Explosion at Boston marathon

[SgtMajor]

QUOTE (Adept @ Apr 28 2013, 06:11 PM) Basically, any time the cops use a fire-arm, they have to do a full report on it. If it's not justifiable, they get in a lot of trouble.

US cops do this too though. Their weapon is taken into evidence every time it is discharged hence why most do not use personal firearms. Room mate is a cop and I know this for damn sure.

[Mastametz]

QUOTE (SgtMajor @ Apr 28 2013, 05:42 PM) US cops do this too though. Their weapon is taken into evidence every time it is discharged hence why most do not use personal firearms. Room mate is a cop and I know this for damn sure.

Except in the US, the city covers up any wrongdoing by the Police Department.
Mostly in big cities, of course. The bigger the city, the more corrupt it is.

Which is precisely why Fin experience doesn't apply. It's nothing to do with "American Exclusivity" or whatever you called it.
When you're dealing with small communities, people are actually inclined towards morals and values and the well-being of their community.
When you stick a @#(!load of people in the same area, most of whom will never see each other more than once, or..ever.. all that goes out the window very quickly.
Especially when you throw a healthy dose of corporate greed into the mix, which is also most prevalent in big cities (and the US), naturally.

[Sundance_]

Minnesota has, to my knowledge, the highest requirements to become a police officer in the country. You first have to complete a 2 or 4 year degree in law enforcement. Then, AFTER that, you go to Minnesota Skills, which is kind of like an academy.

After that, you must pass the Minnesota Peace Officer Standarts and Training Test, or POST Test. POST Board is in charge of issuing a peace officer license to EVERY cop in Minnesota. Period. It's a very long test, roughly 300 questions, with statutes, juvenile jurisdiction questions, etc. It's akin to the bar exam for a lawyer, but it's cop legal stuff instead of lawyer legal stuff. Easy to pass when you're fresh outta college... harder if you're not.

After you've passed POST, you're eligible to be licensed by a department that wishes to hire you. They will run you through a background check. Should you lie about ANYTHING on your background, you're done. Should you have one of the following convictions, you're done. If you pass background, your department will run you through a physical agility test and a psychological test. After this step, some agencies have an academy of their own instead of Field Training... like State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources... Minneapolis PD...

Congrats! You've been hired and licensed as a Peace Officer in MN! But you're not done!

MN POST Board requires continuing education for all peace officers in the amount of 48 hours of education credits every three years. You also are required to take annual Use of Force training, including firearms qualifications. Every five years, you are required to retake the Emergency Vehicle Operations Course. (EVOC)


Adept -

I would never walk a beat in uniform without two things: My glock and my kevlar. Ever. Not even if guns were banned tomorrow and there had been 5-10 years worth of firearm destruction. There's ALWAYS a chance you'll get killed just for wearing a uniform... just like during the marathon bomber's flight.


Adept and MFox -

I've fired my weapon 6 times already on duty with no formal reports needed. Granted, they were all deer and raccoon, but I'm just being a smartass at this point =]

[Mastametz]

http://www.wsp.wa.gov/employment/requirements.htm

requirements for WA state patrol


basically you don't have to know anything about anything
no wonder there's so many of them

[HSharp]

QUOTE (Sundance_ @ Apr 29 2013, 09:08 AM) I've fired my weapon 6 times already on duty with no formal reports needed. Granted, they were all deer and raccoon, but I'm just being a smartass at this point =]

You fired at deer and raccoon(s) on duty? Using your issued firearm and ammunition? If so then corruption in MN police force wasting tax payers money!

[takingarms1]

QUOTE (Adept @ Apr 28 2013, 08:11 PM) Here all the guys walking a beat carry a glock in a tactical holster. It really ticks me off, and it also makes them very nervous about getting their hands dirty and getting involved in a fight (I've worked in security, so I've had encounter this many times) as they are worried about somebody grabbing their gun off their belts.

...

When you're patrolling a city street in Finland, leave the damn gun. Be approachable.

I can appreciate the thought you're trying to convey, but to me it seems suicidal to be a police officer and not carry a firearm. What happens if some criminal has an illegal firearm? I don't like the idea of police bossing me around for no good reason, but I also don't like the idea of a police force that can't protect me or my family because the criminals are better armed.

Also I've asked multiple colleagues about their thoughts on the house to house search for the marathon bomber, and to a person all of them have said that they believe those searches were covered by the hot pursuit and public safety/exigent circumstances exceptions to the 4th amendment (which requires warrants for searches). I think a key point is that the searches were limited to finding the bomber, and no one was arrested for anything found in those homes. If contraband was found doing those searches, aside from that belonging to the bomber, the likely outcome would be those cases being dismissed.

Contrary to what metz might say, I have found that most cops in the US are pretty good. There of course are occasions where they overstep their bounds, but I think that is pretty rare. The usual cases of abuse are against people that cops for one reason or another consider troublemakers, either because they constantly get arrested for minor offenses or because they mouth off to cops.

[Raveen]

The reason that most British coppers don't, and don't want to, carry firearms is because of the relative rarity of firearms in the UK. I would agree that in the USA it would probably not be effective to routinely not arm police. There is maybe a place for unarmed community policing though, as Adept says, armed cops are less approachable.

You could also consider giving your cops a large blue tit to wear on their heads as it makes them more approachable due to being ridiculous.

[djrbk]

QUOTE (HSharp @ Apr 29 2013, 04:09 AM) You fired at deer and raccoon(s) on duty? Using your issued firearm and ammunition? If so then corruption in MN police force wasting tax payers money!

Way to take a job away from animal control! Bacon from these boards is having a hard enough time as a park ranger as is without the skabs!

[Mastametz]

I actually don't mind the idea of, theoretically, having guns just *poof* and disappear from the USA. Then we can focus on important things like swordfighting and killing a man with one punch.
It's the idea of disarming everyone EXCEPT the agents of the government, that terrifies me. Especially when the Department of Homeland Security just purchased 450 million hollow-point rounds and the Social Security Administration just purchased 174000 hollowpoint rounds, and we've just in the last couple weeks established the precedent that martial law is fine any time 1 child dies.

[lexaal]

Requirement
#1: ability to eat 20 donuts in less than 15 minutes
#2: ability of writing one's signature below contract