And now for something completly Different...

We get lots of reports of cops tasering people or abusing their power, that officers doing what they are supposed to, or just helping people out while on the job tend to slip through the cracks.
(I blame the media, personally.)

Was driving home yesterday and passed a lady with her family on the bridge who had a blown tire, and two officers were replacing it for her.
Is it a big deal? To me it is, it's certainly different that the stories of "brainless offensive automatons" we get on here.

I've known police men who were decent guys, and I've known officers who were jerks. I've also known plenty of folks who go out of their way to antagonize cops, taking what woul normally be a generally mundane incident and aggravating it.
My point of this thread is that despite the stuff we hear so often about cops, they still deserve the same treatment we give everyone else, and not be generalized.

Every single one of these videos that show tazings and beatings the "victim" i.e. offender is RESISTING ARREST and either grossly harrassing the officer(s) or basically repeatedly breaking the law in the officer's presence and NOT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS in order to be apprehended.

It's a damn joke. There are so many fair and just cops. Think about how many police officers there are in the U.S. Then think about how many news stories there are of their alleged abuses.

There are probably hundreds of thousands if not MILLIONS of police and we have ONE or TWO dumb stories every few months about alleged police brutality and suddenly every single officer in the U.S. is a bad seed and a terrorist robo cop? How do they figure that?

As I said there are probably millions of officers in the u.s. alone, then consider that each officer has multiple situations and arrests per DAY. So calculate that and you will get an astounding number of police arrests/situations on a daily basis in the MILLIONS. Then multiple that by the days in a month and out of the TENS OF MILLIONS of such officer run ins/situations/arrests when one or two bad ones occur as is wont to happen through the laws of nature and probability suddenly all officers are bad etc? It's just ridiculous to me.
Personally I have had officers treat me coldly i.e. verbally, however after contemplating on what they must deal with on a daily basis I don't really blame them. After having people curse at you and resist arrest all day long and have to put up with alot of other abuses and horrific things it'd be pretty hard to remain constantly upright and courteous to everyone.
It's easier down in the south in small towns where an average officer might spend a day doing nothing and knows everyone in the town by name but in a metropolis like NYC where I'm from, the officers are on a hourly basis pitted against extreme situations and alot of abuse from crackheads and criminals etc, so it's very easy for them to get jaded fast.
That's why in NYC even the new recruits, the young buck 20 somethings officers that look like they can't even grow a mustache yet have a attitude because that's how quickly they become jaded of their surroundings, the urban filth and degradation.

Yeah I was in NY recently. The police are so sooo rude there I couldn’t believe it. I was there for the 4th of July and the police were just completely ill-mannered, it was absurd. I thought maybe it was just tension due to the special day but for the month I was there they were just the same.

Side note (wtf is with all the bin bags laid out on the street everywhere? I never knew how much of a pigsty NY was until I actually went there and found out for myself – NY pride of America my ass…. )

The problem is that the primary training police receive is to dominate the interaction. I got a small taste of this when I got some guard training in the Navy. I have no doubt that police get it in spades. I once knew the nicest guy you could ever meet, he was dating my girlfriends sister. He went to the police academy and by the end of his training, he had changed.
He actually handcuffed her brother to a tree to teach him a lesson.
I could not believe the profound change!

Not to say that police are bad, but as long as someone feels the need to dominate our interaction visibly to the point of violence if necessary. I do not wish to have anything to do with them. I blame the training. It is a fascist notion, and does not make a better law enforcement professional.

They should be trained to keep the interaction relaxed within limits.
Then they would be more respected from the start. I cannot help but believe that law enforcement professionals do not enjoy being ostricized. Change has to come from within. I would love to be able to offer respect to law enforcement, unfortunately that is impossible when the relationship is based on constant threat. Frequent harassment, and occasional profiteering.


[edit on 6-8-2008 by Cyberbian]

True that there are some fair-minded policemen. The example you experienced has one unfortunate attribute: that it is so notable. I used to have a car with no reserve whatsoever. Thus I ran out of gas frequently. Not once did an officer ever even so much as slow down for me, much less actually stop or heaven forbid, help. I can say that they were dutiful about their patrol though and well distributed - at least one (if not 2 or 3) would blow by me every time... highway, 3am... Zoom! I wish writing tickets was not such a big thing. But, whatever... When I'm Chancellor, they're outta here!

reply to post by RuneSpider


I got a flat tire years ago in the middle of nowhere in the state of Texas. The state troopers pulled up and called for an assistance vehicle, which showed up quickly and helped me change my tire. The tire changing kit that came with the car was small and did not work. Along with the full sized tire I bought as a spare at the nearest town, I also bought a tire changing kit.
It was the middle of summer and I did thank the officers for their assistance.