I have worked in a courthouse, where as a "normal" person you get to interact with police officers, and they are , mostly the same as all of us, they try and do the best job they can, give them a break!!!!!!!
2006-10-05 18:23:07 · 26 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
First off let me say thank you. People like you remind me of why I do the job.
For the most part the ones who hate us are the ones breaking the law. They are upset they got caught and feel they have to blame someone.
Every job has people that do not like them. It is more so with Law Enforcement , because we have been given the power to arrest.
Lets look at other jobs. Your electric company. As long as there is power you are happy, but the second your late on a bill they turn it off. Now you are upset, not because you did not pay your bill, but because they shut off the power. It's the same with law enforcement. For the most part you want us as long as we are taking bad guys to jail, but the moment you break the law and get caught, all of a sudden the Police are ciminals and you are the victim.
Yes there are some bad apples among us and they make the rest of us look bad. You see it on the TV all the time, but don't forget to take it in prospective. For every bad deed done by the police how many good deeds were done. For the most part if an officer does a good deed, then it is a part of our job and therefor not news worthy. When an officer does something wrong, the news is all over it. So all that is being reported for the public to see is the wrong doings.
As far as being mistreated on traffic stops its hard to explain. As a law obeying citizen, you will probably never deal with the police except for minor traffic violations. Police on the other hand deal with all sorts of people all the time. If we do not trust you when we are talking to you its because we have been lied to time and time again. So when a police officer starts asking you questions while on a traffic stop, we are trying to determine if any thing else is going on other than the traffic violation.
We are not trying to treat you like a criminal or interrogate you. As a law obiding citizen however it may feel like this. I do not know how may times I have heard "Why don't you go catch a real criminal?"
We use traffic stops to catch criminals. For the most part the criminal does not wear a sign. Criminal drive around like you and me. If we did not do traffic stops, then we would be missing a key way of catching a "real criminal". For example the Oklahoma City Bomber was caught on a traffic stop.
I have noticed that the people in here (Yahoo Answers) are for the most part pro police. Yes there are some negative people, but the majority support us. Again I would like to thank you for your support.
Just read CJ's post. I have forgoten all about "Wolves, Sheep, and Sheepdogs". It speaks volumes.
2006-10-06 09:36:41 · answer #1 · answered by thanson73 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
OK I will admit there can be bad apples in a police force. Any yes they should be weeded out of the force. And guess what they are. That is why there is an IA division on most units. But on the other hand there can be bad apples in any job.
Other than doctors, politicians, and attorneys, I think police officers are the most disliked professionals.
My husbands is an honest hardworking officer but gets called every name in the book for trying to do his job. He treats the general public with respect. As long as a person he has had to stop for whatever reason is honest with him he treats them with courtesy. The problem starts when the other person becomes rude, violent or angry. Then my husband has to do what he has to do to "protect" the rest of the public in the area. But what other people tend to see is aggressive behavior by my husband. They don't see or wont acknowledge the other person's behavior.
Sometimes the public he is trying to "serve and protect" obstructs him when he is trying to do his job because they don't want a family member or friend arrested for what that person has done wrong. Then the person keeping him from doing his job goes to jail also for adding and abetting. Now somehow my husband is in the "wrong" for trying to do his job. If the person who committed the crime had not done it to begin with my husband would not be there to arrest him/her in the first place.
Unfortunately "public" opinion will not change no matter how well my husband and his friends do their job. Someone will always want the criticize the police officers.
Maybe the best I can every hope for with most people is the agree to disagree on this topic.
Oh and by the way how many of you have jobs where you and your family's are targets of people with guns 24/7? But guess what I support my husband in his choosen carrer because he is a good and caring officer.
Thanks
2006-10-06 02:32:23 · answer #2 · answered by pj_gal 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
My experience has been that people who are down on the police usually have received a ticket, gotten arrested, or had a family member get a ticket or get arrested. Even though the vast majority of these people are found guilty of the offense they feel the need to have someone to blame for their problems. These are usually the same people who do things like defend their problem children in school, cheat on tests, don't leave tips for waitress, and constantly complain about the food in restaurants. Yes there are bad cops and the people how's trust has been betrayed by them deserve to feel the way they do about the police but by and large police officers are people who feel a civic responsibility to the community and work very hard to protect the citizens there. Between 150 and 250 police officers will die this year while trying to keep us safe and protecting our freedom to get on-line and bash them like this. Give em a break.
