• tygerprints@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    Well as an example, my family and I were riding a Trax train (which is really a nice public transit system) and when we got off, there was a homeless person being pulled off by the police, and she was in tears and obviously very tired and didn’t have a ticket.

    I offered to buy it for her, I said, “whatever fare she owes, we can certainly pay it.” But the officer said “No you can’t do that under the law, she is required to buy it herself.” But - how CAN she buy it herself in that situation? And why make the poor women feel even worse about herself.

    It just made me angry, but Utah is a very restrictive place with a very authoritarian right-wing government, and there is no recourse for fighting back here. I don’t blame the police, they know their jobs are on the line also.

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I don’t blame the police, they know their jobs are on the line also.

      You should absolutely blame the police, because they had every opportunity to choose a career other than being an oppressor.

      • Guntrigger@feddit.ch
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        10 months ago

        Not even just that, in the situation above the cops seem to have had multiple chances to show some compassion and empathy. I highly doubt it’s actually against the law for you to buy someone else a ticket. Do your kids have to work to earn the money to buy their own ticket to ride with you?

        What if you just slipped them some dollars. Or just - say “hey you, here’s that 20 I owe you from last week”.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        Well I don’t see police as oppressors, except in cases where they unfairly hurt someone. And that’s not the rule, that’s really the exception despite what the media would have you believe. If you’ve ever worked or had family who worked in policing, you’d see why i say that.

      • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
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        10 months ago

        You actually believe the solution is that there are no police officers? And that would help poor people?

        • djsoren19@yiffit.net
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          10 months ago

          Cops are the least efficient, most useless tax-payer funded job in the country. Statistically speaking, no cops is a better solution. Unsolved violent crime rate would remain the same, but the funds could be reallocated to mental health crisis centers and drug rehabilitation programs to more effectively treat the root of the issue.

          Seriously, before you try to defend cops, look at crime statistics across the U.S. Look not just at solved rates, but successful convictions. They’re abysmal, worse than any other developed country.