What is your opinion on the police in the US?

[Anonymous]

[WhiteSteve]

When I was younger and angrier, they were my sworn enemy, lmao. Didn’t want to see them or speak to them. I was actually essentially kidnapped and emotionally abused by a cop when I was 8 years old, and that was very traumatizing for me. As I’ve gotten older I’ve chilled out on it as far as a personal level goes, I’ve interacted with enough guys in real life who are cops that I’ve shaken the “police are bad people”, although I can’t forget some incredibly prejudiced interactions with black folks I knew from my neighborhood I grew up in, and even once at my high school, which was private. Sparing the long stories, the gist was a bunch of police showed up for various reasons, detained everyone, and then dismissed me (in one case) and another white kid (in another case), told us both “get the fuck out of here” and then kept the black guys and continued shaking them down. I mean, that is just BLATANT. And there was no reason to believe that the white kids in those scenarios were any less suspect, and in the case I was involved in, nobody was even doing anything. The other one, there was a brawl after school between the skaters and the micks from Southie, all involved were white, and while the state police were sorting everything out, two black kids and a white kid walked out of a building into the scene, and as I said, the cop told the white kid to leave and told the black kids to show their IDs. That’s FUCKED.

That said, I’m over the idea that all cops are fucked up people. I think a good deal of them have ultimately benevolent intentions, there are more looking to help people than harass people, so I take cops as I meet them. I started playing hockey with a couple, they seem like good dudes.

My real offense is taken at the concept of organized society and law & order, I just think that is wildly, WILDLY out of bounds for how we are intended to live as humans. Very unpopular opinion amongst humans of course, but there just shouldn’t be this many of us on the planet. I don’t view our species as the superior one of the planet, and I think there are a lot of things that we may have the ABILITY to do, in terms of fostering survival, that we SHOULDN’T do. It throws of the natural balance of life on earth.

I had an interesting conversation with my 88 year old dad last night. He told me, between kindergarten and senior year of high school, FIFTEEN classmates died in his grade, mostly from polio, and a few more from tuberculosis. Jonas Salk “fixed” that problem, but the issue there is, that’s a problem for our species, but by unnaturally evading those outcomes, we create a problem for earth. And simply put: earth is way more important than humanity, and anyone claiming otherwise, I’d bet my balls that they’re a human. We are SUPPOSED to be dying at that kind of clip, nature has built in population control measures. We’re SUPPOSED to die of polio and malaria and cancer, that’s how the herd stays properly thinned. Individually, we suffer emotionally as a surviving loved one, but we aren’t entitled to that. We’re supposed to be living, and more importantly, DYING, just the same as all the other animals, we aren’t meant to be exempt from that.

[WhiteSteve]

So that ties into police just because I think humans need to seriously check and downgrade their entitlement to survival, safety, and comfort. You ever see that video of the zebra being bitten by a crocodile, tearing away once it got to the bank of the river, but that ripped its gut open and you just see the entire digestive tract of this zebra come falling out as it’s trying to sprint away. Brutal. And that’s how life is meant to go for all of us, as unpleasant and that is to us. It’s evasion of that unpleasantry that drives humans out of bounds, but when I hear people talk negatively about “entitlement”, it’s always some frivolous shit. What we REALLY aren’t entitled to are our lives, and we have arrogantly completely lost sight of that and our place in nature. The planet is being overrun by us, and I can’t see how that won’t lead to the ultimate destruction of the planet, or at least the planet as it was meant to exist. So I don’t really endorse human society as we know it, as comfortable as it is for all of us, and an army of contracted people protecting us is out of bounds too. People just need to live or die as it happens, and how any of us feel about that emotionally is irrelevant. I’m sure that zebra’s family and friends would rather it didn’t get disemboweled and eaten in front of them, but that’s what real life is supposed to look like, man. So police are just a part of that overall problem of people being protected and oversurviving, in my eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be uncomfortable or threatened or killed or any of that... I’m just able to step outside of myself enough to realize that I have absolutely no natural entitlement to that.

