What is your opinion about cops?

Question

Do you like them? Have you had any good or bad experiences? Do you think the majority of them make correct decisions most of the time?

Answer 1

I am also biased. I was a cop for 21 years and I know all too well from the ones I worked with that we are all too human.
There are jerks who abuse their power to a degree, most of them serve out of a sincere desire to make the world a better place.
I actually got an officer fired who abused his authority and tried to provoke a suspect into a fight by taking his gun and badge off. I had seen his confrontations escalate with the public and knew he was a time bomb waiting to go off.
So, I worked with some of the greatest people I knew and am very much impressed with and some that shouldn't have been bomb polishers in in some 3rd world terrorist factory.
Cops get hired from the human race, you get people who a great job, are very conscientious and some who slap-dash do the minimum to get by. Sadly, it is real hard to tell who is the best candidate until they do some time on the street. We do extensive background checks, talk with people who know the person, give them polygraphs and some bozos still slip thru.
Just remember that most cops try very hard to do a tough job to the very best of their abilities, seeing the worst side of people. Cops don't get called to the family gathering unless somebody got drunk and hit someone, or they found out that old Uncle Chester is a child molestor.
I thought it was a privilege to serve the public and I tried very hard not to abuse the authority that the citizens and the city gave me. Was I perfect, nope, not by a long shot. Would I do some things over, absolutely. But, I did my job to the best of my abilities and my only regret is sometimes I wish I wouldn't have retired.

Answer 2

1.They're just people doing a job... howbeit, a job I could never do...
2.I am very thankful for them... the more I see on any given day or evening, the safer I feel.
3.Majority of my experiences have been good. They have been the moms and dads of some of my students, I've received tickets (and deserved every one); they've been present to help sort out the details at the scenes of car accidents, and when house alarms have accidentally gone off, and they've shown up when EMS has been called for injured family members. They've even shown up promptly when I've been "spooked" by strange noises at my house.
4.I think the majority of them do make correct decisions.. or at least aim to make correct decisions.. In 45 and a half years of living in Texas, Maryland, and Alaska, I have never personally had any dealings with a "bad" cop, or any who gave me reason to not respect them.
I have a great deal of respect for anyone who is in the law enforcement line of work.... They are often hated - and hunted - by the very people they swear to serve and protect...
If anybody has ever earned the right to have a bad day and be surly to the public now and then, they have. You won't catch any judgment from me.

Answer 3

It doesn't matter if I like them...they are essential to my safety and well being.

My father is a retired police officer. 25 years on the Detroit force (10 of those as an undercover narcotics cop), and then after he retired from Detroit, he worked as a coroner's investigator for Oakland County. Lets just say he didn't always remember to leave his job at the doorstep when he came home and life wasn't easy for me as a teenaged girl because my dad saw so much CRAP that he just couldn't believe that I wasn't involved in, or at least touched by any of it. I had a hard time relating to him...and he to me. That is my BAD experience.

And, I have had VERY good experiences with them. In my adult life, I have been in situations in my life, dire situations, when seeing the police arrive was like being born again, being given a second chance at life! And for the first time...I saw my dad through other people's eyes and felt a huge regret for the respect I never gave to him when I was growing up.

Do they make the "correct" decisions most of the time...yes...but not everyone will see it that way. It depends on who you ask, the offended, or the offender, and even their viewpoints will differ depending on the situation. They are most times in a "no win" situation. No matter WHAT they do, SOMEONE is going to think they didn't do enough, or they did too much, or they weren't there quickly enough, or they were "just waiting for them".

That isn't to say that some don't abuse the authority they've been given, becuase some DO -- but that happens in every aspect of every level of society. But it's hard enough to perform an unpleasant task without going into it thinking that on some level, one or more of the people you're dealing with WANT you to fail.

Thanks dad.

