Memphis City Voted Along Racial Lines - Police

Not so much.

Well, my point is that everybody here knows that around half of all Memphis City employees that have residency restrictions, lied about their residency in order to get their jobs....and they get away with it unless they piss off the wrong person.

If Memphis is driving distance for them then their churches will be in driving distance when they move in the city... Hopefully, all of these "fine, upstanding" ( ) white citizens will collectively make a positive impact on the schools and racial politics once they are within city limits.

Only a fool thinks they should live in the area. And no the police are not mandated to protect the public. They have no obligation to come to your aid. They usually are there to clean up the mess.

And it's not the police's job to clean up the streets. In fact they can't do it. The people who live there must do it. All the police can do is bring the criminals in. As long as the people in the area don't give a fuck about their area their area will suck ass.

And just because someone doesn't live in an area doesn't mean they don't care about the area they work in. IT'S A JOB.

All that is happening is another city is cutting themselves off from good qualified people.

The whole you have to live in the area thing is the stupidest thing ever invented.

I wouldn't point Chicago out as a beacon of law enforcement excellence.

That case only says the police don't have a duty under the U.S. Constitution to protect the public in such a way that that particular suit could proceed.

It doesn't change them having a statutory and contractual duty to protect the public, to say nothing of the moral duty.

Like the city council, you're turning this into a race issue. They can't get enough people.

So, that's fine. Stick to your principles, I guess. I hope the gangs don't thrive.

This is exactly the retarted attitude we're talking about.

The people who wanted to pass this law weren't trying to hire more whites...they're trying to hire more people PERIOD.

Or excellence of anything in that matter.

Except corruption. That they excel at.

Yeah. Alpha has always been reasonable, but he's being flat out retarded here. I agree.

First of all, fuck you for implying that I am a fool.

Secondly,where do you live? East bumfuck or something? All urban areas have similar laws and I believe they work for the better.

It's not just a job and that's exactly the mentality they are trying to prevent. You don't get to walk around a city with the authority to kill people with the attitude "it's just a job" and drive home to a big house in the burbs at night. If you want my life in your hands, then you at least have to know where KI'm coming from and have the same intrests as me in making my area safe and secure.

I'm not implying you're a fool. I'm pointing out the FACT that you made it into a racial issue, when it's not.

Memphis, TN. I thought we'd made that pretty obvious.

Okay...let's accept that as a given for now. So what if you don't have nearly enough police officers, and you can't get qualified, elligable candidates?

First of all, I think you are being ridiculous on this issue. They can't get enough cops.

Is it a problem to not have enough cops?

Answer that, then we'll go to the next set of issues.

P.S., I live in Memphis.

After this post not only are you a fool but you're a retarded one. Probably corrupt too. How much stuff to you take from the job again?

Not all urban areas have such laws. Mine got rid of them. Very smart of them.

And no one has authority to kill. Don't know where the fuck you pulled that one form. Police have to follow the same use of force laws that regular citizens do. It really shows how stupid you are that you think cops have such powers. Maybe in corrupt Chicago they get away with it.

And your life is not in any cops hands. It's in your hands you stupid coward. Stand up for yourself and be a man. The cops are only going to show up after you've been robbed or killed.

And again just because a person doesn't live in an area doesn't mean they don't care.

That's a good point. People don't have the authority to "kill," only to defend themselves.

In general, I don't support a residency requirement for a city job. But I can understand why a city would want one for police.

First, there's the theory that by being part of the community, the officer will have a bigger vested interest in doing his job well and seeing it as a whole, rather than parachuting in, seeing the worst parts of it and jetting out.

Second, there's the theory that since officers are never fully off-duty, having the officers reside in the city provides that additional benefit to the city. Why should Memphis pay to train and equip officers and then allow its neighboring suburbs to get the benefit of having its off-duty officers at their disposal?

Third, it also improves the community's relationship to the officers. Some would be much more likely to support an officer who actually lives in their city than one who just shows up to work there.

Most of these additional issues don't mean as much with, say, teachers or accountants.

As for why this council apparently voted along racial lines, I don't know. Maybe the above three rationales are more important to black council people because they are more concerned about MPD's relationship with their (presumably) black constituents, while the white council members are less concerned about the department's community relations.

Maybe the black council people are more optimistic about the city's ability to find good cops, particularly in a crummy economy. Or at least, they are willing to forego cops who aren't living in the economy.

Maybe it's naked "We want more black cops" vs. "We want more white cops, even if they want to live outside the city."

I think it's naked "We want more black cops" vs. "We've had a massive recruitment campaign going on, we can't get enough cops, so we want to expand the applicant pool."

