You both realize that kanicbird’s post consists in its entirety of quotes from the article linked in the OP?
That said, I’m having trouble comprehending the post myself, as kanicbird doesn’t really seem to be saying anything in that case.
I’m not really clear on that analogy. When you decided to become a police officer, what was your “favorite topic, nineteenth century Russian literature”, and how has your job let you down in that respect? I’m just asking because I imagine that, getting involved on law enforcement, you kind of expect to meet a lot of stupid and/or criminal people. Not trying to step on your toes, but I think your analogy is a little thin here.
Not so. His first line is not from the article. He just failed to carve up the quote tags correctly. He said “If the cops can’t prevent [theft], they are unneeded.”
Funny how in Spain the cops have the sort-or-opposite notion (they reckon that, since they are not military, they should not share many of the same restrictions as soldiers re. worker’s rights) and have been arguing with the Government for the last 30+ years about that… (FTR, the cops are winning).
Boo hoo! Pretty much every job out there requires a lot of obnoxious busy work. I recently had to spend a week writing and testing documentation for something that I literally could have done in less than 5 minutes, but because it wasn’t techincally my job to do so, I had to write idiot proof documentation so the idiots whose job it is could do it instead. Yes, it sucked, but it’s part of the job. Deal with it.
Yes, a lot of people are stupid and could do simple things that help prevent some crime, but so what? Stupidity affects jobs all over the spectrum. I imagine that vast majority of crimes that a street cop runs into boil down to someone being stupid. They ran a stop sign, they got in a fight, they were drunk, they thought they could get away with stealing something; all of that leads back to stupidity. If you don’t want to deal with stupid people, you shouldn’t have gone into a job that requires that you interface with people constantly… at least when you’re not chatting, scarfing donuts, or taking a nap.
Seriously? You get pissed off because someone asks you for help? It’s in your bloody job description “to serve and protect”. I get asked for directions or other random help by strangers and it never bothers me to help them out if I can reasonably do so. You, on the other hand, get PAID to help people out. I can understand getting annoyed if you’re busy, but if you’re not in the middle of arresting someone or giving them a ticket or whatever, and I imagine anyone who might ask can tell when you’ve got someone pulled over or a throwing someone in the back of your car, you can’t be bothered to take 30s to tell someone how to get the museum?
The reason people ask a cop these things is because you’re supposed to be someone trust worthy who probably has knowledge about the area. For instance, if one is in DC, asking for directions from a random person on the street, one is more likely to run into a tourist, or someone who commutes into the city and doesn’t know how to find the National Gallery of Art off the top of their head, than someone who lives in the city and can give you directions. A cop, on the other hand, probably knows, or at least can point you in the right direction.
And, again, this is simply interfacing with people, it’s a huge part of the job, if you can’t deal with it, you’re in the wrong line of work.
It’s not a cop’s job to deliver street justice. It is never okay to continue to beat someone who is already subdued. A cop is not in a position, with all the adrenaline in his system when dealing with a person who is resisting arrest, nor is it his job, nor is he qualified to decide what someone’s “just desserts” are. That’s why we have a judicial system. Any cop who thinks this is okay to do this not only shouldn’t be a cop, but probably belongs in prison himself.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a civic duty of the citizenry to keep a watchful eye on the police, because if we don’t, who will? Police brutality IS very serious business because it is something a lot of cops seem to think is okay, and it isn’t. If a guy is resisting, they need to subdue him, but subduing him is not the same as street justice; hell, it’s not even close. A lot of these famous videos become famous precisely because the cops went above and beyond what was necessary… excessive force, casual use of tasers, etc.
If it gets you fired, you probably deserved it. Hell, just getting fired is getting off easy. If you weren’t a cop and you pulled that crap, you’d be in jail for assault.
People in general lack common sense. In fact, if cops are average citizens (and, in my experience, they tend to be at or below average), then they are lack common sense at the same rate. Hell, sometimes breaking laws is in favor of common sense. For instance, going 10 MPH over the speed limit, when the rest of the traffic is going that speed, and it’s perfectly safe isn’t in violation of common sense; in fact, in that situation, insisting on going below the speed limit is often less safe because it causes the rest of the traffic to slow down and change lanes to get around you.
