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cops

What is your opinion of cops

  • I lean left and think most cops are bad

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    44

lifeisshort

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Conservative
I'm curious what peoples views are on cops and if their is any correlation between their politics and their opinion on this. I'm pretty conservative for the most part and have always given the benefit of the doubt to the cop but I have to admit that lately there seems to be a rash of bad shootings where I really have to question the cops judgment. I personally know a couple of guys that recently became cops that when I found out it made me exclaim WTF? These guys were both losers in life that couldn't hold a job and now in their 30s they are cops. It makes me wonder if it has become harder to get people that want to go into this line of work. Regardless of that when push comes to shove I tend to believe the cops version until the evidence all comes in.
 
I'm curious what peoples views are on cops and if their is any correlation between their politics and their opinion on this. I'm pretty conservative for the most part and have always given the benefit of the doubt to the cop but I have to admit that lately there seems to be a rash of bad shootings where I really have to question the cops judgment. I personally know a couple of guys that recently became cops that when I found out it made me exclaim WTF? These guys were both losers in life that couldn't hold a job and now in their 30s they are cops. It makes me wonder if it has become harder to get people that want to go into this line of work. Regardless of that when push comes to shove I tend to believe the cops version until the evidence all comes in.

There are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of cops in the country. Most are good some are bad. That's life. I've personally never had a bad interaction with one, doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.
 
Unfortunately bc of the nature of the job, I feel many start off as good people, but then for whatever reason they change.

It's due to either;

Becoming jaded

Acquiring a superiority complex

Only hanging out with other cops who share their sane mentality

It's interesting that we don't hear about women LEO's being trigger happy, or too aggressive. Wonder why that is!?
 
As a general rule, I don't have much use for them. I've met a few that I genuinely liked, but for the most part, they are pretty uptight and cocky. Basically, they are a necessity, and unfortunately, dealing with the criminal element seems to have its negative effects on most of them.
 
I'm curious what peoples views are on cops and if their is any correlation between their politics and their opinion on this. I'm pretty conservative for the most part and have always given the benefit of the doubt to the cop but I have to admit that lately there seems to be a rash of bad shootings where I really have to question the cops judgment. I personally know a couple of guys that recently became cops that when I found out it made me exclaim WTF? These guys were both losers in life that couldn't hold a job and now in their 30s they are cops. It makes me wonder if it has become harder to get people that want to go into this line of work. Regardless of that when push comes to shove I tend to believe the cops version until the evidence all comes in.

For "white noise" at night, I have a scanner that covers multiple channels in and around the city I live in. There is another world taking place outside of what appears to be a sleeping city. I have heard foot chases, high speed chases, shots fired, screaming, yelling, and everything from simple to fatal.

The police live life on the edge, based on what I hear every night. One mistake, and someone could die, righteously, or wrongly. One wrong word, one misplaced action, and a simple interaction with the public can go terribly wrong. I've heard it. They have a job to do, and it would seem the vast majority of people they have to interact with in doing that job, aren't too appreciative of their mission.

Seems to me it's very easy to assign some type of personality defect to the police. But listen to their radio interactions between each other, and dispatch, and a completely different appreciation of what they do, and how they do it takes place.
 
Unfortunately bc of the nature of the job, I feel many start off as good people, but then for whatever reason they change.
.................................................................
It's interesting that we don't hear about women LEO's being trigger happy, or too aggressive. Wonder why that is!?

Luck of the draw ! ( pun intended )

They're probably getting the coffee and donuts ..:mrgreen: ( it's a joke ! )

Once there were three little girls....... my name is Charlie.

Thom Paine
 
As a general rule, I don't have much use for them. I've met a few that I genuinely liked, but for the most part, they are pretty uptight and cocky. Basically, they are a necessity, and unfortunately, dealing with the criminal element seems to have its negative effects on most of them.

I think you are correct about dealing with criminals having a negative effect on them. I watch that COPS show now and then and wonder how those guys take it dealing with these drunken drug addicted losers all the time. Sometimes I find myself saying, " Do society a favor and shoot that guy". I think I would make a bad cop.
 
As a general rule, I don't have much use for them. I've met a few that I genuinely liked, but for the most part, they are pretty uptight and cocky. Basically, they are a necessity, and unfortunately, dealing with the criminal element seems to have its negative effects on most of them.

IMHO, from talking to LEO friends, a large part of that "negativity" is caused by the judicial system that quickly accepts plea deals even for repeat offenders. When the officer is rarely asked to testify and their incident/arrest report is largely ignoired then they come to feel that they are asked to simply put up with the behavior of thugs.
 
