We need to stop glorifying the police. I know that as a woman I would never go to the police for help. The old boys always stick together. Police are a danger to many law abiding people. Do you trust the police? I certainly donβt.
Be sure to keep a list of drug addicts you can call in an emergency. Keep a long list because several may not respond to your call for help.
These paranoid miscreants deserve the worst that may happen to them,The only thing that we can depend in times of trouble is law enforcement and these wastrels have the audacity to disparage our men in blue
Good to see there are some sane members among a bunch of idiots.
The majority of police officers I believe to be good people. Some are in it for some power trip and have anger toward women or different ethnicities. I feel we have pretty good oversight for the most part, BUT we hear about officers abusing their power and taking advantage of (especially) women. When they are caught, it turns out they had done it multiple times prior to getting caught.
In my younger days, I had some interaction with police that was not pleasant, but now in my older years, my only interactions have been very helpful and compassionate. That may be due to better training, or the change in my location. I now live where there is a very diverse racial mix of police officers, locally accustomed to treating elders with respect, no matter the ethnicity or gender. It could just be a different attitude and better awareness all around.
I hope that for every bad apple there are thousands of well intentioned officers. I think we hear about the bad ones and we are shocked that someone who is supposed to be a hero and authority figure would do vile things. That's just the makeup of humanity. There's always going to be good and bad - but mostly good - is my hope.
I'm not sure we can "glorify" a whole group of people - but individuals perhaps.
Most police are good upstanding law enforcement officers. Yes I trust and support them.
Prove that most of them are good and upstanding.
@LovinLarge People like you are the problem.
@Trajan61 Only those as delusional as you and those like you vould fail to understand the significance of supporting your factual claims with evidence, you grossly uneducated buffoon. You know nothing about me except that I am smarter than you are, but it would be just like you to think that smart people are the problem, right bottom feeder?
We were laughing about you on another thread a few days ago. Someone had posted a basic science quiz that for you would have been an advanced science quiz. You and the other simpletons are so fun to laugh at for those of us who have actually accomplished anything in their lives. Keep up the good work!
I know quite a few police officers, both still active and retired. I have found most of them to be just ordinary people. To try to use an instance of a sociopath doing horrible things as proof that all law enforcement can never be trusted is the very definition of cherry picking.
Are there a few in law enforcement who need to be removed? Sure. Is there a higher instance of sociopathic behavior in policing? Yes. And the leading theory as to why that is? The work attracts those with disturbed behavior in their future (and yes, for some places in their past). The application process for these jobs is the issue. In most departments, there have been major strides to correct this issue.
The "Thin Blue Line" that some people think protects bad officers isn't actually what people think it is. Those "bad apples" that everyone talks about are known within their departments. Those officers or deputies know they need to go. However, if you were forced into a position where you needed the backing of anyone who might show up, including those bad apples, you would be hesitant to expose them as everyone says they should. The course of action that is almost universally taken is to attempt to limit those "bad apples" getting into dicey situations. Keeping the Sargent or Lieutenant around also helps, as the problem people tend to behave around their supervisors. And when their years on the job get to the point where they can retire, the "bad apple" is usually encouraged to go.
The trust in police has been shaken over the past few decades. That is in part their own fault, but is also the fault of the public in general. Not understanding what and how things actually work within the law enforcement community is problematic. That is compounded by the fact the public thinks they know how police should work, but in actuality they don't know squat.
I have to draw the line at reading four paragraphs from a conservative. There is not a snowball's chance in hell that you have that much to say that would interest me. Please observe the one paragraph per conservative per comment in future and remember, I always get the last word.
@LovinLarge I don't think anyone can call me a conservative.
If you want to keep you blinders on and your bubble intact, that is your choice.
Try and think about seeing things outside what your preconceived notions may be.
Yes I am making one sentence paragraphs on purpose.
Talk to an actual police officer before you pass judgment.
Speaking of being judgemental, only those who are feel they must always have the last word.
@Rignor Nope, separating individual sentences into paragraphs even though grammatically improper still constitutes individual paragraphs. Good effort though, for a con.
