# Why I hate cops **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 19, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174 "2014-06-19T21:38:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/281 "2014-07-10T20:36:30Z")
Note I did not write “the” Mercedes. Mercedes might mean your car, or it might be your wife’s name. Anyway, either may need waxing. How do you sleep at night, I wonder ? Pills, alcohol, both ? Or is being ensconsed in wealth and privilage enough to do the trick ? Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are fabulously wealthy. And they are in the process of giving ita all away. What’s wrong with these guys ? What’s wrong with you ? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/282 "2014-07-10T20:43:14Z")
Dude. You are so far off base it’s like you’re in a completely different park. Possibly playing Calvinball. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/283 "2014-07-10T21:03:24Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Dude. You are so far off base it’s like you’re in a completely different park. Possibly playing Calvinball. Andros, I don’t like being called “Dude”. You know anything about baseball ? Anything about the real world ? If I’m ‘off-base’, I’m planning to steal 2nd. Or 3rd. Or home. Calvinball ? Coolidge ? What in the hell are you trying to say ? If it’s that you fart through silk, just say so. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/284 "2014-07-10T21:10:33Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I’ve got your enlightened member right here, pal. And we are not “pals”. I’m more selective than that. You gotta’ earn that salutation. You’re off to a poor start. But, there remains that chance, still. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/285 "2014-07-10T21:16:12Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > Andros, I don’t like being called “Dude”. You know anything about baseball ? Anything about the real world ? If I’m ‘off-base’, I’m planning to steal 2nd. Or 3rd. Or home. Calvinball ? Coolidge ? What in the hell are you trying to say ? If it’s that you fart through silk, just say so. “Dude” was a complete sentence. I intended it as an interjection, not as a way of addressing you. I mean no offense, although I confess to a great deal of curiosity about why you dislike being called that. “Calvinball” is a fictional game invented by Bill Watterson in his daily comic strip _Calvin and Hobbes_. As played by its inventor (the eponymous Calvin), it has any number of rules, each of which is made up with every game. And you’re still completely mistaken about a considerable number of things. . ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/286 "2014-07-10T21:19:33Z")
A local citizen went nutso at his parent’s home and brandished a knife, saying he was gonna’ kill himself. He threatened no one else. The cops showed up and shot him dead, preventing a suicide. He died on his parent’s front porch. No cops were charged. It is nearly impossible to get a conviction against a cop. On the rare occasion one is convicted, it’s always very lenient. If that doesn’t disturb your reverie, you’re another citizen intimidated by the police and cowed by the courts. Or you’re just a plain coward. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/287 "2014-07-10T21:25:17Z")
Ok, andros. Thanks. We’re good. I’d like to know which other things I’m mistaken about. I have always welcomed new insights. I don’t mean to come across as a know-it-all. And I don’t claim to know it all. But, ‘I’ve been around, you know ?’ (Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman) ---
**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:** [July 10, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/288 "2014-07-10T21:29:15Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > Some members are seriously deficient in egalitarian or social conscience and haven’t the decency to at least pretend to care about the unfortunates of this, or any other, society. I revel in the whining of the unwashed. I just wish they’d be quieter about it. I’ll suggest an ordinance to this effect at the next Shilluminati meeting. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/289 "2014-07-10T21:34:57Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > Michelle Bachman, the crazy Senator from Wisconsin ? And her husband is a doctor ? FTR, Michele Bachmann is from Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/290 "2014-07-10T21:40:08Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > At least you gave us a laugh. Not easy to be so flippant about the lives of those you never knew. But, you pulled it off. Commendable. Log-out, gotta’ puke, now.:dubious: Sir (I hope I get some creidt for not calling you ‘Dude’), if that sort of thing gives you the vapors, this is definitely not the message board for you. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/291 "2014-07-10T21:40:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s interesting how much overlap there tends to be between people who think the police are picking on them for no reason, and people who will freely admit to committing a federal offense on the internet in a posting that can decisively be tied to them. What “federal offense” do you refer to ? It was a case of self-defense gone askew. The victim (me) was victimized twice, once by the other guy who assaulted me and again the the police and courts. I don’t get what you mean. Or, rather the other way 'round. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/292 "2014-07-10T21:50:17Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Sir (I hope I get some creidt for not calling you ‘Dude’), if that sort of thing gives you the vapors, this is definitely not the message board for you. “The vapors”. That’s good. You must be from the Victorian age. Yea, you get credit. But you spelled credit wrong. I don’t normally point out such inconsequential things, but that seems to be the routine around here. I cannot be insulted, If that’s what you suggest. Don’t pull any punches on my account. I can take anything you guys can throw. I’m a counter-puncher, anyway. Probably why I have won every damn fight I’ve been in, with a couple of draws. I’m no punk, but I don’t get intimidated by anyone. Here or in person. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/293 "2014-07-10T21:55:03Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I revel in the whining of the unwashed. I just wish they’d be quieter about it. > > I’ll suggest an ordinance to this effect at the next Shilluminati meeting. You do that. I’ll go bathe. Not familiar with that organization, but it sounds delightfully sinister. Have fun ! