I don't think most people hate all police. I certainly don't. Wanting police in general to be held to higher standards isn't a bad thing, though. There are a few major problems I see: the few bad eggs, as you mentioned; the cover-ups by fellow officers; the lack of legal follow-through in serious cases of abuse of power or incompetence; and a severe lack of ongoing training and monitoring of officers to ensure they're fit for the stress of being in the field. I don't hate police, and I think they have a difficult job, but I believe there needs to be some reform that involves better training and support, and a culture that doesn't protect those who fail to uphold a high level of integrity and ability in law enforcement.

Because all the cops stick together. The so-called good ones don't even call out the bad ones. Quite the opposite, to the point of lying and covering up or just staying silent. If they would police their own, then I might extend them some respect from the outset.

Well....The police don't call out the racist cops, or if they do they are ostracized. It's that "thin blue line" mentality. Then I see obvious examples of police killing unarmed civilians and other obvious examples of unjustified murder, and the police end up exonerated of all charges. This happens time and time again. I can't say I hate most police but I hate the system and it is corrupt.

I don't hate police officers. Most of them do their job and help society. A few have overstepped their authority, but they are the exception.

I can separate my distaste for bad cops from my respect for the good ones. Some people can't. But saying that "people hate them all" is also "painting them all with the same brush." Just like any other close-knit group, if you criticize one, the entire group feels criticized.

(adding this edit for clarity) I don't hate all cops because of the acts of some of them. It may feel like most people either love them all or hate them all. Some people really are vocal about their hatred of all cops. Not me. However, there is also something else going on. I think that it is very common among people in tight kit groups to feel personally offended if one of their group is offended. I think that some cops can't accept criticism of one of their members without coming to that officer's defense and feeling like their entire department or profession is under siege.

As an outsider, I find the policing methods in the U.S. to be over the top.

I can't remember which news anchor said it, but he made a good point: the current militarised training that the police receive instills in them fidgety fear rather than calm bravery.

Apart from the more obvious incidents (e.g. Philando Castile's shooting - which I found totally disgusting), the shooting of Justine Damon (an Australian living in the U.S.) totally cemented the notion that some cops are totally not equipped (mentally, obviously) to do their jobs.

Bam85...Unfortunately, I think you are over-simplifying the idea that you’re questioning. First, I guess we would have to define “bad acts”. Do you only think of the physical abuses that are reported, or are you also considering every breach of citizens rights...like stop and frisk, DUI/Immigration checkpoints, Speed cameras run by for-profit companies, false reporting, planting evidence, holding themselves to a different standard, etc.

Just because YOU only hear of a few bad acts here and there, doesn’t mean that other people aren’t having and/or hearing of many more negative experiences. Not to say that All police are bad but perhaps a lot more than you realize. Additionally, many people feel that every officer that looks the other way and doesn’t report their fellow “bad” officers, are just as bad...not to mention those that actively protect the others committing misdeeds. Inclusion of all of the negative aspects increases the number of bad apples considerably. Wouldn’t you agree?

You're using the few bad apples argument and the saying is a few bad apples spoils the bunch not cover up a few bad apples or put bad apples in another bunch.
Also police in the US have shot and killed over a thousand people a year for the last four or five years. This is way more than other countries. We also imprison more folks than any other country. Also our police escalate confrontations so they can be violent. Also police will break the law to enforce the law. Lastly police will do all of this without prosecution. Conclusion your trust in the police is the viewpoint that is irrational.

Agree to a point... a few “bad acts” get published, how many do not... ? I believe the majority are good decent human beings but the silent majority know the bad actors and allow them to continue unmolested. I’ve found “a few” that didn’t think the law applied to them, like smokin pot, drinking and driving (not against pot nor booze). I’ve also found similar “arrogance” from military men and women and “even” politicians (mostly “R”’s), some D’s too. Guess my old school values hold these people to a higher standard and when they fail (act human) it’s just worse in my book. I’m hep with BLM and taking a knee for a just cause.

I like the police. Especially when I need them. If I call 9-1-1 you better send somebody out to my house ASAP.

Growing up in a rough neighborhood I admired the police and would often talk at their car window from my bicycle. Seemed to me they were the only stable presence… Got a scanner, learned the codes ..then had my HS counselor line me up for Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice classes in college..

Fell in love with a future wife too anxious for me to patrol.. and learned enough about the effect ‘fighting crime’ had on one’s personal life that I dropped out, too near the end.. Some jerks figured I was ‘a nark,’ others would ‘pretend shoot’ cops as we’d drive the streets ...and family assumed my days were numbered…

As mentioned, there are of course some bad apples, it’s one of the most stressful jobs of all ...I believe it had both the #1 divorce and suicide rate.. Now, I’m ‘their dad’s’ age, but still admire those giving all it takes to make their corner of the world a slightly better place.

