The show Cops

Watching Cops on tv and reading and seeing videos of the latest days reports of police brutality have got me thinking about how different these shows look compared to the obvious reality.

Honestly, take a look at the show and study the officers behaviour. Theyre very polite, they are really helpful, they make really big efforts to show how much they care about the people involved, and every arrest ends with an officers comment that sounds like a bad line from some Steven Segal movie.


It just all seems so... exaggerated, as to brainwash people watching into thinking the police are really as nice as they appear to be in the show.

Think about people that never have gotten into trouble with the police, they sit at home and think theyre being showed the reality.

Now, my opinion about police officers is, there are bad ones aswell as there are good ones, but unfortunately I believe the bad ones represent the majority.

Just cant help feelin that the tv show is so staged, and leads us to being naive. People live by the tv, and they love shows like this. So, what better way is there to make the police look innocent and protective than to make a show that shows us exactly this?




[edit on 20-9-2007 by darksky]

Personally, I think "The Scariest Police Videos" with Sheriff John Burnell is THE police propoganda (sic?) show of all time. I mean each and every video ends with Sheriff John's statement saying something to the fact of running from the law is never going to work, in any situation.

Cops"just shows how most citizens provide their own rope, so to speak, to hang themselves with.

My $.02
Cuhail

Originally posted by Cuhail

Cops"just shows how most citizens provide their own rope, so to speak, to hang themselves with.

My $.02
Cuhail

Yeah I love to watch it sometimes, the people they show on cops pretty much ask for it. But the recent things going on in the news isn't really "Cops" friendly I dont think. I find the show is more or less full of humor, especially if you're a weirdo like me

Ah, those cop shows have always shown the ignorance of the Police, you've just got to look at the story as a whole, read between the lines, not just agree with what Sheriff John Burnell has to say.

My favourites were always the ones that documented riots.

"Here we see some Denver Broncos fans enjoy a light hearted celebration after winning the game."

*Shows bunch of people laughing and singing and having fun*

"Always aware, the dedicated police officers are on hand just incase."

*Shows a battalion of policemen in full riot gear, blocking off streets and cordoning the celebrating fans*

"And then things turn ugly."

*Shows fans getting pissed off at the cops moving them on and arresting people for nothing*

"What was once some light hearted enjoyment is now a full blown riot. The police do their jobs to protect the innocent bystanders."

*Shows the dumbfounded fans being arrested and beaten, a few getting pissed off and shouting alot. None of them know why the police are there in such force, as there was no trouble.*

"Once again, the valiant efforts of the police force were the only thing stopping this angry mob of violent rapists and murderers from burning Denver to the ground. Thank you and God Bless America."


Yes, thank you.

reply to post by Subcomandante




I think youre worth a star for that wonderful description

Whats frightening is that I find most people actually agreeing with what is being said on the show while watching it. Yeah, tv is a one-way communication but since when does that not allow people to think?

--------


As for Cops being funny at times, I have to agree with that, but that actually makes it more suspicious IMO.
As said, some of the situations showed are indeed funny, but then there are alot of serious ones too.
Could there be some meaning in mixing these as to add humour to the show ?

Some nuts commiting a fellany we all can laugh at, officers joking about it, then arresting drugdealers, car chases, taking care of domestic violence, some comments about the great work theyve done tonight, what they prevented and so on, and there you got the perfect mix where all the positivity makes the really sad reality behind it all being forgotten while we watch.

reply to post by Subcomandante


Bwa ha ha ha! Damn, I could hear Sheriff Burninhell reading that post! I starred it as well!



Cuhail

Oh c'mon. Do you really want these crackhead freaks mugging, stealing, raping on your streets? Cops are people like everyone else. If they go up to a bad guy and say 'geez mr killer/rapist would you mind coming with me? how is that gonna work. Sure they have to be 3/4 pit bull. It's the trimmings of the most difficult job I could imagine.

I had to deal with a police officer this evening at work, we had an ultra creepy homeless man ranting and raving in the laundromat on our property, the officer was actually pretty funny about it.

"Need us to kick him out? Er, I mean... ask him to leave? "
I burst out laughing at her, it was great. I told her that he had a creepy vibe and that he might be scaring away customers, plus people bring their children to the laundromat you know?

...Later on I caught her doing a little dance/twirl outside the window....

edit: she was too fast for me to snap a pic with my cameraphone

[edit on 21-9-2007 by Chiiru]

reply to post by Chiiru


I have been thinking about this lately and your post made me throw it out there.Cops after all are just human,so surely some of them must feel bad about some of the stuff they see/participate in.

So if we want to stop this garbage could we somehow reinforce the cops that have some heart left in them?Give them the support they need to rat on poeple and such.Maybe passing a bill that would give them a huge bonus or something if it was proven?

The reality of it is that both shows like "Cops" and the videos we see on YouTube are extreme cases.

Of course the producers of Police shows are going to send their crew out with officers who are able to keep composure and act with professionalism. Of course officers who know there's a civilian camera pointed at them for the intent of broadcast are going to behave in a way that depicts a positive image.

On the other hand, the vid clips of brutality and unprofessional "Pigs" become popular because they are exciting and controversial.

Neither should be considered an accurate portrayal of police activities in general or overall. The truth is, most police actions are outright boring and don't make for good TV (or web hits).

reply to post by BitRaiser


I agree with pretty much everything you said.Although I do believe the cop assults have been either accuring more often or are just being noticed more.Either way that is bad enough for me,because if it is just being noticed more then it is happening way to damm much.I'm sure one could google and find a ton cop assults.

And these are just the ones caught on tape,how many are jailed everyday or already in jail because this happend to them but no one was taping it?

Wether it's 10% or 50% of the police force that commits these crimes,they need to be stopped.And I have a feeling there are tons more of these cases not caught on tape.

reply to post by Project_Silo


Agreed.
I also don't live in the US, so my encounters with American police have been very limited.

The one encounter I had wasn't too pleasant, but I caulked it up mostly the circumstances and... ah... conflicting national attitudes. Ie, when you crack a joke to a Canadian cop in order to lighten things up a bit, they usually laugh. This guy called me a smart-ass who had better "keep his hippy communist mouth shut". Yeah, we got caught smoking something. I had no idea it was such a big deal down there.

reply to post by BitRaiser


Ha ha.Ya like you said there are good cops and bad cops.The ones in between need a attitude 'justment if ya know what I mean.It seems like the police here take it personal if you have drugs lol.

Something I don't get is I have never ever heard of anyone getting high on pot then killing someone,or crashing his car into others,or even moving heh.I mean alchohaul brings about many many crimes,and we all know how bad cigs are for you,yet the healthier,non violent drug is illegal.But thats a whole different subject.

reply to post by Project_Silo


Let's not get into that discussion as it violates the TOS.
I said we were smoking "something" (which obviously offended the cop involved, yet I consider rather normal), let's leave it at that.

Originally posted by Cuhail

Personally, I think "The Scariest Police Videos" with Sheriff John Burnell is THE police propoganda (sic?) show of all time.

So True that guy disgust me, he always gives one point of view. The bad guy is evil the cops are completly good. It is the same thing CSI, Law and order and the rest do. They train us so if the cops come to the door and say our neighbor is so and so we will think they must be right, the neighbor must be scum.

People don't know police openely admit they tell lies about 'suspects' to make others not like them and give them info.

Some guy is pummeled on the ground as the narrator says, "luckily the police were trained so they are not hurt by this wretch of society."