starting to think that it's time to stand up to the thugs among them.

The police are starting to be affected by the same greedy policies of the elite, they are having their pay cut, their co-pays are going up, they are getting their house foreclosed on...just like the rest of us.

This video depicts this sort of switch....just wondering what you all thought about the possibility?


Occupy Wall Street Giving Cops a Teach-In - Awesome Video Made by 14 year old!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGAKq6Cnnu0

[rug]

1. No.

[redgiant]

37. At least, not this one...

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6652422/can-i-give-you-a-ticket-with-anna-torv

[patrick t. cakes]

2. "the cops," no...

"a cop," yes

[pnwmom]

3. We could increase the odds by not calling them all pigs.

I think the more unions are attacked, the more police will lean toward OWS.

[Fumesucker]

5. TPTB have learned their lesson on that..

The police unions will be left pretty much alone in the future.

[Gregorian]

4. Maybe if things escalate enough that fed forces get more involved.

Then maybe the cops won't feel like they're running the show. Then they may be inclined to feel more like the 99% that they are.

I think it's a very important question, ultimately.

[qb]

6. Ray Lewis said cops are trained to dehumanize protesters... they view them as a threat

that must be suppressed.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x637387
They are not allowed to look at or converse with individuals. When they act like inhuman storm troopers they are merely following their training.
Capt. Lewis suggests calmly telling police officers why you are there, even if it seems like they're ignoring you.
It couldn't hurt, could it?

[lonestarnot]

39. It's called militarized.

[IamK]

7. Hell No!

[ClassWarrior]

8. Of course. We're all humans, capable of compassion. Despite how some would paint others.

NGU.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

10. I don't think the police as a whole ...

The institution as it exists is incompatible with a horizontal movement such as OWS. Individuals are a different story - and again, it would take the non-fascist leaning types that would have a clue.

[Cirque du So-What]

12. Another aspect of being 'human'

is the tendency to cave in to peer pressure. As an organization, police departments are not known for backing down in the face of a challenge; any individual cops who expressed sympathy for the occupy movement's goals would likely provoke a shitstorm from fellow officers. Sure, humans are capable of compassion, but there are a lot of other emotions in play - some much stronger than compassion. If a cop felt ostracism from other cops, I believe the motivation would be to play along instead of buck the system.

[darth marth]

13. If a cop felt ostracism from the public at large, like with the public shaming of the UCD cop

that public pressure might become more powerful than their fellow cops.

I am thinking this shift might be occurring...and it might more successfully occur if we reach out to them.

[Cirque du So-What]

36. Has that ever been the case?

Not that I can recall. Cop culture is virtually insular, with three circles: (1) Cops (2) Cops' families (3) Perpetrators & scumbags. Get back to me if you can figure out a way to breach that closed society.

[nadinbrzezinski]

46. Yes, in every successful revolution

When cops start with individual defections.

Chris hedges raised the issue as well in a recent column, but it happens...quite more often tan elite history would tell you.

[Cirque du So-What]

47. I still have doubts it will occur in our society

which is in full-fledged Sociopath Nation mode. I think it would literally take years before a preponderance of individual cops tipped the balance toward revolt against the 1%. In the meantime, individuals who displayed any semblance of a conscience would get browbeaten back into conformity.

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. Six months ago I kept telling people

streets they were comming. Hell two years ago...I said such. And people here laughed.

The spraying at Davis was done by the staff tat orders it, not does it.

We are indeed seeing cracks. Whether they will grow or not depends on how fast leaders react to the demands and chiefly how. So far it is the exact wrong reaction. We meet all conditions for a revolution. The question is what route it will take. My hope is peaceful.

Perhaps, having worked along side cops for ten years...I can see the cracks. In new York it's the same thing, it's the white shirts. That is supervisors. Those are cracks.

[MedleyMisty]

17. Not all humans are capable of compassion

That's the definition of a psychopath/sociopath - they are incapable of empathy. And they are running the country.

[Magoo48]

9. No.

[Dawson Leery]

11. No.

Those who go into the profession are not that bright. They are trained to take orders. No great advancement has ever or will ever be achieved with such a mentality.

[uppityperson]

23. There are some very bright police officers and it is unfair to depict them all as stupid

or "not that bright". Some are, but not all.

[MFrohike]

40. This is crap

This kind of broad-brush smear is disgusting. Seriously, get a grip.

"They are trained to take orders. No great advancement has ever or will ever be achieved with such a mentality."

Make sure you tell a WW2 vet that.

[fascisthunter]

14. yes, actually I do

[mike_c]

15. "the pigs" as a group have much to answer for before we discuss rehabilitating them....

I suspect that a security force less beholden to the 1%, less enthralled by them, and less brainwashed to think that they're serving their own interests when they serve the 1% would look very different than the police force we're talking about now. The difference is largely made up of the porcine element who I don't think will ever be interested in rehabilitation.

