Encouraging Babies to Take More Steps

LAPD Chief William Bratton says he'd like to change his force's zero-tolerance hiring policy regarding past pot-smoking, and allow for maybe up to 15 past bong hits:

"The reality is, kids today … may in fact have sampled drugs some time in their life," Bratton said this month. "Does that mean we should automatically disqualify them? I don't believe so."

Back when I used to troll the fascinating and now-defunct website LAPD.org, the number-one topic of discussion among all the prospective Joe Fridays out there was how to artfully lie about your prior drug use.

As long as we're rewarding institutions for belatedly embracing the stone-obvious, three cheers for the L.A. Times, for making its lead editorial a withering and detailed call for long-overdue government deregulation of the airline industry.

Comments

[Mr. Nice Guy]

"Michael Lyman, a criminal justice professor at Columbia College in Missouri, said he was dubious about recruits who have broken the law by possessing marijuana, a misdemeanor.

"I think what this is doing is inviting trouble, because you are bringing a known rotten apple into the barrel," he said."

Not ROTTEN.. a "baked" apple. Get it right, dick.

[Adam]

Now if I could get the Army to look the other way at 30,000 or so past bong hits, I could get that terrorist-huntin' trip to Iraq I've been lookin' for.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Adam:

You can get into high command.

I love this quote about simple possession as being a "known rotten apple". What about drunks and wife-beaters?

Apples and oranges?

[Jennifer]

Mr. Nice Guy--

On a related note, I found in a thrift store a religious book that blamed Columbine on Ayn Rand and pot-smoking. "Smoking dope's against the law. If you break one law, what's to stop you from breaking others?"

Since I drove 50 in a 25 zone on my way to work this morning (seriously), I may as well rob a liquor store and kill the owner, too.

[Phil]

Can you grab me a liter of Skyy when you do?

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Jennifer:

I love the logic.

Smoke a joint = Gun down a high school full of kids

That must be some seriously skanky ditch weed..

[Jennifer]

MNG--

It was one of those insane-Christian books, from the type of guy who believed Jerry Falwell when he said 9-11 was God's punishment for gay people, or whatever. I always wished I could ask that guy if it was true that Christians in the Roman era were murderers who hated all humanity. After all, being Christian was against the law, and if you break one law, what's to stop you from breaking another?

The fact that there were fifteen unused copies of the book in the Goodwill book section is probably a good thing.

[andy]

"Smoke a joint = Gun down a high school full of kids

That must be some seriously skanky ditch weed.."

Maybe they'd all sold the boys schwag b4...

[andy]

"and allow for maybe up to 15 past bong hits:"

Is this for real, Matt?

I'd look at the article, but I hate that damn registration shite...

[jc]

Andy,

Just click the link, I think they give you one free article before they make you log in (and if you delete your cookies after every article, you don't have to log in at all).

[Matt Welch]

andy -- Article said Bratton's looking to put things more in line with the FBI, which allows 15 past marijuana usages, though none over the last three years.

[andy]

"andy -- Article said Bratton's looking to put things more in line with the FBI, which allows 15 past marijuana usages, though none over the last three years."

Thank you, Matt.

But how would they be able to prove how many times you've smoked? The only thing they could rely on is one's word, and that makes the whole regulation pointless (not that it was based in reality before).

[Daniel Montiel]

Anyone think this policy might help slooowly change the LAPD's god-awful public image? "Well, I usually hate the 5-0, but this cop has a pipe in his pocket...

On the serious side, the thought of cops who have in any sense been through the system, especially for drug use, would seem to me to be a huge plus for their empathy rating in how they deal with people. Not that people can't still be hypocritical, but it's a start, I would think.

[Lowdog]

andy - they give you a polygraph test to determine if you're lying about certain behaviours. They also ask you a battery of questions, often simply changing the circumstance slightly or changing the wording of the question slightly to try and trip you up.

I was in a Criminal Justice class in college, and was thinking about FBI or somesuch, until the police recruiter came in and told us what we weren't supposed to have done to be accepted to the police academy. Since I had done almost everything they frowned up about a dozen times already, I decided I wasn't interested and changed my major.