Deadly, supposed "mistakes" committed by police officers are excused or forgiven bc they are supposedly afraid for their lives. But no misstep or rule-breaking committed by people trying to escape police, who we all know kill with impunity, is ever forgiven on this basis.
I've had people tell me, many times, that I have no idea what it's like to be a cop, bc they never know whether a situation is going to take a deadly turn. It's true, I have no idea what it's like to have that kind of vile & absolute power over other people's survival & liberty.
I only know what it's like to be at the mercy of such people, knowing full well that they could kill me without consequence.
If you look up the ten most dangerous jobs in the U.S., you won't find "police officer" listed there. People with much more dangerous jobs are expected to keep their shit together and not cause other people's deaths because they are afraid.
But we have cultivated a mythology around policing, a fetishization that makes their violence seem inevitable, and even relatable. That's partly the product of the copaganda shows that so many of us were raised on.
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