reply to post by bally001
That is where I am at in my career. I am so tired of the negativity.
I am so tired of driving down the road and getting flicked off. I am so tired of being called a f@#king pig as I get out of my car to use the
restroom. I am tired of my car/house being egged because I park a police vehicle in front of it. I am tired of the negative comments on the internet.
I am so emotionally drained. You can only be called a POS so many times before you start to believe it. It's similar to a husband calling his
attractive wife ugly so many times that she begins to believe it. It is emotional abuse.
I am tired of people saying that I need to do my part to fight corruption. I do my part at policing our agency just like the rest of our officers. We
have had an incident where one of our newer officers was sleeping with a prostitute on duty. We received the complaint, performed the investigation,
arrested and fired the officer before it even hit the media. We took care of business. I am sorry but I live 1400 miles away from Chicago and I can't
do a damn thing about what happens in that city or any other city for that matter. All I can do is speak out against a bad officers actions, which I
do all the time. I am also a member of Oath Keeper (for what it's worth).
I am tired of hearing people say I make too much and I am lucky that I get a free retirement and health care. Well maybe that is true at some
agencies, but not mine ( I work for a medium sized city agency, not small by any means). I mean unless you consider making $39,000 a year pre tax
after 10 years with a degree a lot of money. Oh I also pay 10% into my retirement so it is not free (I know, other people pay more). I have to pay
100% of my health care when I retire and I have no cost of living allowance to help combat inflation. I know most people have it rough today. I just
get tired of people bringing up California and New York officers salaries and benefits. Trust me that is the exception, not the norm. Just a further
note I was hired 10 years ago. Pay and benefits are even worse for new hires.
I am tired of people saying that I shouldn't worry about praise. I can only speak for myself but it is true I didn't take the job for praise. However,
correct me if I am wrong but don't most people perform their jobs better and have a better attitude when they get a little pat on the back every once
in a while? Can anyone in this thread that is not a police officer actually tell me that they don't like receiving a little praise when they do
something right?
I am also tired of people making blanket statements about police officers. The ones that say "one bad apple can ruin the bunch." Well I remember
someone saying in another thread years ago, "last time I checked we're humans not apples." I just don't get how people can demonize all police for the
actions of a few. I can post numerous stories of military members, teachers, priests and even firefighters committing atrocities, yet people don't
have a problem judging the individuals and not the whole when it comes to those careers.
I am also tired of chasing the same people year after year. Hardened criminals who commit robberies, home invasions, burglaries, murder etc, are
rarely ever punished properly by the judicial system. Almost every day I feel like what I am doing is in vain.
I am also tired of people saying "I don't like police because a majority of the time I have had a bad experience with them." Well a majority of the
time I have a bad experience with the public. Does that give me the right to treat everyone I come in contact with like crap? No of course not. So why
does that give you the right to treat me like crap?
It all boils down to my theory as to why (if we truly are) seeing an increase in police corruption/violence/mistakes or whatever.
1. The pay and benefits at most departments nowadays are crap. This is causing good candidates to turn away from the career and thus resulting in a
lesser quality candidate applying for the job. I believe a couple of years ago in New York they had to lessen their hiring requirements and start
accepting people who had been arrested for third degree felonies. Previously if you had a felony you wouldn't be considered. (My friend told me that
this is similar to what is happening in the military now)
2. Good experienced officers that have a heart and conscience and are capable of making good decisions are tired of the constant bashing and
negativity received from the public. Couple that with decreased pay and benefits and they are leaving the career for something else. (Kind of the boat
I am in now)
3. With those good, experienced officers leaving, the departments/offices are left with more inexperienced officers. This causes issues with training.
Since the experienced officers are leaving there are less experienced officers taking on the roles of Field Training Officers (FTO's). We have several
officers in our department that are FTO's when they only have 1 to 2 years of experience themselves. The FTO's are producing new officers that have no
idea what they are doing! They don't know how to make sound decisions. They are screwing up left and right!
IMO I think these are the main reasons as to what is causing (if it truly is happening) an increase in criminal/negative police related incidents.
To end my rant I would like to say that blanket cop bashing does nothing to bridge the gap between the police and the citizens. Both are responsible
for maintaining a positive relationship.
Also here is a couple positive police stories to stay on topic. (53,400,000 to be exact. Choose whichever you like)
www.bing.com...
edit on 5-12-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)
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edit on 5-12-2013 by TorqueyThePig because: (no reason given)