Poll Question: Do you like police officers?

Please explain your stance.

I don't like someone because they're a police officer and I certainly don't dislike them if they are.

“To generalize is to be an idiot.”

William Blake
(English visionary Mystic, Poet, Painter and Engraver. 1757-1827)

Any job or profession is like this.

I think you've figured it out.

That's stereotyping... and you should know better.


Saying "I like all police officers" or "I dislike all police officers" are equally retarded statements.

that most if not all officers have, we could treat them as a group and not individuals.


Lets say that it is determined statistically that police officers have a higher rate of personality disorders. Or there could be a positive trait.

By leaving out that qualifier word, the only non-stereotyping answer to your poll is "it depends".

However, I'm not sure how to revise the questions.

It's probably too late.

Link please. Because cops come in all genders/races/cultures/religious/size etc.

Do you have some issue with this thread or something?

Because you seem to be on the prowl.

What if cops had antenna growing out of their head?

I mean, really......

i would be very careful about "determining certain traits" and using that to try and quantify a group.

that line of thinking/argument is not so much a slippery slope as a shear cliff.

Certain groups of people have common characteristics. As someone has already said, the Nazis carried a common trait.

There may be something about the job associated with being a police officer that attracts a certain type of personality.

Cops have rights in a situation whether legal or illegal I do not have.

Just saying.

I can walk away from a normal person who is a jerk, I cannot walk away from a cop who is a jerk.

Groups of people by their chosen professions DO share commonalities. Common personality traits, common indoctrination, common ways of socialization etc.

Don't be ridiculous. All Nazi's are people too! Good and bad Nazi's because ALL Nazi's are INDIVIDUALS! Do you see the idiocy if you apply the limit theorem?

The way I look at it is this if you have 'good' cops and 'bad' cops and the 'good' cops aren't working to weed the bad cops out of their departments then the good cops are part of the problem and not the solution. Therefore, though I'm sure there are many conscientious cops out there, I dislike them all until they get their respective houses in order. At that time I reserve the right to change how I feel about cops in general.

'nuf said

I'm trying to see how you guys justify your positions.

who trust the police? Blindly? :shrug:

I can understand that.

I've had a fairly mixed experience with officers.

You really don't see the benefit of the police?

I'm guessing that you like things that are against the law like a little pot now and again or you like to maybe drink and then drive. But whatever it is you are afraid of the police for a reason.

I have broken the law. But I am not afraid of police officers.

please enlighten me as to why you can't get your head around the police / citizen thing. Judges are citizens so are teachers and bosses. They all have the power to fuck our lives up. do you have a prob with any of those groups?

Officers may not be the source of the problem, but I find it increasingly hard to not dislike them.

I keep reading about old ladies in wheelchairs getting tasered to death. It kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

But what really disturbs me are officers that cover up for their buddies.


Not to long ago, I watched a large group of deputies go on television and throw their support behind Sheriff Joe. I use to think that it was just the leadership that sucked. Now I'm not so sure.

then you will have also heard stories of officers risking their lives to save others or taking on bank robbers or gang members. But let me guess thoses stories don't give you the image of officers you want so u endlessly dwell on the negative ones. Next time an intruder is in your home will you call the police or not? Maybe one of those rotten cops will come out and taze you and let the robber steal all your stuff.

They signed up for the job. I consider catching bank robbers and gang members part of their job. When they do that, they are doing what they are suppose to do.


That doesn't offset their wrong doings.

I am not attempting to say that all police officers are bad. I know a few and they are all nice people. But there are a lot of bad ones out there and the good ones are suspiciously quiet about all the "unfortunate" events taking place.

No one is saying you have to bow down, just maybe appreciate them a little. I know they signed up for it but it still takes bravery to take on gang members. You probably admire the skill of surgeons but they signed up for their jobs too. By they way you will use the police to protect you when necessary yes? yes?
you seem like a guy who feels powerless in front of authority and thats why you begrudge them. I on the other hand see them as what they are public servant paid to protect my interests. if that trust is violated I hope that the appropiate action is taken.

difficult to appreciate law enforcement all the time. There have been so many incidences of abuse that it has become ridiculous. Now, instead of getting angry with me just think about the abuses we all know of starting with the beating of Rodney King. Remember the guy with no legs being tased just the other day.

You have no idea of the percentage of good done throught that day versus bad. You do remember that king was high on PCD at the time right and was very dangerous. To paint all police with the same brush is so shortsighted. Do you not trust the red cross because of scam charities. To to take each case as an individual. When you hear of a hero cop you u assume all cops are heroes? No so why do the reverse.

You've got to be shitting, right?

I'm just saying that policing is a job you couldn't get me withing a thousand feet of. an dealing with crackheads would be very scary day in and day out.

