# How do you feel about police?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 30, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309 "2019-06-30T18:56:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/21 "2019-07-01T02:51:05Z")
Loved Zenyatta Mondatta
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### Author:  [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/22 "2019-07-01T02:54:52Z")
I have to say that my opinion of them has been tarnished by personal experience and recent media events.
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/23 "2019-07-01T05:06:47Z")
No problem whatsoever with law enforcement. Watching LivePD shows just how many idiot assholes they have to put up with every day.
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/24 "2019-07-01T05:10:10Z")
Which police?
French police: OK.
_Guardias civiles_, _policía local_ (town cops), _regionales_ of various stripes: OK. _Nacionales_: it depends, some have a 'tude so solid you could use it to build houses while others are perfectly fine people.
American cops: definitely not OK. They tend to make the worst _nacional_ look like a friendly storekeeper.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/25 "2019-07-01T08:14:03Z")
I don’t generally feel unsafe around them for reasons others mention. But I am uneasy around them. It’s not so much a fear that something may go wrong. It’s more a clash in values. Too many cops have a “respect mah authority” type of attitude, and that is not how I work. To me, authority is something you gain by showing you are trustworthy. I don’t automatically trust people because they are an authority.
That said, I do know some people who are friendly cops, and their friendliness helps overcome the uneasiness.
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### Author:  [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/26 "2019-07-01T10:24:37Z")
I generally don’t like the cops because half the time I’ve had an encounter with the police even me being my friendliest they still found some way to be a dick to me.
On the other hand I use to live in a town that’s police force was criminally understaffed and the normal response time was in hours, so that meant that seemingly half the people in my street felt like that meant there was no law and they could do whatever the hell they wanted which lead to me on two separate occasions holding a gun in one hand while calling 9-1-1 with the other as I heard somebody try to break into my house knowing I was armed inside calling the cops and they still proceeded to try to break a window to get in regardless. So anyone who claims we’d actually be safer with less/no cops is fucking nuts.
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/27 "2019-07-01T11:06:27Z")
> [@Textual\_Innuendo](#):
>
> Cops are scum. Actually, scratch that, _worse_ than scum. I can think of plenty of “society’s dregs” career criminals I’d rather spend time with over any cop.
>
> What is a cop? Somebody who self-selected into a supposedly dangerous, poorly paid job simply because they get a gun and get to boss people around and unleash their inner petty tyrant. By the numbers, most of them spend their time harassing teenagers and motorists rather than doing anything to actually prevent or stop real crime. And if you’re ever the actual victim of a crime? They don’t care, and at most will have you come down to the station to file a report they’ll do nothing about. Combine that with them being and acting flagrantly above the law they’re supposed to uphold, (see, driving like assholes wherever they go, see murdering innocent people and getting away with it all the time), and you have zero reason to respect the average cop.
>
> Anyone interested in being poorly paid to actually _help_ people became a firefighter or EMT, which are professions that actually deserve a good amount of respect.
>
> Combined with how thoroughly screwed and biased our legal system is, any time you’re around a cop you’re around a power-mad, petty tyrant who can essentially charge you with whatever they feel like at their whim and at minimum ruin your month, with the potential to ruin your entire life if any of the charges actually stick, or if you decide you want out of jail sometime in the next three years before your trial is supposed to come up and plea bargain to something just to get out of there while you still have a job and girlfriend. Who _wouldn’t_ be nervous around that? I’d suggest if you’re not, you’re ill-informed about certain realities about our justice system.
>
> I say this as a rich white guy who is currently at the top of the system which cops exist to protect and maintain, too. I was a rebellious youth and saw plenty of cops at their life-ruining worst when I was younger, though.
What a completely ignorant, repugnant and insulting post. You even have police officers posting in this very thread. I am in awe of that wide brush of disdain you’re painting with.
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/28 "2019-07-01T11:13:54Z")
Just so that I understand: It’s _not_ okay to hate all of a particular group just because there are some bad members of that group, unless we’re talking about police. Is that it? If it’s police, then it’s okay to hate ALL of them just because there are so many examples of shitty ones.
There are over 3/4 of a million police officers in this country. It shouldn’t be hard to find some shitty ones and some abusive assholes among them. It’s grossly ignorant to use those examples to make generalized statements about the entire law enforcement population.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/29 "2019-07-01T11:26:30Z")
I ain’t never done hard time. Actually, I’ve never been arrested. A good friend of mine is a cop, though, and I take his advice to heart. In his experience, \>50% of the police he has worked with are corrupt to some degree, either breaking the law directly or looking the other way when their coworkers do. He suggests minimizing your interactions with po-po.