[nightdrot]

No joke, when I was no more than 5 years old, I can remember my mother telling my younger brother and me, "If you kids get thrown in jail you can expect to stay there because I won't be bailing you out. Because if you are in jail it means that you deserve to be. When a police officer tells you to do something you say, 'Yes, sir" and you do it!"

To be sure, beyond wondering how I would end up as the first second grader incarcerated on Alcatraz, speaking at just a personal level, I have no sympathy for this notion that someone is a delicate little snowflake who deserves to have his feelings given a higher regard than the rule of law. It is utterly alien to everything I was raised with.

The police have a risky job, their lives are on the line at every stop, and they have no way of knowing who you are or what you are doing. They deserve deference and if they go outside the bounds, you have redress for that in a court of law.

The current popular attitude toward law enforcement is an outgrowth of a sniveling, self-absorbed and self-pitying culture that too easily takes for granted the difficult task of maintaining a stable social order. "The policeman was mean to me!" Good grief.

Do they get unfairly treated? Absolutely. It is the sign of a self-satisfied and sanctimonious age that too easily takes for granted its safety and those who assure us.

In 1977, after nearly two decades of a culture that had taken to calling the police, "pigs" and that thought the criminal was a victim of society rather than a victimizer, Gallup took a poll. It showed that 72% of all women - and 92% of African-American women - of all classes and incomes and all the rest, did not feel safe walking in their neighborhoods at night.

Americans, as was said of the French kings, "Forget nothing and learn nothing." Suffice to say, we are about to repeat history.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Police have no way of knowing who you are and what you're doing? Like a person they stop knows who is the police officer and what they are capable of doing.

A police officer is just a human being like anyone else and is capable of having wrong intentions and often times prove their wrong intentions and evil heart by shooting and murdering unarmed people..

And I don't want to hear police officers have a dangerous job nonsense. Being a police officer isn't even ranked in the top 10 dangerous jobs.

[nightdrot]

@Hispanic-Cool-Guy On your last point, really? How many other jobs do you know of where you are expected to go into a dark house where a burglary is in progress - and run the risk of being shot. (As happened to an uncle of mine, by the way. He died.)

As to police being human. File that one under "duh." It is why we have courts of law and procedures in place to deal with the irreducible capacity of imperfect beings to act imperfectly or even corruptly.

Finally, the point is that we must conform our conduct as a people to that which conduces best to a well ordered society. The individual who thinks their feelings - of oppression or grievance or whatever - exempt them from the rule of law is apt to be a threat to society. This then being why they must begin - BEGIN - with respect for the law and the officers charged with enforcing the law.

It does not work the other way. As Henry M. Roberts said, "Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty."

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

As I said being a police officer isn't even a top 10 dangerous job. And cops always call for back up before going inside a house or looking for a criminal.

Cops are known for being paranoid, scared and nervous sissies especially in modern era. www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/38832907

Moreover, is funny you mention individual who think their feelings of oppression and complaining about police officers exempt from the rule of law, because most certainly police officers don't follow nor respect people's constitutional rights nor follow their state penal codes but rather act as their unlawful word is law upon the citizens who pay their salary to be a public servant.

Cops are the most ego sensitive pricks there are and feel threaten when you don't obey their unlawful B. S. of theirs.

[nightdrot]

@Hispanic-Cool-Guy Well, I sense more personal animus than I do real analysis.

The tone of the culture is one on whinny self-pity. The assertion of rights as an abstraction rather than the balancing of rights and obligations. Hence the vitriol of our politics.

In any case, your argument is counter-intuitive. We have been here before as I noted above. In the 60s the "science" of the moment was that the police were oppressors and the criminal a victim of society rather than victimizer. This went on as crime rates soared and in 1977 a poll found that over 70% of all women and 92% of African-American women, regardless of income or social station, said that they did not feel safe walking alone in their neighborhoods at night.

The cycle now repeats. Your point being obtuse in any case. Respect the law and all other things being equal harmony will follow. Start from the premise that the law is your enemy, and the predictable results will follow.

It is a prudential question. Does society work better and is it more peaceful if we start with the presumption that they are to be respected or not? The question all but answers itself - except to those who thrive on their sense of self-pity and victimization.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Dude, whatever. You sound like a super submissive little punk that likes to obey those in authority even when they have no legal right to treat you in a certain matter.

