Some people state they do not like the police. I find that hard to believe, please tell me why.?

Question

I have heard over and over that the police are horrible people and they are nothing but criminals that have not been caught. I find that impossible to believe, and I am curious to find out why people do not like them. I am not looking for dumb answers such as "They are bullies." or 'They harrassed me." I am looking for a real reason, one that is thought out and articulate. Give the whole story...not just the police response.

A couple of good answers so far. I realize that there will always be that small minority of bad cops out there, but to me that is a reason to hate that one person, not police as a whole...thoughts?

As to the first answer....if that was true I would fully agree that that would be a bad situation. However I agree with the answer that stated there must be more to it...I would bet my house that that is a one-sided story...and I specifically asked for the FULL story, not just police responses....

Answer 1

Night after night, I read the complaints in here, and I think about the over 800,000 police officers out there.
Most of them put up with verbal abuse that would make a longshoreman blush, have their motives, integrity and ancestry questioned at every turn, and yet are still expected to be culturally sensitive and compassionate to every victim and arrestee they deal with. They face physical discomfort, separation from their families, low pay and long hours, and the only reason is often because they are dedicated to their job and to the citizens they serve.
Yes, there are police officers who are a disgrace to the uniform. I have worked with them, and they make us all look bad. They are in the 1 percentile of the officers out there in the field. Those of us who hold the thin blue line prefer to deal with them in our own way. You would be surprised at how many of them wind up just working a "report car" or the desk because no officer wants to work with them. Our watch commanders know who they are, IAD knows who they are, and they are dealt with accordingly.
The majority of people who complain about police in here do so for a couple of reasons. 1. they think it takes the responsibility for their actions away from them, and places it on the shoulders of the officers who enforce the law and 2. they are using this forum as a means to glorify themselves, as some sort of champion for the people.
If you want to be a champion for the people, try doing it in a blue wool uniform with 35 lbs of equipment on your waist in 90 degree heat for a few days. See how much you feel like doing it after you are spit on the first time.
Then you can come back and judge the 99% of us who do our jobs well every day, and are proud of what we do and who we serve.

Answer 2

As you can see from your first answer, I believe a lot of people feel this way because of bad experiences with the police or just from hearing about others' bad experiences. It's like the saying "One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch." It's not always true but you will always have biased opinions. To these people I say, "If you feel that way about the police, who are you going to call when you need help? A criminal?" There is good and bad in all professional careers.

Answer 3

one must realize that a cop has a very demmanding job. i agree with you that one must take into consideration that not all peace officers are bad. in fact most of them arent bad! and one concern that lingers on my mind is that: perhaps the majority of the publicity police officers get are mostly negatives. police do heroic things every day yet the only time they are featured on the national news is when they do something bad. and the fact that the only time they are on the news is when they do something wrong only plagues minds with the thought of which "all cops must be bad because i saw this one on T.V. beat up a 14 yr old". and thus i remind people that that very notion is not the case. that that very notion, in response to your question, is one of the many reasons why a lot of people think cops are bad. I once had a person tell me that when he was little he and his parents were on their way to the grocery store when a police officer pulled them over. the officer was very "rude" and "obsessive" towards his parents and would ask questions and before his parents could respond he would say "shutup i didnt ask you". he wasnt too descriptive in the way he told it but i could tell it really left an impact. yet another thing to take into consideration is the fact that in a world with millions of officers in it there are bound to be officers like this one who think that everyone is a criminal. there are many reasons for why people dont like the officers sworn to ensure their safety. but one of the most common ones is that due to their past actions in which police were involved, even if the officer was as nice as can be, do they think that they havent done anything wrong or that it wasnt their fault so they just wont own up to their actions. some people are very quick to judge and, when the thought arouses of how they would handle being a cop they either blow it off or would they like to think that they would be the perfect little cop out there. but the fact of the matter is that the only people who dont like them have never walked a mile in their shoes. the bottom line is that a peace officer is every bit as human as every one else and that most of the people prejudging them consists of those who have either:

1) ben a victim of officer brutality (not as common as the second)

OR

2) were not willing to comply when an officer gives them an order OR they dont think they can do any wrong and that whenever cited/arrested they are in the right

HOPE THIS HELPS!

Answer 4

While you may not like the answer, some cops tend to abuse their power. They turn on their flashers so they can speed through an intersection and then turn them off right afterwards.

They are also very bias. My friend was in an accident that was clearly the fault of the other driver. Unfortunately, the other driver was a very attractive female in her mid twenties. The cop was male and after he consoled and hugged her for 20 minutes came over to my friend, and gave him a ticket. He didn't even ask my friend for his side of the story. For the record, he is a very good and courteous driver. She drove through a red light and hit him on the side. His light was clearly green. Maybe, if the cop would have taken a moment and asked the half dozen eye-witnesses he would have better understood the situation.