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/30 "2019-07-01T11:38:26Z")
I’ve never had an experience with a LEO that I believe was unfair. The one time I was interrogated by two detectives in my living room was quite unpleasant, but I understand they were just doing their job. Sometimes that job involves a little “bad cop, good cop” performance art. I get that.
But I am afraid of them. I am afraid of anyone who has the power to fuck up my life with impunity. Perhaps I wouldn’t be afraid if LEO were subject to the same law that applies to anyone else. But they aren’t. So I feel like my fear is quite reasonable, and I will continue to hold onto it until things change.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/31 "2019-07-01T11:41:34Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#):
>
> Just so that I understand: It’s _not_ okay to hate all of a particular group just because there are some bad members of that group, unless we’re talking about police. Is that it? If it’s police, then it’s okay to hate ALL of them just because there are so many examples of shitty ones.
> There are over 3/4 of a million police officers in this country. It shouldn’t be hard to find some shitty ones and some abusive assholes among them. It’s grossly ignorant to use those examples to make generalized statements about the entire law enforcement population.
Eh, not that I agree with the haters, but… being a cop is a choice. And it does lend itself to a particular type of personality.
It’s also worth noting that life long criminals a LEO share a LOT of personality traits. Or so I read in a phycology journal many moons ago.
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/32 "2019-07-01T11:41:46Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#):
>
> Just so that I understand: It’s _not_ okay to hate all of a particular group just because there are some bad members of that group, unless we’re talking about police. Is that it? If it’s police, then it’s okay to hate ALL of them just because there are so many examples of shitty ones.
> There are over 3/4 of a million police officers in this country. It shouldn’t be hard to find some shitty ones and some abusive assholes among them. It’s grossly ignorant to use those examples to make generalized statements about the entire law enforcement population.
I don’t hate any particular group of police, but there are certain types of police with whom my interactions have been negative without fault; even situations where in theory they acted in my favor (such as assuming I was a US citizen on account of not having apparent Amerind ancestry), their actions weren’t what I’d consider correct. So yes, when I’m around that particular group of people I do tend to be wary. I feel the same way about agressive salesmen, for example: doesn’t mean I hate all salespeople; I like lots of salespeople; I’m specially fond of salespeople who ring me up without much conversation and of those who steer me in the right direction in response to my questions. But I don’t like salespeople who get in my face, and I think we’ll agree that there are certain types of stores where they are common and others where they’re surprising.
> [@Smudge777](#):
>
> Can you give examples of what you mean? In USA, teachers and professors areAnd how would you feel about unarmed cops in a society where guns outnumber people and citizens can (in many places) legally walk around town with a gun in hand?
> To me, that is a far more absurd alternative.
>
> I don’t intend to steer this into a ‘gun debate’ conversation. But surely we can agree that, so long as the average citizen retains the right to walk around with lethal ranged weapons, police MUST be armed to be even remotely effective. And policing will be more dangerous for all involved (thus increasing the risk to police and civilians alike).
The Spanish average citizen has the right to walk around with legal ranged weapons. We don’t feel the need or desire to do it, though; it’s not so much a matter of difference in rights as of difference in how we perceive guns. Most of our police are armed, but every time one or more cops actually shoot during an action makes national news.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/33 "2019-07-01T11:42:22Z")
It strongly depends on the circumstances, but in general, I avoid the police because of previous interactions with them during the struggle against Apartheid. Interactions I still have the scars from.
Nowadays, the higher levels are still quite venal and otherwise corrupt, and the lower levels are frequently either that or poorly-trained, unmotivated and incompetent. A few are competent, I’ve had some good interactions at my local station. But that’s the exception rather than the rule.
However, I’ve had no problems in interactions with cops in the UK & Paris, so I know it’s situational. I have no experience with American cops, other than one I follow online [for other reasons](https://zonbisworkshop.com/).
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### Author:  [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/34 "2019-07-01T11:45:30Z")
Dutch doper living in Italy.
Dutch cops. Mostly unarmed. Didn’t give them much thought most of the time when I lived there.
Italian cops. Some good ones, but a lot of bullies who like to boss other people around. Plenty of racism, too. Often armed. I’m usually on the defensive when I see one, as they can be unreasonable for no reason and there’s not much I could do about it. The stereotype in Italy is that you become a cop when you’re too dumb for other jobs, and I find this super respectful thing that many Americans have towards cops (and the army) really strange.
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### Author:  [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/35 "2019-07-01T11:55:34Z")
I once walked up to a motorcycle cop at a Sam’s Club, pointed at his boots, and jokingly asked him if he rode his horse to work today. So, no, I guess I’m not really nervous around police officers. If I’m eating at a restaurant and there’s a table full of them next to me it doesn’t put me off one bit. I’m mildly nervous if I think an officer is tailing me in his car because I don’t want to get a ticket. But other than that? No big deal.
