Experiences with police

[John Sjhepard]

Thankfully I have not met any. Are they the dumb violent racist fascist right wing thugs I have been told they are?

If so I think they should be put in special government facilities where they will learn how to live in a modern peaceful tolerant high tech 21st Century society.

That is my honest opinion.

My dream society!

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Thankfully I have not met any. Are they the dumb violent racist fascist right wing thugs I have been told they are?

The best of them are great, and the worst of them fall into the trap of believing stereotypes.

 

[Quagmire]

They're all just a bunch of wannabe forum moderators.

 

[Politesse]

As with any profession, they take all kinds.

Of course, the consequences of poor behavior on the part of the police are a threat to civil society, so I think the common reaction to them is not unreasonable.

 

[Valjean]

The job selects for authoritarian personalities.
Lack of deference irritates them.
They're more concerned with order than law.
It's an old boy's network. They protect and cover up for each other.
They are obsessive about controlling situations
Their obsession with control tends to escalate encounters
Once they engage, they're committed. They never back off, even when doing so would de-escalate the situation.
In mass encounters, this obsession can lead to police riots.
In some urban areas they're indistinguishable from street gangs.

 

[Quagmire]

My experience: most cops are pretty decent people if you act like that's what you expect them to be.

 

[Sees]

Thankfully I have not met any. Are they the dumb violent racist fascist right wing thugs I have been told they are?

If so I think they should be put in special government facilities where they will learn how to live in a modern peaceful tolerant high tech 21st Century society.

That is my honest opinion.

My dream society!

All these threads about cops/officers being thugs without having met any? Pretty silly.

There is a handful on here and nobody would know the difference, since...they are just regular people.

 

[Valjean]

Downtown Baltimore. Cop directing traffic. I, on a tiny motorcycle, at a traffic stop, asked directions and was motioned to pull over. Once traffic was flowing again cop came over and proceeded to write three tickets -- all bogus.
Why? Punishment for annoying him?

 

[Sees]

Downtown Baltimore. Cop directing traffic. I, on a tiny motorcycle, at a traffic stop, asked directions and was motioned to pull over. Once traffic was flowing again cop came over and proceeded to write three tickets -- all bogus.
Why? Punishment for annoying him?

What did the tickets say? Real cops typically write just one.

 

[psychoslice]

If you do the right thing in society, then you have nothing to worry about, that simple.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

People are people. Caricatures are unhelpful.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

If you do the right thing in society, then you have nothing to worry about, that simple.

No, unfortunately that's not always true. Cops are people. As has already been mentioned here, there are good and bad. There is also an element of truth in what Valjean says...cops prefer to maintain order over law, commonly.

I thought about becoming a cop at one time, but decided not to. One of the interesting things was that at my interview I was given a lot of grief over scoring too high on my entrance exam, and how that was generally a sign of someone who couldn't follow orders. It was an interesting set of questions, but I didn't bite.

 

[Jumi]

Before I graduated from high school we had a visit to the police academy. I hung out a while with a police martial arts instructor. He was a pretty cool guy, almost convinced me to apply there. In my country police academy a 4 year education and you need another at least 2 years education after high school before that to join the force.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Sometimes I wonder if Judge Dredd could become a reality in the distant future.

Judge, jury, and executioner.

 

[Valjean]

What did the tickets say? Real cops typically write just one.

One for a change of address. I'd moved a couple weeks before and volunteered that my current address wasn't the one on my license. Law allowed a month to notify Dept of Motor Vehicles of change. Should have kept my mouth shut.
One for improperly mounted license plate. The usual screws kept vibrating loose, so I secured the plate with multiple windings of coat-hanger wire. It was much more secure than screws could have achieved -- took half an hour with pliers and wire cutters before I could replace the screws.
Last I don't remember. It was silly and trumped-up, but less memorable than the previous two.

I never did get my directions.

 

[Valjean]

If you do the right thing in society, then you have nothing to worry about, that simple.

My house was once raided by the police, looking for ??? They held my roommates in a corner while they searched the house (I'd crawled out the attic window onto the roof). They found nothing, except, on re-examining the warrent, that they had the wrong address.

 

[psychoslice]

No, unfortunately that's not always true. Cops are people. As has already been mentioned here, there are good and bad. There is also an element of truth in what Valjean says...cops prefer to maintain order over law, commonly.

I thought about becoming a cop at one time, but decided not to. One of the interesting things was that at my interview I was given a lot of grief over scoring too high on my entrance exam, and how that was generally a sign of someone who couldn't follow orders. It was an interesting set of questions, but I didn't bite.

yes, I was sharing my own experience with police over a number of years here in Australia, I have had police come my place many times when I am dealing with a knife, mainly cutting myself. The police have to make sure its safe for the ambulance to take me away to the mental ward, every time the police have treated me well, I even asked them to taser me, but they don't lol.
Yea of course you must take orders, just like the army, their really just programmed machines, but someone has to do it I suppose.

 

[psychoslice]

Well here in Australia, I don't know much about the average American cop.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

yes, I was sharing my own experience with police over a number of years here in Australia, I have had police come my place many times when I am dealing with a knife, mainly cutting myself. The police have to make sure its safe for the ambulance to take me away to the mental ward, every time the police have treated me well, I even asked them to taser me, but they don't lol.
Yea of course you must take orders, just like the army, their really just programmed machines, but someone has to do it I suppose.

I'm glad your experiences have been good.
My wife works in mental health, and her general comment is that the cops try to do the right thing when they are aware of mental health issues, but oftentimes they aren't really sure what 'the right thing' is.

 

[George-ananda]

Thankfully I have not met any. Are they the dumb violent racist fascist right wing thugs I have been told they are?

If so I think they should be put in special government facilities where they will learn how to live in a modern peaceful tolerant high tech 21st Century society.

That is my honest opinion.

All the police I know are outstanding citizens; real non-violent sweetie-pies supporting racial justice. So, I am going to generalize that assessment.