Some cops are good, but unfortunately some are bad. They have a code that they follow. The good ones will never rat out the bad ones.

I don't blame them. They tend to deal mostly with the troubled part of society. They never know when they will be targeted and they are over-whelmed by paperwork.

When Chris Benoit committed murder-suicide his mother blamed the cops for not arresting Chris earlier in their steroid investigation.

We blame them when they pursue a high speed chase and someone get hurt. So in all fairness they get a raw deal too.

In the end, they reap what they sew. It's hard to win public trust when you see them setting a poor example.

Answer 5

Dog Lover made my day when he posted this:

"Anyway, with all that in mind I try to remember that its ultimately just a job, soon I will be home by my pool sipping a good scotch. See, for 12 hours a day I am their verbal punching bag... after that I am a normal human being. But, for them... 24/7/365 their life is a mess, due to their own actions or inactions, and it will only get worse day by day."

Thank you. I've always known that these people have to live with themselves and what a wreck many of these people are. But that was a nice reminder in the face of ignorance from the "poor down trodden violators".

Answer 6

In 1990, I lived in Titusville, Florida. The police stopped me while walking to a convenience store, telling me that I was walking towards the scene where a fight had just occurred. I was seventeen at the time, and was going through a rebellious phase and looked a bit rough. Heavy metal was my thing back then. I think my look played a part in why I was stopped.

At first, two cops came. But within minutes, I was encircled by four officers and two waited nearby in a cruiser. I was told to give them my ID, but I had none. So, they told me that I had to give them my fingerprints, which I did. This is illegal, as they cannot demand my fingerprints. Remember, I've done nothing wrong.

I never heard any more about a fight at the convenience store. The clerk looked at me as if I didn't know what I was talking about.

I've had a theory that they were trying to get to the bottom of a rash of burglaries that were happening at the time. I used to walk the streets until 2am to see what I could see. We personally had been burglarized. I thought that I could make a difference just by having another set of eyes watching the neighborhood.

Instead, it made me a suspect, and somebody they could fool into giving up fingerprints. I've since become a big believer in privacy rights. However, I don't know what ever became of those fingerprints. I assume they could still be on file.

I distrust the police. They can be quite shady in the way they conduct themselves. The motives might have been okay, but definitely not their methods. I was conned into giving up my fingerprints, which is something that upsets me to no end.

Answer 7

Well, I think most policemen are alright. Although I have heard of some crooked ones. I think the reason some ppl. do not like the police is because they have gotten into some kind of trouble with them. So they hold it against the police. It isn't right but that is their attitude.

Answer 8

You wanted the full story to the first answer [coragryph's].
Well here it is!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070714/od_afp/australiacrimeoffbeat

No doubt, the next questions posted here on YAHOO! will be:
HELP GOT TICKET FOR RAMPAGING IN TANK! How do I fight it?

or

WHY COP so MEAN when he drag my @ss out of APC? and threw my keys off into the side of the road. Screaming at me the whole time!!?

Answer 9

Exactly.... I have been doing this job for a very long time and have to deal with these types of "folks" on almost a daily basis. It is hard to keep your cool in the face of such ignorance I will admit. I just try to remember what kind of people I am dealing with.

99 % of people who act is way are no strangers to the police. They are uneducated, bad attitude people in every other aspect of their life as well. Thats why they are criminals, single mothers, drug dealers or users, poor, unemployed... well, you get the picture.

Anyway, with all that in mind I try to remember that its ultimately just a job, soon I will be home by my pool sipping a good scotch. See, for 12 hours a day I am their verbal punching bag... after that I am a normal human being. But, for them... 24/7/365 their life is a mess, due to their own actions or inactions, and it will only get worse day by day.

And one day, I will retire.... God, willing.

I have always said that I think it should be mamdatory that every single collage student in this country, unless a felon, should have to spend 1 day a week for their first year in college riding one shift in a police car. Then, they will see what society really is.... not the "theories" shoved into their minds full of mush by some liberal college professor.

One last thought..... You must know that many, many, many times while standing there with some punk yelling at me and calling me names, I envision their head just exploding like a pumpkin with a stick of dynomite in it. Yeah, that works...

Answer 10

Most cops are good, however, there are some who are criminals.
Any cop that makes up bogus charges to arrest someone. He is an example of that. In most cities there are know laws against skateboarding in public places, so the cops will charge the skateboarders with disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace.
Also, cops who use excessive force are nothing more than criminals.