[Warpy]

16. A few will get disgusted and turn in their badges

but most of them are scared to lose a steady gig. Ditto the military.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. Who knows? The Petrograd garrison joined the people in 1917.

[Zorra]

19. If they see that OWS is going to be successful, unquestionably.

They will serve whoever feeds them.

[MannyGoldstein]

20. The East German cops switched sides, so why not?

[tularetom]

21. I think it's good that they don't support it

The fact that they do such stupid ass things to try to suppress it turns opponents neutral and turns neutral people into supporters.

Stupid cop tricks are the best things that have ever happened to OWS.

[uppityperson]

22. As individuals? Yes, of course there is a chance. I'd be quite happy if they did. eom

[TBF]

24. Well if we want real change I think they will have to (or the military at least). nt

[Stinky The Clown]

25. You seem to be using the term "the cops" in the same way people used the term "those people" or . .

. . . "you people"

Few groups are monolithic. If you meant the institution "The Cops" you'll get a different answer.

[rhett o rick]

26. I think that everyone, including the police themselves should be looking at the written

documents that specify how to handle peaceful demonstrations. I would love to see such a document. Without it, I think the individual police-person could ask, "what authorizes me to brutalize peaceful demonstrators?"

[Fool Count]

27. Everything is possible, but a review of history of revolutionary upheaval

suggests that it is very unlikely. There are many cases of individual policemen switching sides, but I know of no examples of
police doing that while remaining an organized force. Most often in the course of a successful revolution the elements of
repressive apparatus would simply fade into inefficiency due to breakdown of leadership and chain of command as the government
authority falls apart. The policemen would suffer declining moral and discipline, first doing their job half-assedly, then not at all and
finally deserting their posts and not showing up for work. Following the transfer of power, they would be back at their stations ready
to serve the new regime within a reconstituted (and very often renamed) police force. Every government needs to keep order after all.

[mmonk]

28. Some do. It's easy to miss through all the brutality lately though.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

29. many cops are married to union workers

nurses, teachers. Union peeps overwhelmingly understand they are the
99 %. Cops are union too- at some point
they will have to make a decision. That time is coming sooner
than later.

[AntiFascist]

30. Of course...

and those who stand up for the movement will be extra appreciated. You'll know it's a revolution when cops and members of the military begin to stand up to the PTB.

[applegrove]

31. I think many cops support the questions OWS is asking. What you do at your job and how you feel are

not always the same thing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. It is happening mostly in the dark

Few of these will occur where you can see them

But tat pepper spraying actually is an example. That was the Lt....which means officers refused.

[Selatius]

43. I'm not as hopeful. This is the US, not Syria or Egypt.

Here, the anti-left/anti-worker propaganda is far more entrenched and firmly held than elsewhere, perhaps in the whole world. Four decades of anti-communist/anti-left propaganda is going to leave a dent on the collective conscience.

[nadinbrzezinski]

45. I am just telling you a reality

This is not done by supervisors...unless the troops are refusing orders. This is a familiar pattern. Read hedges on his observations as well. They are similar.

[MedleyMisty]

33. Some are already on our side

http://www.occupypolice.org/

http://twitter.com/#!/occupypolice

[applegrove]

34. You are assuming the police are not supportive of the 99% in their private lives and that

is just not true.

[Exultant Democracy]

35. Yes, but someone innocent will probably have to die first. Then they will stop showing up to work

[Downwinder]

38. Yes, they are brown nosing political animals. They will

come up on the side most beneficial to them.

[moondust]

41. Crapshoot.

As in any revolutionary kind of thing, you'd probably need inside knowledge of the unit in question to make a fair prediction of how the unit as a whole would react. For example, a unit of, say, army draftees would be more likely to defect than would a unit of elite Republican Guard.

A neutral position is another option as in the case of the military in Tahrir Square during the spring protests. I saw a report today that the military is now at least temporarily protecting some of the protesters there from the more violent police.

[Skip Intro]

42. I think the vast majority of cops take their duty to uphold the law seriously and to heart.

I can't imagine having the guts to walk in their shoes and hate to imagine what our nation would be like without them. Surely, there are exceptions, as there are with any profession, but I hold the vast majority of LEOs who take their oaths and jobs seriously, who walk into dangerous situations daily in service to the community, in high respect.

[Aerows]

44. The ones that joined in

Did so from day one, protested police involvement, and said "Hell no"

Just like society.

[B Calm]

48. I have never met a cop yet that wasn't on a BIG EGO TRIP. I think

there is something seriously wrong with all of them!

[lunatica]

50. As soon as they get laid off and can't find employment

Some people have to actually suffer in order to learn anything.