Calling policemen "assholes" to their face

The BBQ Pit
1

On another thread (titled something about carrying a gun) started by “Ninjachick” there was a discussion about citizens rights to call policemen “assholes” to their face (and other things not so nice).

Several folks claimed their inalienable right to free speech protected them in these instances and insinuated that this right gave them protection in all but a few locations in our great nation.

I believe that if you call a policeman an asshole to his face while he is talking to you, (while you may have this right), you are putting yourself at risk of getting your ass kicked and arrested.

I further believe that it is in one’s own best interest to be polite to a guy who has a gun, big stick and can of mace (+ a whole bunch of friends with the same equipment), regardless of one’s “rights.”

Additionally, I question the sanity of those who believe otherwise.

2

One time a cop asked me why my eyes were so red.

I said, “Because I’ve been up all night fucking your sister.”

Actually, that never happened. I just like telling the story.

3

Took you this long to come up with the OP, did it?

This is just fuckin’ ridiculous. One should be respectful to a police officer because they’re doing a hard job, not because they can hurt you. And if an officer won’t respect me, why should I respect them? Should I let an officer harrass and humilate me because he’s a policeman? Fuck that shit.

Police serve the public and keep the peace, they aren’t overlords.

:rolleyes: This isn’t even worthy of a response.

4

Calling a cop an asshole to his face would be incredibly rude, lame, and generally jerk-ish. (In the vast majority of situations.) Also, probably a pretty bad idea. I certainly don’t condone it.

However, do I think policemen should have the right to legally commit assault with merry abandon because someone insults them verbally?

Call me idealistic, but no. :rolleyes: Neither should a fireman, a doctor, or a soldier. No one does, and no one should. Thuggery and fear isn’t exactly the basis for a happy and safe society.

5

You would probably be safer calling a policeman “asshole” than anyone else. You do that to anyone else and you will know what an asshole is as they stomp the crap out of you. I had a roommate in college get really drunk one night and start a fight at a bar just off campus. The cops arrested him but it was a struggle. They got one hand cuffed and then he broke loose and began to flail the officers with the free cuff.

He cut up two of the officers and broke a third officer’s nose before they pinned him on the ground. Still they did not throw any punches, they just tackled him and held him down until they got both hands cuffed. Once they had him in the car he kept up the tirade of calling them “f&^%ing pig mot*&ers” over and over again. They just ignored him and proceded to sort out the rest of the mess.

Confronting a policeman in any other way than a polite tone will get you into trouble fast. My roommate just couldn’t get this through his head because he did this on many occasions. He is in the care of the Louisiana DOC now serving life for killing a friend of mine by shooting him in the face with a 44 magnum. A lot of his problems stemmed from his drug and alcohol use.

6

Calling a police officer an asshole is like abusing your waitress or being rude to a customs agent. They’re not supposed to DO anything, and technically you CAN, but it’s a really, really, REALLY dumb idea.

7

If you’re unprovoked, most definitely. Police are as deserving of respect as anyone. More so, because they have to deal with the public all day long.

But a policeman that treats a completely so-far innocent civilian like a criminal loses that respect. It’d be the same as if you placed an order at a restaurant, and the server said “Why would you want that? You’re fat enough already.” Should we still be polite to the server because they have the ability to spit in our food if we talk back? Like hell.

8

I’m with those who think it’s a bad idea to berate a cop. Whatever you think of policemen, they are just like anybody else. They don’t like being verbally abused any more than you do, and they can, if they are so inclined, make life a little painful for you if you do it. You can always “beef” them for it, but you won’t likely win. Being a jerk is unwise to say the least.

9

Call a Victorian copper an ‘arsehole’ and you are probably not long for this world.

Just a word of advice! :stuck_out_tongue:

10

Sure, you could walk up to a hungry Rottweiler with 2 lbs of bloody steak stuffed down the front of your pants… but you really shouldn’t.

11

It is important to note that if that rottweiler is well trained, you won’t have a problem.

I love analogies.

12

I’ve been on the verge of saying worse to cops when I was younger.

I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with them.

Once, a drunk asshole hit my mother as we stopped at a stop sign. Cops came in a few minutes. Good! I thought, since the guy was obviously intoxicated. The cops had a chat with him, then came back and told my mother to get in the car and keep going.

She asked why? And incisted that the other driver be given a sobriety test. That’s when she noticed he was holding his wallet open and his shield was showing.

We was a fucking cop! When my mother protested the dumbass protectors of the peace told her to get going ‘or else’.

I wasn’t old enough then to kick his ass then, but if I had been you bet I would have smashed his face in, wether it would have been the smart thing to do or not.

Another time I had a cop threaten to beat me up when I asked him what was illegal about playing acoustic guitar with 3 friends in a public park, in the middle of a sunday afternoon.

I got a ton of stories. Things that have happenned to me, or close friends and family. Nothign but bad news.

I don’t understand why cops act this way. Worse, I don’t understand why they think they have a right to do so, or why their superiors do nothing about their behaviour.

If I walked up to a client and asked him if he was on drugs, called him stupid, or threatened him bodily harm, guess what would happen to me? That;'s right, I’d get my ass canned. Yet this behaviour appears to be perfectly fine for police officers.

I say teach them some manner, and public relations before you set them loose with a gun and a badge.

13

But that is a tricky and very subjective measure. I’m sure a lot of complete dolts who needlessly gave cops a lot of grief thought they were being treated like criminals.

14

IIRC, one of Niven’s Laws was “Never Throw Shit At An Armed Man.”

And its first corollary was “Never Stand Too Close To Someone Who Is Throwing Shit At An Armed Man.”

15

Cite?

Cite?

Well then, Cite?

Rather than waste any more time typing out my point to your ridiculous assertion, I’ll just paste my comments from the first thread, as my point still stands and my questions remain unanswered:

For me to be anything other than polite to any cop, in any department, anywhere in the U.S. is subjecting myself to risk of illegal physical harm and unlawful arrest.

That is an extraordinary claim. As such, it will require extraordinary proof.

Obviously, I dispute your view of law enforcement in America. I certainly do not deny that it happens; I’ve been personally slapped around by Chicago’s finest a few times when I was a teen. But to make that claim for the whole country, or even the entire CPD, is somewhat laughable. No, it’s completely laughable. To believe it, one would need to assume that almost every department in the country is corrupt, and almost every citizen is indifferent or fearful of their local government. One would need to assume that almost every department out there either has no knowledge, or respect for the constitution. Ludicrous. Perhaps where you live, but not where I do.

Since you make this claim, I ask: For what is the basis of this dim view of yours? Your claim is based on what experiences throughout this land? In other words, cite?
quote:

Well, I think that if you read the papers and watch the news you will encounter plenty of instances of police misconduct that support my position. Do you dispute this assertion?

Well then you should have no problems finding hundreds, perhaps thousands of cites for us concerning police corruption and brutality against citizens who were nothing more than rude. I eagerly await them.

16

Oh, and for my position that politeness when dealing with LE officers isn’t a requirement in this country, I have a cite.

:slight_smile:

17

A good, well-trained cop isn’t going to abuse their power just because you called them a name. But then again, you are a lot less likely to feel the need to call a good, well-trained cop an asshole. Ergo, it’s probably not a good idea.

18

What about those people whose basic premise regarding police is that all police officers are assholes?

19

Well, they probably got that opinion after utilizing their constitutional right to free expression.

20

I called a parking nazi an asshole once. Not just an ordinary asshole though. A fucking asshole. Just felt the need to share.