If you stopped looking at people as a whole, and start looking at each person you have to interface with as an individual, maybe you’d learn to appreciate a little better and not treat everyone like the same idiot, maybe you’d find your interactions a little less bothersome. Yeah, it’s routine for a cop to pull someone over, but it’s probably not routine to the people who get pulled over, and they’re likely frustrated, possibly angry, and you walking up to the window and acting like a condescending prick just aggravates the situation and makes interfacing with them worse. No wonder you hate dealing with people.
Seriously, the cop from the OP is a complete douchebag and is exactly the sort of cop that gives the seemingly few decent cops, who are in that line of work for the right reasons, a bad name. Unfortunately, these are the sort of people that self-select towards being cops because they thrive on the authority and see the people as morons or annoyances. Seriously, what the hell was this guy doing being a cop?
I have a friend who is a cop. He’s a nice guy. We had dinner with him, his wife and his two little kids the other day.
He’s actually my wife’s friend – she’s known him for years, from before he was even a cop. He used to be a graphic designer. I think they met in art school
I don’t think anyone in a position of any authority would want such a study done, or would let the results get too well known if it had been done.
This is entirely aside from whether or not a representative sample of cops would or could agree to be part of such a study. If the military mindset is really that deep, talking to headshrinkers is a black mark on one’s reputation.
I won’t speak for gonzo (no matter how much I think he was aware of it), but I certainly noticed.
Hence my post. kanicbird would never make a pre-natal agreement with a demon to post hateful slurs against non-LEO’s.
Gibberish is another story.
No really, it’s really good. See, most cops want to get into it so they can outwit Raskalnikovs. When they learn that they’re more likely to find themselves surrounded bythe Gang Green Gang, they get all disillusioned and cranky.
As a retired cop I have seen plenty of jaded officers who have come to think of the citizens as the enemy. Its quite understandable when you deal day-in and day-out with the dregs of society. Its a survival tool. You learn to assume the worst because its simply safer to do so. Officers assigned to the worst neighbor hoods fall victim to this the quickest. Experience has shown them that most people are lying to them at some level and they are not to be trusted. Guys who work in well-to-do communities with little or no violent crime have learned that their clients are usually well meaning people who have become victims for whatever reason (stupidity among them) or perhaps violators of minor traffic laws and such. No need to treat them like the enemy for the most part. The cops have to deal with conflicting expectations from the public. On one hand, they want you to enforce the law equally with a machine-like detachment and perfection. Human flaws are unacceptable. On the other hand they want to be a human being and act with compassion (especially if they are the one in trouble with the law). “C’mon officer, have a heart. No need to be so cold and official-like Its only blah, blah” blah." The vast majority of cops I have known do a great job at it. I don’t condone the us/them attitude but I certainly understand where it comes from. If you are will to give consideration to criminals due to the environment in which they were raised why not give the benefit of the doubt to the cops who work there every day?
Personally, I don’t have a problem with the cops having that attitude so long as they leave it at work and know when to switch it off. Someone asking for directions shouldn’t be an occasion to bark, unless you happen to be a dog.
I do have a problem with my sister in law growing up not trusting anybody because her dad did not and seeing conspiracies everywhere because he did so, though. I realize he could have done this without being a cop, but she just happens to be the example I have closest, I’ve known other cops’ kids with similar trust issues. She made one real friend all through her childhood, adolescence and 20s: acquantances, many; friends, one. She has more friends now, among other things as a consequence of having learned to relax, to take people at face value, and to believe that people are trustworthy until proven otherwise, rather than to believe they’re all out to get you (which has no possible “proven otherwise”).
Mrs. Cad is getting a degree in emergency management with a bunch of cops, firefighters and exmilitary. From her experience coming out of private security: the reason the cop hates you is because you are not a cop.
This. The quote being discussed here, shows just what an asshole the guy is. Anyone who annoys him will be sent to the hospital? Who does he think he is?
There are differences between being “cold and hard” and being a belligerant aggressive bullying creep who is just looking for an excuse. That asshole described in the OP is just such an asshole. As for the “us vs them”, save it for the gangsters. The rest of us don’t need or want that nonsense. We didn’t do it, whatever it was.
Without his badge and gun to hide behind, he’d be going to the hospital just as easily as anyone else. There are some truly tough people out there, who could tear him apart while laughing at him. This asshole needs to be sent to a desk or out the door.
