So you wanted to know why cops are such assholes? Go ahead, ask.

[jklinders]

Cops are assholes because literally everyone they have to deal with is a liar or is attempting to fuck with them.

Thanks. I appreciate your outright saying (because you used the word literally) that when two cops came to my door at quarter past 11 in the evening to follow up on a noise complaint and domestic disturbance that was for the wrong address the evening before that I was fucking with them because the I must have been lying about them having the wrong address. I don't disagree with the overall thrust of your post but this them against the whole world crap because everyone is out to get them is bullshit. They could have checked up on that call at any hour of the day but they waited until most working people are in their beds before knocking on my door and bringing my fiance dazed and stumbling out of a deep sleep (which only served to make me look worse) and question us.

Its probably the worst job in the world because you literally start viewing the rest of the human race as some kind of sub-species to "cops" and the only people that are actually people are "cops".

If anyone starts to see that happen as a result of their job they need a new job stat. As soon as an authority figure starts to see the people they have authority over as somehow sub-human, they need to get the fuck out. End of. Also, you are using that word literally again. Seriously look it up. It's a very damning word to use when it is used improperly.

In all fairness this isn't always 100% the cops fault. Cause as stated their entire life is filled, from the day the put on the badge, with the absolute dregs of their local culture, and whether its a routine traffic stop with some snotty soccer mom thats dropping names of local politicians and calling for the officers badge or some punk kid trying to deny the pound of coke in his car is his or a stone cold thug gangster thats resisting arrest...literally EVERYONE is trying to fuck them around or fuck them over.

It gets even worse once these cops get drug into court and Public Defenders and paid defense attorney's try to rip their careers apart in attempt to get Lil Johnny "Not My Coke" back on the streets by pointing out flaws in the officers testimony and reports.

As a cop...you eventually start believing that it is literally you against everyone else on the planet...and why? Cause you wanted to help people...and that will turn even the most idealistic personality a bit sour after a few years of it.

Cops are products of their environment, unfortunately, their environment is every maladjusted asshole in their jurisdiction...so they go from regular people that wanted to be cops, to maladjusted assholes rather fast.

They have a shitty job no doubt about it. But that doesn not excuse some of the sketchy shit I see them doing. Like

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...asion-leads-to-66k-bill-for-victims-1.2795407 Illegal forced entry without probable cause eventually admitted to by the police. Ruined 2 lives financially and professionally. 10s of thousands in legal expenses refused compensation by the city. Oh and both of those assholes are still on the beat here. I feel really fucking safe right now with those 2 abusive cunts in uniform.

 

[mecegirl]

I've met good cops, I've met assholish cops, and I've heard stories from friends of cops that were just bad. Like beating innocent people bad. On average people are people and thus individuals of any profession run the chance of being an asshole. Unfortunately the "blue wall of silence" as it is called is in effect with cops. So even the good ones will on occasion stand up for the assholes and the bad ones.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm a 6'3 white guy and I've been approached, questioned and even followed by Police even though I hadn't done a single thing wrong. Should I judge them and call out racism because they're doing their job? Should I make sure my possible friends meet the criteria of not being related to a Law Enforcement Officer?

Narrow minded fools like you are another factor that contributes to certain cops acting the way they do. If I was being called racist and judged by people for doing my job I'd be pretty damn bitter about it too.

I'm 6'5. I haven't. Even when I made a stupid comment about having a hit list at school, they just came over to my house to make sure that I was ok, very friendly and professional about it.

I respect the cops in my town. Because they EARNED it. Not because I decided not to take into account all the screwed up things police do in this country.

Maybe I'm a major oddball, but I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't just respect someone because they military or police. I find that attitude a bit creepy. I respect them when they earn it, but I don't give it to them by default.

 

[asinann]

Would you rat out your friends? Especially those you trust with your life everyday? It's not right, but I can understand if they do. Back in third year of high school, my entire batch had a Fight Club thing going on and it took betting and a fractured hand for the faculty to learn about it.

It doesn't help that when a cop tries to either stop a beating or reports an abuse of power, the one doing the reporting gets fired and blacklisted.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm a 6'3 white guy and I've been approached, questioned and even followed by Police even though I hadn't done a single thing wrong. Should I judge them and call out racism because they're doing their job? Should I make sure my possible friends meet the criteria of not being related to a Law Enforcement Officer?

Narrow minded fools like you are another factor that contributes to certain cops acting the way they do. If I was being called racist and judged by people for doing my job I'd be pretty damn bitter about it too.

I'm 6'5. I haven't. Even when I made a stupid comment about having a hit list at school, they just came over to my house to make sure that I was ok, very friendly and professional about it.

I respect the cops in my town. Because they EARNED it. Not because I decided not to take into account all the screwed up things police do in this country.

Maybe I'm a major oddball, but I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't just respect someone because they military or police. I find that attitude a bit creepy. I respect them when they earn it, but I don't give it to them by default.

Having gone through Military training (which obviously isn't anything like a Police Academy, but that's beside the point). Knowing what it takes, and knowing all one has to go through and give up to join and become a Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Police what have you. I can definitely say they've earned it.