Unfortunately, it seems as though many others like you have not had the same revelation.

They have a very important job. With great power comes great responsibility.

Supply these things and provide a civilian oversight board with real authority and community involvement, and you're well on your way to having effective law enforcement. Finger-pointing at police officers may identify the problem, but it's nothing but unfocused whining if it's not supplemented by proposals to solve the problem.

They are plenty compensated.

wasn't plenty compensated. Some may be. The average is more like $45,000, and that is not a starter pay obviously. It all depends on the town and what is readily available. And if you ask me, $45 grand isn't enough for a dangerous job. It ranges very much depending on the town. Actually, my brother got paid much less. And he worked in a town that was per capita in the top ten for the most crime in the nation.

was NO justification for the beating, none.

No one is saying law enforcement never does anything good. We all know there are good cops and bad cops.

BUT, they will not police their own. Anyone that has been around law enforcement knows they will protect their brother and turn their head. Now that is a a fact.

Police need to re-earn their respect. The country is going through a tough time right now. People are suffering and the police need to grow a sense of compassion. Keep that fucking taser in your belt! Don't be so quick to swing that stick.

We all see that justice in this nation is not applied equally. This is why the nation was so abused by white collar crime that it has nearly taken the country down.

I don't want to report this because I hate doing that. Using insults like that only makes you look like a fool.


I appreciate individual acts by them. I do not appreciate the police force. Their primary objective is to enforce the law. Protecting us comes as a benefit. And unfortunately, it seems as though they often overlook the necessity of protection and instead try to find any excuse possible to assert their authority.

I have already used the police to protect myself. I've seen them come in and protect my mom because my dad was beating the shit out of her. I know what they do.


Like I said, I do not fear the police. I have had many encounters with police officers. Some were extremely positive, while others were kind of shitty. But I am always extremely nice to them just as I am nice to any stranger.


"if that trust is violated I hope that the appropiate action is taken."


The problem is that the "appropriate action" is rarely ever taken.

If you don't appreciate the police force can you tell me what system you would like to have that enforces laws.
By the way, calling your reasoning stupidity is not a personal insult just my evaluation of it. Don't be so thin skinned.

Did you forget about that?

You clearly don't know much about me. You haven't even bothered to read this thread. I have already said that I cannot make up my mind. That was the entire purpose of thread. I was attempting to analyze peoples positions and justification for said positions.

Freepers around here.

Some might even say it's ridiculously hard.

A boy hit me from behind yesterday and I was impressed with the police officer's ability and efficiency to making sure we were taken care of (physically first and foremost, and dealing with the legal entanglements to follow ) and getting our vehicles out of the way. Hell they even gave me a ride home

Yeah there are assholes who are drawn to it because they want to have power over people but They are needed in society even though anarchism is sexy it just is not practical.

I don't think you'll have much of a problem deciphering how you feel about them -- as a broad group of professionals -- then.

And the police have helped under both occasions.

Anything else you'd like to assume?

Noting - other than traffic violations, I have never run against the law.

A lot are a**holes, but a few have cut me some slack when I was young and stupid.

I'm glad to see them when I am in a potentially dicey area.

:spray:

What laws do they enforce and how do they treat the public.

An asshole who spends his time writing tickets for non-dangerous traffic infractions (ie going 10 over the limit. Other infractions like running a red light or DWI are more serious) or going after pot smokers, no I don't like him.

The ones who treat the public with respect to the point where they feel comfortable giving him/her info and asking for help, and who spends his time going after the 0.2% of the nation that commits half the violent crimes (a tiny minority of the nation commits most of the serious offenses)? Yeah, I like and respect him.

I understand your point about cops going after minor things, and they do have some leeway there, but where do you draw the line? Okay 10mph over is probably worth a warning, but what about 15? Or perhaps the laws should reflect such common sense matters (raise the speed limit 10mph where appropriate and then ticket everyone, perhaps).

As for the pot thing, well I believe it should be legal but I also think it's OUR fault that it isn't (meaning We the People). Other countries managed to figure it out and decriminalize or essentially legalize it, why not us?

But as long as the laws are on the books, you really can't blame the police for enforcing them. That's what they get paid for. And maybe you don't like it that they go after people with a little weed, but what about giving that slightly drunk driver a pass cause he was a nice guy? Is that cool? Or, letting the kids get away with stealing your radio out of your car because "kids will be kids".

I'm just sayin..there's a lot of subjectivity there and I honestly think the biggest issue that make people hate cops is the fact that there are a lot of idiotic laws out there they are supposed to be enforcing.

