What do you think of the police?

[CeeCee]

For the most part they are brave people who do a job that I wouldn't want.

I don't like to even drive through some of the bad areas of down and they are there dealing with the drunks, gang bangers, murderers, etc.

There are a few that let their position go to their head and feel like they can do as they please but they are a very small minority.

In the world we live in now, every day could be their last...I'm surprised anyone even applies for the job.

 

[MikeK]

For the most part they are brave people who do a job that I wouldn't want.

CeeCee,

If you are a typically delicate, non-combative and frail female, your revered genus has every right to perceive cops the way you do. But you should know that ordinary able-bodied male civilians generally do not share those feelings. Speaking for myself, I don't need cops to protect me from the bad guys. All I need is a gun. Then all I need cops for is to keep an eye on my house when I'm away and to protect the women and children in my family. But unfortunately, where I live (New Jersey) I am not allowed to carry a firearm -- which I resentfully regard as a forced reliance on cops.

I don't like to even drive through some of the bad areas of down and they are there dealing with the drunks, gang bangers, murderers, etc.

Again, this is the appropriate perception of a frail female. It is perfectly natural for you to feel this way. But keep in mind that the cops who deal with the drunks, gang-bangers, murderers, etc., are for the most part very well equipped, trained and strategically prepared to do so with minimal risk.

There are a few that let their position go to their head and feel like they can do as they please but they are a very small minority.

This is true and I fully agree with that observation. But keep in mind that all it takes is one rotten apple to quickly spoil the whole barrel. And if you pay attention to the social media you will realize there are more than enough rotten apples in the police barrel to impart a seriously negative effect on the thinking and performance of a lot of otherwise good, decent fellows.

In the world we live in now, every day could be their last...I'm surprised anyone even applies for the job.

While it's true that a certain level of risk is endemic to the police occupation, you should know that the police occupation is down around number ten on the list of dangerous jobs. There are many jobs in the construction industry which are far more dangerous than the police occupation, while in fact the most dangerous job in America is that of Bering Sea fishermen.

As far as anyone applying for the police job, the fact is it is a much better job than most others which one with a limited education and/or special skills can hope for. The salary range, benefits and pension far exceed those in most comparable occupational levels.

 

[CeeCee]

I'm talking about being a policeman in today's climate. Yes, it's very dangerous to go into the gang infested areas...that's where most of these instances we've read about occur....they don't happen in a nice suburb.
I'm thinking Ferguson now and because of incidents like that where I wouldn't want to be a policeman. You can't win, no matter what. You shoot, you wrong...you don't shoot, you could be dead. Life or death is decided in a blink of an eye, a lot more stressful than fishing in the Bering strait I would think.

Yes, I'm probably one of those frail females that needs a cop because although I'm pro gun, I don't have one. I do have a security system and hopefully when it goes off a policeman will come to my aid.

I also don't know all the statistics about how dangerous being a cop is, I'll believe what you stated for now because I don't know you yet.

I'll quit rambling now, but basically I'm pro cop, pro gun but do feel we need to be harder on the bad cops.

 

[MikeK]

[...]

I also don't know all the statistics about how dangerous being a cop is, I'll believe what you stated for now because I don't know you yet.

[...]

Go here: The Most Dangerous Jobs in America

 

[CeeCee]

[...]

I also don't know all the statistics about how dangerous being a cop is, I'll believe what you stated for now because I don't know you yet.

[...]

Go here: The Most Dangerous Jobs in America

Thanks, that was interesting...some I expected, some I didn't.

 

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

 

[ChrisL]

[...]

I also don't know all the statistics about how dangerous being a cop is, I'll believe what you stated for now because I don't know you yet.

[...]

Go here: The Most Dangerous Jobs in America

Of course being a cop is dangerous. Very dangerous. Think about having to pull over a car full of people (potentially criminal individuals) who you don't know and don't know what any one of them is capable of. Cops are just people and human beings, and they are going to err too.

 

[yiostheoy]

[...]

I also don't know all the statistics about how dangerous being a cop is, I'll believe what you stated for now because I don't know you yet.

[...]

Go here: The Most Dangerous Jobs in America

Police is 16th on the list.

Very informative.

I have done #24 on the list for 6 years.

And as a kid I have done #14 for pay too from age 12 to age 14.

I enjoyed both jobs.

 

[CeeCee]

I've been on a plane with #3 many many times...if the pilot dies so do the passengers usually.

I'm surprised soldier is #24...wonder if they count that in peace time or war?

 

[Pogo]

[...]

I also don't know all the statistics about how dangerous being a cop is, I'll believe what you stated for now because I don't know you yet.

[...]

Go here: The Most Dangerous Jobs in America

It's always puzzled me that "high rise window washer" is a job. Why don't they just build 'em with windshield wipers?

 

[ChrisL]

[...]

I also don't know all the statistics about how dangerous being a cop is, I'll believe what you stated for now because I don't know you yet.

[...]

Go here: The Most Dangerous Jobs in America

It's always puzzled me that "high rise window washer" is a job. Why don't they just build 'em with windshield wipers?

I just saw a report this morning on the news about a window washer dangling from a high rise after his scaffolding collapsed.

 

[MikeK]

Of course being a cop is dangerous. Very dangerous. Think about having to pull over a car full of people (potentially criminal individuals) who you don't know and don't know what any one of them is capable of. Cops are just people and human beings, and they are going to err too.

No one has suggested there is not an element of risk involved in the police occupation. The only point being made here is that it isn't nearly the most dangerous job -- not even close.