You seem to be giving the police a lot of excuses. I don't care how hard there job is. If leadership is bad, so are the police. If training is poor, that is the police. I know lots of officers. Half I trust, half I don't. But this IS about life and death. This isn't about buying used cars.
How could I not ,my mothers life was saved by one during a medical emergency
And even if it hadn't been, you could have just said it was in order to tow the party line on authoritarianism because one good deed surely means that all cops are trustworthy.
Umm, That is their job. That doesn't answer why cops stand around and commit serious offenses and other cops don't stop them.
Emphatically .Can not count the times my family and I have encountered kind and helpful law enforcement.To draw conclusions from a small minority of bad apples is moronic and indicates psychological issues .
Wow, jumping right to namecalling in a first comment. Thanks for quickly confirming the actual source of the psychological issues.
Are you white?
What a load of bullshit .The good ones far outweigh the bad ones .
It's rude and inappropriate to say that what someone else said is not true, given her supporting evidence, without contradictory evidence of your own. Do you have any evidence to support your claim or do you even understand what evidence is?
Yes I do .The ones I donβt trust are the ones that donβt trust the police
Definitely
Did you read the article?
I agree!
@LovinLarge I highly doubt that this person read the article. Seems they are just here to throw shit in the air to see if it sticks anywhere.
@Redheadedgammy Indeed, she doesn't even have balls to answer. None of them do. I swear they all share one brain cell, their answers are all so similar.
Two months after I was discharged from the Air Force, I had a person point a rifle at me on the freeway. I
got his description and of the vehicle. The captain of the King County Police was standing at the court steps and I gave the information to him. He said, "Maybe he was having a bad day".
I never trust the police.
It is apparent that police do NOT need the protection of a union, and that police unions do far, far more harm than good, if any good actually comes from them. Mostly, they protect the racists and psychos that gravitate to a job where they can bully people without consequences.
Good points, had not considered the problem from this perspective.
The police and the Catholic Church have a lot in common: Theyβre both Old Boys Clubs. When faced with a choice between the public good and their own self-interest/image, the public will always finish in second place.
Exactly right. They truly always do look out for themselves first. And the fact that they get blanket immunity for straight up murdering citizens is beyond the pale. It's always been so depressing to me that some of the worst monsters of society can get themselves into a uniform with a badge.
I do not trust any cop!
You are wise beyond your years. My dad used to say that the only effective way to deal with the police is to keep away from them. I was once detained by the police and browbeaten for a day including being forced to take a polygraph regarding something I had no knowledge of. A healthy disrespect for the police is a form of personal security.
@LovinLarge I have personally had some interactions with cops that left me shaken and very angry, so I definitely have a healthy disrespect for all of them! Most that I have encountered throughout my life have been absolute assholes with a big authoritarian attitude. None of them are trained well, nor are most of them qualified to handle the job in my opinion.
@Redheadedgammy Sorry to hear it but not surprised. Attitude and training are well recognized police issues. Another one is that the so called "good cops" are not self-policing the bad cops like they could be, so they're really not that "good" after all. And of course racism is still alive and well throughout our country so police issues disproportionately impact those most susceptible to them and that's where I personally would like to see change begin.
@LovinLarge I have come to the realization that there really are no "good cops" who will step up and make sure that bad cops are dealt with. They are all pretty much people who only got in the profession so they could be bullies with a badge. I truly detest all of them.
The police have earned your distrust. Policing is an important job but it's time to diversify the task to bring in other professionals who are better suited to the stressors of the job. Police brutality of any kind is entirely unacceptable.
I'm looking for the article where stats indicate thirty percent of police killings were calls for mental problems, and the rest were for actual crimes. I can't quote the source though.
@PondartIncbendog Yes, that sounds very familiar. I'll let you know if I find it. Here's an example of a case that happened near me that shows police unfitness to deal with certain populations and the police culture that doesn't take such situations seriously.
@LovinLarge I saw that one. I am still angered by it. I'm glad he got time but it wasn't enough.
@PondartIncbendog My thoughts exactly. I really appreciate though how they got him for both the act itself and the subsequent making light of the act. This shows unequivocally that police brutality is systemic. Even in Colorado which is in many ways a progressive state, we still have barbarians who need to be brought into line. We dp need yo get tougher though, as you say.