I am a defense attorney. But I also count several of our LEOs as friends. I’ve seen enough to know that even the most stand up officers have a tendency to see the ends justifying the means, and don’t always have a real firm grasp of the law and/or the limit of their own reach. And we have had afewincidentslocallythat make me hesitant to say that I “trust” law enforcement generally. However, I would call them in a hot second if I felt threatened in any way, and feel confident that I would be in good hands.
Cops are not there to help you when you’re in trouble. It is not their job, and they will tell you so. Their job is to bring criminals to “justice”, which unfortunately most of the time means “fill out paperwork”. If you’re being mugged, the cops will be there hours later to ask you some questions and fill out a report.
If the crime is in progress, and it is a significantly high value target (a bank, for example, or a senator, but not average Joe Schmoe), they will probably hurry to the scene, as a crime like that could be a big boost to their careers.
But if your car is stolen, or your house is robbed, or you’re being attacked right now by a madman? When seconds count, the police are minutes away, but they most likely won’t get around to showing up for a few hours.
I do, but then I am a white middle-aged homeowning woman with no criminal record and the few times I’ve had to call or engage with them, they have been professional and helpful. And I know a couple of a vaguely personal level; they seem competent and even-handed, even compassionate.
But that aside, would I inherently lay all my trust in a police officer just because of the uniform and badge? Probably not.
But if I need immediate help, I’m gonna call the cops before I’d call a hippy (they still make those?)
Here in Anderson, Indiana, US, I trust most of 'em, most of the time. The nature of the job, though, attracts a few haters, beaters, and thieves.
Some communities are not good at weeding out the bad ones, and if I lived there, I wouldn’t trust any cops, ever. A few years ago, a nearby small-town cop was a mean racist, and his enforcement decisions were always for sale.
Cops in general? Yes. Assuming that all cops, everywhere, are out to get everyone is stupid. My local cops? Not really, though as a white male who isn’t homeless I probably have nothing to worry about.
Crime in Luanda does not approach the levels you see in the USA so it is rare to see them out in the street or in a car. When you do see them the only weapon they carry is truncheon.
Most businesses and expat homes have a security guard at the front door and they carry a truncheon as well. We have a driver who carries only a cellphone, but he was a paratrooper in the Portuguese Army and while he looks perfectly ordinary to us, he does seem to possess an aura that keeps people away.
Basically - trust yes, rely on is a no. You have bad examples and “last-of-their-class” examples in everything so I’m taking basic steps at self-preservation.
My local police are involved in two majorscandals right now so I voted “No.” I do in fact trust them in some matters but overall I cannot judge them as trustworthy.
I still say “the British police are the best in the world - and God help the rest of the world.”
They have never given me a reason not to trust them 100%. I don’t think I’ve had any dealings with the Mounties, but certainly at a provincial and local level the police are without fail entirely there for my safety. I’ve had my share of contact for traffic-related dealings and again, no issues at all. They work for me. The respect flows both ways.
Nope. Our police are pretty corrupt, and like to shoot unarmed men. I have found the small town cops in the neighboring suburbs to be lazy. I would never call them and expect to be helped.
I trusted cops in Fairfax County more because I knew the chief and knew he took community policing seriously. And yet, they’ve just made the news for having corrupt officers, too.
Sort of… I trust them not to do something crazy like shoot me without provocation, or arrest me for something I didn’t do. I also trust that they’ll show up within a reasonable amount of time as well.
I don’t really trust them with regard to traffic and speeding; It seems pretty awful to me to get a ticket in a fish-in-a-barrel speed trap, and then see a dozen people driving like total hazardous idiots not 5 minutes later on my way home. It makes me question what their goal is- to actually enforce the law and encourage safe driving, or to dish out tickets and produce revenue, and I don’t trust that they’re doing the former, and usually suspect the latter.
I trust them as much as I trust a politician to be honest during an election year.
I have 2 family members who are local officers; one is a city officer, the other is county. The county officer I have no issue with. He’s one of the very few honest cops in this area. The city officer is as corrupt as they come.
I’ve seen local officers take bribes. I’ve seen the officers pull people over, take their money and drugs, and let the people go. I had an officer come out when my step father tried to kill my pregnant mother. When multiple witnesses backed me up, the officer made me, my siblings, and my mom leave the house instead of arresting my step father.
I’ve had the local cops threaten to arrest me if I didn’t provide a false statement against my sister’s boyfriend so that they could arrest him.
So no; aside from the county officer that I’m related to, I don’t trust any of them.
If I have to pick between the binary responses listed, I can’t answer “trust.” We have too many cases like Otto Zehm and Scott Creach. They’ve provided cameras for the officers now, but the last one to shoot someone in questionable circumstances didn’t have it on. How very ironic.
I have to confess that even after thirty plus years my view of police officers is still colored by a New Years eve party full of Tucson police I happened to attend with a friend back in the 70’s. It was appalling to observe them drunk and feeling free to be themselves. I never saw so many bigots assembled in one room in my life, before or since. Is this true of all police everywhere? Of course not. But too damned many, it seems.
