Here's how I see it. I have lived in cities and in rural places and in the city I became harder and in the country I relaxed. I think the police are the same way and they have to be. In my 20s I was pulled over off Broadway in San Francisco and they held guns on me because the lock on my trunk was gone and they thought the car was stolen. They were more aggressive than I thought they should be, but after everything settled down I ask why so aggressive and he said "I have a wife and kids that I would like to go home to.
I've reacted the same way when I saw a trunk lock missing. There is an even more important reason that we used to treat that situation with some trepidation, but I'm not going to go into detail lest I give some goof an idea. Let's just say it was a hell of a lot more dangerous than a stolen car. BTW, good post. Enjoy!
Even more reason not to run down people who just run from you. These cops in Balto were hot dogging IMO, and then got mad when the example they were making wanted to go to the Hospital and mess up their tough guy story.
Who doesn't? Don't be a cop if you can't handle the pressure and easily feel threatened. We need strong people to be cops to protect the public not weak people to cops to protect themselves.
Problem is when they overreact. If you value your life so much, just don't be a cop. It's that simple.
Then there would be no police officers at all. You would see why it is good that we have police officers about 20 minutes after they were gone.
I'm saying we don't need the kind of cops who overreact, who put their lives before the people they are meant to protect.
True, but were they over reacting? The car could have been stolen. I could have been a killer. That said it was very uncomfortable having a gun inches from my head while a cop was yelling at me.
The more B.S. the cops have to deal with, the more aggressive they become. I don't know if this is a result of stress or if they're simply adapting to the areas that they're in charge of patrolling.
All because an officer is behaving in an overly aggressive manner doesn't mean it's personal. Some cops are trained to act like this to intimidate the criminals.
Shooting fleeing unarmed people dead should be life in prison. An eye for an eye but many cops don't value lives of some others. These are the cops we need to lock up for life which would send the right message to everyone. As it stands the message being sent over the last decade is that it's ok to do the above you will not suffer major consequence of your brainless actions
If cops don't value their life what makes you think they'd value yours? There are quite a few people in this country that value life little. They are the polar opposite of law enforcement.
When I don't treat every cop as a possible threat that might the day my kids get deprived of their daddy. Cops get paid (well) for the risks they take, and they take them voluntarily.
It's hardly surprising that there are both good and bad cops, mostly the former, and both good and bad police departments, some much better than others. It's desirable that cops value their own lives as well as the lives of others, and the best way to protect themselves is to earn the respect of the community they serve. If you see yourself as an outsider in that community, you cast it as enemy territory, and that becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Killing unarmed members of that community and then lying about it is not how you win the respect of the community. When a cop does that, he endangers himself and other cops. When a cop shows respect and earns the trust of the community he serves, it becomes an asset in confronting the problems and dangers they share.
what was the rest of that statement? "I have a wife and kids that I would like to go home to and I don't care if you go home to yours" you realize you couldve been murdered for simply reaching for your wallet right? I have news for you its not that dangerous to be a cop they don't even make the top ten http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-top-10-dangerous-jobs-country-tanks/#8ibAGaerOLpsjUw1.99
Golly....so glad you have all this mess figured out. You should call up the DA and let her know so they can stop wasting time and money on stupid investigations.
So you're suggesting cops lower themselves to the level of stupidity of the people they're sworn to protect you and me from? OK, then. Lotsa luck!
They are on patrol, specifically to look for suspicious behavior. A drug dealer makes eye contact and then bolts... that is suspicious behavior. That is precisely the sort of thing we pay them to do.
