Law Enforcement

[Domush]

Yeah I sure got rich doing it too.. I made $5.25 an hour when I was all done. yep I was in it for the money..uh huh Yeah maybe it was lucky before I became a corrupt AH cop that just wanted to hurt people. Carrying that big old County badge on my chest and a .45ACP on my hip. I still have the badge, I traded of that particular .45 many years ago for a more concealable 9mm. I will have to try on that badge some time at home and look in the mirror and see If I become an instant AH. Maybe you think I already am..

James K0UA

First, sorry for the sarcasm in my original message. I broke my own rule.

No, I don't think you're an AH. Dismissive, maybe. I doubt many do the job for the millions in income. Same with teachers, I'm guessing. Though I do see the need to better weed out dangerous thinking. When it means someones livelihood or life, wouldn't you want the most reasonable and logical person making the decisions?

I know the courts are a good last line of defense, but they are a last line. I've had to take a day off work to go to court to contest a corrupt cops citation. That's lost income and a week of stress wondering if I would have to pay the fine anyhow. These things are not acceptable and can mean the difference between someone keeping their job, their house, their kids in daycare, etc. And that was just a relatively minor instance of abuse of power. The thought process is the same, however. Did this officer get reprimanded? I doubt it was even mentioned to him. What can be done to prevent officers who abuse authority from getting away with it and removing those who allow it to slip by?

I realize this is a generic corruption issue, but this specific topic is one where life can literally hang in the balance, and one I think deserves more than a blanket "some are good, some aren't" dismissal.

And what better crowd to discuss it with than tractor owners

Seriously, thought, police forums seem allergic to topics of dealing with problem cops. It's like they want to pretend the issue will fix itself or they do what you did, dismiss issues as "just cop haters hating on cops".

Supporting law enforcement as a whole is just as folly as supporting democracy as a whole. While a good ideal, the practice can lead to disaster (51% vote to kill the other 49%). Just as democracy needs exceptionally critical oversight, so does law enforcement.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using TractorByNet

 

[Bird]

Just as democracy needs exceptionally critical oversight, so does law enforcement.

Yep, and I suspect most police officers would agree with that.

 

[Biggreenavalanche]

Domush, I dunno about weeding out the bad or puffed up ones, usually they're around just long enough to tarnish the image and then the "system" tends to get rid of them...they will aways be around, just as they will be in any profession...I've dealt with puffed up Dr, Lawyer, Firefighter, Mother, Aunt, oh well, you get the picture...

For all the non LEOs, if you only knew how many folks "looked over my shoulder" or "Monday morning QB'd" me, you'd cringe...I really don't know of any other profession that gets looked at so hard and critically...it starts with my sergeant, the LT, The Capt, The Chief, The Sheriff, The DA, and what ever Judge and Jury get to preside over the case, not to mention the press, the victim (and their family(s)), the accused (and their family(s)), and every "John Q Citizen" who thinks they either know the entire case from the press or want to tell me the law and what or how I should take care of "biz"....

Domush, no disrespect, but, the badge is not the means to kill, it is a symbol that says a certain amount of authority has been handed to me to enforce the laws which the appropriate jurisdiction is charged to enforce...by the way, the laws are made, not by me, but by a body of elected officials...I don't necessarily agree with all of them, LOL, however I don't get to pick and choose....The means to kill will be what ever is at hand, whether its a gun, knife, a stick or whatever....

Look, I know everbody doesn't love their cops, some hate 'em, just a fact of life, but, please ya don't have to publicly bash us...I'd like to think most professions are good, I know some are not and know there are jerks in all of em, but I don't make a habit of bashing...

My very first Sergeant in the military once told me praise in public, berate in private...

Rich

 

[greasemonkeyok]

The Director of the Academy I attended once told me that he could staff the entire police department with volunteers, and that the majority of those folks were the kind he didn't want. It is a difficult job to administer a law enforcement agency, made more difficult by the fact that the Chief and other leaders are often promoted from within the department.

That said, the remedy is to upgrade the departments, and that takes time, money, and citizen involvement. Do the suburbanites bear the brunt of bad police conduct? No, it is most often the poor and minorities who get thumped, and they are the least likely to vote. So the suburbanites don't want to spend the time and money it would take to have truly professional law enforcement, and they vote against it. We get what we pay for.

Even at low pay, LEOs personalities are representative of society, some good and some bad. But, it is more detrimental to society for a LEO to break the law, than for a common criminal to break the law. What is important is that the general population perceive that justice is being done. Burglar breaks into your house, steals your computer, gets caught, goes to jail, gets convicted, does time - justice is done. Cop takes a bribe, the entire justice system is tainted because the public perceives justice is not being done.

