This will be a difficult—and potentially fraught—article to write. I’ve been putting it off for a while, and for perfectly good reasons. One, I prefer to keep things on the lemonade side of life here at Cappuccino. Two, I have a visceral loathing of all brute-force authority, including cops. Three, all my love and empathy and support belongs to people of color, especially those who’ve been victimized by law enforcement. Four, it’s a weighty subject, and one that I feel ill-qualified to discuss.
Hi, in possible solutions you've overlooked the main one:
Gun control.
There are a myriad of places, mostly in nature, I'd love to see in the US.
I have no doubt though that I most likely never will. I simply don't want to be in a society where a large part of the population is insane with their love of guns.
The US needs to spend more money on police and populous for education,
That's an excellent point, Joe. I had debated adding that in, but then decided it's such a flash-paper issue, I might as well deal with it in a separate article. Like you, I doubt we'll ever see REAL gun control in the US. But then I think about the Berlin Wall. Who guessed that awful thing was coming down? Or the USSR going kablooey?
First cop I ever had a conversation with was an E-6, a Staff-Sergeant, when I was in the army. We became friends in part because we discovered we both loved history and playing Avalon Hill wargames. One day, at of nowhere that I can recall, he looked over at me and said, "I only carry ONE offensive weapon." At which point he pulled out his pen and clicked it several times.
A woman I dated for many years (we're still friends) Brother in Law was one of the top homicide detectives in Chicago. Those folks all dress in cheap clothes (we're talking Ross is a step up for them), not because they want to or can't afford better. Neither of those claims is true. Rather, it is because that BiL had an incinerator in his back yard, and at least once a year his wife would have to burn everything he'd been wearing that day because of the stench.
I once had to deal with a dead body. It was a goat. I had to hoik it into the wheel barrow, then cart it off to the woods behind the barn. A simple run through the washer was enough for my clothes.
I had NO IDEA. Damn, Gary, that's ... well, I just never would have guessed. It makes sense though. All the blood and guts. It's not like anyone's walking away from that unscathed.
Eh, its like what everyone says about me ("It's an old goat.") My friend at the time, while physically very able, was absolutely done in by the merest whiff of a dead body. She was going to hug me when I got back and I stopped her at distance so I could strip down and throw my clothes in the washer.
Super interesting, well written article! I also live in Italy, and it is interesting to note that the Italian police force has two branches: the police, and the carabinieri you mentioned above. The latter having military status and there mostly to ensure public safety.
Shifra, what a pleasure to make your acquaintance! What part of Italy are you in, where did you come from, and how did you get here? I have a thousand questions, but of course you don't have to answer any of them if you don't want to. I love to hear expat stories though. Could make a collection of them.
Hi! For the time being I live in Florence, with my boyfriend, as I can work from pretty much anywhere. I used to go to high school here, and have been coming back to Italy multiple times a year as we have a country house not too far from here. I’m Dutch from Amsterdam. :)
Yes, gun control is huge. In virtually every city, cops are outgunned by the very people they're supposed to police. Talk about bringing a knife to a gunfight.
I do agree that if we truly want cops to be successful, they must be paid more, more must be expected of them (within reason), and- most importantly- more training and sub-lethal means of apprehension must be available for use. A cop is never a substitute for a mental health professional; yet how often is an officer armed only with a gun and their wits dispatched to deal with someone in the midst of a legitimate mental health crisis? How can you de-escalate something you've never been trained to address?
As a society, we also have to lose the expectation that a cop must be absolutely 110% perfect each and every time out. They're every bit as human as we are...but we don't see our actions and reactions analyzed, parsed, and broken down by the millisecond. As a former military police officer who dealt with nothing remotely close to what today's police deal with, I can't begin to imagine or appreciate the stress they operate under every single day.
We need to recognize that being a police officer is a uniquely, terribly, and often horrifically difficult and stressful job. We should be providing training and mental health care sufficient to the task of ensuring that cops aren't returned to their families irretrievably broken after their 20 years are up.
As for seeing death up close and personal day in and day out...how many of us could do that without being driven completely fucking nuts? I'd submit that damned few of us would emerge unscathed.
