What gives police the right?

Question

Why do police act like ignorant pigs when there on duty,eg,stopping cars on busy roads,stopping in bus stops,or double yellow lines,or even speeding and not wearing seat belts.
The other day one of them opened its car door right in my path and i nearly took it off.The filthy look he gave me.
Before you judge the road was very narrow.
No wonder there is lack of respect for them,cos i for one have no respect what so ever for the police.
I think they are lazy overpaid and a waste of time.
But unfortuanatly as people say we need them.

If your a do gooder dont bother to reply carry on looking out your window.

Answer 1

Must be the uniform, i think its some kind of super hero's uniform.. one which makes them above everyone else when they put it on! One of them told my bf to stop swearing and when they arrested him for it they called him a "Fcking fool" I mean come on... arrest some one for swearing and then say that..Jesus.

Answer 2

Some clarification of the law may be in order here. I can obviously only speak for the UK though.

UK Police are exempt from wearing seat belts. Don’t ask me why, we don't make the laws but I can see times when it does apply. Like escorting prisoners as they can use them as weapons for strangulation. I often don't wear mine when I'm a passenger responding to a call that may result in a foot chase so I can get out the car quicker.

We can stop cars wherever and whenever we want if we feel we have cause to. I suppose enforcing traffic offences is OK if they are only enforced on quiet roads are they?

Can you clarify why the Police were parked in a bus stop or double yellow lines?

As for parking spaces reserved for the disabled, I always respect these as I have relatives who are disabled but they are not enforceable in law as far as I'm aware.

If you see a Police Officer parked near a space allocated for emergency vehicles and you feel it necessary to take a photograph (obviously nothing better to do, to coin a phrase), then ask yourself if the space was clear when the officer arrived. The one at our local Hospital wasn't yesterday when I went there despite the sign saying 'Police Vehicles Only' with a 'normal' car parked in it.

As for the lack of respect, I won't lose any sleep over it.

Answer 3

I am sorry but I have to dis-agree with alot of you. Sure some police officers do take their authority to high and sure, some may be a little snobby. However that is only some of them.

Don't forget how much crime the world would have without them. Imagine how many people would die from one serial murderer. Imagine how many disabled kids would have gone missing and never returned.

Some cops don't do there job properly, but the ones who do make a difference in this world which I think most of you are taking for granted...

Without them my little disabled brother would've been either killed or stolen (he had a phase were he ran off...that was scary, happened some years back, he was found across one of the busiest streets in the area, naked as nudity was part of his phase, and scared), and for that I can't help but feel angry to here people dissing them...

Also with most of your points, there could've been an actual reason for them.

With the car door thing, maybe you should have waited for 5 seconds for him to close his door then drive pass...I mean you would be pretty angry too if someone nearlytook off your car door...

Maybe they stop cars on busy roads because...idk they were speeding, or maybe were in a car chase or had drugs...

Maybe they speed to catch up or something...

As with the no seat belts and parking in double yellow lines...it seems rather unbelievable, but if it was true, you should have reported it or something to teach them a lesson that they arn't above the law :P A quick mobile camera snapshot is all you need...

Oh and taking your question literally, the government give the police the rights...which they need to try and uphold the law :P

EDIT: "Unfortunately they are needed to uphold the law". I really think you are just stereotyping lazy cops from TV rather than real ones...Well fine, if you believe they are only bad, then you are to closed minded...

Answer 4

I was a criminal defense attorney for sixteen years, and this is my perception. About half of police officers are good people. They want to serve the people and do good in the world. And about half of them went into the profession because they are natural-born bullies (and this half of the group will lie on the stand, by the way).
Regarding seeing police officers disobeying traffic laws: they have the legal right to do that if doing it will help them perform their duties. Unfortunately, people in that second half of the police force overdo it as a way of telling the world that traffic laws do not apply to them.
I don't agree that they are overpaid. What they are paid is a matter of public record. You should research what they are paid in the city where you live.
One thing that you may not know is that they do not have a normal life expectancy. Of course, part of that is due to the fact that some of them do get killed on duty, either due to violence or car accidents. But a much greater factor is that they die earlier than is normal from stress-related diseases, such as hypertension and cardiac disease. My theory on that is that it is because of the nature of the work. Something that most people do not know is that it is very boring to be a police officer. On every shift, they go many hours doing absolutely nothing. Then, all of a sudden, they could be in a life-threatening situation. I think that when they are doing nothing, they are constantly worrying about what's going to happen next, and that that adds to their stress level.
Finally, I should add that the good ones are great people, in my experience.