For "white noise" at night, I have a scanner that covers multiple channels in and around the city I live in. There is another world taking place outside of what appears to be a sleeping city. I have heard foot chases, high speed chases, shots fired, screaming, yelling, and everything from simple to fatal.

The police live life on the edge, based on what I hear every night. One mistake, and someone could die, righteously, or wrongly. One wrong word, one misplaced action, and a simple interaction with the public can go terribly wrong. I've heard it. They have a job to do, and it would seem the vast majority of people they have to interact with in doing that job, aren't too appreciative of their mission.

Seems to me it's very easy to assign some type of personality defect to the police. But listen to their radio interactions between each other, and dispatch, and a completely different appreciation of what they do, and how they do it takes place.

That is why I give the benefit of the doubt to the cop until or unless evidence proves otherwise. These guys have a tough job with a stress level I can't imagine.
 
I think you are correct about dealing with criminals having a negative effect on them. I watch that COPS show now and then and wonder how those guys take it dealing with these drunken drug addicted losers all the time. Sometimes I find myself saying, " Do society a favor and shoot that guy". I think I would make a bad cop.

THat's one of the reasons I couldn't be a cop. My impulse would be to go rogue.
 
You hear someone bashing in car windows in your neighborhood and there is nothing makes you more happy than seeing a police car coming down that street. You are driving down a stretch of road and see a police car ahead and immediately you take your foot off the gas pedal and try to avoid eye contact with him.

I don't know of any other profession where one can get such mixed reactions from coming into contact with. It is a tough job and luckily they are often the buffer between you and the scum in our society.

When someone sees a soldier in an airport people will go up and thank him for his service to our country. I have never seen anyone go up to a policeman and thank him for his service.
 
When someone sees a soldier in an airport people will go up and thank him for his service to our country. I have never seen anyone go up to a policeman and thank him for his service.

I suspect that's because the serviceman has no authority over the regular citizen, and the cop does.
 
Luck of the draw ! ( pun intended )

They're probably getting the coffee and donuts ..:mrgreen: ( it's a joke ! )

I expect it's more likely that women have to emote about the situation first. :lol:
 
I expect it's more likely that women have to emote about the situation first. :lol:

:lol: heh heh heh... you get a laugh from that... I'd be drawn and quartered for it.... comedic sexism being what it is.

ha... my mind just ran through scads of "woman jokes"... but I prefer to live today without being skewered.

ya' me keep smilin' Lizzie

Thom Paine
 
As a general rule, I don't have much use for them. I've met a few that I genuinely liked, but for the most part, they are pretty uptight and cocky. Basically, they are a necessity, and unfortunately, dealing with the criminal element seems to have its negative effects on most of them.

Their training has changed.
We, the public, are not them. They have become a legal gang.
I cannot trust them anymore because you never know which kind is going to interact with you. That makes me sad and even a little mad.
 
I'm curious what peoples views are on cops and if their is any correlation between their politics and their opinion on this. I'm pretty conservative for the most part and have always given the benefit of the doubt to the cop but I have to admit that lately there seems to be a rash of bad shootings where I really have to question the cops judgment. I personally know a couple of guys that recently became cops that when I found out it made me exclaim WTF? These guys were both losers in life that couldn't hold a job and now in their 30s they are cops. It makes me wonder if it has become harder to get people that want to go into this line of work. Regardless of that when push comes to shove I tend to believe the cops version until the evidence all comes in.

I think that the vast majority of cops are good. Think about where we would be without them. Sure....there are a few bad ones. However that is what review boards and Internal Affairs investigations are for. And to be honest.....what you are seeing as a rash of bad shootings is just the fact that today, they are more on the news media's radar. I don't think there is an actual uptick in bad shootings.
 
i lean left on many issues, and i think that police are good for the most part.
 
I can't answer the poll, as it is too left/right and too absolute... but as an ex-cop I'd like to comment.


Police are like everyone else in one sense; there are all kinds of personalities in every department. You've got your starry-eyed rookies with "To Protect and Serve!" written on their brains; your tired old hands who just want to get through the shift with a minimum of bother; your "by the Book" uptight pricks with sticks up their @#$#$es; your para-military gung-ho types who are over-eager to use force; and yes you have a few outright bad ones who revel in their own authority and ability to lord it over the general public.

In my experience, about a third are really GOOD cops; another third or so are mediocre but tolerable; and nearly a third have no business wearing a badge.


