# Why Cops Hate You (If You Have To Ask, Get Out Of The Way) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 17, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433 "2010-10-17T11:43:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/61 "2010-10-20T20:54:47Z")
I didn’t read it as satire at all. Maybe a little exaggerated, but not even a little bit satirical. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/62 "2010-10-20T21:43:26Z")
I guess I just find it hard to believe that anyone could get down on paper anything that is that close to a caricature of everything people hate about bad cops and not be tongue-in-cheek about it. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/63 "2010-10-20T22:27:59Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I guess I just find it hard to believe that anyone could get down on paper anything that is that close to a caricature of everything people hate about bad cops and not be tongue-in-cheek about it. Don’t know too many cops personally, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/64 "2010-10-20T22:31:25Z")
Speaking personally, I resent the insinuations from people who claime to know (or be) cops that the rest of us should just suck it up about what is a huge potential social problem. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/65 "2010-10-20T22:41:13Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Am I the \*only \*person who read the material quoted in the OP as satire? I think we’re running up against Poe’s Law here. No, you’re not. The vibe I’m getting is that this guy’s pulling our collective… leg. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/66 "2010-10-20T23:58:45Z")
The site has a Humor area featuring elephant jokes and “What Your Car Says About You.” The things that make him laugh are mostly not very complicated. None of the stuff there approaches the length or detail of this essay. Not under the Humor tab, but on the front page, we also find this, > [@](#): > > Saw the Shatner crap-fest of Sarah Palin on the Conan show. Oh, what a card. He’s almost as good as Letterman. Then I relistened to the Shatner 911 call when he “found” his lifeless wife at the deep end of their pool. Now that’s real entertainment. “My wife’s at the bottom of the pool”–Whatta comic genius. I laughed 'til I cried…Oh, My… To think the “Why Cops Hate You” essay (which appears under Enforcer Links, not Humor) _isn’t_ entirely serious, one would have to believe that he’d put a huge amount of energy into preparing the rest of the site as a plausibly lunkhead-asshole setting, to make it appear serious to readers, including the current active cop whose link I originally followed to it, who seemed to find it funny only in a “because it’s true” way. In other words, even if Jim Young somehow doesn’t “really” mean it, he’s still actively promoting this point of view _to_ police, which is so cynically antisocial that I can’t really see any moral distinction between that and, well, _meaning_ it. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/67 "2010-10-21T13:47:56Z")
I once had a judge explain the lowest forms of life to me, it went like this; The lowest form of life is criminals. The second lowest form of life is cops, because they deal with so many criminals. Next is lawyers, because they deal with so many criminals and cops. And the last is judges, because they deal almost exclusively with nothing but criminals, cops and lawyers! Cops are just people after all. I imagine most start out as pure hearted, idealists etc., 20-30 yrs dealing with the scum of the earth and they become jaded and contemptuous, not that surprising, really. ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/68 "2010-10-21T23:25:47Z")
The entire OP is why civilians hate cops - the stupid fucking “I’m God” complex they all seem to have. Every kid I go to school with that wants to be a cop is a fucking sociopath anyway, it’s not surprising that they’re all dicks. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/69 "2010-10-22T00:52:58Z")
> [@may\_be\_ignorant](#): > > The entire OP is why civilians hate cops - the stupid fucking “I’m God” complex they all seem to have. Every kid I go to school with that wants to be a cop is a fucking sociopath anyway, it’s not surprising that they’re all dicks. Actually, I remember a cohort of people in junior high school who had serious issues with control, anger management, lack of empathy for others, and over-estimation of their own self worth. In short, they were obnoxious dicks. I still knew (of) many of them in the old neighborhood as much as four or five years after high school graduation. About half of that whole group were in, or had served time in, jail. The other half were cops. Same mindset, same personality, different path. Just an anecdote. Not definitive of all. But pretty persuasive. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/70 "2010-10-22T02:30:58Z")
Power corrupts. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely. _“…it’s just the same old story…”_ ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/71 "2010-10-22T03:38:35Z")
I tend to think that most people are douchebags. It follows that most cops are douchebags. The difference is that they’re douchebags with the training, equipment and authority to do some really despicable shit and get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/72 "2010-10-22T03:53:56Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I once had a judge explain the lowest forms of life to me, it went like this; > > The lowest form of life is criminals. The second lowest form of life is cops, because they deal with so many criminals. Next is lawyers, because they deal with so many criminals and cops. And the last is judges, because they deal almost exclusively with nothing but criminals, cops and lawyers! I prefer this quote from _Chef_: > [@](#): > > Let me explain the order of things to you. There’s the aristocracy, the upper class, the middle class, working class, dumb animals, waiters, creeping things, head lice, people who eat packet soup, then you. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/73 "2010-10-23T21:42:26Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > His badge makes him “special”. No really. It just makes him think he is special. :rolleyes: As far as putting me in the hospital, I really don’t see anyone doing that any time soon, especially not some pussy who needs a badge to hide behind. Yeah I said it. . ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/74 "2010-10-29T15:25:30Z")
Just want to say (Brit here) that I’m guilty of one of the things that the cop ranted about. In downtown L.A. I asked a couple of cops if they knew where the bus stop for Universal Studios was. One of them started reacting like he wanted to treat me like a speeding black driver but his mate picked up on my accent and calmed him down. Didn’t tell me where the bus stop was though. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/75 "2010-10-29T15:58:24Z")
> [@may\_be\_ignorant](#): > > The entire OP is why civilians hate cops - the stupid fucking “I’m God” complex they all seem to have. Heh. Spend some time with some judges, mate. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/76 "2010-10-29T16:04:41Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > This “officer” sounds like a cunt. Is this supposed to be impressive? And what’s the debate? Nice sexist slur there. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/77 "2010-10-29T16:51:22Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Just want to say (Brit here) that I’m guilty of one of the things that the cop ranted about. > > In downtown L.A. I asked a couple of cops if they knew where the bus stop for Universal Studios was. I just don’t see what the problem is with asking this sort of question. Presumably the officers in questions weren’t speeding to an emergency or cuffing a drug suspect. If you felt comfortable enough to approach them, they were probably just on patrol or maybe even on a break. And presumably, if they spend their whole day working the streets of LA, they might have some idea of where the bus stop for Universal Studios is. If they know, and if they have a moment to help you, what does it cost them? If they don’t know, or if they’re busy and can’t stop to give you that information, they can simply say so. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/78 "2010-10-29T16:56:28Z")
This guy–this cop—sounds like he loathes people. Good thing he’s retired, but I wonder how many others like this there are in the force. Makes you wonder how far he took that hatred of people. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/79 "2010-10-29T17:54:07Z")
> [@margin](#): > > Nice sexist slur there. Are you seriously going to go do this in every single fucking thread? \*Really? \*Get over yourself. There is a wide range of slurs that involve genitalia (cunt, dick, prick, twat, cock), and using them doesn’t make you sexist. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433/80 "2010-10-29T17:58:19Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Are you seriously going to go do this in every single fucking thread? \*Really? \*Get over yourself. There is a wide range of slurs that involve genitalia (cunt, dick, prick, twat, cock), and using them doesn’t make you sexist. I love it when people act like sexism doesn’t exist and that language doesn’t reflect that. Tell me, are you one of those people who whines that black people get to use the ‘n-word’ and white people don’t? Slurs which refer to the female body as loathsome, when used on men, are designed to emasculate them and insult women as well by implying that being a woman is disgusting. Bravo for defending that. So much for fighting ignorance! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cops-hate-you-if-you-have-to-ask-get-out-of-the-way/557433.md?page=5)