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Don't "clench your buttocks" around cops...

#181
Balog said:
If you don't live in NM not much you can do about this poor guy's situation. But, in general, anything I can do to help people realize that cops are not their friends or there to help them, the better.
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And there you go. That is such a silly attitude. Cops have helped me many times - recovering my stolen property, dealing with my psycho neighbor, capturing the drunk who hit me with his truck and fled the scene, etc. etc. You hear about a bad cop on the news and then you paint them all with the same brush.

If you happen to live outside the law, then yes, cops are not your friends. But they are my friend when they protect me from you. I'm always suspicious of people who hate cops a priori, and would never trust them.
 
#182
Balog said:
The vast majority of cops are collecting a paycheck, and using the "Gosh we're so awesome and help people SO MUCH" BS to stroke their ego. They don't, generally speaking, get between you and anyone. They show up after something has happened and take a report. When they aren't busy enforcing unjust laws or collecting the randomized tax that is traffic citations.
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LOL.
 
#183
As one often does here in Northern Virginia, I was waiting in traffic with three buddies at a stop light on our way to lunch. As the light turned green, we entered the intersection and were about half way through when an on coming car decided to beat traffic and proceeded to turn left right in front of us. I hit the breaks as quick as I could, and felt my friends hit the back seat. Before I could get the cuss words out of my mouth, I heard a siren two cars behind us. A police officer immediately made his way past us and pulled the guy over.

One might have gone deaf from the cheering and carrying on in the car as we couldn't believe our good fortune. It's not everyday one gets to see justice carried out so swiftly. Needless to say, the officer was hero of the day.
 
#185
Munjibunga said:
And there you go. That is such a silly attitude. Cops have helped me many times - recovering my stolen property, dealing with my psycho neighbor, capturing the drunk who hit me with his truck and fled the scene, etc. etc. You hear about a bad cop on the news and then you paint them all with the same brush.

If you happen to live outside the law, then yes, cops are not your friends. But they are my friend when they protect me from you. I'm always suspicious of people who hate cops a priori, and would never trust them.
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I don't hate cops a priori, I just don't have any naive fantasies that they're brave heroes who want noting more than to serve and protect me. They're guys collecting a paycheck like anyone else. Some are good, some are bad, most are indifferent and just want to do their job and go home.

However, they have been given an inordinate amount of power, and an ever decreasing amount of personal responsibility. If I shoot someone unjustifiably it will destroy my life (and many times even if the shoot was perfectly justifiable). Cops kill/beat/kidnap/rape on a regular basis and both society in general and the legal system in specific shield them from the consequences of their actions.

Cops are just ordinary people. But they've been elevated to the status of knights in feudal Europe: a special, better class of people who are not truly bound by the laws they claim to enforce. And that's not rhetoric, there are any number of laws that cops or ex-cops are given special exemptions from. And if there's one thing that history has shown it's that power corrupts. And the more power that is given to them as a class, the less accountability that they have as a class, the more heavily armed and armored and aggressive they become, the more they dress and talk and train and act like a military force: the worse that the corruption and abuse of power will become.
 
#186
Balog said:
But, in general, anything I can do to help people realize that cops are not their friends or there to help them, the better.
Click to expand...

Balog said:
The vast majority of cops are collecting a paycheck, and using the "Gosh we're so awesome and help people SO MUCH" BS to stroke their ego. They don't, generally speaking, get between you and anyone. They show up after something has happened and take a report. When they aren't busy enforcing unjust laws or collecting the randomized tax that is traffic citations.
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Wow buddy. Prior to these posts, I was sympathetic to your cause in this thread.

I just can't get behind your idea that the "vast majority" of these officers who put their life on the line everyday for others are in it to stroke their ego. There are plenty of other jobs out there for egomaniacs than dealing with the scumbags of society or possibly getting their heads blown off.

-Mike
 
#187
MJ5150 said:
Wow buddy. Prior to these posts, I was sympathetic to your cause in this thread.

I just can't get behind your idea that the "vast majority" of these officers who put their life on the line everyday for others are in it to stroke their ego. There are plenty of other jobs out there for egomaniacs than dealing with the scumbags of society or possibly getting their heads blown off.

-Mike
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I'm an electrician. Statistically, I'm more likely to die at my job than a cop is. Sure, it's more dangerous than being an accountant or something, but compared to many of the trades, commercial logging, commercial fishing etc it's pretty damn safe. And has extremely good pay, benefits, and security compared to private industry.

Cops are normal folks. Their job is worse than some but far far better than others. And the other jobs don't place you into a position effectively above the law.
 
#188
Right, but playing sparky for 8-10 hours a day is far different than willingly putting your life on the line to defend your life or the life of others you don't even know. Big difference from some random stats that says more electricians die than police officers.

