An interview with filmmaker Sierra Pettengill and Professor Stuart Schrader about police training, Riotsville, and why "if Cop city is defeated, it's not the end of the story."
Thank you for this, as always, super informative look at our history (old and recent). I was disappointed in some language used by Mr Schrader that may allow a lot of folks to write off everything he said. Some of his words implied (and I listened to the podcast in full, twice) police "professionalism" is questionable because they keep being referred back for more training. In my experience continuing education is a mark of a profession: MD, JD, LPN, CPA etc licensing all require continuing education. Sadly many (most/all?) do not require one learned something from the courses they are required to take, but that is another matter.
Thanks for engaging with the interview so thoughtfully, Barbara (and I hope you enjoyed a well-earned three-hour stint on a chaise lounge after listening twice!). You make a good point that I'll keep in mind when covering police professionalization in the future.
In fact, I think there's a lot more to explore about *why* police professionalization doesn't reach its purported goals, whereas professionalization in other areas does (well, to some extent, as you acknowledge). I'd guess that question leads back to the origins of US policing, a topic deserving of an interview or two in its own right.
Many thanks, Skipper, Ms. Pettengill and Professor Schrader. Alas, if the Maul of America (aka "Cop City") fails to emerge in Atlanta, another strain of this cancer will grow elsewhere on the body politic. The militarized culture and economy of the United States depend on the armed forces, foreign and domestic, to keep the rabble at bay.
Manifest Destiny manifests and metastasizes globally...indeed Cop World. As Professor Schrader observes, the police are the problem. During the uprisings in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention, Mayor Richard J. Daley, the Yogi Berra of American politics, inadvertently let the cat out when he declared, "The police are not here to create disorder. They are here to preserve disorder". Ah, yes...is, was and ever shall be.
Thank you for this, as always, super informative look at our history (old and recent). I was disappointed in some language used by Mr Schrader that may allow a lot of folks to write off everything he said. Some of his words implied (and I listened to the podcast in full, twice) police "professionalism" is questionable because they keep being referred back for more training. In my experience continuing education is a mark of a profession: MD, JD, LPN, CPA etc licensing all require continuing education. Sadly many (most/all?) do not require one learned something from the courses they are required to take, but that is another matter.
Thanks for engaging with the interview so thoughtfully, Barbara (and I hope you enjoyed a well-earned three-hour stint on a chaise lounge after listening twice!). You make a good point that I'll keep in mind when covering police professionalization in the future.
In fact, I think there's a lot more to explore about *why* police professionalization doesn't reach its purported goals, whereas professionalization in other areas does (well, to some extent, as you acknowledge). I'd guess that question leads back to the origins of US policing, a topic deserving of an interview or two in its own right.
Many thanks, Skipper, Ms. Pettengill and Professor Schrader. Alas, if the Maul of America (aka "Cop City") fails to emerge in Atlanta, another strain of this cancer will grow elsewhere on the body politic. The militarized culture and economy of the United States depend on the armed forces, foreign and domestic, to keep the rabble at bay.
Manifest Destiny manifests and metastasizes globally...indeed Cop World. As Professor Schrader observes, the police are the problem. During the uprisings in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention, Mayor Richard J. Daley, the Yogi Berra of American politics, inadvertently let the cat out when he declared, "The police are not here to create disorder. They are here to preserve disorder". Ah, yes...is, was and ever shall be.
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it—unless that fork is investing in law enforcement.”