Reminder: Cops are people too

[aquariuscsm]

My Brother in Law got hired in 1978 by a rich guy to pick up one of the very first Mazda RX-7s from a port in California and drive it back to Michigan. Paid all expenses for him and his buddy to fly to CA and drive it back. Got stopped dozens and dozens of times by cops asking "What IS that?" Never got a ticket, but still laughs about it to this day.

Those were sweet cars! I think I still have my 1979 Hot Wheels one. God,I was 10 years old haha I remember picking it out at the toy store. They had this huge wall of cars. The brand I remember being the best were called Pocket Cars.

 

[JimPghPA]

Several days ago there was a post on the local face-book buy some young woman was who stopped by a police officer because none of the brake lights of her car worked. She told the officer that she had all the bulbs replaced and it still did not work and that she took it to Pep-Boys and they quoted her a price of $600 to trouble shoot the wiring and fix it and that she did not have $600 to spend on that right now. The officer had her get out of the car and then he put his head under the dash by the brake peddle and worked on it and fixed it. She took a picture of him working on it and posted it and gave his name.

Some of them are very decent people.

 

[gonefishin]

My college roommate (80's) became a police officer in Houston. It was something he wanted to be most of his young life.
I did several ride-alongs with him. Back then, you sign a piece of paper saying if you get hurt or die, it's on you. I'm not sure they still do ride-alongs today. I remember I saw the good ,bad, and ugly that existed in the world. Dispite dealing with a lot of bad, my friend was always kind and went out of his way to help people. My hat is off to those men and women. I knew there was no way I could do that job.
Years later when he was married with kids, I think the hardest part of being a police office was coming home and being a good husband and Dad dispite dealing with all the bad just minutes ago when his shift ended. Much respect.

 

[SZR48207]

I think the biggest reason to have some empathy for LEO is that they have the only job on this planet (except maybe military) where you are required to wrestle with sweaty, stinky, naked meth or crack addicts who think they're in a dream. Not even social workers have to do this.. they just call the cops.

I'm glad to support LEO if I don't ever have to do that specific task myself...

 

[john_pifer]

Yep, I think it would be a very hard thing to have to deal with the worst people in society on a daily basis, and then, a lot of the time, they’re also dealing with people who are having the worst day in their life.

And then, think about how hard it would be on your body, chasing people down and fighting with them, running the risk of getting shot, stabbed, cut, poked with dirty needles, catching diseases, etc.

Same goes for paramedics/EMTs, and firefighters.

I have a ton of respect for all those folks.

 

[bbhero]

Most cops are great people, but I would say a third of them are pompous jackasses who think they are superior because they wear a government uniform.

I think there are only two kinds of cops. Those who do it because they want to serve their community, and those who do it because they want to exert power.

You take a privileged kid fresh out of high school and make him a cop because his dad is someone connected in the force and you get a recipe for disaster.

I think higher standards, frequent training and audits, and periodic re-qualification would go a long way in how police is viewed by the public overall.

I agree with you to a large degree.

Hate to tell you this....

But a WHOLE lot of other professions are the same way.... Including healthcare...

I have said numerous times... 30 percent of people who do my job as a RN... Should not do it...

People not knowing how to act, how to get along with people, how to handle circumstances appropriately, how to interact with people in very difficult circumstances, etc etc etc...

If we went after healthcare the way we are going after people in law enforcement....

Every hospital would be shut down tomorrow.... And certainly ever nursing home.... Shut down.


Medical errors is one of the bigger causes of death in this US. Far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far more people have died from medical errors in a calendar year versus circumstances involving law enforcement.

I know of one particular incident where a patient vwas given 8 mg of Dilaudid IV push... Killed the patient dead. When the code team showed up... The person did not tell them what was given and what had happened... IV Narcan would have likely had a good chance of bringing that patient back... That person was charged with manslaughter.

 

[SatinSilver]

Pretty cool he knew about Corsa exhausts. They are made in Ohio and not far from here. Looks like a nice, clean, modern building they’re made in.

 

[Dave Hess]

99.999 % of Cops are good people.

Have a nice , friendly, respectful conversation and you have nothing to worry about.

 

[2dogs]

There is some truth to many of these posts. I wondered how some of them passed a psych test. Most guys do the job for decent pay and above average benefits (health care) for their families. Mostly good working class guys just trying to do a difficult job.

 

[OppositeLocK]

I agree with you to a large degree.

Hate to tell you this....

But a WHOLE lot of other professions are the same way.... Including healthcare...

I have said numerous times... 30 percent of people who do my job as a RN... Should not do it...

People not knowing how to act, how to get along with people, how to handle circumstances appropriately, how to interact with people in very difficult circumstances, etc etc etc...

If we went after healthcare the way we are going after people in law enforcement....

Every hospital would be shut down tomorrow.... And certainly ever nursing home.... Shut down.


Medical errors is one of the bigger causes of death in this US. Far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far more people have died from medical errors in a calendar year versus circumstances involving law enforcement.

I know of one particular incident where a patient vwas given 8 mg of Dilaudid IV push... Killed the patient dead. When the code team showed up... The person did not tell them what was given and what had happened... IV Narcan would have likely had a good chance of bringing that patient back... That person was charged with manslaughter.

I agree with you on that, and just another profession where the standard should be raised.

That being said, "other professions and people are like that" shouldn't be justification. Not when a cop is someone who is permitted to carry a gun and shoot others if deemed necessary.

Far too often I've seen a cop flex not with their knowledge of the law, but through bullying tactics. There's a stark difference between, "the law states X and we must do Y if you do not comply", and, "are we gonna have a problem here? or, "Why? Because I'm telling you, that's why."