They have this rule in NYC. Not strictly enforced though.

Apostle, there must be other reasons why they can't get more officers. In NYC, when they had this problem it was because of a low starting salary.

This is basicly a bullshit thread. That includes mostly just your opinion and how you think it is. I can't work with your sole premise here.

All your are saying is that the blacks in your town are stupid. That might be so.

But this is not THE only way to get new cops on the Memphis force.

Oh, and many older black men have a thing about white people. I'm so surprised that this shocks you so.

You post no related article or info to back up your OP. For all I know, maybe that police force is very racists and the blacks don't want more white cops from out town coming in.

You need to tell us what cops make over there. What is the starting salary? What are the benefits.etc., etc.

Most (99%) officers have a vested interest in doing their jobs well regardless of where they actually live.

Off duty officers have no jurisdiction outside of their employment area. There is no benefit to any other city. The only time an off duty police officer would get involved in something would be if he was there when it happened. And that would mean anywhere. He would not investigate anything. The only time off duty police act would be if say they were in a Burger King and it got robbed. Then they can act.

You don't see off duty police patrolling the streets.

So really that part of your post makes no sense.

The public doesn't give a damn where you live and if you are unlucky enough to get involved in something that rises to the public's view they will spit on you the same way regardless of whether you live in the city or out of the city.

1. What defines "the community"? A city border? Is the city of Memphis a community, but the Memphis Metropoliten Area not a community? Are the richest part of Memphis and the poorest part in the same "community"?

2. Most cops that I know don't like to be "on duty" within their neighborhood. They don't like arresting their neighbors, and they don't like the greater chance of running into some perp they arrested at the corner store with their kids.

Memphis is a huge, spread out, and economically "diverse" city. There are many "communities" within the Memphis city limits. I don't really see the difference between Whitehaven vs. Midtown and Memphis vs. Olive Branch, MS.

That's a good point there...but I don't think it's good enough to nix a potential solution to the problem of not being able to recruit near enough police from the current pool.

That's pretty much been addressed above, but I have to ask you this...how is the "community" going to know where an individual officer is from, unless he tells them?

If you have lived here for ten years, and seen how these types votes turn out a lot*, you probably wouldn't be so unsure.

<edit> now that I think back on it, it's not usually so much with the City Council...usually has more to do with public elections.

Most cities do. Also most cities do what NYC does which is not enforce it or they get rid of it.

It could be that. People aren't going to want to work in a high crime area for jack shit when the next city over they can get a lot more money and less stress. Benefits suck too probably.

There is also the fact that a lot of people can not pass the background check, the psych test, or the lie detector test.

And sadly a lot of people, too many people have run in with the law or are "occasional" users of pot and they get themselves knocked out of the application pool.

And now a lot departments are demanding no visible tattoos. So this crazy rage of tattooing names on your neck and up and down your arms will get you knocked out of the application pool too. Especially if that tat looks gang related.

Poodle need to do better with his threads. Cuz all this just seems like a REDNECK RANT.

From all I hear from you, Memphis SUCKS. That's YOUR problem.

What are THEY supposed to do to get those police numbers up? Give us some suggestions.

The last sentence. The point is....?

What are they supposed to do? Not cut off half a million people from the applicant pool.

I live in a state where commuting is a way of life and I've yet to see anybody parachute in and jet out of anywhere. The thing about commuting is it tends to be done via automobile. So right from the start we're talking about people who can't live too far away. I mean it has got to be within driving distance right?

Oh and another thing, commuting stinks. It takes up to hours a day, everyday. Out here people commute mainly because they can't afford to live where they work. So if residency was required, lower income folk would effectively be banned from employment in all the "nice areas."

That theory certainly benefits the city of Memphis. How about the theory that even Police Officers deserve time off too? And being perpetually on duty and not getting paid, being required to work for free? Historically that hasn't been a popular arrangement.

Right. Whenever I see a Police Officer doing his job I withhold my support until his residency is established.

Police Officers do enough already, I can't see restricting their housing options because it might make for good PR.

Every argument you used could be applied to every city job.

Is this THE only way to get applicants? You seem to be stuck on just one point of contention.

I'd like to point out, however, that even though the city council voted down racial lines, the support for the change wasn't so polarized.

The city Mayor (black), the county Mayor (black), and the Police Director (black) were for the change.

Mewa, they have been running a huge recruitment campaign. Ads are everywhere. Constantly. They'll even pay for college for you. And they're not getting the applicants.

Lower the qualifications?

Whats the starting pay?