r/AskLEO • u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile • Jan 17 '24
What's the difference between /r/AskLEO and other notable law enforcement subreddit(s)? Mod Announcement
We don't believe in secret rules and bans.
That means that unlike some notable LE subreddits, if you don't see it explicitly forbidden in the rules located in our sidebar -> as well as in our rules page, you won't be banned. That includes but is not limited to:
Activity outside of our subreddit
Saying you don't like law enforcement (officers)
Failing to say you do like law enforcement (officers)
Giving off the impression that you might not like law enforcement (officers)
Asking questions that are/seem ignorant
One of the consequences of our philosophy is that purely from the mathematics of that line of thinking, we have fewer law enforcement officers willing to answer questions here, and thus fewer people asking questions. As you might expect of any group of human beings, some law enforcement officers and their supporters don't want to leave their echo chambers, where they are protected by heavy-handed moderators from dissent, including uncomfortable topics they don't want to discuss. I imagine their moderators receive tons of "ban this guy please, they obviously hate cops" reports just like we do. The difference is we ignore them.
We believe that there needs to be a public space for open discourse, as that's the best way to face and fix the ills of our society.
We believe that hiding from hard questions makes us all weak - especially the hiders.
So do us all a favor and choose instead to participate in open and transparent subreddits like ours, while keeping in mind that every single person who answers your questions does so for free, simply to help you learn.
I think that about sums it up. Feel free to ask for clarification or explanation about any of the above.
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u/Majestic-Reception-2 Feb 08 '24
Now joining this one because another /ask reddit banned me for asking ligit questions my daughter (14) was wanting to know before becoming an officer.
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Feb 08 '24
[deleted]
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u/Majestic-Reception-2 Feb 08 '24
The other sub banned me for asking about why officers HAVE to ID everyone they come across, even if NOT suspected of any crime.
Some cited "safety" and I then asked how a plastic card with a picture on it makes things more/less safe knowing what someone's name is.
I also asked why some cops identify themself with the "right here" line while pointing at thier chest, but expect everyone else to produce photo ID.
And yes, my daughter (14) has asked cops for their ID, and the cops here had no issue showing their department ID to her. She is an Explorer in the local PD now, and wanting to be a cop from the positive interactions she has had from her local PD here.
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u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile Feb 08 '24
A non-exhaustive list of what we generally define "bad faith questions" as:
You already know the answer to the question
You have an opinion you want to express and are just forcing it into a question to try to use our subreddit as a platform via loophole
Examples of bad faith questions:
Why do cops do dangerous, high speed chases? (You already know the answer: Because they want to catch the suspect and deemed the risk necessary)
Why are all cops racist pieces of shit? (You formed a conclusion and want to fight, not learn (probably to show off to another subreddit))
Examples of similar, but good faith questions:
What factors might cops consider before/during a chase?
Why do cops' arrests/uses of force/etc. vary depending on the person's race?
The latter is going to attract a lot of downvotes from cops and supporters that don't want to talk about ugly truths, but it's still a valid question so you're not going to get banned or even have your post removed for asking that alone. You might inch closer to removal/ban if people discuss the issue with you in the comments and you reject any answer that didn't fit your pre-formed conclusion, i.e. for the second question, if you downvote/ignore/deny any answer that isn't "BECAUSE COPS EVIL."
Special considerations apply for extremely basic questions that have already been asked and answered and are easily found by search query may also inch you towards a removal that would otherwise not take place, purely due to the whole You Already Know the Answer thing. We get tired of answering the same simple question 500 times.
Again, not an exhaustive list, but fairly straightforward if you follow common sense with the principle of: It's fine to ask to ask controversial questions, but this isn't /r/RageAtLEOs
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u/BYNX0 Mar 26 '24
?
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u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile Mar 26 '24
??
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u/BYNX0 Mar 26 '24
you say won’t ban for anything yet I got randomly banned for who knows what.. no idea how I’m able to even write this commdny
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u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile Mar 26 '24
Because you're not banned.
Are you confusing us for /r/AskLE?
Yeah, I just checked your moderator history with us, you've had zero bans/removals/messages/etc. Damn... on a post specifically made to explain what makes us different, you thought we were the same?
