# What is wrong with american police? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 14, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823 "2022-04-14T13:29:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823/141 "2022-04-25T13:54:32Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > > [@Isamu](#): > > > > It is the job of every person in society to keep the peace. > > Which is what they tell to minorities that start to get “uppity” about the oppression that they are under. I’m not sure what your argument is anymore. I said it was silly and dangerous to give police officers the title of peace officers. (Is it because people are confused because the words sound the same? I bet that’s a factor) Someone upthread said that’s how the English language has changed and everyone should start using the terminology so we can all understand each other (they haven’t read Grice). I said, OK for you but I won’t call them so. Then you said you call the police peace officers in a sarcastic sense. Now I am confused. Are you now agreeing with me? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823/142 "2022-04-25T15:01:08Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Someone upthread said that’s how the English language has changed and everyone should start using the terminology so we can all understand each other (they haven’t read Grice). Nobody said that, you moron They gave you shit for being an idiot, where you started mocking someone for using the **common** , and often-times **official** term “peace officer”. > [@Isamu](#): > > This is part of the problem. You don’t know the difference between the words “police” and “peace”? Or have you been conned into thinking they are interchangeable? What are you going to be conned into next, “Love officer”? See this right here? You looked really stupid. If you had simply said, “I don’t like the term ‘peace officer’ because the police are often not peaceful,” I doubt you’d have had much argument. But no, you acted like someone was confusing “police” and “peace”, as if there was no such thing as a “peace officer”. When it was pointed out that it’s a common term, you decided that you didn’t like what people were saying and like a confused ostrich started shoving your head up your ass, and kept pushing further and further with each subsequent post. Nobody here endorsed the term as being preferable to police officer. Nobody said they **liked** the term. They just said it’s a common term, and it also sometimes applies to more professions than the police, depending on the jurisdiction. > [@Isamu](#): > > I said it was silly and dangerous to give police officers the title of peace officers. Actually, you never said that outside of your own head. You must live in this imaginary world where this was the argument you made, and others disagreed with you. No, you just argued that using the term was wrong, that people were “sheep” somehow for not following your internal lexicon. > [@Isamu](#): > > I’m not sure what your argument is anymore. You never understood what anyone was saying since you made your first ignorant post, so this is nothing new. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823/143 "2022-04-25T15:22:17Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Nobody said that, you moron They gave you shit for being an idiot, I didn’t address you, but OK. I will never be upset at being called a moron or an idiot because I am both in some ways and I can own it. I won’t insult you though because that would be beneath me. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823/144 "2022-04-25T19:06:54Z")
I thought a prominent Chicagoan once maintained the function of the police was (paraphrased from memory) “not to create disorder, but to PRESERVE disorder.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823/145 "2022-04-25T19:11:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I thought a prominent Chicagoan once maintained the function of the police was (paraphrased from memory) “not to create disorder, but to PRESERVE disorder.” 😃 Mayor Richard J. Daley, on the heels of the violence between protesters and the Chicago Police Department at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, made what was likely a slip of the tongue, when he said: > [@](#): > > The confrontation was not caused by the police. The confrontation was caused by those who charged the police. Gentlemen, let’s get this thing straight, once and for all. **The policeman is not here to create disorder. The policeman is here to preserve disorder.** ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823/146 "2022-04-26T15:14:42Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I’m not sure what your argument is anymore. I’m not sure that I can find simpler words to explain it. > [@Isamu](#): > > I said it was silly and dangerous to give police officers the title of peace officers. (Is it because people are confused because the words sound the same? I bet that’s a factor) Not in so many words, you did not say that. You said that that is not what their title is. And the only one here who is confused is you. @bump didn’t use the term peace officer because he was confused, he used it because that it their title. > [@Isamu](#): > > Someone upthread said that’s how the English language has changed and everyone should start using the terminology so we can all understand each other (they haven’t read Grice). That’s not what someone upthread said, once again, you wallow in your own confusion. What was said is that has been their title since the 1700’s. No one said that everyone should start using any terminology at all, well, except you, you are in fact telling others what terminology they are allowed to use. > [@Isamu](#): > > I said, OK for you but I won’t call them so. No one asked you to. However, this started because you called out another poster for using the term. > [@Isamu](#): > > Then you said you call the police peace officers in a sarcastic sense. Yes, I do, as I explained in the post that I said that. > [@Isamu](#): > > Now I am confused. Nitpick. You have never _not_ been confused. > [@Isamu](#): > > Are you now agreeing with me? Am I agreeing with you that the term “peace officer” conveys a sense of nobility and duty that the vast majority of them do not actually follow through on? Sure. Am I agreeing with you on any other aspect of your inane drivel? No. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823/147 "2022-04-26T15:16:58Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Am I agreeing with you that the term “peace officer” conveys a sense of nobility and duty that the vast majority of them do not actually follow through on? OK that’s all I was after. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-american-police/962823.md?page=7)