I started thinking about this tonight: and how much I have grown to dislike the police.

Ok, so check this out. I was in a discussion about the cops with a couple of cops. They shared with me that they were trained to do the right thing. But we are talking about young men that have been policemen for just a couple of years.

I would think that a kid that wanted to be a cop would go into that profession with aspirations of doing the right thing, and making a difference. That certainly was the attitude they expressed to me.

I believe that. However, I think that after several years of policing and being exposed to their law enforcement peers that have years more experience, these cops become jaded. They learn the blue code and are scared to death to defy it.

Which while thinking about this I started to wonder if that is the intention. To cause distrust between the police and the citizenry??

And then I started trippin on: Well perhaps that is the plan: "they" want to create a rift between the population and the cops?? So that the cops don't like us and we don't like them.

Wouldn't that make a law enforcement officer hostile towards those he has been sworn to protect?? It kind of provides us with a scenario of "us vs them".

I don't know. What do you think?

The last thing the government want's is for everyone to get along, because then we could unite under common ground and start to have a more active influence of how we're governed.

From small town politics to the geopolitical, perpetual destabilization is a method that is planned and intentional.

I am sure many cops have joined because they thought it was about protecting the widow & the orphan, but they soon realise that it is more about protecting the economic, political and social status quo.

a reply to: GrantedBail

I think its much more simple than some elaborate conspiracy against the people. I just think the police force in general looks to recruit people who lack basic intelligence and have a major napoleon complex... Since that particular personality makes a really good no objections 'yes sir' man.

They want people who will just do what there told, without question. Not people who are deep thinkers and have a social conscious.

a reply to: GrantedBail

Most cops are fine people. The majority of issues with them come from use of force guidelines. We keep loosening those up in the face of dead police, but all it's doing is leading to hurt citizens. Progress is being made with the cameras, though it's coming slowly. The other reforms we need are in how they are fined. When the department is fined the city pays for it, and then takes the money back in taxes. If the police felt it in their pocketbook when they were fined, a lot of this would stop. Additionally, ending asset forfeiture would solve the rest.

When I think about it, much of my anger at the police is directed at their union and their training rather than the people themselves.

reply to: GrantedBail

I think you are mostly correct. It is the system that forces this change.....as a first responder of 25 years....most people are good. Risking one's job for incremental infractions, is a tricky thing.

a reply to: GrantedBail

Just wait till you are walking the street and then BAM! They hit you with their new shock electric weaponds. We live in a different world now.

R

]

originally posted by: Enderdog
reply to: GrantedBail

.....as a first responder of 25 years....most people are good.

Yeah, on the surface, most people are probably good people... You could also say the same thing about 'most' bikies or meth dealers.

Doesn't change the 'not so good' actions they're consciously involved in on a daily basis.

a reply to: GrantedBail

When a cop will shoot me dead for a plant, and get away with it, they are already the enemy.

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa

originally posted by: Enderdog
reply to: GrantedBail

.....as a first responder of 25 years....most people are good.

Yeah, on the surface, most people are probably good people... You could also say the same thing about 'most' bikies or meth dealers.

Doesn't change the 'not so good' actions they're consciously involved in on a daily basis.

OMG I am so glad to see someone else use that similarity. Yes. It is 100% accurate. Bikers cop 100% police attention despite them ever only ever finding a tiny percentage to be involved in something.

Yet they target en masse.

And when the tables are turned, we get told to leave off, the coppers do a good job, it's hard, dangerous, ra ra ra.. well that is the job they applied for.. do it properly I say. or get back to being a milk man.

a reply to: GrantedBail

You overthink what you think about this issue. You have to start at the beginning. The need for the police is directly related to socities' responsibility to protect itself from those that disrespect the contract of that society. Of course, the process can go horribly wrong if TPTB have a tendency to alter the rules of society. (Hitler would be a good example.) But would you not admit that by and large that the basic credo of police in most societies is to protect the citizen and not to force whatever inhumane order that may arise from a police state gone mad?

You completely avoid the part that the average citizen plays in this contract. These days, as amply witnessed within this thread by you and many posts, is evidence of the growing trend for individuals to assert their hatred of authority figures in broad, shotgun terms which are not conducive toward social order. To self-report that "I hate cops," pegs that person as part of the problem, a mindset against the order of humanity...flawed as it might be from both extremes.

a reply to: Aliensun

You obviously have not been "stitched up" by them, yet!

originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: GrantedBail

Most cops are fine people. The majority of issues with them come from use of force guidelines. We keep loosening those up in the face of dead police, but all it's doing is leading to hurt citizens. Progress is being made with the cameras, though it's coming slowly. The other reforms we need are in how they are fined. When the department is fined the city pays for it, and then takes the money back in taxes. If the police felt it in their pocketbook when they were fined, a lot of this would stop. Additionally, ending asset forfeiture would solve the rest.

When I think about it, much of my anger at the police is directed at their union and their training rather than the people themselves.

Wow. The denial is strong in this one.

There's some bad cops out there, but we can't paint all cops with a broad brush. Being a police officer can be extremely stressful at times. They're human and are subject to a lot of verbal, physical attacks and life threatening situations. How many people wake up every morning and wonder if today a criminal will take their life? The day you need the police and their protection or the day they saved your child from harm, is the day "I hate cops talk" will quickly fade away from memory.