Look, I get it, you don't like police officers. It took a few pages of posts for me to catch on, but now I know where you stand. I should have sniffed you out sooner. My mistake.

-Mike
 
#189
Cops also, for the most part, encounter criminals; bad people. I could see one becoming a bit jaded if you are dealing with illegal firearms, crack pipes, etc every day of your life.

I have only gotten traffic citations really, so they're fine by me. They actually arrested a robbery gang that hit half a dozen houses in my parents' neighborhood (I lived there at the time).

I was very scared that someone would kick in the door with a gun and steal my music gear and/or hurt my family. A random traffic stop was what sent the ring to jail, so next time you get pulled over, remember that the next guy could be someone out to cause real harm.

But if I got a booty call, so to speak, from Johnny law for clenched butt cheeks (hey, maybe I had to go really bad and was holding one in?) I might change my tune. But, still, they're not out to violate you. They're out to prevent or solve crime. Kinda in the job description.
 
#190
sneha1965 said:
As one often does here in Northern Virginia, I was waiting in traffic with three buddies at a stop light on our way to lunch. As the light turned green, we proceeded to enter the intersection and were about half way through when an on coming car decided to beat traffic, and proceeded to turn left right in front of my car. I hit the breaks as quick as I could, and felt the bodies of my friends hit the back seat. Before I could get the cuss words out of my mouth, I heard a siren two cars behind us. A police officer immediately made his way past us and proceeded to pull the guy over.

One might have gone deaf from the cheering and carrying on in the car as we couldn't believe our good fortune. It's not everyday that one gets to see justice carried out so swiftly. Needless to say, the officer was our hero of the day.
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That's funny, my wife and I had almost the same exact thing happen to us. Never cheered for the cops so hard in my life :D
 
#191
When I get a few mins I'll have to post the story of what happened to my oldest son. Definitely a good illustration of a bunch of thugs with a badge that had little to nothing to do with law enforcement or preventing crime.
*I;m referring to these cops specifically, not all of course.
 
#192
I've had all kinds of experiences with the police, with the pendulum swinging violently in both directions. Since I've been in Tustin, I gotta say I am digging the police force here. I am yet to have been pulled over for frivolous crap, nor tailgated, looking for a reason to pull me over. They have community events at least once a month. And the couple of times I know of that they needed to be called, they arrived swiftly.
 
#195
I bet. Worst cop experience was coming over the summit at Yosemite and my car died. Literally 20 seconds after my car died, a female cop pulled up and started screaming at my to get my car out of here or she would have me towed. Fortunately, taking the air filter out, gave me just enough o2 to gets things started again and get the hell out of there. Now that cop was a complete waste of flesh. But it wasn't that she was a cop. She would have been a complete waste of flesh no matter what she did for a living.
 
#196
Back in Long Beach I once got a ticket for rolling a stop sign and using my cell phone. Both charges were complete lies. I fought the ticket and won, but in doing so, I got to see first hand how some of these guys use their knowledge of the laws to get over on we civilians who are less informed.
 
#199
macaroni tony said:
I've had all kinds of experiences with the police, with the pendulum swinging violently in both directions. Since I've been in Tustin, I gotta say I am digging the police force here. I am yet to have been pulled over for frivolous crap, nor tailgated, looking for a reason to pull me over. They have community events at least once a month. And the couple of times I know of that they needed to be called, they arrived swiftly.
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Yep, the cops here in Orange have never harassed me for anything, I've got no complaints. Except, I once dated a girl who had a real bad drinking problem. I had no choice but to call the cops on her one time. They sent a hook and ladder, an ambulance and 3 cruisers to my house. Total overkill. Once they saw what the situation was, they all left except for the one cruiser with two cops in it.

Those cops were terrible. They played good cop, bad cop, tried to shake us down, tried to search our house and tried to get us to confess to having weapons and/or drugs, of which we had none. After I reasoned with them, they finally left with my gf in the back of the squad car.

As they left, one cop sat in the car with my gf, while the other proceeded to lecture me in front of my house about how he was such a nice guy because he didn't cuff her (he had no reason to, she didn't resist in the slightest, and they weren't arresting her, they were taking her to a hospital) and if I was smart I would just put all her belongings outside that night. What a dick. Oh well.
 
#200
macaroni tony said:
:D

Dang that's jacked up. But at least we know better than to take a small sampling of local police force and/or what we read on the interwebz and make assumptions about cops as a whole ;)
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Ain't that the truth. I have an ex-cop in my band, my brother-in-law's a Sheriff, and my cousin is a police officer. They all have some interesting stories about some interesting characters.
 

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