Is our police force (US) "normal?"

Sorry to be ambiguous in the title but I didn't know how else to word it, but it's something that's been on my mind.

From people throughout the globe, do you think that the police force in the US is, for lack of better term, "normal"?

As opposed to where you're from, what you've experieneced as well as friends and families, etc essentially whatever your opinion on the matter is. I'm genuinely curious.

I won't link any articles or statistics, I'll be honest I'm biased on this topic (answer: no), and for me, it's not that hard to see why.

More so than police, I think the U.S. has a massive problem with mental illness. Rage, aggression, violence, abuse (physical, emotional, substance), the list could continue.

It's also worth noting how our judicial system prosecutes (or lack thereof) many instances of murder/brutality from one human being to another because "it was self-defense."

There comes a point when the washed-up rhetoric becomes nothing short of an excuse for violent and potentially murderous incidents.

The fear is certainly working, it doesn't matter what who you are or where you come from, what you look like or how you dress, the police in the US, imo, see US as the enemy.

To protect and serve, I'm not buying it, neither are many other Americans. Collect and harass. Imprison and torture. Too many instances that can be obtained through a simple ATS search (I'm on mobile) can corroborate my claims.

I'm almost starting to have pity on the mythical "good cops" out there, who are out there serving the United States Constituion and upholding the rights of the citizens, rather than the paid shills of a system of oppression who are smart enough to know right from wrong but apathetic enough to do no more than "just doing my job."

There is never once where my phone is not recording when I am pulled over, for my own safety. But now, even that doesn't matter. A simple act or sign of disobedience can lead to death, and is supported and rallied by people all over the nation.

I have two words to explain the militarization of our police force.

Operation Paperclip

en.m.wikipedia.org...

(I apologize for the crude link but for those that don't know, this is an interesting topic).

We let a monster into our beds, and it never left.

Our nation is slowly drifting from freedom to fascism.

I would say that it could be viewed as a normal result of the apathy of the US citizens however that is not what you meant. The answer (in my opinion) is NO it is not normal for a public servant to fear for their own life and it is not normal for people to fear public servants.

If you want to know the cause, follow the money.

Money is the reason plain and simple.

I personally believe the Police in the United States (Note how i did not call us American's or "mericans") are hired with low IQ's and are using steroids. And are being FORCED to revenue generation whilst RIODRAGING!

a reply to: RomeByFire

I am trying to find the article but there was a cool piece I just read on what other countries have for their use of force policies. I was going to make a thread on it but have misplaced it. Anyway it showed how the US had one of the most aggressive policies in general compared to other nations I think even prompting talk of human rights violations. I'm sure I summarized some of it wrong. I'll try to find it..it was really good.

a reply to: RomeByFire

authoritarians are a cancer.

I actually fear the Japanese police, not because they are kind, helpful, always smiling and willing to chat a bit with me, but for the simple reason they are one mean mother fk'ers if you fk with them.

a reply to: proob4

I'll echo this. I think (not all) a chunk of our police are roided up dumdums. It seems the roids happens more in some counties than others. I've traveled a bit, and seen cops that look like regular people, then go to some areas where they all look like a bit more like pro-athletes. I think it may very well be that the (seeming) increase in cops raging out of control is linked to increased steroid use.

Another thing is the sheer jacked up foods some people are nomming on. I've personally experienced apathy when eating crap foods over and over again. Maybe some of these heffers are not functioning well upstairs cause they get nothing but empty calories.

a reply to: RomeByFire

A little comparison . Australian police killed approx 5 people per year between 89/90 and 2010/11 (4.772 people to be exact) .US population as of 2011 was 311.7 million . Australias was 22.48 million 2011 making the US 13.86 times larger . This would equate to 66.16 deaths per year if Americas death by cop rate was the same as Australias .

the CDC WONDER Online Database, has a US total of 5,511 deaths by "Legal Intervention" for the years 1999-2013 (3,483 for the 2001-2010 used to generate the report) excluding the subcategory for legal execution.[18]

5511 deaths in 15 years , at Australias rate this number would be 992.5 .