As a retired inner-city high school teacher, I was subjected to derogatory comments, vulgarity directed at me, physical confrontations and occasionally breaking up fights in hallways which resulted in minor injuries to me. The daily stress of it all played on me physically and emotionally. I felt like I was a punching bag at times! Yet, as a teaching professional, I had to remain cool, watch every word I said and try to defuse a situation even though some students would continue to be confrontational.

Police were called to our school many times. I've had to witness how some students showed no fear at the site of the police officer. Many acted belligerent and some even got into physical scuffles with the police! Many times the police officer would try to calm the student down, yet the student would make the situation worse.

All I'm saying is sometimes it's easy to blame an entire group instead of laying the blame on the individual. There's bad in every profession.

I tend to lean more toward viewing the police as general laborers.

The government owns the ranch and the police deal with the livestock and build fences that separate spaces and contain the livestock.

The ranch owner and his ranch hands need to maintain a higher standard than they do for the good of the livestock when it comes time to lead them to slaughter.

They don't.

Y'all are in a corral.

Moo.

a reply to: GrantedBail

I have a close friend who is one of the kindest and most giving people I have ever known--relatively soft-spoken, great sense of humor, would give the shirt off of his back, and so on.

He just recently (within the last couple years) went through training and finished it up to be a police officer, and got a job in Modesto, California. That's not the state's most prominent and glamorous town, to say the least, but I have no idea as to the crime stats there.

But in the spirit of your post, I am keeping a close eye on how being a LEO changes him in any way, if it does. He's ex-military (was a helicopter mechanic in 160th SOAR at Fort Campbell), and so his department is even trying to recruit him to be on their tactical teams--the teams that, in my mind, would be the ones to really push someone over the threshold into bad cop territory if there ever was a fast way to get there.

I just think that it's kind of sad that I feel like I have to pay attention to this and watch what's going on. I don't think it's in his nature to be a bad cop, but I understand how it's easy to lose one's self in an organization before you realize what's happening. If he ever did something questionable, it'd tear him up, and that's my biggest fear is that he would become someone he would hate.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that, and I certainly do not hate cops by any stretch--I have multiple LEO friends, my cousin in married to a LEO, my neighbor works as a correctional officer, etc. All of the ones I know are good people and have yet to appear to be changed for the worse because of their jobs, but only time will tell.

Don't hate cops--hate what the bad apples in that job can make good people become, sometimes without them even realizing it until it's too late.

a reply to: GrantedBail

I think that the police academies have a lot to do with pre-conditioning police officers for the "thin blue line" mentality. I live in a small town and you can see the complete difference between the part time officers (the ones who haven't been to academy and have other full time jobs), compared to the full time cops who went to academy and have a few years experience.

Many seem to turn from decent human beings to power tripping bullies. No they haven't shot any innocent citizens or strangled any kids, but just the way they interact with you is depressing - stop you for a minor infraction and speak to you like you are a murder/rapist/felon.

a reply to: GrantedBail

Most people that have problems with the police bring it on themselves. Are there bad cops, sure. Just like there's bad Muslims, Christians, blacks, whites, car salesman, etc. The bad folk don't outnumber the good.

a reply to: GrantedBail


Oh Goody! Another 'cop dis-liker/bait' thread!! While your 'title' pretty much says it all,

Here are a couple of things for you to consider;

First off, tell your new "frenemies" (if in deed they are but mere acquaintances, now that you have come clean, and you dislike LEO's so much, that you are de-friending them due to your newfound (silly, but your opinion is your opinion) conspiracy theory.

Secondly, the next time you OR a family member are in an accident, fire, burglary, rape, or anything else requiring Law Enforcement, please feel free to call the local mayor's office and report your 'statistic' to them; OR any fast food delivery service, anyone pretty much that doesn't really sive a ghit about the current situation you, your family/friends find themselves in....

Finally, (as a retired LEO); Finally, understand that the community in which an officer serves is the community he/she lives and provides a 'public Service' - and in most cases the only one (public servant) that has to wear kevlar to work every day in order to put the bad guys away so that you can enjoy your Frappuccino on the sidewalk of [insert fav coffee/bar here], your kids can (prayerfully) attend school w/out harm (and are the first ones there when the Fhit Sits the fan & we have another active shooter situation) and come to your aid when your big bad @$$ boyfriend/husband beats the living poopoo out of you (your neighbor, friend, wife, mother, child) after a case of black label light and a bottle of Jack on Christmas eve......

Please also, one more thing, the correct term to use is "Police Officer" I am quite sure that (even if your 'cop' buddies do exist) they prefer that title as well.

a police officer is only as effective as when he has the trust of those he serves,... Oh one more thing.... "blue code" , you have it backwards "code Blue" cardiopulmonary arrest....

So let's sum this up and get to the next one shall we?

All doctors are bad ( because of planned parenthood, they are doctors) right?
All city councilors are corrupt ( because they are all on the take, accept bribes and write hot checks) right?
All Pro sports figures are vindictive ( because they are unethical and beat their girlfriends in elevators) right?
All attorneys are nefarious ( because they get the guilty free) right?
All school teachers are diabolical ( because they are sexual predators) right?
All business owners are rancorous ( because they cheat on their taxes) right?

In closing, I am sure that you "Granted Bail" have a friend or family member that is related to or very close to a "first responder" - we all know someone that is... whether they have fallen to the dark side or saved people on that dreary day 11/11/01.... So please (in the future) choose your words m o r e wisely.

the police are baaaaaaad mmkay.