Jerk cops, on the other hand, are an entirely different story. Not cool, and if you have to deal with one (or a pair) I'd say get through the incident as smoothly as you can and then raise hell with their bosses and whatever local government agency is in charge of them.

I've never gotten this mentality. Does driving 10 miles over the limit make you less likely to be pulled that driving but if the limit was 75 instead of 65 then that is what would be posted.

It's not that I can fault folks for speeding as much as I wonder why they complain when they get pulled.

Otherwise, I've got no use for them.

....the number of times I've been 'saved' by an officer pales in comparison to the number of times I've been 'hassled' by them....

....I know they do a dirty, thankless job that somebody has to do....but in general, their strong 'us against the civilians' militaristic mentality causes me not to be too fond of them....

By and large, however, my interactions with police and other law enforcement (excluding the Border Patrol, which is 95% dickheads IME) hae been mostly positive...

doing the job what they do, but I also don't tend to trust most of them or feel comfortable around them.

not many actually expose themselves to much risk. in any interaction with the police, the citizen is bearing more risk than the officer. it's just that the officer has more such interactions. a cop that takes a bullet in the line of duty is a hero. a cop who shoots or tazes an innocent person in haste to save their own asses is a fucking cowardly piece of shit to me.

It is a very unpredictable job. You never know what the next call will be. I am sure it all depends on the town in which a cop resides, but the next call could be a burglary, rape, car accident, murder, a loose dog in the streets, etc.

And it shows

Still, they are all responsible when they cover for one another.
Until the infamous blue wall is broken, there is good reason to mistrust them as a whole.

My friend's dad is with the LAPD Rampart Division. He's extremely kind, brave, and works hard to support his family.

Your friend's dad must be a special kind of angel to maintain his loveliness while working for Rampart Division among the rampant corruption & abuse of power. O8)

The time line of the Rampart scandal time line:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/scandal/cron.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAPD_Rampart_Division


In the 1070's, our next door neighbor's brother worked in the rampart division. My mother was a seamstress and he had her sew a "secret pocket" in his uniform for his "throw-away" gun.

I've known him since preschool and his dad is a good man. He never had a "throw-away" gun, he never fabricated evidence, or lied about anything. We were in junior high when the scandal broke and my friend was attacked more than once because of where his dad works.

Before working with the LAPD, he worked for the Detroit police. He's an incredibly brave man.

I mean you may like him, but you are not on patrol with him 24-7.

I know a cop who used to look the other way while I bought dope in the "Rampart division" and he is still driving a cruiser (and looking the other way).

...and if I didn't have a med-card, I'd still be buying from my homey in "Rampart". I still come over to smoke out on occasion though, for old times sake.

It's not just because I like the guy. It's a long story. One which is far too complicated to tell. Sure, there are others in his division who look the other way, but not all do.

He blew the whistle on how some of his co-workers were handling drug evidence.
Then after receiving death threats against him and his family,
he picked up and moved to the other coast

Real nice guys over there.

but I tend to stereotype small town cops and not in a good way. I have known several personally and they were all dumb and on power trips. It is stupid on my part as I am sure there are many descent well grounded small town police officers.

I love them when they treat citizens with dignity, enforce laws that keep the psychopaths from terrorizing the rest of us, follow their own laws, hold integrity above fraternity, etc. Unfortunately most of what I've seen is cops doing whatever the hell they want, treating innocent and mild offenders like "the enemy", patrolling rich neighborhoods and neglecting poor ones, flying around in helicopters at 2:00 in the morning just for fun, spending 90% of their time bringing in "revenues" for the state, etc.

Cops give cops a bad name.

Must be in a big city

Our downtown has one 1/2 of a skyscraper and maybe 6 bars. They fly around every night shining spotlights on people's porches and waking everyone up in the middle of the night to let us know that they're watching us. Around and around in circles for hours on end. Probably costs the tax payers about 30 grand a night.

I could be wrong, but I have never seen one around. I assumed only a large town would own a helicopter. Not the first or last thing I was wrong about.

all night every night. What a waste.

But they didn't like me first.

I had to learn not to like them.

I don't know if I could do it.

I've met good ones and bad ones. I won't judge them as group, no more then I would any other profession.

My future son-in-law would like to be an officer in a small town here. He's the nicest kid you'd ever want to meet, he has a strong sense of fairness, compassion and perspective. He'd make a great officer, I think.

A couple of months ago my husband bumped a car parked on our street as he was backing out of the drive. We wrote a note to the owner and left it on her windshield with our name, telephone and our insurance policy # and information. The lady's insurance company requested a police report, so a couple of days later a young officer showed up at our door and took the report. That guy must have thanked us, like, 6 or 7 times for leaving the note and doing the right thing, and I thought about what his job must be like every day. Pulling drunken bastards who shouldn't even be walking, let alone driving out of their cars, knocking on doors where some guys knuckles are still red from beating his wife, going on child neglect calls and finding scared, dirty children with no food in the fridge but all the beer they can drink and pot they can smoke.... the animal cruelty calls...