How often do you express your gratitude to Bering Sea fishermen, construction workers, roofers, ironworkers, and on and on. These people lose their lives at a much higher rate than police officers but have you ever seen a parade or a uniformed funeral ceremony for one of them? They die serving the public interest, too.

 

[CeeCee]

Of course being a cop is dangerous. Very dangerous. Think about having to pull over a car full of people (potentially criminal individuals) who you don't know and don't know what any one of them is capable of. Cops are just people and human beings, and they are going to err too.

No one has suggested there is not an element of risk involved in the police occupation. The only point being made here is that it isn't nearly the most dangerous job -- not even close.

How often do you express your gratitude to Bering Sea fishermen, construction workers, roofers, ironworkers, and on and on. These people lose their lives at a much higher rate than police officers but have you ever seen a parade or a uniformed funeral ceremony for one of them? They die serving the public interest, too.

But now they are targeted on purpose, yes accidents happen in all working environments but the climate is such for them now that's it's damned if you do and dead if you don't....I'm talking shooting.

 

[task0778]

I think the police have an extremely difficult job to do and not a lot of help to do it, especially from those who probably need it most - the black community.

 

[MikeK]

But now they are targeted on purpose, yes accidents happen in all working environments but the climate is such for them now that's it's damned if you do and dead if you don't....I'm talking shooting.

Police assassinations are the consequence of misconduct and excessive aggression on the part of that small percentage of cops who should not be on the job. Unfortunately it is likely that the cops who are assassinated are in no way deserving of such retaliatory action and have nothing in common with provocative cops except they wear the same uniform.

I am old enough to remember when the relationship between the public and the police was very different. Back then the police walked beats, carried .38 revolvers and "nightsticks" (clubs) and over time they became familiar with people in the neighborhoods they patrolled and people came to know them by name.

The major difference then was there was no War On Drugs, which is what today's cops are primarily and fundamentally concerned with. Back then the cops were not concerned with victimless drug offenses. Their attention was focused on people who harmed other people -- not just themselves. The police attitude toward drugs back then was as long as it was out of sight they didn't see it. They were looking for burglars, robbers, rapists and the like. Back then the cops actually did "serve and protect" the public.

Today that is no longer the case. Today the attitude of most cops is it's "them vs us." Today the only time people come in contact with a cop is if he stops them to issue a summons and ask questions. Today the cops are looking for any reason to search someone and impose civil asset forfeiture -- such as occurs in even the most minor drug offenses. They seize and lawfully keep one's money and property.

Back then no judge would issue a "no-knock" break-in warrant for anything less than the arrest of extraordinarily dangerous criminals. Such police actions took place less than thirty or forty times a year -- if that much. Today these break-ins take place more than one hundred times a day, 365 days a year, many times without warrants, and breaking into the wrong address, brutalizing, humiliating, and sometimes killing innocent persons is not uncommon.

What I'm telling you is factual, not fanciful. If you doubt any of it I strongly urge you to obtain and read a book called, Rise of The Warrior Cop, by Radley Balko, who is a respected investigative journalist with the Cato Institute and everything he reveals in his book is well documented. If you do read this book I can assure that you will have a much better understanding of why some people are sufficiently enraged as to randomly assassinate anyone wearing a police uniform in America.

 

[MikeK]

[...] Had I followed the sage advice of the gun nuts on this board and been packing, at least two of the three of us would have been dead.

???

Please explain.

 

[MikeK]

[...]

I do believe that most cops try to do it right but many get into it because they can enjoy being an armed bully.

That about sums it up. But the root of the problem is inadequate and/or improper training and supervision. The result of that is experienced cops with negative inclinations are able to impart a negative influence on rookies who readily acquire bad habits, very often because they just want to get along and be one of the guys.

The movies, Serpico and Prince of The City are based on the experience of real New York City cops and how the influence of other cops can have a major effect on the direction they move in and how they end up.

 

[MikeK]

It means "nobody ever thanks them".

But I thank them, and I also apologize that the neighbors uselessly called them over me walking my cat after midnight.

What exactly do you thank them for?

For being polite.

I'm a rather polite person. If we somehow had a brief transaction I'm sure I would be polite toward you.

Would you thank me for that?

 

[MikeK]

Yeah, and again, I'm not making excuses for cops (or even for the people who get shot in such situations), but it just seems like a very different climate for cops these days. You get a lot more people threatening cops both publicly and anonymously. To some extent, I can't blame cops for being a bit on edge in today's climate and the extent of hatred that the cops experience compared to when I was a kid.

I fully agree with you about the atmosphere of hostility directed at today's cops. It's very different from the way it was just a few decades ago.

To what do you attribute this dramatic change in the social climate?

 

[CeeCee]

Yeah, and again, I'm not making excuses for cops (or even for the people who get shot in such situations), but it just seems like a very different climate for cops these days. You get a lot more people threatening cops both publicly and anonymously. To some extent, I can't blame cops for being a bit on edge in today's climate and the extent of hatred that the cops experience compared to when I was a kid.

I fully agree with you about the atmosphere of hostility directed at today's cops. It's very different from the way it was just a few decades ago.

To what do you attribute this dramatic change in the social climate?

There are so many reasons why things have changed...I'm old enough also... maybe not old enough to see cops with nightsticks on a beat but they did have a different focus back then....

I would say now the media and the internet is to blame for sensationalism of every little thing....it's in our faces 24/7 and people react, sometimes to a fake story or just a biased story.
Although it's not the only factor in change of "climate" it's a big one in my opinion.