"Accountable: Try this-
http://www.leldf.org/
http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php...threadid=230071
http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php...threadid=227844
When was the last time you were arrested, sued for more money than you will ever make and fired for perfoeming your duties. Try getting sued and put in jail for shooting a crack dealer that is shooting at you..."
The leldef.com site reminded me of the following:
A buddy of mine was sued by a crack dealer's "estate" (whodda thunk a crack dealer had an "estate") for shooting him. Well, Mr. Crack Dealer was holding Ms. Crack Whore hostage at the time, tried to kill her, and fired at my buddy & his fellow officers. My buddy & such then sent Mr. Crack Dealer straight to hell by way of the .40S&W express train. Bad guy dead, hostage alive, cops uninjured. Good show, all around.
Oh, the crack whore also sued, 'cause one of the rounds fragmented inside Mr. Crack Dealer, exited, and injured her leg. THERE's gratitude for ya.
His dept fielded all the lawsuits, BTW, since it is pretty obvious they were in the right.
So, what's the point?
Being sued by the dregs of society for doing the right thing is not the same as being held accountable for one's actions. One is an abuse of the legal system, the other is good leadership. Frivolous lawsuits are in no way the same as proper discipline and high standards of performance.
There are, too, ways in which "accountability" has gone all wacky. Such as when the dept enforces discipline that protects ITSELF rather than the citizens or the LEOs. This whole profiling mess is part of that muck and only one example. Another is the use of sh*tty DAO autopistols with triggerpulls from H*ll. There are others...
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http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php...threadid=230071
"Carbonneau, a two-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation."
Is this an argument in favor of abolishing the grand jury system? If so, I concur.
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http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php...threadid=227844
OK, how do the glocktalk articles bear on the accountability, discipline, and intolerance for error that LEO leadership ought to impose and that our citizenry has a right to expect? These look to be opportunistic suits in the legal lottery that is our court system. Criminal court being used for the self-aggrandizement of politically-minded prosecutors. Civil court being used by the "estates" of crack dealers and their crack whores for their chance at millions.
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Oh, BTW, I am quite familiar with loss of liberty for errors comitted in the line of duty. Nothing UCMJ-ish, just a time-honored alternative to correct my performance at the time and provide incentive to avoid errors in the future. Yep, it worked, as I still have it seared on my brain...
Also, I have, in the past, signed for millions of dollars worth of sensitive items. One of THOSE baby's lost and its federal-pound-you-hard-in-the-a$$-prison for me, boyo! As well as more fines than a SPC could expect to pay in 10 lifetimes. The fact I'm pounding on this keyboard and not getting pounded as somebody's girlfriend at Ft Levanworth is testimony that I managed not to hork it up. I can, partly, thank some hard-as-nails NCOs & Os for their none-too-gentle training. Leadership matters. Expectarions matter. Discipline matters.
...and what's the deal with federales burning the place down, AGAIN? For the love of Pete, I was taught as a child to be careful with fire.