Why Fearing the Police Is Not Irrational

I really like that title, and I kind of like the essay that this gentleman did.

link

I don't think that it applies to all cops (and probably just to U.S. cops), but the sad truth is that it applies to more and more every day. It may not be entirely their fault: after all, many cops these days are ex-soliders, and most of them probably have PTSD.

Still, it's something that we, as citizens, need to be aware of. Unless you live in a small town, LEOs are not your friends, and probably not even then.

And the final question with which you will be faced: "Do you have anything illegal in your possession?" How are you even supposed to know? I certainly do not know all the 70,000 pages of triple column, small font text released in the Federal Register every year let alone all the Local, County and State ordinances currently on the books for which I can be held accountable.

Keep that in mind if you're one of those folks who think that "if i've done nothing wrong, I've got nothing to hide and nothing to fear". You can't really know if you've broken a law because there are simply too many for one to keep track of.

A cop is not your friend.

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


I bet you'll be the first guy to dial 911 when you're in trouble though.

The question is would you feel guilty afterwards?

i live in australia and im terrified of cops they are all racist and ignorant they also profile people so if your not a buisness man or woman and you do something that could be interpreted as violent even just a sudden move you get bashed half to death and spend the rest of the year in jail

reply to post by seabag


Actually, I've been in a situation where I might need one before, and what I did was grab a weapon (and by weapon, I actually mean a large stick as I cut through my yard) and run away because I knew that by the time the cops got there, I could be dead.

I only called the police because I had to have one for the insurance claim. I was lucky enough to grow up in a small town, so I didn't have to fear cops as much as I do nowadays.

On the other hand, at least you insinuated I was just a hypocrite and a bit of a pansy rather than a drug dealer or something.

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


It used to be if your walking down the street and saw 4or 5 guys hanging out on the corner, you crossed the street.

Now if you see 4 or 5 cops, you cross the street.

What ever happened to the cop sitting on a Malt shop stool with a young boy, having a Coke. From the Norman Rockwell painting?

I miss that cop.

reply to post by seabag


Depends on what "trouble" is?

Heart attack, yeah I'll call 911....... for an EMS, not a cop.

Fire? Yeah, 911, please, need a fire truck. Not a cop though.

Someone breaking into my home? No, I have a handgun for that, I'll call for the cleanup.
Mugging? Read above.
Carjacking? Same. It would have to be a pretty dire situation that I would rely on cops.. not because I have something to hide, but their slow response, moronic questioning, and habit to !$@ things up leaves me to believe I can remedy any direct threat against me. I don't need to wait for a guy with a gun to save me if I am a guy with a gun? Right? 911 for fire and ems. Cops for paperwork.

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


The cops have asked me on a number of occassions, Why are you so nervous ? My reply was " Because the chances of being maced, clubed, tasered and shot just went way up ".

reply to post by Tw0Sides


You've got a point. I'm actually as worried about 4 or 5 cops on a corner as I am 4 or 5 random guys. On the other hand, I'm sure there are plenty of minorities reading this going "yeah, that's how it's been for somebody with dark skin since about a billion years ago, so now you know how everybody else feels".

some very brilliant responses guys.


the above cop is a senior officers son aswell.

my fear comes from having 10 of them point their guns at me on what was a normal day up until that point.
I was driving with a friend on my way to film a scene for a video project, just bought cap guns for it, someone called the cops on me because they thought I had real guns, I don't know when, how or why someone would do that, but they did, 15 minutes after we buy them, sitting at a light to turn, we see 2 cop cars fly through the intersection towards the left, I say "man, i'd hate to be the guys they're going after", cause of how fast they were going, we turn and head that direction. this is where they used some straight up police tactics on us. first cop car pulls us over standard, but then out of no where the cops blockade the road in front of us with 3 cop cars, then box us in behind with 3 more, get out of their cars with guns drawn and inch closer and closer, cop on the loudspeaker says to turn off the car, get out of the car, and put our hands on our heads.

at this point, we had NO CLUE why we were being pulled over, we had completely forgotten we even had cap guns or why we were driving in the first place, they were threatening they'd shoot us, no where to go.

when we finally did get arrested, it was like we were just busted for murder, the knee to the neck was vicious just like the handcuffs, what was the worst though was the fact I had just gotten out of surgery 2 weeks before and hadn't full healed, they don't care.

Being a cop is attractive to those whole like to bully people, and it shows. Go to o a wedding you will know which ones the cops are, the sloppy drunk puking in the bathroom who will then drive themselves home. For some reason they get this notion the law doesn't really apply to them and you are a criminal under every circumstance. They are not your friend and they most certainly aren't there to help you. Should you ever find yourself under arrest for any reason say nothing until you have a lawyer present period. You probably shouldn't speak to them on any level without a lawyer but nuisance items like traffic tickets and such it is a bit impractical to call one in.

Originally posted by tetriswoooo
i live in australia and im terrified of cops they are all racist and ignorant they also profile people so if your not a buisness man or woman and you do something that could be interpreted as violent even just a sudden move you get bashed half to death and spend the rest of the year in jail

What the honest hell have you been smoking.
If you even think the AFP or APF are like this, then you sir are a bogan.

Originally posted by randyvs
reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck

 

The cops have asked me on a number of occassions, Why are you so nervous ? My reply was " Because the chances of being maced, clubed, tasered and shot just went way up ".

^OMFG that was AMAZING!

Being a gun guy and having a few pigs in my family, I'm very much aware of their attitude and how they view people. My uncle, who is a funny guy, was also the lead homicide detective for a local dept, and to hear him talk you'd've thought that he and his department was really the Judges from 2000AD! It was that offensive.

I got a lot of free range time because of him and them. I easily shot with them and w/o much concentration but I ran more rounds through my guns than just to qualify, their mindset was Nazi-esque.

I vividly recall being @ their range with Bill (he never went by Billy in front of them), blasting away and I couldn't take their anti liberty mouthes any longer and asked if they knew that they were in America? They all laughed and said that it didn't matter as they were the law. I was LIVID! I pointed out my splits and my groups, asking them if they thought that they'd survive against me in a fight as if I saw them coming and knowing their minds & mouthes that I'd fight before bending to their wills. You know their reply?

That they weren't worried about that because I wasn't the common person, that most folks don't have guns or the training to use the guns, that they could still do what they wanted!

Derek

I think "The Cops", should take parenting courses because when they're not beating on us they are treating us like children.

reply to post by seabag


Dialing 911 to report crimes is a joke in US metropolitan areas. A buddy of mine had his car broken into in St. Paul, MN while volunteering at a school. Cops took 2 hours to show up, told him he was screwed, then left without doing anything. He lost around $5k worth of devices, and he thinks they didn't even file a report. We here in MN supposedly have very high standards of gubmint services too.

I hear that, here in my neck of the woods, it is said to take 20-35 minutes for a police response, but! They are not required to come at all! I have a sign on my door, it says, simply,
We Do not Call 9-11
Nothing in Here is Worth Your Life
Trespassers Will Be Shot
Survivors Will Be Shot Again

I find that this keeps my possessions safe, for now, anyway. We are also armed, and quite ready to defend, with deadly force, anyone who tries anything. We have a law called "Castle Defence Law" here, and we take it seriously.