A Positive Look at Cops.

reply to post by intrepid


The problem with trying make a "cops are good thread" is that it's a subject that incites passion. Some people have had really terrible, life altering experiences with the police. Feelings of intense powerlessness and frustration, and then lasting, real life hardships have gone along with these incidents. The simple fact is that not that many people had their lives saved by the police, although it certainly does occur sometimes. But a lot of people have had bad run ins with cops. Perhaps it isn't really fair but it's the truth.

Glorify a Cop for how well they do their job, NOT for the job that they do.
I have family that are police.

One of them is my cousin who is more like a brother to me. While I can say on occasion hes been pretty stand up, I have to admit he's more often than not an ass hat. He tends to look down on everyone with a sense of disdain, and literally everyone in his eyes are nothing but trash.

I have seen him find a purse and instead of calling the person it belonged to, who's ID was inside, he took the money without a second thought and tossed the purse in the trash. His excuse for this when I asked was "she's probably a crack whore anyway." Thats just one thing among many.

He never misses a chance to tell someone hes a cop, and he uses his uniform in an attempt to intimidate others, especially women. He walks around the mall where he would be hired for additional security as (free lance job which is common) but attempts to pick up women using the fact hes a cop as clout.

I having worked directly with the whole department on a number of occasions have witnessed similar behavior from allof them. A superiority complex thats unbalanced to the relatively small amount of power they actually have. ONLY ONE cop on that force was what I would consider a poster child for how cops should behave. And wouldnt you know it, he's no longer a cop there.

Sometimes, I would see these guys handle a situation in my area of operation and they would handle it well. In which case "good jobs guys". However, just going to work in the morning doesnt get you pat on the back.

Cops are not the only ones who place themselves in danger voluntarily, and more often than not I notice cops endangering themselves ironically enough.

I was formerly a corrections officer, so I can attest to one thing for a fact. When you are in a clicque of fellow employees, and everyone else "out there" is considered dangerous, you become very cynical about everyone. You infact tend to look at everyone even those not locked up as just more trash that needs to be locked up. You hang around the worst that humanity has to offer, if you deal with it enough, that will become your new reality sad to say but true. So in a way Im not surprised that cops behave the way they do, this doesnt really excuse it though.


I'm ranting now, wth.

Total immunity.

I've tried doing posts like this often., but just as fast as I start em, they get torn apart by the trolltards on ATS
hopefully yours stays up running a while...

reply to post by semperfortis


Well said Semps. Same deal. Left the job after 26 years. (No pension). Got to the stage where you, (Police Officer) couldn't do a thing right. It aint Hill Street Blues.

intrepid

Viesczy

intrepid
reply to post by thepolish1

 

You have a problem with an even playing field? These guys are shat on daily here. One thread to show the humanity of cops is too much?

Then maybe move the thread from the board set up about police beating people down.

The icon for this board is a cop beating someone down, why would anyone expect there to be anything positive about cops on this board?



Derek

I'm an innovator man. Maybe we can get this forum from, "Screw all police" to where it should be.

And you're the Super Moderator. Sigh

alfa1

Total immunity.

I like what you did there so I tried it

LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!!

OVER 24 Million!!!! WOW


NOW 46 Million


WOW

reply to post by semperfortis


Crikey!!! Semps. !!! True. Too true, Bally.

reply to post by bally001


LMAO

Haters gonna hate

Reasoning with a hater is like beating the ocean.. It may release some tension, but it does absolutely nothing

reply to post by thepolish1


I will be participating in "shop with a cop" in my city in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to see the smile on the children's faces!

reply to post by intrepid


I don't hate groups of people.

Why not let there be harsher punishments for people who are in positions of public trust; who work for government?

They should be meted at least twice the recommended bail and jail time than regular people.

reject
reply to post by intrepid

 

I don't hate groups of people.

Why not let there be harsher punishments for people who are in positions of public trust; who work for government?

They should be meted at least twice the recommended bail and jail time than regular people.

this solves 1 injustice with another.

The problem as I see it is the feeling of being "above the law". A cop can typically break some laws and have it swept under the rug. We have all seen it in the news before. The cop who raped the girl that is on ATS right now...it was reported previously on him and ignored when she got cold feet. It is almost like police are just "a little more equal" than the rest of us.

Thus, I am not sure it would be just if you were to make them just "a little less equal". Instead, why not hire police officers who are highly capable?

Police departments are well known for not hiring really smart or capable people because, psychologically, they "burn out" sooner. The time/money invested in training is lost sooner as the officer becomes disillusioned with how boring and mundane the job can actually be.

Jordan, a 49-year-old college graduate, took the exam in 1996 and scored 33 points, the equivalent of an IQ of 125. But New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work and leave soon after undergoing costly training.

Most Cops Just Above Normal The average score nationally for police officers is 21 to 22, the equivalent of an IQ of 104, or just a little above average.

