You say they can quit, but can they really? I'm willing to bet some of the officers don't because they're not in a good financial position to quit.
"But they can still look for a different job!"
Yes, and that can take awhile.
Point is, they can't necessarily just quit their police job on the spot.
I’d hope this would be a lesson in empathy for all the folks who say things like: “well if that person wants a living wage/benefits/etc- quit!” Or “well if they don’t want to be poor/targeted for XYZ/treated XYZ... then just <do some seemingly simple thing.>” but no. Police shouldn’t have to quit their jobs. They perform an essential job. You can’t complain the job is dangerous- you shouldn’t have taken it if you were worried about danger because that goes with the job. If you don’t want to perform in front of people- don’t become a party clown. BUT- while police work always has some danger to it- it’s our job to mitigate that danger. To try and protect our officers from any more danger than is absolutely unable to be mitigated.
Of course- people of color don’t have an option at all. They never got to agree to the potential risks before becoming black. And wether it would financially ruin you or ruin yourself dreams or take your life purpose away to no longer be a cop- you CAN quit. You might not like the consequences, but if you wanted to- you COULD say screw it and walk away any time. There pretty much is no way for any random black person to give up being black. Of course- POC,
Police, etc- shouldn’t HAVE to give up that part of their identity just to be able to exist in society. Police aren’t the enemy. There are bad cops just like there are some bad people in any group.
Police are just people- but they are people who agreed to be, who are, and who should be held to a higher standard than other people. Because of their power and function and responsibilities in society. All around it is a bit daft to compare being a police officer to being black. Black folks have it hard. Pretty much always have in America. That needs to change. But... perhaps ask for that change in ways that don’t put down police or try to create an adversarial relationship between police and communities. That is a big part of the problem. Police need to be part of the communities they serve instead of outsiders.
"But they can still look for a different job!"
Yes, and that can take awhile.
Point is, they can't necessarily just quit their police job on the spot.
Police, etc- shouldn’t HAVE to give up that part of their identity just to be able to exist in society. Police aren’t the enemy. There are bad cops just like there are some bad people in any group.