That's proving physical capabilities and dedication. It says very little about a person's character, which is what I care about. When I cop is knocking on my door, I care more about whether he's an honest person trying to make the world a better place or an asshole looking to flex his power. Not that he was able to get through police academy or whatnot. Same for soldiers.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm a 6'3 white guy and I've been approached, questioned and even followed by Police even though I hadn't done a single thing wrong. Should I judge them and call out racism because they're doing their job? Should I make sure my possible friends meet the criteria of not being related to a Law Enforcement Officer?

Narrow minded fools like you are another factor that contributes to certain cops acting the way they do. If I was being called racist and judged by people for doing my job I'd be pretty damn bitter about it too.

I'm 6'5. I haven't. Even when I made a stupid comment about having a hit list at school, they just came over to my house to make sure that I was ok, very friendly and professional about it.

I respect the cops in my town. Because they EARNED it. Not because I decided not to take into account all the screwed up things police do in this country.

Maybe I'm a major oddball, but I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't just respect someone because they military or police. I find that attitude a bit creepy. I respect them when they earn it, but I don't give it to them by default.

Having gone through Military training (which obviously isn't anything like a Police Academy, but that's beside the point). Knowing what it takes, and knowing all one has to go through and give up to join and become a Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Police what have you. I can definitely say they've earned it.

That's proving physical capabilities and dedication. It says very little about a person's character, which is what I care about. When I cop is knocking on my door, I care more about whether he's an honest person trying to make the world a better place or an asshole looking to flex his power. Not that he was able to get through police academy or whatnot. Same for soldiers.

If you think Military training is nothing but physical capabilities and dedication, then you really don't have a clue. It's a hell of a mind game that takes more than just dedication to overcome.

Granted you have plenty of meatheads that pass through on physicality and utter dumb luck. You still see the kind of people you'd never think of have a mental break at some point.

Pretty much. I know that military training is tough, but until he completely weeds out all the jackasses and meatheads, I'm going to treat soldiers the way I treat all other people. As people. Not exceptional people, not detestable people. Just people.

 

[Robert B. Marks]

So, I've never had any serious problems with the police where I come from...but I'm also about as white as you can get, and I'm from Canada, which does not have an overly militarized police. Having seen a lot of news reports about the militarizing of police in the United States, as well as some shocking footage of shootings, I've got a couple of questions I'd love to ask:

1. Do you find yourself viewing the public more as people to be protected or possible threats?

2. If there is a scale with policeman on one side, and soldier on the other, do you feel that the balance has swung a bit too far towards soldier?

 

[SweetShark]

Sorry to disappoint you, but a friend of mine is a cop and it is a good man.
He is in team "Zeus". The "other" assholes are the ones how cause the problems for them. You know who.

 

[2HF]

As a minority I will now describe my interactions with cops.

White cop pulled me over while driving my admittedly beat up car in an affluent neighborhood. Said I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. Fair enough. Proceeds to ask me if he can search my car, because I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. I've got nothing to hide and don't particularly feel like getting into a thing so I say sure. He finds nothing. Gives me a ticket and sends me on my way.

Minority cop pulls me over for not wearing a seatbelt. Says "Put your seatbelt on, drive safe" gets back in the car and drives off.

White cop pulls me over because my taillight is busted. Turns out my license is suspended. Sure, absolutely my fault. Arrests me for it! Cuffs, back of the car, holding hell with no shoe laces and a call to my mother at 3am to come get me.

Minority cop pulls me over for some reason or another. Still haven't had a chance to fix the license thing. "I was broke at the time, couldn't pay but still had to get to work. Cop tells me "Here's your ticket, now I can't let you drive off while I'm here but in a few minutes I'm going to drive around the curve in road. Wait until I'm gone." Proceeds to leave and let me go on my way.

 

[Foolery]

As someone who's entering the field of criminology, I don't think cops are assholes. Some can be, yes. But the problem lies in not having a diverse enough background education. 6 months of training with a badge and a gun is not suitable for the modern world. You need people who have taken a background in criminology, worked as probation officers, loss prevention, etc. It prevents an "us vs them" mentality. Cops can be cynical, and veteran officers are prone to infecting new officers with that attitude. The structure and authoritative ranking in police stations also needs to be overhauled.

 

[visiblenoise]

My only contact with the police was when I was living in an apartment near my school campus. Two officers were arresting someone on the roof (for selling drugs, I think), and had disabled the elevator. I took the stairs, and when I got to the top, I just told one of them in passing that there was some old lady in a wheelchair unable to get to her apartment, and he said something like, "Okay, got it, thanks man."

So I think they're alright.