That was close to 20 years ago. At that time I was disturbed by the trends of militarization within the police department, which was really just getting started, as well as the enhanced and aggressive search and seizure rules coming out of the so-called Drug War, making the police mindset more "war-zone" related and more "us vs everyone".

On top of that is a natural tendency, after spending some years dealing with scumbags and also with citizens not-having-a-good-day, to view humanity with a jaundiced eye and assume all cits encountered are potentially scum or problematic until proven otherwise.

More and more, politicians and their laws are turning Peace Officers into Government Enforcers and Revenue Gatherers, and this isn't helping LE-Citizen relations at all. Nor is the recurring image of menacing-looking black-armored cops with helmets, face masks and military rifles comforting to the citizenry.

Add in extreme media and Internet hype over any questionable police use-of-force and you have a strong recipe for citizen unhappiness, or even hatred, or even "push-back" acts by the more extreme.


Here in my home county, we had a recent incident of a man targeting badge-wearers for murder. He murdered two security guards and then attacked a police station, badly wounding a cop before being shot dead. There's also Ferguson, and the Bundy Ranch, and the other attacks on police that made national news. The citizenry is turning against LE, and the negativity towards LE is becoming more and more mainstream.

It doesn't help that LE and Gov response to a lot of this LOOKS like "closing ranks and protecting its own".



We have a serious problem developing, and it needs to be addressed on a national level and soon. Some of it is more perceptual than reality, but some of it is real.
 
I'm curious what peoples views are on cops and if their is any correlation between their politics and their opinion on this. I'm pretty conservative for the most part and have always given the benefit of the doubt to the cop but I have to admit that lately there seems to be a rash of bad shootings where I really have to question the cops judgment. I personally know a couple of guys that recently became cops that when I found out it made me exclaim WTF? These guys were both losers in life that couldn't hold a job and now in their 30s they are cops. It makes me wonder if it has become harder to get people that want to go into this line of work. Regardless of that when push comes to shove I tend to believe the cops version until the evidence all comes in.

I'm not willing to wager a guess on what it breaks down like statistically. But I'm left-ish, and I mostly avoid cops. I have personally had bad run-ins with them (not regarding my own activity, but actually me calling for help for someone else).

I know there are good ones. I had a good working relationship with a couple of cops who routinely patrolled the area when I was working on a paper. A couple who, to my shock, came up and thanked me when I wrote an editorial critical of US drug policy.

But I've seen some nasty ones. I've heard an off-duty cop talk about how he loves getting an opportunity to beat a black person down. I've dealt with cops treating sick people and victims like criminals. And of course, I read the news, and I see the way militarization and lack of accountability is affecting police.

As a cute, young, white woman, cops never look at me twice, and I doubt they ever will. That's stereotypes for ya, and in this one case, I guess it benefits me. But I don't trust them, and if I'm with a man, I trust them even less. The way I've seen them treat men challenges my cool.

I avoid them because I don't know if any given cop I run into is good or bad, and just because I'm not doing anything doesn't mean I or whoever I'm with won't get messed with, unfortunately.
 
Their training has changed.
We, the public, are not them. They have become a legal gang.
I cannot trust them anymore because you never know which kind is going to interact with you. That makes me sad and even a little mad.



When my son turned 16 and got his full license, and started going out on his own some, I had to have a conversation with him about Dealing With Cops. This was the gist:


1. Be polite, even if the cop is acting like an asshole. The more polite and respectful you are, the less likely they will be looking to give you trouble.

2. Cooperate fully and immediately. You have to assume that any cops you encounter would be pleased to have an excuse to Taser you or even shoot you dead; don't give them an excuse.

3. Say as little as possible. If they seem to think you've actually done something, say "Want my lawyer" and shut up.


It saddened me to have to do that, too. I used to be in LE, and there are lots of good cops... but as a parent I couldn't take the chance. All it would take would be one encounter with Mr Trigger Happy with-a-badge, and Son#1 doing something thoughtless, and that could be the end of the most important person in my world.

Regrettably it seemed necessary, things being how they are.
 
I'm not willing to wager a guess on what it breaks down like statistically. But I'm left-ish, and I mostly avoid cops. I have personally had bad run-ins with them (not regarding my own activity, but actually me calling for help for someone else).

I know there are good ones. I had a good working relationship with a couple of cops who routinely patrolled the area when I was working on a paper. A couple who, to my shock, came up and thanked me when I wrote an editorial critical of US drug policy.