 

[greenjp]

I agree with you to a large degree.

Hate to tell you this....

But a WHOLE lot of other professions are the same way.... Including healthcare...

The reality is that 30% of the population is pompous jackasses/jerks/sociopaths/narcisists/morons/etc and so in any profession or sub population you're going to have a significant minority of terribleness. The problem with them being in policing is that they're tasked with law enforcement and given the authority by the government to take people's freedom and life from them. So the standards need to be exceedingly high.

jeff

 

[OppositeLocK]

The reality is that 30% of the population is pompous jackasses/jerks/sociopaths/narcisists/morons/etc and so in any profession or sub population you're going to have a significant minority of terribleness. The problem with them being in policing is that they're tasked with law enforcement and given the authority by the government to take people's freedom and life from them. So the standards need to be exceedingly high.

jeff

This exactly.

And I'm not against police in any way, the concept is vital to a healthy society. I also don't mind higher taxes to ensure a better police force either.

But that means only permitting people into it who are of a certain caliber, psyche, and character. Continually training them in advanced tactics, requiring them to requalify for their role (it shouldn't take you to retirement with little effort), and conducting periodic performance audits.

And before anyone says we already have all that, the standards need to be higher.

In Canada, the average cop makes over six figures easily and many of them only have a high school diploma. I have nothing against people who didn't pursue higher education, but you give a young person without a lot of life experience--let alone education--a lot of money, cool toys, and "power", and you end up with trouble. Especially when many of these kids grew up "untouchable" since daddy is/was a sgt. in the force.

 

[zrxkawboy]

Back in '99, I bought a '98 Triumph Adventurer. Not a very common bike. I was riding through a nearby town and got pulled over. The cop said I was going a little fast (don't think I was), then started asking me all kinds of questions about the bike and looking it over. Before we parted ways, he said "Nice bike!", but never mentioned the "speeding" again.

 

[Jarlaxle]

But see, it shouldn't matter if one is good friends with the police. I reject that statement because it implies there is a difference in service if you know them than if you don't.

That's not an implication, it's an absolutely accurate statement.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Several days ago there was a post on the local face-book buy some young woman was who stopped by a police officer because none of the brake lights of her car worked. She told the officer that she had all the bulbs replaced and it still did not work and that she took it to Pep-Boys and they quoted her a price of $600 to trouble shoot the wiring and fix it and that she did not have $600 to spend on that right now. The officer had her get out of the car and then he put his head under the dash by the brake peddle and worked on it and fixed it. She took a picture of him working on it and posted it and gave his name.

Some of them are very decent people.

And far too many are not.

On the positive side, my wife doesn't hyperventilate when around a cop anymore, I no longer have to physically hold her back, and hasn't woken up screaming in years.

 

[Jarlaxle]

This exactly.

And I'm not against police in any way, the concept is vital to a healthy society. I also don't mind higher taxes to ensure a better police force either.

But that means only permitting people into it who are of a certain caliber, psyche, and character. Continually training them in advanced tactics, requiring them to requalify for their role (it shouldn't take you to retirement with little effort), and conducting periodic performance audits.

And before anyone says we already have all that, the standards need to be higher.

In Canada, the average cop makes over six figures easily and many of them only have a high school diploma. I have nothing against people who didn't pursue higher education, but you give a young person without a lot of life experience--let alone education--a lot of money, cool toys, and "power", and you end up with trouble. Especially when many of these kids grew up "untouchable" since daddy is/was a sgt. in the force.

Not just Canada. I recall the ten highest-paid government employees in Massachusetts are ALL state or Boston cops.

 

[OppositeLocK]

There are no good cops. There are the actual truly BAD cops, there are the cops that willingly cover for them, there are the cops that turn a blind eye. The few not willing to do this either turn bad or leave law enforcement (voluntarily or not) very quickly. I expect that most cops would be quite happy as union goons, Mafia leg-breakers, some dictator's private goon squad, or herding Jews into boxcars.

It sounds like you or someone close to you had a terrible experience. I won't judge.

I do think there is good in the world, but it's far and few between. The problem is too many people need some kind of incentive to do the right thing.

Just think of how many rapists, murderers, looters, etc. there would be if there weren't any consequences. Consequences are the only thing keeping them at bay.

 

[Jarlaxle]

It sounds like you or someone close to you had a terrible experience. I won't judge.

I do think there is good in the world, but it's far and few between. The problem is too many people need some kind of incentive to do the right thing.

Just think of how many rapists, murderers, looters, etc. there would be if there weren't any consequences. Consequences are the only thing keeping them at bay.

I called 911. The cops that showed up engaged in a criminal conspiracy with my father, then left after telling him not to "leave too many bruises." (He did not do so...he beat me unconscious, apparently breaking a skillet on my head before or during the process of throwing me down a flight of stairs.) He knew both of the cops, his close friend was a lieutenant.

A Florida State Trooper raped my wife.

 

[OppositeLocK]

I called 911. The cops that showed up engaged in a criminal conspiracy with my attacker, then left after telling him not to "leave too many bruises." (He did not do so...he beat me unconscious, apparently breaking a skillet on my head before or during the process of throwing me down a flight of stairs.)

A Florida State Trooper raped my wife.

That's heavy stuff. I hope your family can find peace.

 

[Jarlaxle]

That's heavy stuff. I hope your family can find peace.

Naah. As usual, the bad cops faced no consequences. The Florida cop retired a captain with a fat pension. I wonder how many other girls he raped.