 

[Gorrath]

So, something I hear a lot, both in person and online, are that cops are assholes. A lot of other things (corrupt, violent, whatever) but the only one I find to be true is that they are indeed assholes. Even when they're nice, they're assholes. And the only thing I would challenge you to do is find out why this is the case. For example, we have an anonymous blogger here who writes why police can be such dicks, and frankly, I think they've got of got a right to be dicks.

http://perspectivefromthestreet.blogspot.com/2015/04/why-such-assholes.html

On the other hand, we see how the news treats police. So, in the spirit of discussion, I want to invite you all to have questions you may have answered by yours truly, a former police officer. Some caveats, each state has their own laws, and each department has their own practices, so I can't answer every questions about every jurisdiction out there. I won't give out my former employer's name, because that's just unprofessional, in my opinion. Questions will be answered within a reasonable time frame (I've got a job and all to do during the day), and I'll cut off questions on Monday, let's say.

Get crackin'

Well, this isn't so much of a question as it is a few statements but I'd be happy with a dialogue anyway. I was a soldier for a fair share of time. Soldiers very often have to put with with the same kinds of human shenanigans that cops do. Hell, when we are in a country who's government has been toppled, we ARE the police.

What gets me about cops here in the states is exactly what you say, by and large they seem to be assholes. I've been pulled over any number of times for minor or even non-existent reasons only to have the cop act like a total jerk for no reason at all. I'm not one of those guys to start shit with cops either. They want me to roll down the window, right-o. They want me to step out of the car? Sure. They want to search my car? I hate letting them but it's better than getting into an argument about it. I don't act like a jerk, I am co-operative and all of my papers are in order. And yet, so often the cop just acts like an ass.

Now I've heard cops defend this mindset/set of actions because their job is "hard" because they deal with people who are "trying to hurt/kill them all the time" because "they work long hours for not enough pay." Not a single excuse I've ever heard a cop use to explain their assholery was a problem I didn't face as a soldier, and yet while I was a soldier me and my team weren't assholes to the people we were supposed to police. Hell, if I did anything close to the people we were protecting like what cops regularly seem to do to citizens, my chain of command would have had my ass.

I'm not arguing my experiences are definitive, I'm not arguing that there aren't soldiers who are assholes or even murderers, but I am arguing that the difficulty of the job isn't an excuse. Police work, just like being a soldier, is about self-sacrifice for the good of others. We're all human, we're all effected by the hardships of our work but never would I defend a soldier for needlessly being an ass. Soldiers shouldn't do it, cops shouldn't do it and our very tough jobs don't excuse it.

 

[sageoftruth]

Would you rat out your friends? Especially those you trust with your life everyday? It's not right, but I can understand if they do. Back in third year of high school, my entire batch had a Fight Club thing going on and it took betting and a fractured hand for the faculty to learn about it.

It doesn't help that when a cop tries to either stop a beating or reports an abuse of power, the one doing the reporting gets fired and blacklisted.

Why? Is it corruption or is there actually a good reason for doing something like that?

 

[sageoftruth]

Looks like cops have a lot of crap to deal with. My question is, what can be done to prevent the behavior that comes afterwards?

Should we make police work part-time, so they can have some exposure to the less crappy part of the world in their schedule? Should therapy be part of the officers' daily routine? Like lots of problems people are up in arms about, we need to start talking about solutions.

Another thing is, does anyone have any ideas on how to deal with the existing corruption? Relations between citizens and cops won't get any better if we continued to have the justified belief that they can easily get away with murder.

 

[Fox12]

Let me put it this way. I'm suspicious of anyone with power, and I question anyone with authority. Certain people demand I show offices of power respect, but I know there's a problem with unquestioning loyalty. Police are people, and people are imperfect. Essentially, I question cops for the same reason I question politicians.

It has more to do with the office then the people, though. I've known some corrupt asshole cops, but I've also known kind, pragmatic cops. I'm weary of the office, but I judge cops on an individual basis.

The police are an arm of the government, though, and that makes me suspicious. I don't like the militarization of the police. I don't like the increase in domestic surveillance. I don't like that a town was put under Marshal Law after the Boston bombings. And I don't like the previlance of police shooting in the news. These trends worry me. Obviously this has little to do with a small town cop, but larger trends in law enforcement trouble me.

 

[Callate]

I think I have a pretty good idea why cops can be "such assholes", actually.

Some, regrettably, probably got into the job because they wanted a job in which they would have the authority to exert power over others that they felt was needed and lacking in their own lives.

But many- even with the best of intentions- are working in a job in which they have frequent run-ins with people who are criminals, lie to them, act evasive around them even when they're not guilty of anything, and in some cases threaten their safety. It's not hard to see why many officers would start going into any situation with the expectation of being lied to at best. How could such a job not start having a negative effect on one's opinion of human nature?

I've had some bad experiences with cops. The police in Seattle were worse than useless when our car was broken into, basically implying that we ought to have had a security system in place, so it was our own fault. (We lived in a suburb, incidentally, not downtown.) They also couldn't be bothered to do anything that might actually help to catch those responsible, who it turned out had broken into several other cars in the area.

...But I also have a memory of the local sheriff of where I live now parking his car across the lane to shield my car when I was in a head-on collision, and being nothing but helpful when my daughter and I were stunned and shaking. And the local police finding my car and calling me when it was stolen.

Maybe working in law enforcement in a large city is worse. Hell, probably.