2006-10-06 15:18:21 · answer #3 · answered by Keith 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yeah, in a courthouse they are all relaxed and feeling sweet.
It is out there, when they crave adrenalin or lose their patience that they display show of authority, and show of force, violating civil rights. Internal affairs covers for them, making sure the chief does not lose his job, and the town does not get sued.
Maybe you even feel lovey-dovey towards them because you are not a member of a minority group. If anyone stops you, all you say is tell the cop who you know, where you work, and the break starts there.
At the police station and courthouse there is a very kind feeling of brotherhood... But civilians know better.
2006-10-06 08:15:31 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Most policemen are really decent people off the job.
Enough of them aren't in order to give them a bad name. This becomes a cycle as people expect less of the police.
It also doesn't help when there are more laws than ever for the police to enforce. People might agree with these laws in general, but when they get applied to someone they know, they feel differently. Laws against taking bottled water out of bars, against female cannabis flowers, against open alcohol containers (in and out of cars), certain gun control laws....
They aren't like robbery, drunk driving, rape, or murder -- these are among the few laws which people would actually LIKE to see enforced on their peers, if guilty!
2006-10-06 03:44:27 · answer #5 · answered by A Box of Signs 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You work in the court house with them, of course they are going to treat you differently. Have you ever been on the receiving end of a billy club? Cops are generally racist (even the black cops treat black people like dirt, thanks uncle tom!).
Some recent examples of cop abuse:
There was a 65 year old woman that was maced recently in STL where I live and she wasn't even the reason the cops were at her house. They were looking for her grandson and she didn't give them any info. WOW!
Another off duty officer shot a young man outside of mall here a few weeks ago. He shot him in the back of the head for bumping into him in the mall and having a confrontation. The officer was not wearing a uniform but was carrying his gun.
Another cop shot his girlfriend in the face with their daughter in the next room. They were having an argument. The daughter said she had often heard them arguing and her mother often saying,"Go ahead, shoot me and get it over with." The officer had been in trouble a few times before for driving while intoxicated, yet he remained an officer.
I could go on for days, but I'll spare you. The police don't respect me or my city, so I refuse to respect them!
2006-10-06 10:57:23 · answer #6 · answered by Autogestion 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Public servants take pledges, therefore are measured by
such pledges. They start with 100 points and then it is a
count down. How low?
It also pay better to bring the police down than to be the police,
esp in the US of A. Take this example; A lawyer, a crook and an
honest policeperson - who earns the least. And who has the
least freedom to act. Who has "internal affairs" to answer to.
Finally, if you cannot kick the law makers you kick the law
enforcers and hope the ouch! reaches the law makers.
2006-10-06 03:12:46 · answer #7 · answered by wcsj 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
The ones who are down on us are jealous - that we make soooo much money (I guess if all you could get are min. wage jobs washing dishes, our pay and benefits look marvelous); "get" to carry guns anywhere we please (that's not a huge responsibility or anything, just fun and games, right?); and apparently can break laws as we wish - total crap - if I were to get in the least bit of trouble, the courts would crucify me, because as an officer, I am sworn to uphold the law, and more is expected of me than someone not sworn...
2006-10-06 10:55:02 · answer #8 · answered by Glockmeister 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Because cops think that the laws they are supposed to enforce do not apply to them or their families. I have seen numerous cases where a member of a cop's family causes an accident, and the report got "lost", after the police "visited" witnesses, the witnesses "forgot" what they saw happen, etc. Usually when a cop or member of a cop's family gets pulled over for drunk driving, the breathalyzer "malfunctions". I've even heard members of cops families bragging about how once pulled over and the cop realized they were "officer so-an-so's little sister" they were allowed to continue driving home drunk!
2006-10-06 06:51:59 · answer #9 · answered by innocence faded 6 · 3⤊ 4⤋
Good on you, I fully agree with you!!
I have great respect for the Police,just because there are some crook ones it doesn't mean they are all the same
we need the Police I can't imagine what our lives would be without them probably a murder on every corner
2006-10-06 02:43:25 · answer #10 · answered by ausblue 7 · 5⤊ 2⤋