code of silence
Dear Jessica, I’ve Seen Officers Misbehaving. And I Failed To Speak Up.
Carl Tennenbaum
22843
The police “Code of Silence” about not snitching on each other when they do something wrong is the exact opposite of being a police officer. It’s criminal. You’d rather not be a snitch than have your fellow officer not be a criminal. Which means, you’d rather be an accomplice. So yeah, even though most cops are reasonable people, the ones I’ve known have ALWAYS upheld this code of silence. and it’s WRONG.
Charlotte AshlockNov 10, 20151 min read
Dear Jessica, We Are Hiring A Generation Of Fearful, Inexperienced, And Poorly Trained Cops.
Carl Tennenbaum
8610
I’m really enjoying this exchange of letters between you and Jessica, thank you both so much for writing them. I live in Oakland, and I have a question for you! What would be the most effective way to campaign the city of Oakland, to fund more empathy and communication training for cops?
Ken McCallNov 5, 20151 min read
Dear Jessica, There Is A Problem With Police Culture And It Seems To Be Getting Worse Every Day
Carl Tennenbaum
5821
The basic fundamental police response to situations needs to change. Unfortunately, they’ve been trained for generations to dominate in their basic actions. Just today, reports of a student in Merced shot dead. Yes, he stabbed people. Obviously he was dangerous and upset. But, did he need to be shot dead? I seriously doubt it.
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Juliann CalveyNov 5, 20151 min read
Dear Officer, Just Because Someone Has A Badge Doesn’t Make Them Any Different
Matter
7413
I have been in the acquaintance, keeping that anonymous, of many young adults who have said to me, in essence, “it doesn’t matter what your rights are, if you don’t want to go to jail, do exactly what the cop says, that’s how I landed in jail, over nothin’ at all and you do NOT want to go to jail” I knew them, their situations and their other stories…
Dear Officer, How Can I Trust You When All You Seem To Do Is Kill?
Matter
15822
Carl says, “As police brutality increases, so too does violence against the police.”
I don’t believe this is backed up by facts. Violence against police and deaths of police at the hands of criminals is down. Deaths of citizens at the hands of police is up.
Paul EvansNov 3, 20151 min read
Dear Officer, How Can I Trust You When All You Seem To Do Is Kill?
Matter
15822
That’s a non-answer. Overkill is, for some reason, acceptable. It shouldn’t ever be. The young man clearly had no reason to “point” his weapon. He likely was telling them it wasn’t a gun. A real tragedy, and one that happens over and over. I was raised to have respect for the police, and always did for most of life. Over the last few years, though…
PeterNov 4, 20152 min read
Hi Peter,
Carl Tennenbaum
1
I don’t think it’s a matter of the public being divided, or rights, or control. It’s a matter of all those things coming together in what has become a painful and untenable system. What I’m saying is that, logically, if:
1- So many people carry guns, and
2- officers consider a person (suspect?) carrying a gun to be a threat to their lives and
3- they…
Carl TennenbaumNov 3, 20153 min read
Hi @Carl T ,
Gino DeluXXXe
132
Hi Gino,
I really appreciate your thoughts and your well reasoned argument regarding police behavior.
My dad had a friend who was a sergeant in the SFPD. He used to come by our house on his police Harley Davidson and as an impressionable young eight-year-old I just thought that he was the coolest guy…
Dear Jessica, I’ve Seen Officers Misbehaving. And I Failed To Speak Up.
Carl Tennenbaum
22843
The abridged version in Matter’s newsletter of this piece read like an antagonistic response by Carl to Jessica. A move by Matter driven for clickbait I guess, but not very fair to him.
Thank you Carl for starting a real dialogue on this topic.