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February 8th, 2011
10:32 AM ET
Buffalo churches to pay $25 police entrance exam fees
True Bethel Baptist Church, led by Reverend and city Councilman Darius Pridgen, is one of the churches that agreed to pay the $25 application fee for the Buffalo Police Entrance Exam for those who are not able to afford it. Police officers were at services to provide information and advice for potential applicants. Read the full story on WGRZ.com
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Some Buffalo churches concluded their services Sunday with recruiting sessions, of sorts. Members were encouraged to start on a potential path to a career in law enforcement.
Taking the article at 'face value,' I don't really see anything wrong with a church ponying up some application fees to help folks in their respective communities apply.
Peace...
Well, if we could get the churches to invest in the community by paying property taxes that would help too.. possibly allowing more officers to be hired.
Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9 (New Standard American Bible version). Police are peacemakers, so I think American Jesus would want churches to do some heavy duty recruiting of policemen at church services.
But not women - they obviously can't be "sons" of God, and we've got to stick literally with what the Bible says. Unless the translation got messed up somewhere over the past two thousand years, in which case Jesus may have actually said "Blessed are the pacemakers," and then the promotions after church services would have to be for medical equipment. Unless it's Indy 500 weekend - then the church could promote the 2010 pace car Chevy Camaro.
http://www.whatwouldamericanjesusdo.com
Q, Maryland is one such State, however even police can not reasonably expect privacy on a public street. But I have not tested the limits yet (no reason to).
Two interesting incidents from MD. First, the viral video of police brutality during the student riots following the Terps beating Duke where the video provided evidence contradicting police accounts and resulted in (wrist-slap) suspensions of some the officers involved. Second is the case of Anthony Graber, motorcyclist who left his helmet camera running during a traffic stop. After posting the video, he was indicted under MD's wiretapping law, his house was raided (seizing computers, etc) and he was potentially facing 16 years on felony charges. Fortunately, the state DA and the judge that dismissed this case indicated police don't have an expectation of privacy during an official interaction. This position was certainly not that of the local prosecutor who felt police, but not citizens, had an expectation of privacy. Without clear laws protecting citizen reporters, these outcomes could be a coin toss depending on the local prosecutor...
Oops...."Fortunately, the State Attorney General..."
@JohnQuest, @GSA,
I have no idea either, just curious.
No shortage of either good cops or bad cops. Good cops have to deal with the worst of society and they face illegitimate accusations all the time in a high risk, relatively low-paying job . The cops I know are constantly struggling with some form of "-ism" (e.g. race, age, class, etc) given the combination of experience and an innate human tendency towards profiling. I like to think that the misconduct/corruption perception is partly due to enhanced visibility rather than actual incidence though who really knows? I believe the DOJ does provide some stats but without a truly transparent review, its hard to judge their relevance. Furthermore, I believe the numbers are based on actual complaints and so are likely skewed among certain demographic sectors (e.g. those already wary of law enforcement) while completely missing a significant number of incidents lacking official doc-umentation. One scary consideration is the move in some states to apply "wiretapping" laws in the prosecution/hara-ssment of folks recording police in their official duties (based on notions of consent). Be careful before you record a police interaction because depending on your state, you might face an additional charge...
doesn't belong in churches. Have a seminar somewhere else.
Let's go to your house. But you'll have to feed us and put us up for the night if we have no where else to go... Of course you'll be able to tell us all about the benefits of atheism while were there.
@JohnQuest and Nonimus – yeah i'm going on what I see around me and what goes on in my city and it's suroundings as well as the numerous videos posted all over the place (although we all know the videos show only a small moment of a certain situation). Not sure of the exact % and I agree with JohnQuest that this should be a fact that is readily available. Like I mentioned above I wouldn't be surprised if the number was well above 5% but that is my opinion.
Personally I have no criminal record, never been accused or charged but have been pulled over 14 times in my life and out of that 14, 1 speeding ticket and 1 for illegal tint on my windows. Just doesn't seem like the competency is there and probably hasn't been there for officers for a while but we are hearing more about it through the use of mobile media. I know quite a few cops and a lot of them do not seem that bright and are very opinionated, bad combo for this line of work. That being said there are always those that go beyond the call of duty and those are the ones I feel bad for because of the stigma they receive from others wrong doings.
" know quite a few cops and a lot of them do not seem that bright and are very opinionated, bad combo for this line of work."
Friends of yours? Maybe you should check their IQ scores...
"That being said there are always those that go beyond the call of duty and those are the ones I feel bad for because of the stigma they receive from others wrong doings."
Or the stigma from their 'not so bright' peers... Stupid cops going beyond the call of duty. Frightening. Tell you what, GSA. Go take the police entrance exam, then get back to us.
btw, what do you think prompted you being pulled over for the other 12 times? Just curious. Were you wearing your turban? Are cops in Edmonton suspect of the Sikh community? 12/14 unnecessary pull-overs is kinda strange.
I have been searching all day, a person would think something as important and police corruption stats would be easy to find (please note the sarcasm).
Nonimus, nowhere, just a guess I have no idea the percentage of corruption
Seems like a good idea to me, although if they make onto the police force they will likely have to enforce laws that disagree with their religion, but most people overlook those conflicts anyway. e.g blasphemy, no God before Me, love thy neighbor, etc.
@JohnQuest and GSA,
Just curious, where are you getting the 5% figure?
wow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LInyRV-SPuU
GSA, Including Federal Police we have over 800,000 police (that does not include part timers), if you are correct that would mean that 40,000+ officers are corrupt, as you have already stated with current technology, I would think we would see a lot more bad cops on tv. I'm just guessing, for all I know, you might be right and I'm just naive.
@JohnQuest – with the prevelance of cellphone cameras and quick posting to sites like youtube these days and all the police brutality and other unlawful activity videos going up on a daily basis involving police, I would be surprised if the percentage of police force that are corrupt, underqualified, discriminatory and just plain stupid is not only a lot higher than 5.0% but also extends into the higher-ups of the system that are harder to pin-point.
@ GSA
I never pegged you for a conspiracy theorist...
Any other country I would have an issue with the church recruiting for the police, at least here police and the military are "sworn" to protect and serve (the Law) not the people or some ones private agenda. I think for the most part it works, I am only guessing but I would be surprised if more than 5.0% of our entire police force is involved in corruption.
" I would have an issue with the church recruiting for the police,"
As opposed to a corrupt government? Or a dictator that 'owns' the police as his private security force? Or a theocracy that turns a blind eye to offenses that contribute to it's own agenda?
You think corruption is unique? Think again.
A person from the article was quoted as saying: "I want to go into psychology and get into people's heads and if they have a problem mentally, I can help out that way, too."
It is rumored that this person also said: "I will carry a couch on my back and will psychoanalyze the perpetrators."
Fundies are sooo delusional.
Another day my Evangelicals. No sign of Jesus coming in the clouds. *sigh* *snicker"
Cheers!
Cheers!
@ Psycho Dave
You're right... just another day – that you still don't make any sense. The kid who said that was only identified as a 'community member,' and he also said: ""I just want to serve people, help people out," Pitts said. "I do want to go into the police force just to make my community better."
And you would criticize, demean and taunt this? How? Why? All this church is doing is encouraging participation in the police force. If you look beyond you nose it's obvious that a $25 application fee isn't a free ride to a blue uniform. It's a token statement. That's all.
Once in awhile you offer a logical argument, but most of the time you're just a bigoted ass.
@Let Us Prey
Do you think god wants everyone or nearly everyone to believe in Him?
Curious in Arizona
@David Johnson
Look at the bright side. If believers do enough self-analysis, they might one day figure out what atheists already know...