Two Views of the Police
Radley Balko has this amazing comparison of two different citys' police recruitment videos, which paired together give great insight into really different ways these departments see themselves and their mission. As Balko asks, which town do you want to live in?
me:
Just for comparison: recruiting video of the Munich police (quicktime) http://www.polizei.bayern.de/content/1/5/6/2/werbetrailer.mpg
The slogan at the beginning reads "Everything but ordinary"
July 10, 2012, 4:34 pmThe slogan at the end reads "Everybody needs us, we need you!"
Warren Lewis:
Trying to give this the best interpretation possible... if I lived in an anarchic, chaotic city, I think I'd want the police dept shown in the second video. As a poor comparison, when the country is at war, we don't need a kind, empathetic army; we need a ruthless, hard army. So what I'm saying is, maybe Newport Beach is such a mess that it needs this kind of cop. Maybe a cop on a bike wouldn't last five minutes in Newport Beach. Of course, this is just a different way of giving the same answer: Let me live in Decatur!!! PLEASE!!! If the Newport Beach police department is the cure I wouldn't want to be further from the disease!
July 11, 2012, 10:44 amNathan:
Unfortunately, Warren Lewis, I can assure you Newport Beach is not anarchic or chaotic. It's a prosperous Orange County coastal community. I live in Costa Mesa just north of Newport Beach, and there is really no call whatsoever for its police to run around like commandoes.
July 11, 2012, 7:49 pm