I got to thinking that yeah, it's probably kind of novel to go on a call and find people doing the things they're supposed to do. That's really my only worry if my son-in-law does become a cop - that all of that would eventually get to him. He's a generally optimistic and happy person, and I'd hate to see the world beat that out of him.

as to how long one can serve as an officer then?

we would like you to train for this occupation, serve with professionalism and then after x short amount of years we are going to thank you sincerely and then kick you to the curb?

Why would anyone want to apply for that job? Everybody knows why politicians do it. They get big fat consultant, speaking and lobbyist fees after they leave office - plus power, influence and enough money under the table to buy their very own Pacific Island.

I think the answer to the difficulties some areas have with police is to make it a nationwide requirement that all law enforcement officers should have at least a two-year degree. The world has become too complex a place to send people out to enforce it's laws armed only with a high-school diploma and couple months of orientation. It's not fair to the officers and it's not fair to the public they serve.

Once upon a time we let 17 year-old girls teach high school and women with a 7th grade education held jobs as nurses. Eventually we made the decision that these jobs were just too important to leave to those with so little training. I think that time has come with our law enforcement agencies.

is it not better to have the best people, a lot of bright and capable people work in law enforcement who never attended a day of college, but have vast experience from life, the military or private industry..

we would like you to train for this occupation, serve with professionalism and then after x short amount of years we are going to thank you sincerely and then kick you to the curb?

Why would anyone want to apply for that job? Everybody knows why politicians do it. They get big fat consultant, speaking and lobbyist fees after they leave office - plus power, influence and enough money under the table to buy their very own Pacific Island.

I think the answer to the difficulties some areas have with police is to make it a nationwide requirement that all law enforcement officers should have at least a two-year degree. The world has become too complex a place to send people out to enforce it's laws armed only with a high-school diploma and couple months of orientation. It's not fair to the officers and it's not fair to the public they serve.

Once upon a time we let 17 year-old girls teach high school and women with a 7th grade education held jobs as nurses. Eventually we made the decision that these jobs were just too important to leave to those with so little training. I think that time has come with our law enforcement agencies.

The city uses them as tax collectors... tickets and fines for mickey mouse parking and traffic violations. They seem to pursue these "scofflaws" with great energy, bravery and vigor.

But wait til you're a crime victim. Example... your car is broken into and/or vandalized. They show up three hours after you call them and then try to persuade you not to report it. My guess is they get stuck doing paperwork and there's no money for the city OR for the cops.

Also reporting actual crime makes Bloomberg's stats look bad.

Then again, it was probably safer for all concerned that they do it. It was my passenger side front tire, I was in the leftmost lane, and there was way too much traffic when the tire blew out for me to get over to the right shoulder. It was a very, very narrow left shoulder, too. (Not sure if they've improved the road much since 2003 when this happened, but my tire blew out as we were going over some *very* nasty rough road.)

I was also wearing a very nice dress, but I was getting the jack and spare out of the trunk when the officers pulled in behind me.

I suppose there are some who aren't assholes.

were the last people I wanted to see.
The police, as a rule, could not be trusted to assist a person in need.
In Mexico City, the police stole my back pack.
In Chiapas, the police stopped my bus, made the driver open the luggage compartment and proceeded to raid its contents, stealing my overnight bag.

In Russia, the police were complicit in two public beatings of Central Asians by skinheads. They laughed, smoked cigarettes, did absolutely nothing to help.
The Russians who wanted to help these people were too afraid to even assist them to a clinic waited until both the skinheads and the police were gone.
One evening I saw a man laid out on the side walk with a bloody head.
Some police walked by without saying a word to him.
When passing a Russian police officer, I knew to be completely silent.
If they heard my accent, they would be tempted to do a document search which always resulted in a bribe.
If a Russian officer salutes you, that means you are placed under arrest and must submit to questioning and document searches.
And there is always something wrong with your documents.
I paid about ten bribes while living there.

In the Unites States, if I need help I can trust the police.
Its a very general thing, but for the most part I think the cops here intend to serve and protect the people.

So long as he respect's the laws that he's charged with enforcing, and interested in promoting peace and order instead of provoking conflict with citizens, he's A-OK in my book.

I've got friends and relatives who are cops, and the majority of my encounters with other cops have gone smoothly, so I'm not automatically prejudiced against them. Corrupt cops should rot in jail for decades, however. Breaking the laws that you swore to enforce is always as bad as treason, IMO.