The U.S. District Court found that New London had “shown a rational basis for the policy.” In a ruling dated Aug. 23, the 2nd Circuit agreed. The court said the policy might be unwise but was a rational way to reduce job turnover.

reason.com...


i debated this issue with a few local cops ("local"....from a neighboring town) on another forum. They defended this by pointing out the costs of attrition. I totally get attrition costs..but assert that we aren't talking about cashier positions.

I still feel that way. I really don't think we need the wide majority of laws. Consequently, I think we need far, far less police officers to enforce those fewer laws. If i am to be burdened with unnecessary laws enforced by far too many policemen....can I at least get officers hired who are not targeted for being "just above average"?

reply to post by semperfortis


OK, I lol'd for real.

ETA: Something like a second

or third line

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...

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Why would my suggestion be an injustice?

In fact, it barely evens out the playing field because being "insiders" of the system does give you advantages whether we accept it or not.

That's just human nature.

Such a provision in the law would deter those already in power and would make aspirants think twice if they know they have inclinations that would get them in trouble.

Do you really think intelligence precludes committing something immoral?

fewer cops?

reply to post by reject


As a police officer I can agree with this. If an officer commits a legit crime they should be punished more then normal. I really don't see anything wrong with that.

People aren't being realistic at all. The abuse of power happens maybe 1% at most of the time. Not even that. The rest of the time there's nothing. And I'd suspect a good 50% of the time they could be caught doing "good deeds" on camera. But good news doesn't sell very well. And there's no "action" happening when a good deed is going on. So it' not caught on camera as much. I think cops get a bad rap. I think they're hard working honest good people. Without them we wouldn't have civil society. We'd have chaos. But there not that different than any other industry. Look at bankers on wal street stealing all that money. Or politicians, or dr's, or lawyers, or anyone. They all make mistakes too, and sometimes purposefully. Some stupid dr makes a mistake and that too could end a persons life or harm them for life. It happens all the time. But everyone just points the finger at cops? That's getting old fast, because we have to look at the big picture and the reality is it's less than 1% of the time maybe less than 1/10 of 1% that they end up getting aggressive. But it's a stressful challenging job. And often they have to be aggressive or they could end up dead. So sometimes the innocent civilian gets the harm that should have went to a real criminal. Well it happens, that's life. And ya there are some bad cops. But that's the same in any occupation. And what happens is as they continue to be irresponsible over and over eventually they're found out, fired, or worse. You can't be abusing power forever, eventually they get caught. And they could lose there job for it. So they have that to keep them in check. But come on they're not that bad. The alternative to not having them is far worse most likely. I'm not sure people would be able to learn to easily just govern themselves.

Liquesence
reply to post by intrepid

 

Responding to a call is doing his job, yes.

It doesn't matter what the call is, whether saving the innocent from a robber, or busting a suspected pot smoker, wouldn't make it a "positive look."

When I hear statements like this I know that people have absolutely no idea what a LEO goes through.

I am grateful for this thread, because I truly believe that every civilian should have to go through a 2 month ride-a-long with a law enforcement officer from a major metro area.

I can guarantee they will have a whole new respect for the job LEO's have to do.

Although a LEO chooses his, or her career, Let me tell convey a few things that I dealt with when I was in law enforcement, that was far beyond a normal scope of work.


1) Transporting prisoners that urinated and defected in the car while in transport ( And guess who sometimes got to clean it up?)

2) Routine traffic stops that produced dangerous felons that had no sense of reality

3) Domestic violence calls that sometimes ended in horrible situations for everyone involved.

4) Dealing with some of the absolute lowest form of life on this planet, because no one else wants to, and because it is/was our job.

5) Making valid arrests and getting personally sued for no other reason than to muddy the waters, costing tax payers money.

6) Having drunks puke in the back of the patrol car while in transport

7) Having to deal with news reporters at a crime scene

8) Semper covered this, but informing family members of the death of a loved one. (Absolute worst)

9) Dealing with individuals that were under the influence of drugs/and or alcohol not knowing what the situation would end in.

10) Having to respond to an accident or crime scene only to find out it's a friend, family member or someone close to you.

11) Gang fights that would break out and we didn't have enough support to suppress that violence.

What most people don't know is the daily negativity a police officer goes through. I think that LEO's should get 2 to 3 months a year off just like teachers to recharge, because there is a great chance for burn out, and/ or having to deal with mental issues that build up.

If people here on ATS think they have mental issues, problems, or a bad life I would highly recommend that they see if their local police allow for ride alongs, or better yet see if they have a reserve police force and try that for a couple of years. Your mindset will change considerably.


Until you have walked in someones shoes, don't judge them to harshly.


Peace,

RT

semperfortis
reply to post by intrepid

 

While some of my time was taken up by public beating, money laundering and accepting bribes..

Is this for real?

reply to post by reject


DEAR LORD

sar·casm
ˈsärˌkazəm/
noun
noun: sarcasm; plural noun: sarcasms

1.
the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.