But I've seen some nasty ones. I've heard an off-duty cop talk about how he loves getting an opportunity to beat a black person down. I've dealt with cops treating sick people and victims like criminals. And of course, I read the news, and I see the way militarization and lack of accountability is affecting police.

As a cute, young, white woman, cops never look at me twice, and I doubt they ever will. That's stereotypes for ya, and in this one case, I guess it benefits me. But I don't trust them, and if I'm with a man, I trust them even less. The way I've seen them treat men challenges my cool.

I avoid them because I don't know if any given cop I run into is good or bad, and just because I'm not doing anything doesn't mean I or whoever I'm with won't get messed with, unfortunately.

My heart still beats really fast when one is on my tail. My husb says I shouldn't feel that way unless I'm breaking the law. He doesn't get it, and he is one.
 
I'm curious what peoples views are on cops and if their is any correlation between their politics and their opinion on this. I'm pretty conservative for the most part and have always given the benefit of the doubt to the cop but I have to admit that lately there seems to be a rash of bad shootings where I really have to question the cops judgment. I personally know a couple of guys that recently became cops that when I found out it made me exclaim WTF? These guys were both losers in life that couldn't hold a job and now in their 30s they are cops. It makes me wonder if it has become harder to get people that want to go into this line of work. Regardless of that when push comes to shove I tend to believe the cops version until the evidence all comes in.



Being a reporter, you learn to live with a police scanner 24/7. The array of what is NOT covered by the media is incredible. You develop a respect and in some cases a relationship with first responders, especially when they see you showing up in the rain at three in the morning too.

It only takes one. It might even be a simple mistake that gets handled badly by a ranking police officer that makes it look like a coverup, and quickly "all cops are thugs".

There was a fatal incident here years ago, where four Royal Canadian Mounted Police tasered a man to death at Vancouver International Airport. They clearly screwed up, and outright lied about it, a lies blown out of the water by a video in which they were seen to have begun firing the first of nine taser shots 24 seconds after encountering the man.

The aftermath was that RCMP were asking for transfers because they couldn't write a speeding ticket without being verbally abused and called "murderer", to this day the force fights to restore its reputation.

Their point at the time was that it was one of millions of responses the force makes across the country that turn out OK. It was seen as a vapid and dehumanizing argument at the time, only worsening the situation.

In some forces the 'overly aggressive" will be tolerated, perhaps encouraged. In a good force, cops like the above no longer get to be cops and it is then the reputation of the force is restored. Some forces are beginning to understand that as the guy who invented municipal policing, Sir Robert Peel said the success of the force is conditional on the support of the populace. I think that with the "war on terror" and being able to buy military hardware at discount has allowed too many forces to have lost sight of that. As in the end, the argument that they handled 1,000 calls involving violence will not wash in the face of the appearance of corruption and cover-up.
 
I'm not willing to wager a guess on what it breaks down like statistically. But I'm left-ish, and I mostly avoid cops. I have personally had bad run-ins with them (not regarding my own activity, but actually me calling for help for someone else).

I know there are good ones. I had a good working relationship with a couple of cops who routinely patrolled the area when I was working on a paper. A couple who, to my shock, came up and thanked me when I wrote an editorial critical of US drug policy.

But I've seen some nasty ones. I've heard an off-duty cop talk about how he loves getting an opportunity to beat a black person down. I've dealt with cops treating sick people and victims like criminals. And of course, I read the news, and I see the way militarization and lack of accountability is affecting police.

As a cute, young, white woman, cops never look at me twice, and I doubt they ever will. That's stereotypes for ya, and in this one case, I guess it benefits me. But I don't trust them, and if I'm with a man, I trust them even less. The way I've seen them treat men challenges my cool.

I avoid them because I don't know if any given cop I run into is good or bad, and just because I'm not doing anything doesn't mean I or whoever I'm with won't get messed with, unfortunately.

Thank you for your honest opinion, that's what I'm looking for here.
 
My heart still beats really fast when one is on my tail. My husb says I shouldn't feel that way unless I'm breaking the law. He doesn't get it, and he is one.

That's just weird to me. Honestly, when I'm by myself, I tend to just disappear where ever's handy and not be too worried. But if I'm with a man, my heart rates goes up FOR him if a cop's around. Double if he's black. And double again for the particular black guy I'm most often with, who's a 6 foot 2 tower of a dude. Cops seem to be even nastier towards big men, including my father, who was the least dangerous man on earth.
 
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