And you damn right is personal because I care about fairness and justice and I'm sick and tired of the abuse these crooks do on citizens on daily, shooting and killing unarmed people. Shooting a lady in her home through her bed room window, killing the Minnesota man with his kid in the back seat, the New Jesrey man murdered as he was running away on and on I can go with cases and abuses but people like you have their head so far up the government's up you know what that you accept whatever treatment they give you and its citizens.

[nightdrot]

@Hispanic-Cool-Guy You are foot stomping and throwing epithets and accusing me of what exactly?

No matter. First, my starting point is that we can try it your way, but I don't think that will work too well. A society with no respect for authority and no appreciation of those charged with maintaining its safety and you will get chaos and insecurity. Not hard to figure that one out.

Secondly, you take it for granted quotient and sense of entitlement is high. You have much regard for your sense of grievance and little or no regard for those who provide you the security that you assume is yours by right.

Want a society without respect for law and those who enforce it? Try Yemen, Syria and other such garden spots.

Further, as police are human and are not perfect we have the rule of law and courts and procedures to address that reality. React with hysterical paranoia or react with prudent reason and due process. Which is apt to produce the better outcomes.

Sorry, the problem with your argument is that it blends the culture's penchant for self-pity, self-righteousness and a vague paranoia with a sense of entitlement and ingratitude. It also forgetting that even in the best case the best that can be expected is imperfection.

So again you are left with a prudential question. Next time you need the police, treat them as your enemy. Then see what follows.

[Prettygurl12]

I will preface this by saying that I am a police officer so by default I like the police. I am aware of the many issues in the public perception of the police in the US.

I do my best at work to leave a positive impression on those I interact with. I hate to use the term "bad apples" but I don't know what else to call them. They exist. I know a few. They're not racist or anything like that - they're just assholes in general. I don't enjoy working with them. I don't enjoy going on calls with the asshole cops. But I do it anyway because that's what you do.

I work in a very diverse department. I am the only white person on my shift. There are openly gay officers in my department. There are openly transgender officers in my department. There are African American, Asian, Hispanic, immigrant, and white officers in my department. There are male and female officers in my department.

I was never racist or cognizant of any particular bias against any group of people and I struggle to see how anyone can be biased against any group of people when members of those groups will literally lay down their lives for you so you can go home to your family at the end of shift. What people look like, who they worship, what's between their legs, or who they entertain in the bedroom suddenly is meaningless when you realize that they will take a bullet for you no questions asked and they will come immediately to your side in your time of need. And it's a very somber moment when you realize that you would do the same for them.

I don't understand how you as a human being can hate on a group of people yet stand shoulder to shoulder with a member of that group of people on the thin blue you hold so dear.

Just like everyone else, police are people first and police second.

I'm very aware, however, that as an upper middle-class white women, the only interactions I had with law enforcement prior to joining the force were pleasant, traffic-warnings-only interactions.

So... yeah. I like the police. We're cool. We're also working very hard to change the public perception, but it's constantly slowed down by all the cowboy cops whose egos are a bit too big for their britches.

[TonyBologna25]

Your agency allows transgender officers? Completely disagree with that. That’s a mental illness, and taking copious amounts of hormones your body shouldn’t have leads to emotional instability and irrational behavior.

[Prettygurl12]

@TonyBologna25 Are you a police officer?

[TonyBologna25]

Reserve deputy with a local sheriffs department

[TonyBologna25]

After asking, it looks like my agency does as well. I've never seen it at the station I work at though. I don't agree with it at all.

[worldscolide]

You and those like you are why I both like and respect the police.. Keep doing what you do!!

[Jmmmfi4]

@TonyBologna25 all cops are assholes bottom line. Just bullies with badges who get off on the authority. Nothing more.

[TonyBologna25]

@Jmmmfi4 You’re entitled to your beliefs. I’m sorry you’ve had bad experiences with law enforcement.