... and you can sure tell the assholes from the heros. JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!

with various law enforcement officials, I can honestly say that only two treated me fairly, honestly, and did not try to trick me into 'slipping up'. I do not trust them, and try to stay as far away from them as possible.

Do you mean getting you to admit to something you had done or adding something you hadn't?

it doesn't matter if the citizen did anything, it's the cops job to find out if a crime was committed and arrest or cite you. sadly, too many straights and squares have no idea what it is like to be suspicious looking and thus always given a little extra attention by the police. there are lots of people who "have nothing to hide" who have no opinion or just love cops. conversely, any pot smoker, hippie, goth, punk, black, hispanic...anybody not "normal" is familiar with the enhanced interrogation us freaks get. their MO is to get you to give them info to bust you.

Trying to get folks to give up information on crimes committed is a bad thing?

Would you prefer the direct approach? "Sir, have you committed and felonies and/or misdemeanors in the last 24 hours? No? Have a good day"

PS. Do people still call each other squares?

when there is no evidence of a crime.

funny thing is, i've had cops ask me: "is there anything i need to know about in your car?" i tell them no, but they still feel the need to look for themselves. i've been right more often than they have, and i resent the invasion. i prefer that if i'm motoring down the road, not speeding or doing anything illegal that the police leave me the fuck alone and not pull me over for bullshit things they have no intention on even charging me with as a reason to stick their snout inside my car window.

i call people squares when it applies. anybody who has never had an unpleasant experience with law enforcement, stands a very good chance of being square. squares are also people who are invisible to police, hence their positive opinion of them. squares don't get pulled over and questioned because they don't have a front license plate. i envy them at times.

Now, accountants.... them's good eatin'

Cops are a breed like none other. They usually hang with other cops because they can relate to one another.

I was raised back in the olden days that the police officer was my friend. A person I could trust. But I've heard enough stories to sicken me from my cousin, the Detroit cop, and my ex, the suburban cop, along with all the others who've passed through my house, at parties and get-togethers.

My ex is a Democrat. I believe he was a good cop (retired). I never heard him speak of, nor did I ever hear others speak of him violating anyone's rights, slamming a 'perp's' hands or knocking their heads in car doors - or anything like that - things that some actually joked about.

But since the Internet, reading the terrible things that some do; the violent over-use of the taser gun, to the way they've treated Peace-loving protesters, and the DUI check-points - I had to answer 'other'. I advise my 20 year old son to be careful and made him watch the ACLU videos.

My ex use to tell me some cops have 'hard-ons' against people and you have to be careful that you might run into them.

Yet, there is also another side of the story. They witness too much senseless brutality & heartache; and once in a while pure joy.

I think I'll end this remembering me being 6 months pregnant, and the ex coming home after he delivered his first baby. He was on cloud nine. And, the parents named the baby after the ex. Little baby 'ex' is probably older than me now! :)

I think it's because of the paramilitary nature of their work.

I have known a lot of cops who were really great people.

But I have also seen cops who manage to abuse their little bit of power to really mess up other people's lives.

The ones I know personally, I consider friends.

Of them, they all signed up for the job because they want to help their community, and despite the unpleasantness.

Then maybe they would appreciate the Police a little bit more.

i'm a pot smoker, not a fucking criminal. how about YOU work with US to change the laws so they quit busting otherwise law-abiding citizens? do that and millions of people's opinion of cops will change. as long as they are out to put me in jail, they are the enemy . nearly every time i've had a problem with the police, it's because they are on the hunt for drugs. and most often, they have been wrong. i could tell several anecdotes of cops trying to bust me thinking i had "something". so yeah, i suppose you have a point, cops are wonderful protectors of our freedom. thank GOD we have them to protect us from thieves, murderers, and rapists and ourselves. not to mention the real public menanaces: tinted windows, missing front license plates. i should really be thankful for the time i called for an AMBULANCE to help a suicidal girl, i was instead confronted by a gang of armed thugs who wanted to know what was behind a locked door. i live across from a cop, several actually, one greets his cop buddies who come visit by yelling "hey FAGGOT!". i bet the gay community feels so much safer knowing they have great people like him looking out for them. have you ever been pulled over and illegally searched because you had studded snow tires? i have. ever been illegally searched because you had an industrial filter sitting on your car seat? i have. ever been illegally searched because of an untreated case of pink eye? i've been there. harassed because your one of a kind custom car "fit a description"? i got that t-shirt too. i've been questioned because i noticed my burned out headlight and immediately stopped to fix it before i got pulled over! i'm sick and tired of being an honest tax paying person who has to always be in fear of some jerk in a uniform.

fuck your black and white right wing authoritarian bullshit thinking.

and to the good cops: you guys are alright. but your buddies ruin it for you all.

