@hightor,
Police jobs are going the way of other public service jobs, like teaching. Policing, teaching, and rescue personnel who run toward danger rather than away from it are the most dangerous and thankless jobs. Teaching and policing are facing historic deficits. Hundreds more in Pennsylvania and Arizona will be fired or taken off the street due to intel gathered by the Plain View Police Project.
Re policing: Of course, their lives are at risk, they're definitely not paid commensurate to the risk, so the high quality of person needed to fill those jobs wouldn't touch it -- and just like in the teaching profession, another, less qualified type of person begins to fill those jobs.
I was in first quarter planning this week for all of the English teachers in the school. Over the past 7 or 8 years, because of the teacher deficit, programs have been developed to attract people to the job who have NO TEACHING experience. They just need to have a degree in the subject. I listened to a 'teacher' yesterday who had never heard of
several concepts he was
supposed to have taught last year and is scheduled to teach this year. Gee, did those kids get a fair education?
I imagine the people skills and racial understanding and respect that a decent cop must possess is sorely lacking in the John Wayne types who are lured to policing primarily by the opportunity to beat the **** out of some Muslims and (insert profane descriptor here).
Good cops have my respect -- this breed we have now? I'd rather be short of cops than live in a society where these guys are armed and dangerous.
This is another reason I'm desperate for a Sanders presidency. He WILL address this meaningfully.