[kaitylatte]

We are sooooooo damn lucky to have such amazing people protecting us. The amount of courage and determination and care the cops have for us is insurmountable. Those men are putting their lives on the line to protect each and every citizen and they don’t get enough credit for it. All the accusations o racism and hatred directed at the cops has given them a bad rep. While I am not denying the fact that there are some corrupt cops who do anything to make a situation go their way or let their personal feelings get in the way of their job, not all cops are like that. At my sisters job they just had a touch a truck event so that kids could see what the inside of different trucks looked like. The police had about 4 cars their and each cop I saw was chattering happily with a little kid. It absolutely warmed my heart to see that relationship being built, but it also made me sad to think that these cops, the ones who are trying to put a smile on a kid’s face, are looked down upon because of a few bad cops.

[TonyBologna25]

Wow, this was refreshing to read. Thanks for that uplifting comment lol.

[kaitylatte]

@TonyBologna25 Absolutely! :)

[OlderAndWiser]

Most of them are hard working, dedicated, good people. The good work they do every day goes unnoticed and unappreciated.

A few of them are "rotten apples." Whenever the do something wrong, they get tons of media coverage.

[ADFSDF1996]

For the most part they are good but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.

[Brindale]

I've made friends in law enforcement despite not being white; a large part of why the police seem so shitty is because of the police system itself; there's a lot of loopholes that let "bad apples" pull shit like arresting someone for resisting arrest, etc.

One of my college professors was an ex-cop and a veteran that gave really good advice on how to deal with a PoS cop, like how you have the right remain in your vehicle even when being asked to step out (leaving your vehicle means you are basically in a "public space" and are submitting to a search of your vehicle as befits a public space), asking why you were stopped isn't "insolence," etc.

Frankly, it doesn't matter how many "bad apples" get dumped if at all (considering how District Attorneys who are basically coworkers with police and are the ones to prosecute the indicted officer), and no matter how many good police officers there are, the system itself needs an overhaul or we're fucked, and the majority of Americans are either fine with how the system works or even support it.

[hellionthesagereborn]

They in general do a good job and get treated like shit for it. In fact I am reminded of a black lives matter protest (which of course has decided all cops are evil racists because they are cops and pretend like every black person is an innocent victim even though we all know this is not the case). Basically it was during this protest that a shooter started firing at people and those cops whom black lives matter was saying were evil vile racists who actively targeted innocent people proceeded to use protect those very people who hated them and accused them of being monsters and in several cases used their own bodies to shield these protestors. But of course some how they are still evil people in societies eyes and quite frankly I find it despicable. Sure their are bad ones, their are bad people in every field that is inevitable but over all they are good people doing a hard thankless job.

[bebecitaaa]

I come from a blue family: Father, brother, and sister in law. I respect them an their job. They are "fighting the war at home" and get so much ridicule and hate for it a lot of the time. Usually by people who are up to no good anyways. I do recognize however that politics has ruined Police Departments all over the US and the quality of PD and their policies and regulations vary between even different cities. In other regions of the US there are more controversies over all. The bottom line is: for the most part they are not safe and that is the root of most of the issues.

[PrimalInstinct]

Uneducated, poorly trained (either with mental illness, diseases like diabetes which can mimic intoxication, and even "dangerous" dogs), trigger happy thugs. I'd like to say they're the rarity but I know police & I know how one city department hired a wife abuser (whose wife wouldn't charge him but everyone knew, police were called to the house often enough) because they were desperate for bodies.

[Meropatrick]

I lived one year in the united states. Never ever i got the police harassing me in any way. All this the police brutality thing i never faced it while i am there. Of course there are bad cops, and abusive people in every domain. And in other countries

[BeMuse]

Most of them are degenerates and for some reason the state grants them legal authority and arms them. It’s madness… They should really raise the bar for police officers. Giving a gun to someone that just scrapped by with a GED is kind of asking for problems. I know which kids those are and they can’t even function themselves within society, yet they are put into positions of power in the community to tell others how to behave. It’s lunacy. SMH...

[TonyBologna25]

Most agencies in my state all require a bachelors. The days where anyone can be a cop are over. Most agencies are highly selective. Law enforcement also pays a very nice salary.

[BeMuse]

@TonyBologna25 I’m sure if you want to progress in rank a degree is helpful. The problem is the low rank individuals are the ones doing patrols and interfacing with the public most often. Here you go...

