Thread by @AGHamilton29

You will be shocked by the fact that you do not have this right, but I’m sure your dishonest framing will be a great relief for the millions of Americans now being victimized by growing crime rates.

https://twitter.com/radleybalko/status/1416779285201924099

What happened with the police brutality movement was a lot like what happened with MeToo. It started with a good effort to expose some people doing very bad things, but then it was in a constant search for more villains to the point where the targets went way beyond that.

Police officers aren't quitting across the country because of the Chauvin verdict. They are quitting because they saw the narrative go from "we must hold bad police officers accountable" to "all police officers are bad".

They saw efforts throughout the country to unjustifiably cut already tight budgets making their jobs more difficult and they saw regular protests rise up and cops being targeted even after legitimate and justified uses of force.

Just as an example: They saw the top NBA player in the world put a target on a police officer's back after he saved a young African American girl from being stabbed. Now they are almost forced to hesitate in life-death situations.

In portland, you had almost a year's worth of nightly riots and even police stations set on fire, but political leaders wouldn't let them take action or protect them. Instead, they saw public officials consistently demonize them.

So after all that, you didn't get rid of the bad cops that use excessive force. You had a lot of good cops say that the job probably isn't worth it. They can go work somewhere else for similar pay without the risks and demonization.

I can't blame them, but the consequences are that the neighborhoods that need them most are left with surging crime and no one to properly address it.

In fact, the rotten apples were more likely to stay because they like having that power to abuse.

and I say all of that as someone who thinks police brutality and abuse are real issues that are being insufficiently addressed,* who thinks police unions tend to protect the worst officers, that body cameras are a necessity, & that we need more accountability.