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/294 "2014-07-10T22:02:53Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > You do that. I’ll go bathe. Talk about not fitting in around here… ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/295 "2014-07-10T22:16:26Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > I’d like to know which other things I’m mistaken about. Ok, let’s start here. > [@common\_good](#): > > Some members are seriously deficient in egalitarian or social conscience and haven’t the decency to at least pretend to care about the unfortunates of this, or any other, society. I don’t think there’s actually been any evidence of this. If you could let me know what posts you’re talking about, I’d appreciate it. > [@](#): > > Do we live in a just society, I ask ? Except you haven’t been asking that question. Or rather, you may have always been asking, but it sure hasn’t come across in your posts. Until very recently, that is; but you started off complaining about cops, largely based on a personal experience, and only later segued into “just society.” > [@](#): > > I’m told I make unsubstantiated claims that we do not. :shrug: You’ve made insubstantiated claims. Providing evidence is not only a bias we have here, it’s also a really important way to convince someone of your point of view. Some of it might be nitpicking, sure. (And I’m speaking as a semipro nitpicker.) But when you want to persuade someone of something, it’s a good idea to provide support. > [@](#): > > Also, that my personal experiences are of virtually no import. Of import to you. No one’s doubting or questioning that. But anecdotes are not data. For every single story you provide about shitty cops doing shitty things–and no one here, no one, _no one_, disagrees that some cops are shitty and do shitty things–I can provide a story about a great cop who does great things. My stories about great cops aren’t going to persuade you that all cops are great, are they? Of course not. By the same token, why should your stories about shitty cops convince us that all cops are shitty? Your personal experiences are not wrong. They are not invalid. But they are simply your experiences, and do not necessarily reflect the bigger picture. > [@](#): > > This is considered an enlightened body of deep thinkers. I am impressed by the scientific knowledge displayed by many, here. :snort: The first is debatable. But yeah, as a whole we do know a fair bit about science in specific and empiricism in general. > [@](#): > > And equally amazed that such an august gathering of minds can, and generally is, nearly oblivious to the socio/political realities the upper classes attempt to dismiss as simply whining or sour grapes being vented by a member of the unwashed masses. Social Justice is not trivial, as so many seem to feel, and social injustice is very real to a great many people. Be glad you aren’t one of us Here’s the nub: You’re leaping to all sorts of conclusions without basis here. You’ve gotten the idea that people in this thread, because we’ve jumped your shit, are upper class? That we are oblivious to sociopolitical problems and inequities? That you’re being dismissed because you’re an “unwashed mass?” That we consider social justice issues to be trivial? That none of us is “one of you?” All of those are assumptions without merit. To the very best of my knowledge, no one has said anything of the sort, in any way, since Day 1 of this thread. People are jumping your shit _because of how you come across_, not because they’re bourgeoisie and love injustice. > [@](#): > > but don’t try telling me social, economic, and political injustice is not real. _No one has said that._ > [@](#): > > Human compassion is a mark of civilization, of intelligence itself. Many, here, are ignorant or uncaring, or both. Uncaring, I’ll certainly grant as a possibility. An awful lot of people don’t care about a faceless set of pixels on a screen. But suggesting that the folks here, because they’re asking you to back up your claims, are stupid and uncivilized? That’s some passive-aggressive shit right there. And it’s not based in what people have actually said. > [@](#): > > The Grapes of Wrath is assigned reading. Read it, again, in your hot-tub, perhaps, or while waiting for Mercedes to be waxed, or whatever else the self-important do with their time. But read it. Again with the bourgie thing. You think people here are rich and that’s why they disagree with you? Really? The fact is, most people here agree with you on a lot of things. But in coming across as, frankly, a jerk, you’ve poisoned the well. If you really want to say “we need to do something about injustice in our society,” that’s awesome. It’s an important discussion to have, and if you were to open a serious conversation about it, you’d find a great deal of agreement here. But that’s not how you started out. Now you claim it wasn’t your intention, but here’s how it appears to me (and apparently to others): You opened the thread to bitch about shitty cops, got little agreement, and then got angry about it. Eh, I’m about burnt out and need to get started on dinner. Final thought: the BBQ Pit is so named because it’s where all the flaming happens. Having this forum keeps personal attacks and insults from poisoning the others. But there’s a lot of flame about, and you’re as likely to get burnt as do the burning. I highly recommend spending your time in the other fora and giving the Pit a miss. . ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/296 "2014-07-10T22:19:06Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Talk about not fitting in around here… Yes, you all are a bit stuffy and snobby. Do you know the role of the court jester ? Sure you do. It was to tell the King the real happenings on the field of battle and the real feelings and concerns circulating in his realm. You ermine-lined, purple-clad aristocrats need me. You just don’t know it nor do you like the truth so plainly spoken. I understand. Do you ? Doubtful. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/297 "2014-07-10T22:26:49Z")
Well-reasoned response, andros. Thank you. I will take all that into consideration. I have to go, also. No offense intended; just trying to arouse discusion. Advice well-taken. My apologies to those I’ve offended. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/298 "2014-07-11T00:59:30Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > Don’t pull any punches on my account. I can take anything you guys can throw. I’m a counter-puncher, anyway. Probably why I have won every damn fight I’ve been in, with a couple of draws. Okey-dokey, Internet Tough Guy. I’ll just point out that it’s my impression that you’ve lost at least one fight: the one in court that triggered your OP. Whatever the case, please continue to attempt to get a board composed of thousands of members to behave exactly the way you want. That almost always works. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/299 "2014-07-11T04:37:49Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > It is nearly impossible to get a conviction against a cop. You’re so full of crap you should change your name to “septic tank”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174/300 "2014-07-11T05:03:04Z")
> [@common\_good](#): > > Yes, you all are a bit stuffy and snobby. Do you know the role of the court jester ? He gets beat up by the Constable a lot? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-cops/691174.md?page=16)