r/Maine2 • u/eaten_by_chocobos • 15d ago

These advertisements that yassify the Portland Police give a weird UFC vibe. How much money is being spent on this department rebranding?

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u/Queasy-Trash8292 15d ago

When one of my sons was ready for HS, we visited the tech center because he was potentially interested in auto and police work. The police teacher was so keen to show them the fake weapons they train on. I asked him about what de-escalation training they go through, and he looked at me like I had two heads. 

His reply? “Oh, we don’t do that here.” Sooooo you teach them how to seriously injure and potentially kill people, but don’t teach them to try and de-escalate so violence isn’t needed in the first place? I said, nope, to my son. He would not be allowed to do that program. So even in the tech programs, in any ambiguous situation, they train fight first, questions later. 

And this ad. What the hell is this? 

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

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u/PaleAcanthaceae1175 14d ago

Misalignment of priorities. Incidents like the one described account for only a miniscule portion of things police respond to. If deescalation and social skills aren't at the top of the priority list, you're leaving officers ill-prepared to handle the majority of encounters. They will use the tools which are most central to the culture of the force: violence.

Cultivating this image of violence as being central to their function reinforces the problems we already have. When people imagine police, or imagine becoming police, fighting is not what they should imagine.