It isn't the "right wing" people who are the reason pot is illegal because all of the liberals in office aren't doing anything about it either.

i said right wing authoritarians. there is a huge difference, learn it and you'll learn much.

"us" being what many LEOs refer to as "jagoff citizens."

they are trained to look at you as a piece of shit rather than a human being.

they don't make the laws. However, I do question just what kind of personality it takes to want to be a cop, maybe a bit of a power trip is involved.

Case in point: Yesterday I was hit from behind by a teenager , neither us knew what to do. The police were the first to respond they made sure we were all right , moved the vehicles from the road and got traffic moving again and were a non biased intermediary in getting our civil (insurance )stuff together.I even got a ride home from them.

Way back when i was a teenager (i am now 23 ) I thought anarchism was sexy but if we lived in a society with out people like cops they would still be in a collective or consulta meeting about whether or not and if so how to move the vehicles (any one seen Life of Brian)


Yes there are some who were attracted to the job so they could have power over every one but most are everyday people who help to make society flow

I've known good people who were police and bad people who were police.

I do know they serve a purpose in our society and as a general rule I wouldn't want to live in a world without them. However, there are some I've met who should seek a different profession.

When I read these stories on DU about some US cops though, I find it almost beyond belief.

Charles Bukowski

which means I like some and I don't like some. It depends on the individual and how they treat people.

Hired to do the shit work -- an impossible job -- mostly either implementing the phony "drug war" or catching and incarcerating people of color to protect the white folks...

They're mostly PTSD -- and armed -- and therefore extremely dangerous...

And overpaid...

I met a cop in NYC. He was new to the force. His starting pay was $23,000 for the year. CAn you even live on that in NYC? That is low for MS and our costs are way lower than NYC.

They handle stress I would not ever want to deal with on a day to day basis. Some cops just suck and should be fired, just like any other profession. I hate politicans far more than I hate cops.

No one likes to get pulled over and/or given a ticket, but they have a job to do and 99% do it well. However, the nature of the work and and does attract people who use it as an opportunity to bully others. It's up to departments' leadership to weed those people out. But overall, it's good work and many jurisdictions provide good salaries and benefits and would love for my son to go to work for SFPD one day.

x(

Sometimes, I really respect them, and sometimes, I really hate them. I won't go into too many details, it's rather complicated.

Suffice it to say that I believe there are many good police officers, and some that are not so good. The system is what's really wrong though, and police officers are required to serve it and enforce its rules. So, whether or not I love them or hate them, they are my adversary much of the time, so I'm always cautious around them.

the jackass officer who gave me a ticket for a broken headlight (after a 4 hour drive) just because my car has out of state plates? NO.


The hot young officers around here... yes.

I feel for police officers because the pressures are enormous. Beyond the obvious danger inherent in the job, they are also at the mercy of a fat and unregulated court system that is unfair and unforgiving, while demanding unrealistic amounts time and often unfair scrutiny.

That said, there is way too much abuse in our police system. Also, there is a strange set of values. Let's first stop all the murders and physical assaults and home break-ins, then we can move on to the consensual sexual infractions. Officers seem to go right for the consensual sex matters and marijuana busts and public displays of affection and loitering, while letting real crime go unchecked. In my city, you never see police officers except late at night when they are rounding up the drunk drivers. (And you do see much street crime here.)

Perhaps the selective enforcement of law is related to those empowered, financially and otherwise, to influence the system. But the enforcement of the law seems w-a-a-a-a-y too slanted in the direction of encroachment on individual liberties, while ignoring the heinous mortal crimes that occur way too frequently in our country.

And encroachment on individual liberties only creates more stress in a society that is already overwhelmed by stress. Then those stressed out individuals then find themselves confronting the murderers and home intruders who were never rounded up in the first place.

The individual officer's fault? Maybe not. The system's fault? Definitely.

are black and white.

and I call to task those who automatically admire and those who automatically despise. The only true answer is indifference because an individual is an individual and to be on either end of the spectrum is about as ridiculous as saying
Do you like all women
Do you like all blacks
Do you like all Catholics
and so on.

Like our military they do a tough job, and risk their lives or health for the sake of us all.

silly as hating them as a group?


anyway, some I do like, some I don't.

Police officers are human beings...that's it.

of whom were assholes.

most are good some are bad.

All of the policeman I know are fine people.

Anyone who does is a fool in my estimation.

Their busy work and prejudices are a threat to our democracy.

like pulling over a car doing 60 in a 55,
and then spending 25 min. searching it with a dog because the driver (me) has long hair.

or arresting somebody for a murder (me) because they have no real lead,
and the cop takes 2 days to tamper with "evidence" kept in his personal possession
before turning it over to a crime lab.

emergency response system and staff and see how well that contributes to fairness and liberty -- two important aspects of democracy.

