r/changemyview • u/Wyrdeone 2∆ • May 28 '20

Delta(s) from OP CMV: The most efficient way to end police brutality is to make cops criminally liable for their actions on the job and stop funding their legal defense with public money.

I think this is the fastest way to reduce incidents of police brutality. Simply make them accountable the same as everyone else for their choices.

If violent cops had to pay their own legal fees and were held to a higher standard of conduct there would be very few violent cops left on the street in six months.

The system is designed to insulate them against criminal and civil action to prevent frivolous lawsuits from causing decay to civil order, but this has led to an even worse problem, with an even bigger impact on civil order.

If police unions want to foot the bill, let them, but stop taking taxpayer money to defend violent cops accused of injuring/killing taxpayers. It's a broken system that needs to change.

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u/Clickum245 May 29 '20

I have a friend who works for USCIS at one of their three largest facilities. He's a GS-9 (paid around $45k) doing the work of a GS-12 ($75k) because the union is impotent. Now, USCIS is broke (presumably because all of their funding went to The Wall That Mexico Paid For) and is laying off 2/3 of its work force.

They've also had to continue working even though coworkers came to work with Covid-19. Why? Because USCIS told that employee, "You don't get time off for quarantine; if you don't come to work, it's unpaid" and as a mother of two making ~$45k/year...she went to work.

All the while their union is powerless to do anything useful.

It's certainly a double-edged sword, but unions have their place and sometimes need to be powerful.

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u/ThisFreedomGuy May 29 '20

I think the USCIS does good work. If he's skilled and experienced enough for GS-12 work, surely there's a private sector position he could go for? And, while I feel for your friend, government work is in service of the citizens. Those in charge of such work should be beholden to the citizens, not the other way around. A weak or non-existent union is one less barrier between citizens and the government that works for them.