 

[drssg]

Many years ago I overheard an individual who had been in Law Enforcement and was retired make the statement that "Society did not really want Police, Sheriffs or Law Enforcement, they only tolerated it as a necessary evil". I thought at the time this was a rather drastic and profound statement.

Recent events has lead me to start thinking maybe the old fellow was right.

A friend of mine was retiring after quite a few years of police work. His comment was, "There's just no respect for human life anymore." I'm sure he didn't mean that to apply to everyone, or even society in general. He was talking about the people he deals with when responding to calls. Over the decades, he saw more people willing to kill other people for no good reason.

His particular experience was getting a bullet through the window of his cruiser when approaching the scene for a domestic issue. At the beginning of his career, that sort of thing would be very unusual, but now it is much more common.

I suspect the guy you spoke with is coming from a similar angle. He must have friends, family, and decent people in his life that appreciate police officers.

 

[lockhaven]

I have some very good friends in the Maryland State Police, I have friends in the local county police force. They are the first to admit that some in their ranks are real AH's. K0au from what i have read is a first rate individual. Bird taught me that a bad experience with some in the gas drilling industry does not make the entire industry bad. My apologizes to Bird for not understanding this before now. Every profession has bad eggs but that does not make all bad. :ashamed:

 

[TripleR]

I was in Law Enforcement/Criminal Justice for over thirty years, but was not a Police Officer. I did work closely with municipal, county and state police as well as occasionally with federal agents. As mentioned, there are good and bad in all professions. Personally if everyone I met in any profession was negative, I would have to do a little soul searching as sometimes, it not "them", it's you.

It's a shame so many have had such bad experiences and have such a negative attitude towards the Police in general, but I guess it is what it is and none of us can change their minds.

 

[MF1652]

I had this conversation with my wife a while back. She works for a bank.

I asked her if I told her when she arrives for work, it's wasn't likely but the possibility was there that she may get shot so she would have to wear a bullet resistent vest. Then at some point during her day at the bank, someone would spit on her. Then after that she would be bitten by some piece of trash infected with Hep C. She would then be interupted while eating her lunch to go resolve someone's problem in two minutes that took two years to deteriorate. That same person would question her decision on how the situation should be handled and file a complaint with her supervisor because that person did not get their way. Then while winding down for the day another customer would puke all over her as she was assisting this customer. And just when her day at the bank is almost over a customer would try to run her over with their vehicle. Then she would have to cancel her plans with the family because she would have to stay past her work day to complete a mountain of paperwork. What would her response be?

She told me she would call in sick and probably never go back. Yet our Police Officers do it every day for one reason alone. Somebody has to step up and do it.

Thank you to all those who have done the job that some feel so much contempt for.

 

[20 20]

I had this conversation with my wife a while back. She works for a bank.

I asked her if I told her when she arrives for work, it's wasn't likely but the possibility was there that she may get shot so she would have to wear a bullet resistent vest. Then at some point during her day at the bank, someone would spit on her. Then after that she would be bitten by some piece of trash infected with Hep C. She would then be interupted while eating her lunch to go resolve someone's problem in two minutes that took two years to deteriorate. That same person would question her decision on how the situation should be handled and file a complaint with her supervisor because that person did not get their way. Then while winding down for the day another customer would puke all over her as she was assisting this customer. And just when her day at the bank is almost over a customer would try to run her over with their vehicle. Then she would have to cancel her plans with the family because she would have to stay past her work day to complete a mountain of paperwork. What would her response be?

She told me she would call in sick and probably never go back. Yet our Police Officers do it every day for one reason alone. Somebody has to step up and do it.

Thank you to all those who have done the job that some feel so much contempt for.

I understand what your trying to say, but please lets not over dramatise the job. This does happen to some while many others get so bored they have to find something to do.
I watched a burglery happen in NY city yrs back, 2 kids climbed the side of a building as they were WALKING away with bags of goodies about 50 cops showed up. I asked the manager of the store I was delivering to "why aren't you showing the cops who did it". His reply was "SSSHHHHHHHH !!! don't say a thing, nothing will happen to those kids but we will get major retaliation!" I have seen this happen many times, slightly different variation but same answer. So I have had to ask is it Joe Publics fault for not getting involved OR is it the justice systems fault for having so much coruption and loop holes?

 

[Bird]

I understand what your trying to say, but please lets not over dramatise the job. This does happen to some while many others get so bored they have to find something to do.

Yep, it's definitely different in different places and at different times. In fact, I once heard police work defined as "Long hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror.":laughing: