May 29, 2023
Police: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)



As nationwide protests over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are met with police brutality, John Oliver discusses how the histories of policing and white supremacy are intertwined, the roadblocks to fixing things, and some potential paths forward.

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25 thoughts on “Police: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

  1. Hmm, my interpretation of the broken window theory was that it was about not improving infrastructure and not repairing minor damage could lead to crime. I'm not saying that some politicians would manipulate that, but that's my understanding.

  2. Watching this video Joe Biden's 2nd State of the Union address is rather unsettling. Notably Biden used the phrase "finish the job", the same phrase that Clinton used when he was fighting for his 1993 crime omnibus (100k more police, and ramping up of prison building.) Coincidence, maybe.

    A major issue with the system of policing, as clearly presented by John Oliver in the above video, is that policing as we understand it today has very a very racist origin and history. Acknowledging this something that we as a society are very loathe to do. Of course in America we tend to want to tell the American story without mentioning racism, White Supremacy or slavery– all things that negatively impact the American Brand as it were. It should not be surprising then that we regard policing in such a way. "There are a few 'bad apples' that need to be removed…"

    Unfortunately it's not individual "apples"(though those people should be removed from positions of authority) but the militaristic culture of policing that's the main problem! Here's food for thought: Why are the police becoming more militarized while we routinely send our military overseas to act like police? (We saw this phenomena a lot during the Afghanistan and Iraq conflict, officially not a war but a police action. Armed service personnel were encouraged to form social bonds within the local tribal communities, were providing security and medical assistance to them, were helping to build schools and aiding in the resolution of domestic conflicts.) In other words, policing would have much more social benefit with more Bruce Banners in the ranks; let the Hulk do the military stuff.

  3. I know that this is serious and I hope 🙏 that I don't offend anyone ….. I also know that I'm going to talk about a sitcom, a television show. But I thought that Brooklyn 99 did a good job at looking into this as a comedy/drama- it tried to get real ….. with characters quitting the police force and characters taking accountability and responsibility for their actions.

  4. 1) the last speaker… the black lady…. WWOOOOW…. What a GREAT Speaker.
    But.
    2) OK … I GET IT SHE IS BLASK AND WHAT SHE SAID WAS UGLY AND PERFECT
    But she was TOO perfect…. Is she really from “ that…local.. community”?.
    Or was she a paid gunslinger…
    She could CRUSH a TED Talk.

    Either way she needs to be a national representative… we…. Need for her to be a voice.
    ps… I’m and old white guy

  5. It unfortunately amazes me that American police are this untrained and trigger-happy. I read that it's only 6 months to become an officer in the US but in Finland it takes 3 years. We have a problem with our police force but it's not a violence problem, it's the fact they're understaffed. Still they are efficient and trained in de-escalation,something I have yet to see from American police

  6. lemme tell you when my gf's mum asked if we were going to go the police after some guys beat us up and stole our trans flags at our pride picnic last summer, Bob Kroll's stupid thumb of a face was right there in my mind

  7. "the most racist thing to happen to Christmas since they decided [Jesus] was white"
    clearly you've not seen the Dutch version of Christmas… content warning but look up "sinterklaas traditions"

  8. It should be like this every day of the week cause things ain’t gonna change until we do. They murder their own citizens, contaminate drinking water and keep pushing our rights just to see how far they can push. We’re losing our voices and small pieces of freedom daily and by the time we the people wake the F up as a whole it’ll be to late. I see my great grand babies looking back at us with their middle finger waving at at papaw…

  9. Oliver exposes the absurdities in a way not seen since Samuel Clemens. God bless the man for his inarguable objectivity as well as his balance of humor and tragic truths. The rest of the journalist industry could learn a great deal from this American hero. We are lucky for the opportunity to welcome him to our shores and into our national culture. Love that man !

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