A & B.
E. Ssssooooouuuuuuuuiiiiieeee, oink oinkity oinkoinkoink
Wow. This is surprising. For me, even when I’ve been on the wrong side of the law, the Police have always come across as guys doing their job the best they can, to try and prevent crime.
So I choose (L) Preventing / Solving Crime.
I guess that’s a variation on (B).
A.
I apologize to no one for this. They’re warriors who handle the crap we bitch about but don’t to dirty our hands with. They wade into the worst human crap and bureacracy going and get damned little respect for it.
Some of them burn out; it’s a wonder more don’t. I don’t sweat brusqueness or barely veiled hostility from cops. Treat most of 'em with basic courtesy and it’s amazing how fast they react in kind.
Some of them are barely distinguishable from the socipaths they supposedly control. I’m not making excuses for them. They knew–or should have–the mental toll the work could take. But considering that toll I’m not suprised at the bunker mentality and “stand by the blue” mindset either.
I view it as a choice. Cops deal with people at their worst. They’re enforcers and front-line social workers who know first hand exactly how far out of control lives can get. Forget rude sales clerks; in a cop’s world even road rage idiots are chump change. In a sick world of drive-by shooters, gangbangers and casual atrocities cops keep the insanity at bay.
They sure aren’t perfect but they surely don’t deserve abuse for doing the job in the first place. I wouldn’t handle the assholiness they do for the rotten pay they do, so fair’s fair.
Veb
Having a job with a window seat on the 4th floor of a building overlooking a true text book melting pot of people, I’ve been witness to the police depict all 4 of the choices.
Having been on the wrong side of the law, of course it’s C and D.
Having been on the right side of the law, of course it’s A and B.
Guess it all just matters on the circumstances.
Thought Police
Big Brother
When I was in a wreck (which was my fault) during my first pregnancy, the police officer kept the other driver from jumping all over me. He ferried our insurance information back and forth, arranged for my car to be towed, and drove me and my husband (who I was on my way to pick up and take to the auto mechanics’s shop to pick up HIS car) to the shop. He also told me the steps I would need to take to get the ticket which he wrote me dismissed (show up in court with proof that my insurance company had handled things.)
When my cousin committed suicide, the police took on the grisly task of going into the woods and finding where he had hanged himself. They insisted my aunt and uncle wait at the house, and did not let my aunt see her son hanging from a tree. They also persuaded the reporters who showed up that reporting this incident would do nothing but hurt a heartbroken family.
When my parents’ house was broken into (the back door battered off its hinges) and ransacked, the police stayed there and consoled my mother, and offered practical advice for her protection in the future.
I was raised to respect and appreciate police officers, and I have not found that to lead me in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, the power that the position provides can tempt a few real sickos who will abuse power into the profession, giving the rest of the folks a bad name. In general, though, I find the men and women who choose this profession an honorable bunch who put themselves into a profession which provides a great deal of risk and abuse for too little pay. I salute them for doing it anyway.
I have nothing but respect for good police officers. They should be commended for their dedication to a job that could get them killed, something I was reminded of the other day when a cop in my area was killed during the course of a questioning at a drug infrested area.
But I’ve encountered quite a few bad cops, ones who use their badge as a license to harass people. And while I try not to let the bad ones color my perception of the good ones, occasionally it happens anyway. And that is a shame, no question.
All of the above.