Why Do So Many People Hate the Police?

[Isaac The Grape]

N.W.A.

Bad things happened in Compton. N.W.A. gets pissed about it. N.W.A. writes "Fuck Tha Police". Song becomes a cultural icon, robbed of any meaning it had (yes, N.W.A. did occasionally write songs with a decent point). Police become stereotyped as being evil. Hating the Police becomes fashionable, doesn't matter if they're just a couple of poor sods barely hanging on to their jobs while trying to bring order, or a bunch of obese do-gooders that couldn't hit a cement truck moving at miles-per-year slow. "They're cops man, I hate them. They hate me"

And that is one of the major reasons why there is a large proportion of western people who hate the police. I don't have anything against N.W.A and they were not the first to sing about what they did. But "Fuck Tha Police" was a MASSIVE song with a very far reaching effect.

 

[GreenSparks]

Well, people don't like "The Establishment" "Putting them down", and it's basiclly fashionable to not like whatever government you have. That and people don't like a lot of laws, and since police officers are the physical enforcement of the law, they don't like them. I support the police, and in Australia we don't have too much corruption, and policemen are humans too. Some are arseholes, some make mistakes, and single cases are not the collective.

 

[hyperhammy]

My mom is dating a cop, and it's pretty fun to listen to his story.
I never had any issues with the police and I think most people just pretend to hate them because they want to look "kewl"

 

[AugustFall]

The police in britain (where I used to live) are genuinely helpful and dedicated to keeping the peace.
Police in the US work with a quota. They have to have a certain amount of arrests/tickets, this system sucks and does no justice (pun intended) to the people who go into the profession to help people. It is a system which fails on so many levels and attracts douchebags in their masses to the job so they can bully people.

 

[Lem0nade Inlay]

I don't know, they're trying to do the right thing. People just think they know what's best for them, even though a lot of the time they don't.
Also, the media loves making huge fusses out of a minor police/law enforcement screw up, so I guess some people just assume all police are stupid assholes.

Though, maybe I'm just overly-optimistic.

 

[Betancore]

Maybe it's because most people haven't actually encountered the police. So they don't know what to think of them, and go to the next best thing. That being, whatever everyone else says. I've had many encounters with the Victorian cops, and they really aren't that bad. Very reasonable, very understanding, and they're just doing their job. I've only had one bad encounter with the cops but then they could've been Scientologists, since their behaviour was so different from the cops we usually get.

 

[Audio]

I grew up in Scotland; all i knew was Police stop you having fun. Even today, i just feel the need to 'behave' when one is about..bastards !

 

[Generic_Dave]

It's a case of a few bad apples spoiling the bunch. Cases of greed / corruption / stupidity of a few colour the opinions against all.

For example, I am an avid pot smoker. And have on more than one occasion (and from more than one cop) bought weed or hash from cops. And I know for sure that one of my friend's friends who is a cop, used to sell anything he confiscated.

But they are the exceptions. I find our boys in blue (An Garda Síochana in this part of the world) do their jobs to the best of their ability.

 

[XJ-0461]

Because it's edgy and cool!

Seriously though, I'm not entirely sure, but it's probably due to bad experiences in the past with the police. Stuff like wrongful arrest, a police officer being a dick over the slightest thing etc. happens to them, and then this colours their view of all police officers. What's bad about this is that they overlook the fact that not all Police Officers have the same personality, and while one might be an asshole, there could be 10 or 20 who are all right people.

Personally it's something I don't quite get. Without the Police, shit would mostdefinately hit the fan, and society would get completely fucked up. And while I don't hate the Police, I do hate the corrupt officers.

 

[blankedboy]

Because:
A) People are stupid
B) The Media likes blast every isolated case of police brutality or anything like it all over the place.
C) Rap music. Rappers are constantly slamming the police. You can't tell me that a few dipshit wannabe gangstas don't pick up on that.
D) People are stupid

This, and also:

E) People fear a cop coming up to them and asking this serious questions because... [see A and D]

 

[iblis666]

i like the idea of the police its just sad that the cops in san jose, ca are so useless

 

[XJ-0461]

Because it's edgy and cool!

Seriously though, I'm not entirely sure, but it's probably due to bad experiences in the past with the police. Stuff like wrongful arrest, a police officer being a dick over the slightest thing etc. happens to them, and then this colours their view of all police officers. What's bad about this is that they overlook the fact that not all Police Officers have the same personality, and while one might be an asshole, there could be 10 or 20 who are all right people.

Personally it's something I don't quite get. Without the Police, shit would mostdefinately hit the fan, and society would get completely fucked up. And while I don't hate the Police, I do hate the corrupt officers.

Society could "hit the fan" in bigger cities but humans have survived quite peacefully without a large law enforcement system like ours.
There would have to be some kind of order, but at least in smaller communities we could make our own laws and they could be laws that didn't infringe on lifestyle choices or your choice of "plants"

Completely forgot about smaller communities, sorry. I'm a city kid, and that's what I think of when I consider how society works. I'm sure if I were raised in a small village, then that's what I'd think of first.