Answer 5

I wonder why anyone would have such an issue with the Police over a dirty look. Chill. There are good and bad in all sectors - they are not ALL perfect but they do a job most of us wouldn't be brave enough nor diplomatic enough to do. There is respect for the Police from the majority of law abiding citizens - but that doesn't mean that they don't sometimes criticise them too.

Answer 6

Why do some people at some times seem like they lack the mental capacity to even breathe without assitance? Especially when they make blanket statements like every police officer is exactly the same.

In training, you are taught to make traffic enforcement stops in locations that are safe, and will remove you and the violator from the flow of traffic, sometimes however, this is not always possible.

As for speeding, certain calls require us to respond expeditiously, without using lights and sirens, such as a bank robbery in progress or other priority call. As the suspect's knowledge of our response could further escalate the situation. Also, in California, there is state law which exempts on-duty peace officers from wearing seatbelts. In a high risk situatuation, the second it takes to remove a seatbelt could mean life or death for the officer.

I am neither lazy, nor am I overpaid. I make more arrests and issue more citations than many officers at my agency, and my agency is far underpaid for the county average.

Yes, you do need us. But, any time you don't feel free to break up that fight you see, or go have a chat with your neighbor next time he hits his wife.

Next time, why don't you educate yourself before you rant? Thanks for playing, click it or ticket.

Answer 7

Cops don't do things like that to everybody. See, we have a list of people who are fun to annoy, and your name is on the top. After each shift, we sit around and talk about how much fun we had today doing little things to piss you off - like looking at you, or pulling you over for no reason whatsoever, or driving 56 MPH on the highway right in front of you.
We have some really cool new things we plan on trying out on you tomorrow. It'll be a blast!

Answer 8

Do you want an answer you can agree with only ?

Police are human make mistakes try to cover them up open car doors without thinking. etc

In my odd contacts with the police with only one exception I have found them helpful and courteous even when as I motorist I have been in the wrong, Yes I did get points on my licence and yes I was annoyed

Answer 9

the police have no right to break the law as in some of the examples you cited,they do however have a duty to uphold the law, this right as you phrase it is given them by Parliament.
if you were driving so recklessly on, as you state,a narrow road, as to be unable to pass safely, consider yourself lucky that all you got was a filthy look. how about a little consideration for all road users, irrespective of their employment.
there are not many occupations where you could face life threatening danger every time you go to work.
agreed some of them are a**eholes, but most of them are decent guys/girls trying to earn a living.
instead of looking out of the window, why don't you try looking in the mirror?
oh, and I'm not a do-gooder by the way.

Answer 10

Bit harsh, but some of them are not always aware of their surroundings. I was stopped at a single lane set of traffic lights and the officer in question seemed a bit miffed that I turned left into a quiet road so we didn't block the traffic on the main road. "Thank you for stopping" he said sarcastically. Only reason I'd been pulled was their poxy insurance database was three months out of date. I was legal but their computer said I wasn't, so the backroom staff don't do the guys on the front line any favours.

Answer 11

I got stopped by police last year so they could tell me I was driving a stolen vehicle, after an hour of dispute they confirmed the car was infact registered to me, they then decided to tell me I have a driving ban, which took half an hour to clear up. They obviously wanted to get me done for something so they gave me a parking ticket for stopping in a controlled zone. I would have been in much bigger trouble for not stopping!!!

I have agrued this and the charge was dropped and I received a back handed appology from the Bromley chief of police, but this does nothing to promote young people/police relations