Applicants to the Miami Police Department must meet certain eligibility requirements: be a minimum of "19 years old" and a US citizen, possess a high school diploma or a "GED", hold a valid driver's license, and have passed either the FBAT in Law Enforcement, CJBAT in Law Enforcement, or FDLE Police Examination through an authorized test provider. Applicants who have been convicted of a felony or who have been convicted of a misdemeanor for perjury will be immediately disqualified. Eligible candidates are also required to go through an extensive application and screening process.

Candidates who have passed each stage of the hiring process will complete six months of recruit training at the Miami Police Training Center's police academy. The training curriculum includes academic study in such areas as law, crime scene investigation, and first aid for first responders. The curriculum additionally includes physical fitness training and training in defensive tactics and the use of firearms. Police officers in Miami are required to become certified through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).

[pocketman]

Us police are Very nice and kind compared to the rest of the world. Liberals and media twist our perception of police no a days. I've been to Europe and was stopped in germany for no reason and police wanted money treating me too. I've never experienced that in the US

[Meropatrick]

Yeah me too when i was in germany the police followed me to home just to pay a fine because i rode my bike in pedestrian area, money hungry bastards. They are also narcissistic and lousy they dont do their job well if it doesn’t include a fine

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Piece of trash and traitors to the founding fathers ideals and constitution of United States

The documentary on Netflix (Seven Fifth Precinct) is a clear indicator how rotten and corrupt the system is and how cops cover and lie for each regardless of whatever wrong doing they do.

[Rica_ChicaUSA]

^ Keeping it real!

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

@Rica_ChicaUSA: You seen the documentary? One of the cops literally said a "good" cop which actually means bad cop in their circles is one who lies and covers for other police officers bad doing. A cop ratting out another cop is a major sin in police circles and unacceptable. If that doesn't tell you these bastards are corrupt then what will?

[Claireluvskaren]

98% of police are great, they do a tough job, and put their life on the line everyday. 2% are bad people, on power trips. When you need a cop they will be your best friend and just might save your life.

[TheFlak38]

Very professional and they actually do their job compared to the obnoxious cowards in Europe, especially if we talk about the UK where the police is covering muslim rape gangs and goes as far as threatening to arrest and prosecute women who dare to speak out about getting abducted and raped.

[JCT666]

Depends. Most are professionals, but some you will get who are corrupted thugs that abuse their power.

But at least they seem to actually take crime more seriously, unlike police in my country (UK) who are mostly concerned with 'offensive' social media posts and literally protect paedophile rings.

[LEADFOOTboi]

Mfers need to stay in their lane... I don't like authority... The laws they can and have to enforce... Are so damn conflagurated and... Stifling... Like this is America... WTF I have a law says... We have to be defenseless all the time... And speed limits... OH GOD, THE SPEED LIMITS... They're STR8 offensive

[Apple1996]

I think it's a good thing we have them to protect us. a lot of people down play their job but they work really hard and more of us should be thankful for them

[Agape93]

Most are good but the corrupt ones are hard to deal with. What can you do? Sometimes the department or other officers protect them. There’s not much recourse that is realistic.

[coolhandroo]

I dont trust them, I don't like the type of person attracted to the job and they make me anxious at all times. That being said I dont think things would work well without them and I know that they have to deal with a lot of bullshit and I have seen cases where they were trying to help good people for the right reasons and they have treated me personally fairly most of the times I've had to deal with them which is a lot

[MackToday]

They do a good job for the most part except for Marxist cities filled with slums and trash. In those cases the police themselves may be just worthless thugs or held back by Marxists in the local government.

[Sixgun77]

That's Baltimore in a nutshell.

[ShortCircuit]

I don't really have an issue with police, themselves. Although, you could say that I have an issue with police *by extension* because they voluntarily enforce certain unjust laws. I also take issue with courts for failing to hold police accountable.

[ZackBan]

Not a us citizen so I can't comment on the specific but usually police in every country is made of men and women who aren't all that smart and can hardly think for themselves. That's why the commit bad actions sometimes, they don't know better.