They were partners in fighting crime. The only problem: Neither was a cop | Hacker News Reader

They were partners in fighting crime. The only problem: Neither was a cop

magazine.atavist.com

84 pointssamclemens22 comments

I don't have much of value to add, but I have met a number of these guys, and I always wonder/wish there was some way we could apply their enthusiasm without giving them the authority to cause real harm.

Many police departments are hiring. It's surprisingly hard to recruit cops, even though the job pays well and offers very early retirement. If someone wants to be a cop, and can't get hired, they probably shouldn't be a cop.

The LAPD even has a "reserve program". "Not ready for full-time yet? But you still want to make a difference... Find out more about our exciting reserves program." This guy probably wouldn't have qualified.

> If someone wants to be a cop, and can't get hired, they probably shouldn't be a cop.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-cops/sto...

(This is a very old article, and I have no idea if that's still a thing, but that sentence made me think of it)

Gee, what's the rationale? Article mentions that the court considered it but doesn't say what it was.

These guys are known as whackers [1]. They aren't suited for public service.

[1] http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Whacker

A big parts of software development is like this. Cargo-culting the latest "scalability" and "big-data" practises even though there is zero need, just to feel like a superhero and add stickers to his MBP.

> A big parts of software development is like this.

I believe you, but all I can say is thank god I've never had exposure to someone like that. If anything, for me it's a bit of a red flag when someone is interested in the stack more than the problems to be solved. That just doesn't seem to align well with being adaptable and solving each problem in the best way.

Can I please come and live in your world? It sounds saner.

Haha yea, it's always nice to find out that you've been fortunate in some way that you didn't even really realize existed.

Clicking that link is like clicking to TVTropes...

Hm, just realized Batman is not a cop

Au contraire. The commissioner deputised Batman all the way back in Batman #7, Nov. 1941.[0]

[0] http://www.batman-online.com/features/2012/10/10/comic-influ...

Additionally, they go over this explicitly in the Adam West Batman movie. The press demands to know Batman's identity and credentials, and the commissioner backs him up by saying that Batman's anonymity was for his own safety, and that he had been duly deputized.

Whoa thanks!

He's super rich though, so nothing bothers him.

Kinda like the subject of this article! It kills me that this country's justice system allows the wealthy to get away with anything they like while anyone else is crushed under its merciless wheels. What was it? 72 felony charges pled down to 3 and 90 days in jail (although from the article maybe he served a year) Imagine if the roles had been reversed. 10 years in prison? 20? Impersonating federal agents? Gun running? Jesus this system is broken.

With all that money he could sponsor cop training in Gotham City or at least better salaries

Slightly off-topic, but popping a paid subscription modal when I'm barely more than a paragraph into a long-form article isn't exactly a good way to get me to stick around.

Use a JS blocker, I'm blocking that site's JS and i don't have any popups.

What I see is not a modal. It is a "hero" image, a sentence, and a button flowed into the normal text of the page. I just kept scrolling down, and it bothered me no more. I'm running uBO, but I doubt that has any effect?

Also running uBO, and this is what I was talking about: http://i.imgur.com/IuiAcpA.png

The thing that appeared in the normal flow also appeared for me lower down the article.

Yep, I scrolled down to the first paragraph and got a pop up. Instantly left.

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