Hi, in possible solutions you've overlooked the main one:
Gun control.
There are a myriad of places, mostly in nature, I'd love to see in the US.
I have no doubt though that I most likely never will. I simply don't want to be in a society where a large part of the population is insane with their love of guns.
The US needs to spend more money on police and populous for education,
especially on nonviolent conflict resolution.
That's an excellent point, Joe. I had debated adding that in, but then decided it's such a flash-paper issue, I might as well deal with it in a separate article. Like you, I doubt we'll ever see REAL gun control in the US. But then I think about the Berlin Wall. Who guessed that awful thing was coming down? Or the USSR going kablooey?
In other words, sometimes miracles DO happen ;-)
First cop I ever had a conversation with was an E-6, a Staff-Sergeant, when I was in the army. We became friends in part because we discovered we both loved history and playing Avalon Hill wargames. One day, at of nowhere that I can recall, he looked over at me and said, "I only carry ONE offensive weapon." At which point he pulled out his pen and clicked it several times.
A woman I dated for many years (we're still friends) Brother in Law was one of the top homicide detectives in Chicago. Those folks all dress in cheap clothes (we're talking Ross is a step up for them), not because they want to or can't afford better. Neither of those claims is true. Rather, it is because that BiL had an incinerator in his back yard, and at least once a year his wife would have to burn everything he'd been wearing that day because of the stench.
I once had to deal with a dead body. It was a goat. I had to hoik it into the wheel barrow, then cart it off to the woods behind the barn. A simple run through the washer was enough for my clothes.
I had NO IDEA. Damn, Gary, that's ... well, I just never would have guessed. It makes sense though. All the blood and guts. It's not like anyone's walking away from that unscathed.
And the poor goat!
Eh, its like what everyone says about me ("It's an old goat.") My friend at the time, while physically very able, was absolutely done in by the merest whiff of a dead body. She was going to hug me when I got back and I stopped her at distance so I could strip down and throw my clothes in the washer.
That's nothing if not the height of consideration! "Here, let me just get the chunks of brain off my pants..."
Super interesting, well written article! I also live in Italy, and it is interesting to note that the Italian police force has two branches: the police, and the carabinieri you mentioned above. The latter having military status and there mostly to ensure public safety.
I hope your IFM is doing well!!
Shifra, what a pleasure to make your acquaintance! What part of Italy are you in, where did you come from, and how did you get here? I have a thousand questions, but of course you don't have to answer any of them if you don't want to. I love to hear expat stories though. Could make a collection of them.
Hi! For the time being I live in Florence, with my boyfriend, as I can work from pretty much anywhere. I used to go to high school here, and have been coming back to Italy multiple times a year as we have a country house not too far from here. I’m Dutch from Amsterdam. :)
All cops are bastards and so are you, sympathizer
Thanks, Penny. That was super helpful.
Cultivate your spirit.
Yes, gun control is huge. In virtually every city, cops are outgunned by the very people they're supposed to police. Talk about bringing a knife to a gunfight.
I do agree that if we truly want cops to be successful, they must be paid more, more must be expected of them (within reason), and- most importantly- more training and sub-lethal means of apprehension must be available for use. A cop is never a substitute for a mental health professional; yet how often is an officer armed only with a gun and their wits dispatched to deal with someone in the midst of a legitimate mental health crisis? How can you de-escalate something you've never been trained to address?
As a society, we also have to lose the expectation that a cop must be absolutely 110% perfect each and every time out. They're every bit as human as we are...but we don't see our actions and reactions analyzed, parsed, and broken down by the millisecond. As a former military police officer who dealt with nothing remotely close to what today's police deal with, I can't begin to imagine or appreciate the stress they operate under every single day.
We need to recognize that being a police officer is a uniquely, terribly, and often horrifically difficult and stressful job. We should be providing training and mental health care sufficient to the task of ensuring that cops aren't returned to their families irretrievably broken after their 20 years are up.
As for seeing death up close and personal day in and day out...how many of us could do that without being driven completely fucking nuts? I'd submit that damned few of us would emerge unscathed.