I did have a recent WTF when visiting San Diego. A motorcycle cop went past us and the dude had a carbine on his bike. I’ve never seen a motorcycle copy armed with anything other than a pistol and I had to ask my sister if San Diego was a rough town or something.
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### Author:  [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/36 "2019-07-01T12:02:29Z")
I have no negative issues about British Police and feel reassured by their presence. I have only known them to be polite, helpful and professional. And generally don’t carry guns, so there’s that.
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/37 "2019-07-01T12:25:03Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> I don’t hate any particular group of police, but there are certain types of police with whom my interactions have been negative without fault;
Oh, I’ve had tons of such interactions. I still couldn’t bring myself to make gross generalizations about the motivations and mentality of every police officer. Hell, I’ve been arrested twice by police who were either wantonly abusing their authority or just grossly incompetent.
But that doesn’t make every single police officer _scum_, and I wouldn’t even begin to pretend that I understand the process that drove _every single police officer_ to become a cop, rather than a firefighter. Textual Innuendo seems to think he/she has it all figured out–every cop is scum; worse human beings than many dregs and career criminals, even.
> [@Grrrr!](#):
>
> It’s also worth noting that life long criminals a LEO share a LOT of personality traits. Or so I read in a phycology journal many moons ago.
Ya know, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Taliban, etc. share A LOT of personality traits and beliefs with millions of non-terrorists, chief among them being their religious convictions. People have tried to kill me several times in my life. They’ve all been Muslim. I’d never even think to label all Muslims as _scum_, nor would I expect to have such a statement go unchallenged on this message board. I feel the same way about Textual Innuendo’s description of police officers.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/38 "2019-07-01T12:27:07Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> Too many cops have a “respect mah authority” type of attitude, and that is not how I work. To me, authority is something you gain by showing you are trustworthy. I don’t automatically trust people because they are an authority.
Authority is something the police are given by the state. Their training dictates that they maintain control of whatever situation they find themselves in, because not being in control puts their safety at risk. To challenge a police officer’s authority is to compromise their sense of safety - at which point they will take steps to restore their sense of safety. That may mean:
-ordering you out of your car (to prevent your wandering hands from possibly reaching for a hidden weapon)
-searching your pockets/waistband for weapons
-using physical force and harsh verbal commands to convince you to keep your hands on the hood after you keep trying to reach for your pockets
Whether you trust any given cop or not, encounters with them have better outcomes when you follow their directions - even if they’re occasionally insulting/patronizing/condescending (I got pulled over for speeding once, and his first words to me were literally “where’s the fire?” :rolleyes: ).
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> Do you feel good, safe vibes around them, or do you feel wary and fearful vibes?
Middle-class white guy here. I feel safe around cops. As a whole, they do a difficult but necessary job that’s not often appreciated by the people with whom they most directly interact: public safety is enhanced when criminals get hauled off to jail and dangerous drivers get reminded to be more careful, but those penalized individuals tend to harbor ill feelings toward police in general instead of reconsidering their own misdeeds. There’s certainly no shortage of bad apples among cops, but these days we hear (and with the ubiquity of cameras, see) every single instance of police misconduct, and I think that leads to an impression of there being more bad apples than there really are.
I’ve had a couple of traffic tickets over the years, but I don’t blame the cops for that; I really was speeding. 😃 OTOH, I’m grateful for the cop who dealt with me gently in the aftermath of my stupid, stupid single-vehicle car crash a few years ago; it would have been fair for him to be condescending, but he could see I was already severely emotionally traumatized, and that some kindness and mercy on his part was in order. I’m also grateful for the team of cops who apprehended the high-as-balls weirdo who was skulking around our neighborhood’s backyards one afternoon a few years back, banging on windows and doors and muttering incomprehensibly. They had no idea of his intentions, or whether he was armed and waiting to ambush them when they arrived, but they still went forth and did their job.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/39 "2019-07-01T13:12:45Z")
I feel very safe around them. Whenever I cashier for a cop (or a fire fighter or a soldier, etc) I always thank them for their service. It is a very rough job.
I went with a cop for over 10 years, and know all about the job.
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### Author:  [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-police/836309/40 "2019-07-01T13:33:41Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> US ritualized respect for authorities…
I (from the US) also find that a very strange take on current US society. Maybe in fairness you could say there are two (or multiple) US societies with less and less in common and one of them has a ‘ritualized respect for authority’. But among the cultural current that’s dominant where I live (NY area) that’s a ridiculous statement, just frankly. 🙂
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