Just that having a militia that is above the law and blended with the populace
is a recipe for disaster...and it's showing.

Love the ideal. Most of the workers do a decent job, for all the crap they go through and the shit they get paid.

But the bad ones.... abuse of authority is an immense, nearly unforgiveable moral failing.

I've been in some traffic situations and even a domestic violence incident where the cops were always friendly and helpful. Even the one time I got a speeding ticket, the cop was professional and polite. One of my grandfathers was a policeman, as was one of my best friends, and there are a couple more that I know as more distant acquaintances. They all have/had a dedication to doing their job honorably, and they do put their lives on the line for precious little thanks. So yeah, my overall view is positive, just going by my own experience.

They make me ill with their penis extending speed radar guns who are only out to make your day a miserable one!

:evilgrin:

Disclaimer: I am not pointing any fingers at you or anyone else, save for one generic group that I'm about to rail on, big-time:

I know there's a contingent on DU that hate cops just for the apparent fun of it - or by what they see in the ¢orporate(tm) media... funny, that corporate media... showing only certain images to get a specific reaction out of their audience... I thought people hated that manipulation and tell everyone else that critical thinking is needed?

That's why I can't hate the police for the identical reasons that so many readily hate them. What the news says hardly tells the whole story. Like, what else is new about what the media does and why? Plus, how many on DU ever bother to think of ANY cop's point of view? From their perspective, it's hard enough having to keep the "fight or flight" condition under control when dealing with suspect robbers, muggers, murderers.. it's by no means an easy job and many DUers are indeed programmed by the media they claim to hate. Only when it suits their pet interests. I wholly disagree with that notion.

I saw your poll and responded instantly. I did not, and will not, read through individuals' replies. I've said my piece and I don't need or care to look at names. People are entitled to their opinions and beliefs, based on their own empirical knowledge or knowledge obtained by other means.

:evilgrin:

i can't speak for others, but my opinion of police has developed from real world interactions with them, not from what some MSM outlet told me to think. you stand nose to nose with a cop with an authoritarian power trip and then tell me how great they are. how about THEY walk a mile in MY shoes? you want us to excuse cops when they chose "fight", so WTF is wrong when someone under equal stress chooses "flight"?

perhaps you should do what you suggest in your response yourself. you want us to understand the cops perspective? how about you read the opinions of those on the other side of the police and see where they are coming from before you issue a blanket dismissal of their views? your opinion of " my opinion is right, you are wrong, therefore i'm not even going to hear your side" is not that far off of most authoritarian stormtroopers.

Like any profession.

even been accused of a crime. I have been stopped constantly and detained more then a few times and only because I am a young black man with a BMW.

I think that fact that all the kids from my high school to become cops were in level 4 remedial english is probably a clue to why cops can't be trusted with their tazers.

If it's an officer that I don't know personally, then I tend to distrust them. I am not uncivil, and I do not badmouth or confront them, but I will go FAR out of my way to avoid them. The idea of having a police officer in my house scares me and upsets me. I feel invaded, and I feel that my safety is in jeopardy.

When I was fourteen years old, I had a horrific experience that has scarred me for life. I was the babysitter for some nice people (I'll call them Bob and Rachael) who lived two streets over in our mobile home park. Bob and Rachael had neighbors who were vicious, evil people. They were the type of religious people who give out Chick tracts instead of candy at Halloween, who stood at the school bus stop and preached hellfire to children trying to get off the bus and go home from school. They had kids that didn't go to school, and also didn't appear to be homeschooled. They were very strict with their kids--they weren't allowed to play with any of the other neighborhood kids, and we ALL saw the parents beat the children with belts right out in the yard more than once. Bob wound up calling Social Services to come investigate the house because he felt that the living situation over next door was abusive, and he also suspected that the kids weren't being educated.

He was right. They had applied to homeschool the kids, but weren't actually teaching them anything but the Bible. Their kids were traumatized, uneducated, and brainwashed. They lost their kids for about a year and a half and were forced to take parenting classes and enroll the kids in a local Christian academy later.

Anyway--because they were evil people, they decided to retaliate. They called CPS on Bob and Rachael, claiming that THEIR kids were abused. CPS investigated and found nothing. Because nothing came of the CPS call, the evil neighbors decided to try harder in their effort to ruin Bob out of revenge. They called the cops, claiming that they had seen Bob and "his teenage babysitter" (a.k.a., me) having sex through the front window of the house. This was absolutely untrue, but it set off a horrific chain of events.

