Comments

1

Shocker. A cop involved in domestic violence. Must be tough for his fellow abusive cops outside. Rooting for a bad outcome.

2

It is The Stranger's stated editorial position from Dan Savage is that all guns should be banned and only the police should have guns.

Because we know that all criminals will immediately turn in their guns once banned and the police will never abuse their power and shoot unarmed innocent people or go indiscriminately batshit crazy and barricade themselves in their houses.

3

If guns are banned only bands will have guns.
Musical mayhem.

4

@2: There would be a period of adjustment, sure, but as the NRA never tires of telling us, the overwhelming majority of gun-owners are law-abiding, so they'd hand theirs in willingly (the NRA doesn't lie!) and we'd cut down on the accidental discharge/kid playing with gun/good guy gets a bad idea deaths. Then the cops could bring the hammer down on the serious criminals, which is, frankly, their job. Adding in a reward for turning in gun holders would also speed up the process.

5

Cops are working class people just like everyone else, but face other pressures that none of us do. Let's hope it ends peacefully.

6

@5:

So, just because he's a cop and "under pressure" (keeping in mind that law enforcement doesn't even make the Top 10 in terms of most dangerous jobs in the U.S.) that's an excuse for domestic violence? I don't think so.

7

"It is The Stranger's stated editorial position from Dan Savage is that all guns should be banned"

Cite?

8

He should have just gotten his anger out driving around town, out of uniform, randomly threatening motorcyclists with handguns, amidst busy commuter traffic, because that doesn't impact your job stability like DV does.

9

@6: I didn't say that. I said that cops face pressures that none of us do. I said nothing about its ranking with other stressful jobs, nor did I say it was an excuse.

10

@9:

It sure sounds like you're making an excuse - otherwise why even mention the "pressures" of the job in the context of a domestic violence call?

11

Pigs aren’t the working class. They are the enemy of the working class.
Did you know that there are patrol officers with SPD making 200k per year? Working class? Lol

12

@10: No, I'm commenting on a sad situation. Here's a cop, who was likely an idealistic young man entering the police force to serve the greater good - but the stress and inability to cope (and other factors unknown to us) devolve into yet another tragedy of domestic violence.

It's another way to look at it. We don't know all the facts, so it doesn't hurt to afford a modest gesture of being magnanimous. Just sayin'.

13

@11: And very well derved I'm sure, but the median annual Police Patrol Officer salary in Seattle, WA is $58,101, as of April 29, 2018, with a range usually between $54,249-$63,309 not including bonus and benefit information and other factors that impact base pay.

14

@12: Gotta chime in on your weird idea that cops are working class. My brother in law was State Patrol and he owned a house with a gym, a game room, four bedrooms, and a home theater room that was on its own bigger than my apartment, and I am not exaggerating.
So no. They are not working class.

16

@14: The plural of anecdote is not data. A search of 'Seattle cop salary' results in the data in @13. Is that 54-63K range above or below what you consider to be working class?

17

Being a cop and 'dealing with the pressure" does not make you become an abuser, it is the other way around, abusers are attracted to the job and want to become cops, it is control and power they seek, the pay and hours are just an added bonus. (and yes, they make $200k+ annually with overtime at special events or working traffic.)
If they were a little smarter they could become politicians.

18

@17: Of course, and the story is still under investigation, but we can also note that a lot of cops are former military and some are still suffering PTSD. You can't disregard the pressure of one or all these factors combined together. Obviously, some catalyst made him snap.

The salary is tangential here. BTW - sanitation workers can make into the six figures.

21

I'm more shocked we have Seattle cops that live in Seattle. I thought there were all racist rednecks from Kent.

22

@21 - Did you feel just a tad more smug in writing that?

23

@18

You're perhaps the single worst apologist for the regular police abuse all but you are aware of.

Cops are working class? Face other pressures? No group has more personal contact and thus more sheer hatred of cops than the "working class" you claim they are a part of. Cops get paid to act smug, superior and self righteous while taking joy in inflicting pain on a population they consider lower than scum. Actual working class folks are do not enjoy hurting other people for personal pleasure and are not rewarded for it besides. Cops are a special breed.

Cops were once idealist? No, they were that asshole in the 8th grade that we all despised who constantly threw their weight around and got off on being the teachers snitch. Joining law enforcement simply allowed them to get paid to be a full time prick in an environment where they could arrest anyone who called them on that.

Ex Military and PTSD? Our prisons are full of ex-military. Did you ever hear a cop describe someone they arrested as anything other than the worst kind of scum that deserve whatever they get? It's all "ignorance is no excuse" and "I bet he's always been a monster" until a cop is arrested. Police consider non-police sub-human and not worthy of even the most basic elements of respect or decency. The police only talk about our greater humanity, the importance of forgiveness and "the pressures of life" when it's them. The rest of us are not human to them so are not offered the slightest dignity or respect.

Do you really think anyone else committing DV and resisting arrest would be treated with kids golves? The coup de grâce will be his buddies in the prosecutor letting him off with something insignificant like disturbing the peace while releasing a statement about "this simple misdemeanor that we have given this man that will be scrubbed from his record in 12 months is proof that no one operates above the law!"

24

@23: I was hoping for some interesting insights in your lengthy comment - but it is yet another retort of stereotypes, bias, conjecture, and extrapolation.

Yes, my first comment was stereotypical as well, and we can all embellish our arguments with things that are correct for my argument as well as your argument (e.g. PTSD).

I'm not an apologist for the cops. But I did provide a magnanimous view for a cop in a horrible situation (with the facts still unknown at the time) and I don't think that any serous person would argue that addressing DV means also addressing the illness and causes of it - and that includes an understanding of the perpetrator.

The sheer fact that a compassionate and innocuous comment like @5 sets off such visceral reactions is one of the ugliest manifestations of the erosion of moral forbearance I have ever seen.

25

@23 You're reserving your magnanimity for the police that have a systemic problem with domestic violence with numbers that statistically far exceeds the population around them they claim we need their protection from. How you are not an apologist? If you won't acknowledge they have a problem with both domestic violence and accountability, why should they?

Every year UW holds a law enforcement driven symposium on Domestic Violence where law enforcement spends a few days focusing on domestic violence within every group but there own. They're invested in creating this silly illusion that all the abusers are outside their department hiding behind the bushes, when in fact they are often the biggest abusers and hide in plain site. Do you know see your role in creating the environment where they continue to dodge accountability?

Correct, your stereotype that every police officer belongs in an Andy Griffith episode from the 1950's was answered with more current stereotypes based on current behavior. If you want to make this anecdotal, you will gain credibility if you expressed 1/10s the compassion for the victims of police DV as you do for the poor police officers who must suffer the devastation of bruising their knuckles on them, the poor babies.

26

to @23 above should have been addressed to @24 above.

27

@26: Now you're projecting that have no compassion about DV victims. I can't make any sense with anyone who just keeps spewing. Sorry.

28

@27: When your only compassion in multiple posts is for the abusive officer it's not projecting to point that pattern out and you don't seem to understand what that term projecting means.
I have little use for boot-lickers and apologists for those who commit domestic abuse even when the have a badge. Perhaps you will find more sympathy for that view over at the ST.


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