Why do people hate the police so much when all they are there for is to protect us?

Question

My sister is a police officer and works ridiculously long shifts. In one night, she has to deal with things ranging from domestic disturbances to drunk people and deaths. Yet driving through town, people will spit at the van and shout abuse.

Answer 1

Few people like cops until they actually need one. And even then, they often complain that cops "don't do their job" when, in fact, they have no real understanding of what "the job" entails. In large part, TV/movies have created an unrealistic expectation of police work. Witnesses and physical evidence are not as bountiful as television would have you often believe and video cameras don't always tell the entire story with such high definition.

The bottom line is you have to expect to pay a price for a certain level of civil order. You can't get complain that "there's never a cop when you need one" then get pissed when you get a ticket for speeding. Or gripe when you get arrested for marijuana possession and then tell a cop "you should be out looking for the real criminals." Or be saddened when a cop gets killed, orphans his children, widows his/her spouse and then turn around and get offended every time a cop has anything less than a Mayberry-like attitude towards you when you're uncooperative.

It's an extremely difficult job with extremely high and often unreal expectations.

Answer 2

Unfortunately because of the press, the police force as a whole has had a pretty rotten review. People believe what they read and the press tend to write quickly when a mistake has been made, but very rarely write about all the good things our local bobbies do for us.

I think people tend to expect too much of such a strained resource. We feel that as we pay our council tax, we should have a policeman at our door in a matter of minutes and to always be at our beck and call. This is not the case, as I am sure your sister is more than aware of. People use the police for everything these days and the force finds itself attending situations that shouldn't have got that far. This means that there are less police for the serious crimes.

Like the royal family, people also feel that the police should set an example to others so when we read of corruption and child abuse amongst the force, it makes some people have less faith in them as a whole. They don't look at individuals, they see a uniform and think everyone is taking back handers etc.

Personally speaking I have a lot of respect for my local police force. They have responded quickly and efficiently on the occassions I have had to call them. The local School officer has a great rapour with the children and in return the children are made aware of dangers and punishments should they commit a crime.

The police put themselves on the front line every single day and it makes me incredibly mad when I read about officers being shot or stabbed just for doing their job! Unfortunately it is happening more and more frequently and many officers are leaving the force out of fear. This of course decreases the man-power so they are unable to attend situations as quickly as they could if they were fully staffed.
The government don't give them enough money to recruit and train new members so it is a downward spiral which is made worse by drunk and disorderly people taking up so much of their time etc.

If people were more law abiding, the police would have an easier time and have the manpower to attend incidents at a quicker pace.

I would also like to add that because of the 'do-gooders' in this world the police have their hands tied as to what they are able to do. They can no longer give a youth a clip round the ear anymore, which used to work in my day. We respected the uniform when I was young and the sight of them put the fear of God into us. These days it is so easy for youngsters to shout abuse etc at them, knowing full well that they are underage and untouchable.
The justice system, not the police, fail the victim. Everything has to be done so maticulous when dealing with a criminal because if a T isn't dotted, then the criminal can get off on a technicality!

Grrrrrrrrr I could ramble on all day lol!!

Answer 3

I can think of a few reasons. They may not be good ones but I think they can explain the phenomenum just the same. One take a look at alot of themovies that have come out in the last 20 years police are often portrayed as dim-witted or power abusers. In some cases police do abuse their position and it is the dark side of human nature to want to judge everyone because of the few bad ones. Also however innocent or guilty a person may be it is hard to explain to a child when police come and take their dad or family member away in hand cuffs. So I can see how people who have had a faily member or themselves arrested might have some issues with the police. Add to that I am sure the criminal element like to paint the image of police negatively because they "interefere" with their business. That being said it's unfortunate and unfair because most the ones I have met have been pretty decent.

Answer 4

I am all for the police force.. but.. here is why people feel that way.. my son 18 years old, good kid, 3 months ago, he gets pulled over for turning right on red when not allowed.. yes, it was wrong, but if it had been my daughter, she would not have got a ticket.. last week, my son got pulled over again for, now get this, he got a ticket for impeding traffic, and all he was doing was dropping a friend off on the corner of an intersection, and the friend took too long.. my daughter would not have gotten a ticket. Now, if he were speeding or something dangerous.. I could understand.. but impeding traffic? And my son, after he was frisked, and put in the cruiser, another cruiser pulled up and the two cops were talking about how many tickets they gave that night, and the one that had my son told his buddy cop "well, I was gonna pull over the guy in front of me because his license plate didn't match the car, so I got this kid holding up traffic".. what is up with that? I use to have respect for the police.. but they spend way too much time these days chasing the little guys. I bet the guy driving the car where the plates didnt match the car had a lot more going on than my son dropping a friend off. Maybe the police officer felt safer with my son, less chance of him pulling a gun or something.. they just are not where they need to be now is all. They are all over the small things.. but way off when it comes to catching the real bad guy...

Answer 5

Generally, we are not liked my most because the only time they deal with us is when they have been caught doing something wrong. You may have nothing against the police today. Tomorrow, you are doing 70 in a 60, and get a ticket, and all of a sudden ever officer out there is out to get you. That is the nature of the beast.

This is the reason police officers tend to hang around with other police officers. Most people want the police there to catch the "real criminals", but not them when they are doing 30 in a 20 mph school zone.

Answer 6

Because beat cops no longer just keep the peace and deter violent crime, they are now administrators of public identification and licensing, marriage councilors, and child custody judges. They can ruin your life in a heartbeat if "your papers are not in order" you argue with your wife, or you answer incorrectly when questioned.... The problem is with legislators, and way way too much government control. People can't get to the real culprits, so they spit on the messenger.

Answer 7

I'm sure a certain family in Brazil will agree - as their son was killed in London by police - and to top it all, they decided to hand over lies to the media - 'he ran like he was running from someone/he jumped over the underground train entrance without using his ticket'... - and the stories went on and on. Until they were found out. Since then, a couple who were involved in the incident were quietly promoted.
It's a shame your sister has to deal with such nonsense, but as in most things...the better and more mature always suffer

Answer 8

well it,s because they take too long with paper work, also when they are looking for the bad guys they make a mistake in going to the victim's place, thinking the bad guy was the victim. also when people call and say this person was doing something and the person that called lied . the police treats the Innocent person as a bad guy, when the police has the wrong guy the police never say sorry for bothering you. because when the in sent person feels like a victim when they are faultily accused and they never tell the person that was faultily accused the end story. of what happened that,s why.

Answer 9

I was on the side of the road changing a flat tire when a cruiser with a female cop stopped behind me. I thought it was nice for her to check and see if I needed help, but she didn't say a word to me and began searching my vehicle. She just opened up the driver door and starting poking around. When I said "Excuse me?", she pulled her gun on me and had me lay on the ground and wait till she had some backup, at which time he searched my vehicle. When he left she told me that I was lucky, and that if she wanted someone changing a tire on her road, she would let me know. Serve and protect, yeah.

Answer 10

Because they are NOT there only to protect us. If that were true, they would be adored. When a cop arrests a friend of mine for smoking pot, he is protecting NOBODY and only making my friend's life and the lives of those around him worse.

One time my car was broken into and I lost over $5,000 worth of tools and other things, including my cellphone. The thief was dumb enough to make calls, and I brought the list of numbers to the police station to give to the cop so he could do a little (simple) detective work and figure out who did it and perhaps get me some of my tools back. HE DID NOTHING, AND ACTED ANNOYED THAT I WAS ASKING HIM TO DO HIS JOB.

You call that "protecting and serving?" I sure don't, and I have no respect for any of those lazy, power-hungry numbskulls.