Answer 4

I think they have a very tough job.They must make decisions in less than a heart-beat knowing that people will spend hours and hours second guessing that decision. They are cussed, hit, spit on, and criticized daily, and Joe Blow gets his panties in a wad when a cop doesn't smile when he interrupts the cops dinner (which is consumed as fast as possible because crime doesn't wait) to complain about how the police department is spending the tax payers' money. They enter a crime scene where they can smell the blood before they actually go into the house. They stand vigil at the hospital with the wife of a fellow officer as doctors try to save his life after he was shot during a traffic stop. They hunt down that officer's killer, and treat him with respect as they take him to jail. They attend the funeral of their friend and return to work that same night. They listen as a jury sentences the killer to five years for killing a cop, but 10 years for hitting one. Police officers enter a war zone every shift, and they do it because they want to make that corner a bit safer for you and your family. They not only deserve our respect, they have earned it. Cops are human and humans make mistakes, but for the most part, a good cop's decison is a good one.

Answer 5

They are only as good as their training & experience makes them. Some are naturals at helping people, while many seem to have a breaking point that is highly visable after long hours on the job! I have always found that when you show respect to an Officer, you get treated fairly. Mouth off & get stupid & they are human & they can get stupid back! Their jobs are extremely stressful & dangerous. If society paid them better, I think the stress levels would be lessened & the Public would not see the extent of abuse that is causing some people to have to seek lawsuits on Officers. We need more of them in our large Cities, yet we seem to be getting less Police protection due to economic issues. I have had both good & bad experiences with authority fiqures. Mostly good, but the bad was the most diffucult to deal with because I took it personal, when I should have looked at the whole picture. It gets easier as I get older, strange as that sounds!!!

Answer 6

We need them you have your bad and you have your good . But one will always complain when the Cop is arresting us or writing us a ticket but we will be thanking that same Cop for helping us out in a problem we needed a Cop for .

Answer 7

My wife and i were just talking about that,,, I have lived in Ohio for 50, years and only had 1 bad experiences with a state trooper.
a lot of your city cops think that there it, And thy do no wrong BUT most are good cops, I have a lot of respect them What 's gets me when a state trooper stop some one first thing thay ask is WHAT DID I DO Most time when your stop its some thing that you have done wrong

Answer 8

I like cops. It is a job that most people don't want, and can't do. They are humans, and try to make the correct decisions most of the time. There are some questionable folks who wear a badge. But that is such a small percentage.

Answer 9

I can't stand them. At least the ones in my small town. Like today, a creepy car had been following me a lot of the day and I pulled into a store parking lot. I went in and was going to buy an air freshener, a silly little tree. I got scared they might be doing stuff to my car so I stepped out without realizing I had the dumb thing in my hand, and I walked back in to pay for it.

The next thing I know, I got dragged in a back room for shoplifting. He went through my car and told me if I didn't sign the confession I couldn't go home. He told me he hated dirty shoplifters like me. I asked him to let me tell my boyfriend what was going on because im sure he was worried and he said, "No, you can't. Im sure when he finds out he'll break up with you anyway. I would never date a girl like you."

So yeah, no good experiences here. Bored cops = Horrible.

Answer 10

It's rare to find an officer that actually lives up to the 'serve and protect' philosophy these days.

The 'war on drugs' and 'traffic laws' has no doubt had a detrimental effect on the quality of service provided by the law enforcement community. The political and money motivated enforcement of victimless crimes, which have no measurable effect of accomplishing anything except creating a revenue stream for the state or municipality, has certainly increased corruption and detracts officers from doing real police work.
My local sheriff's department had my respect as they dealt with real crimes... that is until I noticed that they started making routine traffic stops which had previously only been done by the state and city cops. Since that time, the sheriff's dept. hasn't done anything in several cases I personally know of, even where evidence is all but hand delivered to them.

Additionally I currently have a Constitutional tort case pending against a county police dept. and officers involved in a ridiculous harassing traffic stop.