• @[email protected]
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    -17 days ago

    Haha welcome to Lemmy m8. I’ve gotten into this exact argument before. I’m all for police reform and I was out there in the George Floyd protests but the hatred of police officers on this platform is absolutely rabid.

    Imo, the argument that ACAB because the good ones don’t stop the bad ones can be applied to virtually any group of people. So we’re all bastards I guess.

    • Masterbaexunn
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      57 days ago

      No it can’t be applied evenly. Cops have legal authority to use force, including lethal force. Name another group of people with that right.

      • @[email protected]
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        17 days ago

        Soldiers.

        But anyways, i think it’s just as reprehensible for, as an example, an engineer to not report his coworker cutting corners on an infrastructure project that could jeopardize an entire community (maybe he wanted to meet a deadline to make himself look good, maybe he took money under the table from an interested party) as for a cop to not report his coworker who took a bribe from a drug dealer. In both cases, the bystander has equal ability to intervene and potentially save lives. The fact that the police officer has the right to use force as part of their job description isn’t really relevant.

        • Masterbaexunn
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          16 days ago

          What? No, according to international law and the Geneva Conventions, soldiers generally do not have the legal authority to kill a citizen unless that citizen is actively participating in hostilities during a declared war, meaning they are considered a combatant; killing a civilian who is not actively involved in combat would be considered a war crime

          • @[email protected]
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            16 days ago

            You didn’t say anything about civilians. And besides, police officers can only use lethal force in either self defense or to protect others. In fact, that’s the same standard for “lawful homicide” as literally anyone else.