SDPD Quitting Over Vaccinations? Hasta La Vista, Pendejos
If nothing else, perhaps we’ll come out of this with fewer cops who should never have been on the job in the first place.
As the deadline for San Diego Police Officers getting vaccinated as a COVID-19 prevention measure approaches, a dangerous game is being played.
Cops not taking the jab has become a political statement. A year ago the very same organizations leading this ‘resistance’ were demanding priority inoculations for their memberships.
COVID-19 is by far the highest cause of death of police officers, beyond car accidents or shootings. At least 230 officers have died thus far in 2021, four times the number of officers killed by gunfire.
Now, this echo of “Let’s Go Brandon” is a manifestation of anger, triggered in part by the Big Lie and exploited by extremists.
As misinformation campaigns about COVID/masks/and vaccines are now mostly finding acceptance in very fringy circles (See: County Board of Supervisors audience), the “freedom” argument has emerged as the primary excuse for not getting vaccinated.
Typically this argument is accompanied by claims of victimization, like the tasteless assertions made by those who compare themselves to Jews in Nazi Germany. Elected government officials are being portrayed as tyrants for their advocacy of public health measures supported by a vast majority of the population.
Some of these folks are just short of delusional, like the Carl DeMaio supported Fed Up With Fletcher PAC. In two years their wallets will be lighter, Fletcher will be re-elected with close to a super majority, and several hundred people will find themselves on “your daily outrage” mailing lists.
Law enforcement/first responder types have added another layer to this contrived narrative, namely that the public will become victims of crime should vaccine mandates be enforced. This is some really sick stuff.
KUSI News, the local outlet for anti-vaxxers, has been vigorously promoting a Friday afternoon rally with stories suggesting that public safety will be endangered, should officers face termination for not complying with the city’s December1 deadline.
Their coverage strongly suggests that hundreds of first responders will be fired. The reality is that they will face disciplinary measures, something that’s still being negotiated behind closed doors.
The SD Police Officers Association tried to leverage an account of slow police response to an incident in Hillcrest on Halloween to drive home an assertion that the police are already understaffed.
Asked for additional information to verify their claims, the POA did not respond.
Mayor Todd Gloria’s office pushed back, pointing out large classes of incoming officers, saying the POA was misrepresenting the facts.
Rather than a lack of adequate staffing, delays in responding to 911 calls were due to an increased volume of emergency calls,” he said. “The amount of emergency calls on Sunday, November 14, 2021 alone increased by nearly 90% when compared to the year before.”
NBC7 profiled a SDPD SWAT sniper who quit rather than get inoculated. So, a man who spent 10 years enforcing government mandates quit because of a mandate he disagrees with? You’ve got to admire that he recognized public safety was not the job for him. (He will still get a partial retirement payout.)
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The anti-vaxx movement is a result of synergy between science fabulists and the post-Tea Party activists now characterized as Trump’s “base.”
There’s a sinister edge to this flavor of political activism, with plenty of allusions to violence (Rep. Gosar’s video) and/or illusionary threats (Antifa). People are supposed to feel threatened in some fashion by these groups. It’s how they organize.
The police anti-vax sentiment is grounded in antagonisms toward the elements of society and politics opposing the rollback of advances in civil rights and fearing the increasing diversity of the electorate.
I’m willing to bet there is a large overlap between the leaders of law enforcement resistance to vaccinations and the individuals fighting to uphold the so-called Blue Wall, the cop culture based on opposition to civilian oversight and denying the historical role police have played..
Here's Paul Waldman at the Washington Post:
Though it would be very difficult to prove statistically, I strongly suspect that the officers quitting over vaccine mandates are much more likely than their vaccinated peers to embody everything that’s wrong with American policing.
I’ll bet they’re the ones with the strongest sense of entitlement, the loudest demands that we pay tribute to them, and the most vehement insistence that they never face accountability for misdeeds. They’re the ones hoisting those vile “thin blue line” flags, and the ones who are all in on fascistic “warrior cop” ideology.
This isn’t complicated: There are lots of jobs with special requirements that are dictated by the nature of the work, including being a police officer (most police departments require you to meet physical fitness standards, for instance). If you’re interacting with the public during a deadly pandemic and there are safe, effective vaccines available, you have to get vaccinated. If you can’t accept that, find another profession.
We’re always told that police misconduct is just a matter of a few “bad apples.” Well here’s a good way to identify at least some of the ones with no concern for the well-being of the people they’re supposed to be protecting.
In fact, I’m so sure of this association, I’m willing to say that it would be a good thing if all these officers left. But they won’t.
In case after case after case, these threats have failed to materialize. Politicians have made quiet accommodations and officers who’ve bragged about being unvaxxed will suddenly show up for COVID inoculations.
The ploys for media coverage by law enforcement groups are a by-product of a propaganda machine using refusers to drive a narrative meant to sow division, keep their supporters and audiences angry, and extend the pandemic as long as possible.
You can take it to the bank that the cheerleaders for this cause are all thoroughly protected from any consequences of their actions. Everybody at Fox News lives under a strict regimen of COVID precautions.
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