An Overheard Conversation About A Cop's Perspective

[picture from The Economist]

I actually overheard this in a conversation very close by to me, between two men I did not know at all.

1: "My friend is a cop, been one for years. You know what he told me? They have all this awesome new tech, like facial recognition stuff that they can aim at drivers passing by, as well as license plate scanners. But they can't really use any of it."

2: "Really? Well... why not?"

1: "Because... he said. People will get offended. People get too offended now when they do shit like that."

~*~

Sane people have always been offended when you violate their privacy, and the ONLY reason a monopolized terrorist gang like government police get away with violating peaceful people is because of 12,000 hours of government funded schooling that trains people to think they SHOULD tolerate being violated once enough humans wear costumes and badges and are voted for. THEN, violating people is of course moral, and you're a snowflake if you don't want your goddamn face being scanned by strangers who will chase you down with their weapons until you pull over so they can extort you.

~*~

I want to point out though: THIS IS FANTASTIC NEWS. When a culture is changing enough that the mere fact of being the uncool guy or the unpopular guy, or the guy everyone hates is enough to STOP bullies and make them feel like they can't just do whatever they feel like... we're actually making serious headway.

I'd be willing to bet that the fact that Arizona is where this took place has something to do with it. Deep down, it's more than "people get offended" and they know it. People here are all quite heavily armed, and to "offend" (violate) someone too much here, just might actually be met with a barrel in your face.