Protests

Not sure I understand about protesting. It’s been around all my life but I have never known much of anything that comes of it.  Maybe the idea is that it’s something to do, to take out your frustrations. Calling attention to an issue. The only thing it really does is to cost the taxpayers money. On what you ask? Police time to monitor and keep a peaceful protest from getting out of hand. Maintenance works to clean up after people and repair things that are damaged or broken, clean up graffiti or whatever else.

The idea is to draw people's attention by frustrating the crap out of them and inconveniencing them so they will help. The problem is it doesn’t fix anything. What fixes things is talking over and over and over and over again. Get a  ombudsmen and fix the laws.

Example: Trying to interrupt a police contract ratification. This is typical of getting in on something at the last second. Police contracts are a bidding process and are set up by the city and ratified by the police union and the officers. The unions make sure police have protection written in such as pay, hold investigations of police are handled, what constitutes excessive force etc.

Then every couple of years the contracts are revised and ratified again. Most don’t change much until it comes up for a rewrite. If you're going to complain about it and get in on changing it there is a process. It’s not protesting and starting a fight with police officers in city hall to prove your point or demanding to speak with the mayor by force. The contract is already there and all the protesting in the world isn’t going to change it.

Again change the law or get in on it when the comment period from the public called for. No amount of protesting and damaging things that YOU pay for if you have a job. YES! It's your right to protest god knows but why not CHANGE it instead of protest it.