You tell me , what do these numbers tell you .

originally posted by: pl3bscheese
a reply to: proob4

I'll echo this. I think (not all) a chunk of our police are roided up dumdums. It seems the roids happens more in some counties than others. I've traveled a bit, and seen cops that look like regular people, then go to some areas where they all look like a bit more like pro-athletes. I think it may very well be that the (seeming) increase in cops raging out of control is linked to increased steroid use.

Another thing is the sheer jacked up foods some people are nomming on. I've personally experienced apathy when eating crap foods over and over again. Maybe some of these heffers are not functioning well upstairs cause they get nothing but empty calories.

Seriously though, Why are most cops in the US head shaved? Too look tough or from the sweats of "Steroids"? Or is is both?

No, it is not normal.

Something I would like to add.

In the late 60s - early 70s there was a US cop show called Adam-12. For its day, it was a good show and it was aired on Aussie TV. I was in my early teens.

One episode centered on how the Police in the US handled deaf people and the overriding message was that deaf people feared Police because they could not hear the commands issued to them and could get shot in the back as they might simply be walking along.

It shocked me then to realize that US Police did shoot people. At this time, Australian Police were largely unarmed.

This problem has been in your system for quite a while. Bit by bit, little by little, mistakes were covered up time and time again. It does not take much imagination to understand that the situation has escalated to the point where you now fear Police.

Even today, my Police Force are largely armed with tazers, only Sergeants and above routinely carry semi-autos. If the case demands it, Police will be armed.

I do not fear my Police. Most are nice, a few are not. They are revenue raisers and it angers me that they never admit what they are doing.

I trust my local Police in general terms, but they taught me well not to trust them at the upper levels. They will protect the Force with lies, more lies and utter deceit.

On the other hand, I am not likely to get shot by them.

P

a reply to: pheonix358

For reasons that are mysterious to the Williams family attorneys, the jury was not allowed to hear testimony that the late Williams was deaf in one ear and hearing-impaired in the other.
Read more at indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com...

a reply to: RomeByFire
The fact your states don't have to disclose how many people cops have killed for national statistics just shows the state of the country and policing. Cops in all countries show signs of corruption, manipulating evidence, false statements and pocketing drugs/money but most don't have guns. That is the difference. You give someone a gun and a right to shoot someone based on technicalities, people will die. No one is held responsible, only when a full clip is unloaded does it get a true investigation.

a reply to: RomeByFire

I always thought the ambition to become a Police should be enough to prohibit employment in the area of law enforcement. The position just seems to attract the wrong type of person these-day. That type being terrified little bully's with a an axe to grind. Then we equip them with fire arms and send them out amongst our streets to enforce there will! Simply a recipe for disaster.

I would say US police have a tougher job than most. Every interaction could possibly involve a gun being turned on you. That makes the grounds for a bad relationship before an interaction has taken place. It puts both parties on edge with a slight amount of fear. It's not my place to comment on Americas police or laws, but the laws make every encounter a possible life or death situation. Not many other places in the world where such a dynamic exists between police and citizen

a reply to: hutch622

How come whenever that stat is trotted out, nobody can be bothered to clarify how many of those killed were engaged in violent felonious acts compared to how many were killed unlawfully?

And by unlawfully I would include the ones that are pretty obviously the cop getting away with it.

Curious.

a reply to: RomeByFire
I can offer you a couple of examples, for comparison, of the way English police sometimes work.

