Positive or negative

I'm curious. How many people here have a generally positive view of the police? Or are your perceptions generally negative?

Why or why not?

Just sayin' :hi:


On edit: As for me, I'm a little wary of police, generally speaking. I was at the Miami FTAA protest in Nov. 2003, and I don't think anyone can go through that without distrusting police to some extent. That said, I also have a few family members who are cops, and I know quite a few more than that, and they're all good guys.

A bias against cops is likely cured the same way any other phobia is -- by meeting cops.

I didn't mean to make it a "heads I win, tails you lose" proposition. LOL

The more cops I have gotten to know in my personal life -- living a block from a cop bar -- the less I think of them. Obviously I know a few who are okay. But the vast majority I have met are extremely unpleasant individuals.

On duty the experiences have been a bit less negative.

Positive - cop questioning my underage friends for drinking took a couple beers I offered him for later; he and I both knew he'd have to get a warrant and come back by which time we wouldn't be there; so why not be friendly.

Negative - ticketed for reckless driving for half a second of spinning tires on a rear wheel drive car facing uphill on loose gravel starting from a standing stop.

Positive - initially arrested but released on site for minor in possession; we were twenty years old; my friend from Hong Kong had been legally drinking over there for years, and I already had my Marine Corps discharge, so we found the whole idea of being arrested for {gasp} drinking totally hilarious; we had the cops laughing so much they finally decided it was silly too and turned us loose.

Negative - ticketed for speeding to avoid an accident; yes, cop admitted my car would probably have been hit (by a semi) had I not punched it, but gave me the ticket anyway because he could.

Negative - the other 11 speeding tickets I got my first year in the suburbs of Chicago. Can you say, "speed traps"? And I don't recall even one of these cops being polite about it.

Sideways - pulled over for "looking lost"; I was, so it worked out nicely; but he pulled me over for looking "poor" in a wealthy suburb.

Sideways - pulled over being White; yes, this does not just happen to Black people in White neighborhoods; they do the same in reverse assuming we are there to buy drugs or sell guns; they didn't do anything but question me a couple minutes, and didn't treat me that badly.

Positive - ticketed for doing 90 on an interstate. The ticket was deserved. And he was friendly with me.

Negative - ticketed for speeding to match and merge into Interstate traffic then immediately slowing down; not only is it stupid ticketing the car coming off the ramp and simply matching the speed of the hundred cars already on the Interstate, but the cop behaved like a complete authoritarian jerk while doing it.

Negative - the cop who had me relocate a moving van three times ultimately having me park it ... in the exact spot it was when he showed up. It's not just his stupidity. His stupidity almost made this a positive experience as, after shouting at me for a bit he finally gave me very specific instructions on how to drive the truck -- "go straight over there, turn right, go around the block" (fyi: bad instructions as he forced me to make several tight turns in a large truck that could have been done easier circling the block in the other direction; but he wouldn't listen) -- and his very specific instructions meant I might run right over his car; I didn't (I know how to fucking drive), but I sure did enjoy his screaming at me to stop as I roared the engine and headed right where he told me to.

Negative - "sorry about that. And thank you." -- "What did you say!" -- "Uh, I said I was sorry and thanked you." -- "You better just watch that mouth!" Interlude while he walks away, then my ten year old in the back seat asks, "why did he get so angry?" -- "I treated him politely like an ordinary person. But too many cops think are special and that we should all get on our knees and praise them for putting their lives on the line to protect us even though statisticly a non-peace officer is much more likely to be shot walking down the street than is a cop on duty."

believe me, it's not as though I've got illusions here. But like I said, I also have family members who are cops, and they're good folks. My uncle, who was on a police force for decades, certainly came out of the experience a but jaded and pessimistic, but I think that's the nature of the job.

I'm not sure the culture itself is a positive thing.

:7

about seem to have issues. It's like they were teased in high school and now want to carry a gun and be a tough guy. Very few have been the kind of cop I would admire as an upholder of justice. Yeah, I smoke pot and it's against the law and that may have something to do with my opinion, but I swear, most have issues.

There are some cops who don't like enforcing that particular law, but it's their job. It's a lot like expecting me to push the Target credit card at work when I think credit cards suck, but with bodily injury and occasional deaths thrown in for discomfort.

Some, particularly rookies, might be more keen to strut their funky stuff and boast their status, but many - especially seasoned ones - do seem to be reasonable people.

Nor do I envy them their jobs; it isn't easy for them trying to fathom who they're dealing with, if they will co-operate or try to pull out a weapon. :( Given the waves of violence these days, it's a very stressing jobs to BE in. If you were a cop, even the most reasoned of ones, how would you feel on a daily basis?

It's easy to look back and say "Should've done this different". It's not easy to empathize and think "If I faced that person's situation with only a few split seconds to decide something, what would I do?" Even situations that start normal can turn abnormal.

People tell me to have perspective. Well, I just said my perspective. I'm glad I'm not a cop. Some days it's more difficult to be a cop than somebody who may not (or may) be violent.

It's similar in some ways. She says that eventually it really spoils your view of people in general.

They're authority figures. Authority figures should never be trusted. They should be constantly scrutinized and held accountable.

But I have to mention, I've never attempted to be friends with one. They seem to live in a sort of parallel universe that most people will never understand.

The job seems to attract an inordinate amount of "macho assholes" most of them seem to have some sort of superiority complex, for the most part I have always given them the benefit of the doubt that they were "doing their jobs" BUT it has in fact gotten worse over the last 20 years or so