I came home from school and found my mother crying, asking me "Why didn't you tell me?!" I had no idea what she was talking about. Nobody would talk to me. I was forced into a police car with my Mom, and taken to the station downtown to be "interviewed." When I got there, I saw Rachael sitting in the waiting area, crying her eyes out. They swept me past her and into a room with a water fountain, a table, and some chairs. They sent in a female police officer to "interview" me, and she proceeded to ask me the most horrifyingly embarrassing questions ever. I denied it all, of course. Then the bitch got nasty. She said, "If you don't want to admit to this, we have ways of proving it without your help." I said, "What?!" She said, "We can take you to the hospital and the doctors can tell us whether or not you're still a virgin." She said it threateningly, as if *I* had done something wrong.

I was a damned smart kid, but I was terrified. I sure as hell wasn't going to admit to something that wasn't true, but I was also horrified and traumatized at the idea that I could be forced to lay down naked in front of a doctor and have him "examine" me in my private area for such a purpose. To a young teenager who was confused and embarrassed about her changing body, and who had never had a pelvic exam before, that was the most horrific thing I could ever imagine. I was shaking in terror, crying, humiliated. Nobody would tell me ANYTHING about how this happened. She told me that if I didn't confess, that some other little girl would get raped and it would be all MY fault. She told me I'd go to hell. She told me that all my friends at school would think that I was a whore if I didn't admit to it. She yelled at me for HOURS, but I maintained that I had no idea what she was talking about, so she eventually threw up her hands in disgust and walked out of the room. Of course, I was not taken to a doctor. They couldn't do such a thing to me, and they damned well knew it--but *I* didn't.

I found out later about the neighbors being the ones who filed the false report. As I got older, I learned more and more about the process and I found out that such behavior toward a supposed "victim," ESPECIALLY one that was a minor, was absolutely unconscionable. My mother was an uneducated poor woman from a trailer park--she had no idea how to deal with police. She had no idea what our rights were. She had no idea that anything they'd done was wrong. She thought that because they were police, they could do whatever they wanted and we had to sit there and take it.

Well no fucking more. I am still enraged at what happened to me. They took advantage of the fact that we were poor and uneducated, and likely wouldn't know to complain about their behavior. They treated ME like I'd done something terrible, threatened me, humiliated me, traumatized me--a 14 year old girl who was supposed to be a victim! I don't know what they did to Bob, and he was kind enough to never tell me the details, but I'd imagine that it was much worse than what I got. Obviously, I had to stop babysitting for them. They were afraid to hire any other teenagers, and they couldn't afford daycare, so Rachael had to quit her job and stay home. Bob got fired, even though the charges were dropped. They had to move to another state to start all over, because everyone in our community thought that he was a guilty man who'd "gotten away with it." But those SAME people who thought that HE was "guilty," ALSO blamed ME! People called me a whore behind my back. My best friend's Mom made her stop talking to me. It was horrific.

And then the next year, my Dad was murdered and we moved to Virginia. It was only then that I was able to go back to being a somewhat-normal teen, but I was depressed and suicidal over everything that happened to me, and I spent a month in a mental hospital after trying to kill myself when I was 16.

Those evil asshole neighbors were the ones that really started all of it, and they bear most of the blame, but I will never, ever forget the way I was abused by the police officers who were SUPPOSED to be there to protect me. Did I mention that these are the SAME stupid cops who, along with the prosecuting attorney, pled out a man named Rodney Doman for his third DUI? If he'd have gone to jail, he'd have been in prison in June of 1999 instead of a free man who was able to murder my Dad.

No, I will never forgive, never forget, and I damned sure won't ever trust again. I know, intellectually, that there are "good" cops, but I don't think I will ever be able to stop myself from feeling fear, suspicion, and distrust when I am forced to interact with a police officer. This is also why I don't trust CPS. I witnessed how easy it is to use them as a retaliatory weapon against someone who was just trying to protect a couple of innocent kids. I have never told that full story anywhere else before, but I felt like today was a good day to confront it and deal with it. It's damned painful to dredge all of that up, but I am tired of being told that *I* am a bad person because I don't automatically like and trust cops.

In my situation, would YOU?

Never again.

we need more sharing of this sort. i dare the poster a few posts up to tell you that your opinion is based on MSM brainwashing.

i'm sorry to hear that you got involved with the system. thank you for sharing.

It depends on the individual. Some I do like, some get my back up, just like people in any other profession.

Half are good people and half are complete assholes. My next door neighbor is a cool guy, I drink beer with him sometimes and I like having his car parked right next to my house because I'm gone for days on end with work at times. I know a few that are complete idiots though and shouldn't have any authority over the public. I'm boring and law-abiding these days though so my interactions with cops are more when they are off-duty in social settings and they aren't in work mode.

Hoo-boy!