A few years ago, police in east London received a complaint that someone had been mugged by a knife-wielding boy on a bicycle. A constable and woman-constable were sent to investigate. There was a cycling boy on the scene who seemed to fit the description. He did not notice them at first, because he was carefully watching a middle-aged pedestrian. But when the constable went up to him and said "Excuse me, mate...", the boy went off like a rocket.
I know about this because I was the middle-aged pedestrian. The boy had tried to mug me earlier, but that was a fiasco, so he was probably looking for a chance to have another go. The first I knew about this latest development was when the bicycle came racing towards and past me, followed closely by the running policeman, while the WPC trotted behind. She stopped with me until her colleague returned, and we exchanged information.
That "Excuse me, mate..."; is that more normal than the average American approach?

The other example is an encounter from my student days, returning from a party at close to 3.00 a.m.
I was short-haired, by student standards, and clean-shaven, so my student status would not have been immediately obvious. My diary records;

As I was going home along the Cowley Road, a police-car on the other side of the street went off, went round Magdalen roundabout, and came after me. The occupant got out and called me over, addressing me as “pal”. He asked me what my name was, where I had come from. He said he was looking for an eighteen-year old boy called Joseph Merrill and asked me if I had seen him. He asked also where I worked and how old I was, and finished by enjoining me to “give him a shout” if I saw the said Joseph. I pointed out that I didn’t know what the boy looked like ( and perhaps I should have asked him how to go about “giving him a shout”). He said the boy was middle height, “like yourself”, eighteen years old, etc., and let me go. If he was really looking for the boy, the later questions seemed to have little point unless he thought I might be him, in which case I was surprised that he didn’t want further identification before I went on my way. The other possibility, which only occurred to me later, was that the boy was non-existent, just an excuse to stop me, which would make the whole conversation much more intelligible.

I think there is a problem with our laws and not so much our police force. Our police force is just a result of the state of our laws. If our laws weren't so strict, the police would have no reason to be so forceful.

a reply to: DISRAELI

You and the WPC didn't go running after them? I think it's wise to remember the average cop here has to expect to chase a knife-wielding mugger desperate to escape, without back-up, as part of the job. www.polfed.org... If you hold that aspect of the job in mind when you get stopped by some stressed and possibly over-authoritarian constable it will show in your body language, facial expression and your choice of words. All of which increases the chances of parting on friendly terms.

Steroids and guns make it much more likely any respect you may feel won't even be noticed.

On your second anecdote, making up a story to get you talking is normal. They'll be paying more attention to your body language than your answers.

Just to throw a curve ball into it all, has anyone else had a bizarre experience with rural Irish police that leaves you pinching yourself to see if you're awake?

I phoned 999 from a call box in Kerry and no one answered. Desperately I looked around the phone box to see if there was any indication of a different emergency number. I'd literally just got off the coach. I'd only had my feet on Irish soil for one minute. Then a relaxed voice answered the phone saying, "Hellooo there..... What seeems to bee the problem?" I said "There's an injured woman here saying 'call the guards'. My wife's giving her first aid." Two minutes later a police car arrived. It was the same man who'd answered the phone. By this time the woman's assailant had appeared, tears streaming down his face, saying "I didn't mean to hurt you". The policeman looked at the three of them then looked at me and asked, "What do you think I should do?"

This may be the answer to the question. Police everywhere are definitely not normal. Unfortunately for you US police are too often dangerously not normal.

Falmouth police are in a category of their own.

a reply to: RomeByFire

They definitely get a worse rap than they deserve, but there are still mistakes made. Good friend of mine spent the last 4 years working towards becoming a cop in Austin, TX. He's done it and is on the force, but the guy shouldn't be let anywhere near a gun. What they don't realize is IMMEDIATELY prior to police academy he was a suicidal raging alcoholic with an incredible temper.

a reply to: SpongeBeard
Perhaps you should of let them know?
I agree with Krazyshot, the whole legal system is pretty f'd up..the cops are just tools most of the time. I don't believe it's normal but reading other threads were for example the police are tazing 12 yr old runaways..some think its ok to do and that normalizes this bullsh#t.
I remember another thread not long ago where some bank robbers took a hostage and went on a chase that ended with LE pumping 600+ rounds into the car and obviously the hostage..NOT normal..psychotic at best.