Most police have no concept of the law they are enforcing. It’s not their fault, Qualified Immunity protects them if they don’t know the law. Academies and precinct protocols don’t teach the standard of how laws apply. Their protocols are often unconstitutional and aimed at controlling every situation, even if they’re wrong (which leads deprivation of Rights). IF they are taught how to correctly apply the law, it’s a vague mention so they can say it was taught but it wasn’t retained.
If we are going to strengthen Qualified Immunity for police we need to strengthen it to protect good police and not those who won’t take the time to learn the law.
Too many people are being denied rights and receiving false charges because police don’t know what the hell they’re doing. For some people, it can destroy their life by simply stating,
“I know my Rights.”
“I do not answer questions.”
“What law did I break?”
They manipulate terms like “interference with my investigation,” because you refuse to ID when the officer can’t articulate a crime. In most states, having a crime is the requirement. They use that excuse because they are trying to fuck you.
They have no idea what is in the Bill of Rights. They don’t understand that you can’t criminalize a Right and they do it with impunity because they face no consequences.
I think, if you’re going to strengthen QI, we need to make sure they know the law so only those heroes are protected and not every schmuck having a bad day or a guy driven by ego wants you to figure it out in court because, bonus, lawyers and judges play along because when you remove the unconstitutional shit they do, they lose out on their funding.
Make sure everyone is protected.