Direct Headline: How the Rodney King beating ‘banished’ the baton from the LAPD
But the infamous video marked the beginning of the end for the baton’s reign. By 2015, LAPD officers used their batons just 54 times. “Back then, it was pulling out a baton and whacking people,” LAPD Deputy Chief Bill Murphy said. “After that video played that night, no one hardly ever used the baton. It was banished. It became a symbol.”
By Richard Winton March 2, 2016 6:47 PM PT
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-rodney-king-baton-20160303-story.html
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After Rodney King, police departments across the country, considering the potential optics and liability made some drastic changes. First, was more training in ground fighting techniques. Second, was using traditional batons only in crowd control situations and only holstered on patrol vehicles along with crowd control helmets and gear, this is known as "Hats And Bats" informally. Third, was widespread introduction and use of Tasers and Bean Bag deployment systems. Many departments refitted out their old shotguns upon replacement cycling to become bean bag shotguns.
Law enforcement tactics and approaches changes with the trends around them. It was once very uncommon to see Big City / urban police officers having AR-15 style platforms in their patrol cars. At one point, Heckler and Koch made a hard push to have MP5s in every police car in America. But part of that problem was the struggle with maintenance and armory work needed that could not be easily done in house. But now it's very common to see AR-15 platforms used in a widespread manner.
If police officers recognize their careers are over and they'll be civilly sued out of oblivion for use of force, especially dealing with minorities, even if they are found to be exonerated later criminally,
they'll just stop use of force period. They'll just stop pulling over black people and dealing with black criminals. A disgraced ( even if unfairly) and fired police officer, what are their career options afterwards?
You have a massive push to Defund The Police, you have a widespread agenda to shift "bail reform" as some type of insane social equality hot fix for the demographics in the prison population, you have elected officials and all manners of MSM and the entertainment industry saying the police are here to systematically execute minorities and you have year where rioting and looting went nearly unchecked.
Is it a wonder why so many cops are retiring or quitting or looking for jobs in low impact areas?
You can keep your job and say you just didn't have a clean shot or you can try to do your job and risk everything you own and your entire career with the odds stacked against you.
If cops are newly socialized into believing being proactive is actually dangerous for them, then all the cops you have left who didn't retire or didn't quit to find other careers are those who will likely be prone to be inert.
And if that happens in a widespread manner, that means civilians are on their own and it's not like all of them will just roll over and be abused and treated like open prey.
If the formal law and order establishment won't protect you, some people will find a way to protect themselves. An alternative structure always emerges to fill that need. Recorded human history shows that's a matter of WHEN and not IF.
For many small business owners, that Mom And Pop shop is all they have left to feed their kids. Many have little to no insurance and many have no other career options. Many are minorities. Many came from cultures where the police were to be feared as much as the criminals were. You can fight or your children can starve. As I've said before, many here, not all, but far too many, are overeducated middle aged white collar white liberal males with above average earning power.
Do many of you really understand the threat matrix around lots of Americans out there far less fortunate than you? Do some of you realize how tone deaf and smug and elitist and condescending you sound from those maybe a paycheck and a half away from being homeless?
Civilians are buying firearms at a record pace the last two years and that's not going to stop.
More hesitation, career threat and massive personnel losses in law enforcement + More career criminals being let back onto the street + More DAs and elected officials basically decriminalizing attacks of all manner against civil society + A worldwide pandemic + More armed but functionally untrained civilians with lots of firearms = How do some of you think this is going to actually end up?