Because all the "good" police officers are not arresting or stopping the bad ones. And officers are not treated the same as the public for the same crime. It makes them very easy to hate, you must be able to understand that.

I don't know about people hating police in the states. Radicals shooting cops over here should be shot themselves. All cultures have good and great people.

I'm not sure how to answer this. This isn't about the actions of a "few bad cops." It's about the actions of bad cops, the coverup, the system that keeps them in play no matter what they do, and the fact that they're never held accountable.

I would never say "all Germans are bad because of Nazis," but I would never all anyone to defend the Nazis because "a few get bad acts publicized." We have a problem that goes far deeper than just the police, and it must be dealt with or we're in real trouble.

I sincerely think you should familiarize yourself with what's going on. It's only a simple Google search away.

First things first.

I live in the UK and have never been to the states.

However, we are bombarded with American TV and film police dramas. Now I know that TV is not the real world and situations and characters are larger than life, but with few exceptions police are portrayed as the 'good guys' fighting crime and rooting out the bent coppers and ne'er do wells.

Which on the surface sounds really good. But in reality, what we see is a bunch of loose canons who shoot first and ask questions later, beat confessions out of suspects, break into properties and totally ignore the rules and safeguards in place that are there to protect everybody.

Combine this with the constant drip feed of innocent (mostly black) people being shot because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and the fact that most people's experience of police is via TV and media - and especially now social media - you can start to see why the public's perception can start to become very negative of the whole profession.

It's just a theory you know..... (Translation to science speak - these are my thoughts on the matter and the hypothesis I am putting up for peer review.)

Because the police union gets the bad apple's back. And police talk about the bad apple's but bever seem willing to actually point out which apple's are bad.

If you don't condemn the specific cops that are bad and address the problem then you are bad too. Until cops can reject and condemn these "bad apples" instead of make excuses for them then there are no good cops.

Its less like saying all germans are bad because of nazis than it is like saying like all nazis are bad even the ones that don't kill anybody

I'm not so sure it's that they are all hated so much as enough of them get on some sort of power trip and it can be hard to sort out who has or has not fallen into that these days. Protect and serve goes out the window and I don't know about anyone else but in the few instances I really needed one, I was treated as the criminal.

That said, logically I know this isn't all of them and there are some outstanding people in the police force. I just wish they could police their own a lot better than they do... and further the training they must have to be on the force.

They are not all bad.
Hard for low income and minorities to find, but definitely not all bad.

People do tend to paint all of a type with the same brush. hates a big word.

Personally I have had zero problem with the police. I can not remember the last time I was pulled over. The time I did get pulled over they have always at the very least been civil, and I ran into a polite one ore more. My memory is a little fuzzy. My think is they have hard job, but there are some bad ones.

Having been in the military I can relate to having your life placed in life or death situations daily and the stress one faces to make life or death decisions within micro seconds. However I do not understand shooting a man in the back who is running away from you and who has not displayed any weapon! Another situation is taking a man down who is not showing any resistance especially when there are several police officers on the scene to handcuff. These show a police unit out of control which then gets all the news coverage played over and over.

I respect our law departments and the job they face . They are in a position no different than our military @ war . There isn't any difference.

I have no problem with cops in general. I do get at least a call every other week wanting me to donate to a fund to help retired cops. I know they get a hell of a better pension than me because I don't have one, just SS so why should I give them money. That's ridiculous. Most cops have a job to do and do it and for that I give them all the credit in the world. If they are bad cops then they should lose their jobs like any other occupation. They put their clothes on the same as the rest of us.

It's just another form of racism. You cannot judge an entire group because of a few bad apples. Granted, each group's percentage of bad apples varies, and I'm not sure where cops fall in there, but one still has to fight the emotional urge to judge them all unfairly.

I just dislike racist police officers. I do have a problem with Germany and Poland-no desire to go there.

I think The Police is our biggest gang problem in this country. I do not believe they all enter into the club as corrupt abusers or with the intention to become such but I don't think any of them leave the club as anything but. Brainwashed? Exposed to too much of the worst in people? Bullied in highschool and seeking revenge?
Our police department is fucked. We have more unarmed people shot and killed in this city by "our heros in blue" than can be explained by any reasonable person. Cops driving drunk, beating the shit out of their wives, pulling firearms in off-duty bar room brawls. Christ on a cracker- Google our Otto Zehm debacle! That was one for the books! Now the mayor and police chief are covering some rape of a female officer by another officer?! Oh yeah! I feel real safe with these thugs roaming our streets protected by the thugs above them. Whole world is going to hell, I tell ya!
What was the question?