# why are so many American police officers so hillbilly? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982 "2016-06-10T00:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/41 "2016-06-14T01:57:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > What’s the deal with all the [blind cops](https://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-eac66882565a20d15682a1e30f9342f0?convert_to_webp=true) [in the](http://c8.alamy.com/comp/B54D90/american-cop-wearing-a-pair-of-ray-ban-sunglasses-B54D90.jpg) [US](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/65/6b/1f/656b1ff3e8447cda2cadb322e334255c.jpg)? Justice is blind? And apart from the guy in the shorts :rolleyes: a lot of the US cops could stand to get their pants hemmed with a nice break. Half of being sharp is looking sharp! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/42 "2016-06-14T12:51:28Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > UK may be not so bad like the US but they are starting to get overweight the people and the police in the UK. I’m pretty sure the majority of American police officers can put together a more coherent and grammatical sentence. And most know there is no place called “the Appalachian”. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/43 "2016-06-14T14:05:32Z")
One thing to remember is that in the US outside of large-ish cities, local law enforcement is at the county level, and is an elected county sheriff and locally hired deputies. So they tend to reflect the local population. So it’s likely that if the population is a bunch of hillbillies, then the law enforcement will be as well. Second, state police uniforms are almost uniformly goofy. The Texas ones seem to have been designed in some sort of fit of Western nostalgia sometime between 1920 and 1950, while other states[like Maine just went goofy.](http://www.maine.gov/dps/msp/57%20training%20troop/images/class%20a.JPG) Other states, like [Massachusetts](http://www.wcvb.com/image/view/-/30424024/highRes/1/-/maxh/480/maxw/640/-/tfsug7/-/mass-cops-12-27.jpg)and [New Jersey](http://www.nj.gov/njsp/images/slider/recruit768-400.jpg) clearly took their cues from Mussolini and the Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/44 "2016-06-14T14:40:47Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Other states, like [Massachusetts](http://www.wcvb.com/image/view/-/30424024/highRes/1/-/maxh/480/maxw/640/-/tfsug7/-/mass-cops-12-27.jpg)and [New Jersey](http://www.nj.gov/njsp/images/slider/recruit768-400.jpg) clearly took their cues from Mussolini and the Nazis. As you can see by the [picture of the 1st commandant H. Norman Schwartzkopf Sr](http://www.njsp.org/about/colonels-row.shtml), NJ State Police uniforms have changed over the years but have maintained a lot of the style they had from the beginning. Since the organization started in 1921 maybe Mussolini and the Nazis took their cues from them instead of the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/45 "2016-06-14T14:43:47Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Why don’t you just roll with more officers to Hot calls than bulking up or use the taser or get some MMA training? If you get bar fight, street fight or a family violence call with some drunks fighting. Send 4 or 5 officers than two big officers? I really don’t know what that has to do with the fact that 8 time Mr Olympia Ronnie Coleman was a police officer and possibly not a hillbilly. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/46 "2016-06-14T17:04:48Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > [Cops are the Fattest Profession | TIME](http://time.com/3637967/police-officers-fattest-profession-study/) > > [80% Of Police Officers Are Overweight; Why They’re More Likely To Die From Heart Disease Than Fighting Crime](http://www.medicaldaily.com/80-police-officers-are-overweight-why-theyre-more-likely-die-heart-disease-fighting-crime-298336) > > I’m surprised firefighters are so obese. I don’t know if that is due to higher levels of muscle mass or what. > > I’d ‘guess’ a mix of sedentary living, high levels of muscle mass, stress eating and a lot of eating out contribute to police overweight/obesity. They are using the outdated, useless and debunked "BMI " tables. They are meaningless. You can have not an ounce of fat, but be a body builder, and you will be “overweight” on those useless tables from a bygone era. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/47 "2016-06-15T13:46:08Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > As you can see by the [picture of the 1st commandant H. Norman Schwartzkopf Sr](http://www.njsp.org/about/colonels-row.shtml), NJ State Police uniforms have changed over the years but have maintained a lot of the style they had from the beginning. Since the organization started in 1921 maybe Mussolini and the Nazis took their cues from them instead of the other way around. That might be, but either way those uniforms look kind of strange in today’s world. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/48 "2016-06-15T22:02:02Z")
OP makes about as much sense as screen doors on a submarine, my cow died last night I don’t need his bull. Best warns him, he direct bad tidings out it don’t take a big person to carry a grudge. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/49 "2016-06-16T17:28:39Z")
Sorry to hear about your cow, **JustinC**. Please accept my [cow-ndolences.](http://www.zazzle.com/veterinarian_sympathy_card_livestock_cow-137292304685195328). Hope you find the card moooooving. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/50 "2016-06-16T18:00:43Z")
That card was udderly bovine. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/51 "2016-06-16T19:40:40Z")
So your cow went teats up? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/52 "2016-06-16T19:51:53Z")
My cow jumped over the moon and landed in the Milky Way. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982/53 "2016-06-17T10:41:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > They are using the outdated, useless and debunked "BMI " tables. They are meaningless. You can have not an ounce of fat, but be a body builder, and you will be “overweight” on those useless tables from a bygone era. A lot of cops are still pretty fat though. I should also point out that a lot of people become cops because they have “hillbilly” interests like driving fast, shooting guns and bopping people around the head. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-american-police-officers-so-hillbilly/756982.md?page=2)