[QUOTE=Loach]
I also don’t agree with anything like a random stop.
[/QUOTE]
Glad we share this opinion. It’s the randomness of that, as well as the randomness of the “doorknob rattling” that’s been discussed, which rankles me. This is where I see the overlap in the two concepts that have evolved in this thread.
What is random to one officer leaves too much to interpretation and risk for abuse.
Geez, where is karma when you really want it…???
[QUOTE=Omniscient]
You can’t see how a cop doing “random checks” is a unsettling concept? Seriously?
[/QUOTE]
No, I really don’t. He hasn’t invaded my privacy, entered my building, or interfered with my business. What’s the downside?
[QUOTE=Omniscient]
Let’s assume Officer Friendly rattles a lock and finds it unlocked, something he’s never encountered before at this location, he needs to make a judgment on what the most likely scenario is.
[/QUOTE]
No, he doesn’t. If he knows the business owner, he makes a phone call. If he doesn’t, he calls the dispatcher. There’s no judgment call involved, and I really can’t understand why you’d have any objection to it.
[QUOTE=catsix]
And my assertion is that there is no reason for a cop to be trying to get into my business or my residence unless one of two conditions is met: I have issued an invitation or a judge has signed a warrant. Otherwise, the cop should be walking on by without even a thought of trying to open the door. The fact that he would find it locked because the doors automatically lock at a predetermined time is immaterial. There is no reason a cop should be trying to get in, at all, without an invitation from a company rep or a search warrant. I don’t want them checking to make sure things are OK.
[/QUOTE]
Let’s hope the beat cop who finds a bloody trail leading up to someone’s front door doesn’t share your, “Just keep on walking, none of my business” attitude.
[QUOTE=catsix]
I don’t have a view of cops as … someone friendly who’s there to help me. I leave them alone, and want them to leave me alone.
[/QUOTE]
This is just so sad to me. I’d hate to be at the point where, justified or un-, I was afraid of the people I was literally paying to help and protect me. If I lived somewhere I didn’t trust the police, I’d move. It would be a dealbreaker.
To the law enforcement people in this thread - thank you for patrolling, being seen, and rattling the knob. Oh, and if you notice that it’s 3 AM in January and my front door is wide open and the lights are off, I won’t be offended if you make sure everything’s okay.
You know, for a long time, I was of the belief that people are inherently good. That they’ll do the right thing, help each other, stay out of trouble for the most part. It wasn’t until i started working for the PD, that I realized just how wrong I was. I went from believing most people were good, to believing most people would do anything they could get away with without getting caught. I think the majority of the civilian populace has absolutely no idea how many things their friends, their neighbors, their family have been involved in as far as following the law. How many people are driving drunk and on suspended licenses each night, how many have drugs and drug paraphernalia lying around the house. How many lie, steal, and cheat their way through business dealings.
That being said, proactive policing is extremely effective. The reason some people don’t like it, is because they don’t like getting caught doing things they shouldn’t be doing. If you’re always getting burned by the police, then of course you’re not going to like them. A lot of people take it personally, as if the cops are singling them out in some way, when in reality they could care less. As far as cops making money for the city, you’re right, they absolutely do. Most cities however, spend far more on public safety than anything else. So in other words, the cops are making money for the city so the city can continue paying them to keep the populace safe. Yep, that’s definately a problem they need to address!
[QUOTE=Collaborator]
You know, for a long time, I was of the belief that people are inherently good. That they’ll do the right thing, help each other, stay out of trouble for the most part. It wasn’t until i started working for the PD, that I realized just how wrong I was.
[/QUOTE]
You are exactly right. And that applies to the police too, it’s naive to assume that all cops are inherently good. Hence many peoples insistence they be kept on a short leash.
[QUOTE=Omniscient]
it’s abundantly evident that he actively seeks out crime.
[/QUOTE]
Curiously, the major beef most people around here have with law enforcement is that they DONT actively seek out crime that is currently occurring, but sit around filling in endless paperwork with the occasional interruption in order to go and deal with the aftermath of some crime that has already happened.
If we had more local cops regularly patrolling the area looking for trouble I’d bake them a fucking cake.
They have no duty to protect you, me, or anyone else. The Supreme Court has made that very clear.
I’m pretty sure that I’d have to move to an uninhabited island, since my default stance toward police is to not trust them.
If they’re not harming anyone, I don’t care how many laws they break. Oh, and unless you’re in the military and acting in that capacity, you are just as civilian as I am regardless of the silly BDU cop uniform so many police departments are fond of now.
People drive around ‘drunk’ (.08? c’mon, we all know that was lowered so the state could raise more money) all the time and cause no harm to anyone. I hardly think this justifies pulling everyone over to inspect them all. My neighbor could have a six foot bong and eighty pounds of pot in his apartment, and y’know what? I don’t care. I’m not out there hoping you looked through the window and saw it so you could arrest my evil neighbor for his pot stash. He’s quiet, clean, and doesn’t annoy me. If he mainlines heroin all day and night, I don’t care.
Ah the old ‘if you have nothing to hide’ excuse. So you don’t mind if I sit outside your house with an infrared camera and watch everything you do, then?
Exactly. When you give someone a gun, taser, badge, handcuffs, pepper spray, baton and dog and say ‘go exert power over others’ there better be VERY strict limits on what that power is and how it may be exerted.
My observation has shown that when cops go looking for trouble, they find it… Even if they had to invent it first.