---
title: "Why I Don't Trust Police and Neither Should You"
date: 2021-10-11T00:00:00
draft: false
---
This writing only applies to cops in the United States. In other countries, the police culture may be better (or worse).

# Why You Shouldn't Trust Police
Here's a non-comprehensive list of 20 reasons you shouldn't trust police either (in no particular order):

* Police defend each others' bad behavior, almost without exception. [The ones who don't end up getting fired or worse](https://www.theroot.com/the-price-a-cop-paid-for-crossing-the-blue-line-1790858428).
* [Police plant evidence.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Kathryn_Johnston)
* Police union contracts arbitrarily restrict investigating officer misconduct.
* [72% of police agree poorly performing officers are not held accountable for their actions.](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/01/11/behind-the-badge/#fn-22351-1)
* [More than half of police say their job has made them more callous.](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/01/11/behind-the-badge/#fn-22351-1)
* [Police steal more from the innocent than do thieves.](https://yewtu.be/embed/ZWvh8Ttd9eA?local=true)
* [Police mistake everyday objects for guns.](https://yewtu.be/embed/sP7f96dE6Pg?local=true)
* [Police can search your home without your knowledge or consent if they suspect terrorism. You can be put on a terror watch list for almost anything and it's nearly impossible to clear your name.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarization_of_police#United_States)
* Instead of listening to protesters calling for police reform, [police instead promote the myth that there's a "war on police"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarization_of_police#Allegations_of_a_%22war_on_police%22).
* Local police departments use [powerful surveillance technology](https://sls.eff.org/) to [invade your privacy without a warrant](https://sls.eff.org/).
* Police lying on the witness stand is so rampant it has a name: "[testilying](https://truthout.org/articles/lying-is-a-fundamental-part-of-american-police-culture/)"
* [Police training is severely inadequate](https://reflector.uindy.edu/2020/10/07/the-problem-with-police-training-in-the-u-s/). They receive less hours of training than barbers.
* [Police can and will lie to you](https://www.snyderlawyer.com/blog/ways-police-can-lie-to-you/), especially if you're ignorant of the law. But if you lie to them, you'll be arrested.
* Police have spent 40 years blowing trillions of dollars ruining people's lives over drugs and causing the prison population to explode. All the while [drug use rates have remained constant](https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/sentencing-reform/war-drugs).
* Police have been lying to children about drugs since the early 80's. The D.A.R.E. program even [encourages children to snitch on their parents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Abuse_Resistance_Education#Use_of_children_as_informants).
* [Police infringe upon citizens' freedom to explore their own consciousness through psychedelics.](https://web.archive.org/web/20220118020130if_/https://legalizepsychedelics.com/)
* Two 1990's studies showed [police commit domestic violence at significantly higher rates than the national average](https://sites.temple.edu/klugman/2020/07/20/do-40-of-police-families-experience-domestic-violence/). The stats may have changed since, but it's still cause for concern.
* [Police officers launder evidence through illegal government surveillance](https://archive.org/details/ParallelReconstruction) to fight the failed war on drugs.
* [Police departments partner with scAmazon's corporate mass surveillance network to circumvent your 4th amendment rights.](https://www.cancelring.com/)
* [America has a long history of racist policing.](https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/what-100-years-of-history-tells-us-about-racism-in-policing)

# Rethinking the Role of Policing in Society
I do believe in the institution of policing. But in practice, perverse incentives lead to a toxic police culture and a society where people (rightfully) do not trust the police. We need major police reform here in America. Perhaps I'll explore possible solutions in a future journal entry.