Law Enforcement

[Oaktree]

I don't like cops. I have never in my life had an experience with a LEO that they didn't treat me with disrespect or were condescending towards me.

My experience has been just the opposite. I can't think of a single time when a cop was anything less than professional towards me. Even when I was in my teens & 20s. Not saying there aren't any bullies on the force, but I doubt they're as prevalent as some make them out to be.

 

[joshuabardwell]

All professions have bad apples. Look at the scandals rocking the religious community. Does that mean because a couple of the apples spoiled we categorize all apples as bad.

I think it's funny how people consistently use the idiom, "a bad apple," in reference to police, in exactly the opposite way it is intended to be used. What you are saying is that the "bad apples" are the exceptions, and we shouldn't tar the whole profession with that brush. But the idiom is, "one bad apple spoils the bunch." It means that if you have one "bad apple" in a bunch, there are likely to be a whole lot more. Additionally, it means that if you have one "bad apple" that is allowed to stay, the "good apples" will soon turn bad. In this context, saying that bad cops are "bad apples" is hardly a defense.

In case you were interested, the source of the idiom is that apples give off ethylene gas as they go bad, and this gas accelerates the ripening of the other apples, causing them to rot faster.

 

[joshuabardwell]

The only way to prevent crime is tro share information and strip away that cloak of invisibilty that the criminal element hides behind while hollering invasion of privacy.

I am really sorry every time I see somebody imply that the only people who are concerned about invasion of privacy are criminals. We all, every single one of us, have something private that we would rather other people don't know about. Protection of privacy is, at least in part, about preventing the government from knowing those things. In other words, protection of privacy starts with protecting individual citizens from mere embarrassment.

 

[joshuabardwell]

My experience has been just the opposite. I can't think of a single time when a cop was anything less than professional towards me. Even when I was in my teens & 20s. Not saying there aren't any bullies on the force, but I doubt they're as prevalent as some make them out to be.

I think it has a lot to do with where you live and what the culture of the local police force is like.

 

[Domush]

I think it's funny how people consistently use the idiom, "a bad apple," in reference to police, in exactly the opposite way it is intended to be used. What you are saying is that the "bad apples" are the exceptions, and we shouldn't tar the whole profession with that brush. But the idiom is, "one bad apple spoils the bunch." It means that if you have one "bad apple" in a bunch, there are likely to be a whole lot more. Additionally, it means that if you have one "bad apple" that is allowed to stay, the "good apples" will soon turn bad. In this context, saying that bad cops are "bad apples" is hardly a defense.

In case you were interested, the source of the idiom is that apples give off ethylene gas as they go bad, and this gas accelerates the ripening of the other apples, causing them to rot faster.

Thanks for the scientific explanation. I didn't know the reasoning behind the phrase.

I think the irony of people trying to use the phrase as an excuse is representative of classic dysfunction enabling. One strains to minimize the perceived impact of corruption in order to avoid confronting the corruption of others and of themselves, sometimes even benefiting from the corruption. As with the apple metaphor, one is too many. And while apples have no ability to remove other apples, police are tasked to specifically weed out bad apples, in society at large and inside their own workplace.

I find it no coincidence the police defending ended after I asked the LEOs present how much corruption they tolerated and if they ever used their power to 'ignore' laws and benefit themselves. It appears that one bad apple has been fermenting far too long to be called "one bad apple" any longer.

After all, internal affairs wasn't created because of one bad apple, it was created because the many apples lost their objectivity and began thinking being overripe was sweeter.

In contrast, for those who are in internal affairs or ensure coworkers follow the same laws they enforce, I commend you and you have my full appreciation and gratitude. I can see the allure of corruption, but when your primary job is to uphold the law, anything short of that, including looking the other way when other officers break it, is corruption plain and simple. I understand there are thousands of laws which are irrational and unproductive, which is why I would not go into enforcement. LEOs made a choice to follow all laws and enforce all laws, and doing otherwise is dishonest and morally bankrupt.

Abraham Lincoln once said, "The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."

 

[TripleR]

Thanks for the scientific explanation. I didn't know the reasoning behind the phrase.

I think the irony of people trying to use the phrase as an excuse is representative of classic dysfunction enabling. One strains to minimize the perceived impact of corruption in order to avoid confronting the corruption of others and of themselves, sometimes even benefiting from the corruption. As with the apple metaphor, one is too many. And while apples have no ability to remove other apples, police are tasked to specifically weed out bad apples, in society at large and inside their own workplace.

I find it no coincidence the police defending ended after I asked the LEOs present how much corruption they tolerated and if they ever used their power to 'ignore' laws and benefit themselves. It appears that one bad apple has been fermenting far too long to be called "one bad apple" any longer.

After all, internal affairs wasn't created because of one bad apple, it was created because the many apples lost their objectivity and began thinking being overripe was sweeter.

Probably as much of a loss of interest as anything else. It is obvious no one can change your opinion nor can you change others; stalemates get kind of pointless.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Thanks for the scientific explanation. I didn't know the reasoning behind the phrase.

This is also why you can ripen some fruit by placing them in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple.

 

[Bird]

I find it no coincidence the police defending ended after I asked the LEOs present how much corruption they tolerated and if they ever used their power to 'ignore' laws and benefit themselves. It appears that one bad apple has been fermenting far too long to be called "one bad apple" any longer.

No, it ended for a couple of reasons. One is that politics is a forbidden topic here and this was getting too political. And the other is that there is no point in arguing with someone who is so wrong, and yet so dead set in his erroneous opinions that he'll never listen to any facts or truth.

 

[Oaktree]

Only NCIS, CSI and other TV fantasy programs have such sophisticated detection devices. I do not personally know of a state driver痴 license issuing location that has such equipment.

Some States will still send driver痴 license to a Post Office Box and use that as an address on the driver痴 license.

Here in N.H. your DL photo is digitized and stored on a server with the rest of your license info. If you ask for a duplicate license the DMV just re-issues what they have on file, photo and all.

 

[Oaktree]

I think it has a lot to do with where you live and what the culture of the local police force is like.

Not to mention your own personal attitude.