#changingtides

“𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱.”

May has come to an end and that being said, I finished the month off the way it began— the loveliest Amber Kelly. I absolutely can’t get enough of her writing and storytelling.

Many are quick to ask why don't the good cops call out the bad cops.  Well, here are some reasons:

1.  While it looks easy in the movies, it's not easy at all.  An Officer must first lookout for priority number 1:  THEIR FAMILY.  Now, imagine you have a family member that is in law enforcement and they do the very thing you think is so easy to do.......and then the police begin terrorizing YOU.  Who are you going to call?  The same folks that put the target on your back?

2.  When an Officer is not directly involved in an incident, remaining QUIET is the best course of action.  In the age of social media, everyone is looking for a "soundbite" or something to go run and repeat over and over again.  After so many remixes of the initial story, there is a whole round of "fake news" that NO OFFICER chooses to go through.  So they discuss these things among themselves.

So now, you ask why they don't just get together and report it?  See #1.

3.  Being a Black Law Enforcement Officer puts you on an island like Tom Hanks in Castaway.   You have the criminal element on one side, and those who are pissed that you have the qualifications to wear "their uniform" and enforce "their laws" on the other.  Damned if you do, damned if you don't.  With the objective being to return home, in the same manner, you left it, it is better that one doesn't.

This leads to......

4.  So now, you have reported such an incident.  Now, you have banished yourself to the land of no return.  Don't expect anyone to come to your assistance should you need it.  Just like they did when they first got to this country implementing racism to keep us separate so that we wouldn't rise up, they have strategically placed you and others like you on different shifts, with assignments in different parts of the place in which you work.  Even if you wanted to respond to a call of assistance, you wouldn't make it in time.

But aren't they supposed to be trained?

5.  THEY ARE.  But you know what happens once they are paired with a Field Training Officer (FTO) that believes that all criminals are guilty and should be dealt with?  They hear this phrase:  "Forget about everything you just learned.  You want to stay alive?  Then do what I'M going to teach you.  They get paid to lie to you."  Tough situation to be in.........

But, your morals should outweigh what they say.....

6.  Depends on how you were built BEFORE you started working in law enforcement.  Take any person that is afraid of being seriously hurt or killed, and there is no telling what they would do.

If you're scared, what did you take the job for?

7.  Like Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.  Give a trainee a "what would you do" situation, and the responses range from Steven Seagal to John Wick.  Then a critical incident happens where all of that imaginary talk is thrown clean out of the window.  Once placed in a tense situation, many are not mentally astute enough to control themselves.  That's when the situations happen that steamroll out of control.

8.  The Police Unions have historically held a "Back the Officer First" mentality.  Unless you're a minority.  We get thrown under the bus, backed over, rolled over again, and then pushed into a ditch.  What you have today is a progression of "Citizens On Patrol" (COPS) that now has to deal with it not being an exclusive "Good Ole Boys Club."

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Before I start criticising Mr. Barlow’s “Declaration of Independence in Cyberspace” (which I recommend that you read: https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence) let me start by stating that I think his declaration is a beautiful idea, I agree with his objection, but I am not sure how good it is in praxis.

Barlow’s paper sums up my feelings on this subject, before my logical thinking takes over. I think it is a nostalgic homage to a simpler time. Time when cyberspace was a relatively primitive paradise, not heavily influenced by big corporate interest or politics. It was a wild chaotic no man’s land, were your imagination could run free. However, I believe that this anarchistic ideology can´t exist in its primitive form in the 21st century, and in this blog, I will try to sum up why I believe so.

First of all, technology has become a bigger part of our everyday life. Partially because of its increased capability. Now it is possible, in an unprecedented manner, to collect all sorts of information about us. This can be data, facial scans or voice recordings, and this is often done without our full knowledge, through equipment like our phones, computers or numerous different “smart devices”. Technology can also be used to heavily influence our decision making. For example, in the fields of politics (Cambridge Analytica) or consumer behaviour (Trip Advisor, Amazon, and more). Also, with emerging technology, the capabilities of these fields will grow to new heights, especially with the promise that self-learning technology brings.  

We can barely imagine the massive impact this will and has had on the world. New technology has already greatly impacted the field of business, our politics and even our social life with apps like Facebook or Tinder. So, I ask: When the field like technology can revolutionize the world like it has done, is it sensible not to regulate it?

I think, that instead of clinging to the past, we should focus on the present and the future. Total anarchy is not a sensible method when the interest of the human race hang in the balance and thinking about the past only distracts us from the massive challenge ahead of us, the past can no more become the future than the future can become the past.

Instead of reminiscing, we should focus on how we want the field of technology to evolve. What should be the main focus? Should we focus on the rights and freedom of the individual, or rather on the rights of companies, maybe we need some sort of a balance? What about copyright? Should we find short term solutions or solutions that bring positive long-time effects for the human race as a whole? How do we balance the rights of the individual against the interest of society as a whole?