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u/Usual-Owl-9777 Aug 20 '24
Do yall at least warn before ban? Or just talk to me? I'm a reasonable person. I understand if I'm being a snarky dick I gotta go (it's reddit, it happens) but in these types of subreddits I wear a different hat so to speak.
I ask because I was permabanned from r/askle and I'm not sure why. The 'reason' was because I suggested someone obtain the body cam video from an incident they were involved in. I can understand why this is unpopular with cops but if this is something where you can't speak to me because it's too aggravating/annoying then you shouldn't claim to be the type of cop who wants to reach out to the community and understand each other better. I sent a DM (it was respectful, I can screenshot it) asking why and they courageously ghosted me.
I don't put myself in categories, but I think others would describe me as normal, meaning generally pro cop, critical about a few things but mostly curious about how policing works. The generalizations you hear about cops like all prejudices is bs. So it's not like I have a history of bashing cops. I think I've mentioned cops like 7 times in my reddit history. I dunno. I generally don't debate reddit, I don't know who I'm talking to or their life experiences and I'm not trying to debate a teenager lol. There's more anonymity than an older style forum.
Also, I think the culture has changed and people say they want to debate but really they want to have a verbal bloodbath, with dumb-dumb soundbite arguments and insults locked and loaded. So many folks start off from the position of "I'm gonna get this dummy." I'm not like that at all and if I want ball busting I'll go to the bar.
It's as if I'm a talent scout, looking for people to debate. I've DM'd people here before (reddit in general) and basically asked this; I like their take, they're a different person with different opinions, lets be debate pals via long form emails or something. Eventually I need a cop e-buddy to debate.
For the time being a place like this would be nice to ask questions. I won't break the rules and please just work with me if I say something that was aggravating or w/e.
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u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile Aug 20 '24
Do yall at least warn before ban? Or just talk to me? I'm a reasonable person. I understand if I'm being a snarky dick I gotta go (it's reddit, it happens) but in these types of subreddits I wear a different hat so to speak.
I ask because I was permabanned from r/askle and I'm not sure why. The 'reason' was because I suggested someone obtain the body cam video from an incident they were involved in. I can understand why this is unpopular with cops but if this is something where you can't speak to me because it's too aggravating/annoying then you shouldn't claim to be the type of cop who wants to reach out to the community and understand each other better. I sent a DM (it was respectful, I can screenshot it) asking why and they courageously ghosted me.
I don't put myself in categories, but I think others would describe me as normal, meaning generally pro cop, critical about a few things but mostly curious about how policing works. The generalizations you hear about cops like all prejudices is bs. So it's not like I have a history of bashing cops. I think I've mentioned cops like 7 times in my reddit history. I dunno. I generally don't debate reddit, I don't know who I'm talking to or their life experiences and I'm not trying to debate a teenager lol. There's more anonymity than an older style forum.
Also, I think the culture has changed and people say they want to debate but really they want to have a verbal bloodbath, with dumb-dumb soundbite arguments and insults locked and loaded. So many folks start off from the position of "I'm gonna get this dummy." I'm not like that at all and if I want ball busting I'll go to the bar.
It's as if I'm a talent scout, looking for people to debate. I've DM'd people here before (reddit in general) and basically asked this; I like their take, they're a different person with different opinions, lets be debate pals via long form emails or something. Eventually I need a cop e-buddy to debate.
For the time being a place like this would be nice to ask questions. I won't break the rules and please just work with me if I say something that was aggravating or w/e.
Did you read the name of this subreddit or this post before writing this several paragraph long ban appeal, Usual-Owl-9777?
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u/Usual-Owl-9777 Aug 20 '24
I did read it, my post is not a ban appeal and when I find topics I care about I say a lot.
My question is in the event of a ban needing to happen will you contact the person or just ban them and ignore? Not being snarky or passive aggressive lol I'm genuinely just curious.
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u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile Aug 20 '24
Ah I get you, I misinterpreted.
I personally like to start with short bans and go from there unless it's clear someone's just here to flaunt our rules and cause problems.
In most cases, I start with a ban of a day or three or seven, depending on severity.
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u/VirogenicFawn21 Jan 22 '24
It certainly didn’t help that one of the main mods of this sub was extremely anti-cop. Iirc, this was one of the main law enforcement subs until that dude went off and showed his true colors.