Thread: Differences Between Police Officers & Civilians

You all know, back in the day when men used straights (har har) in the city I lived in Cops walked a beat. No cars then and the guy knew everyone in the neighborhood and if you didn't belong there he knew it and in those days cops were big guys and either you moved along or you got a crack behind the knees with his nightstick. No such thing as police brutality then. The general perception was if you got it you deserved it.

I guess things have changed.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

,,,,,,,,,,,,Other than those instances it was the usual "let's see some ID, empty your pockets" type of thing. When I was 19 I went to work doing ironwork, quit hanging on the corner, and began living a more 'normal' life. I never had a negative encounter with a policeman again. ,,,,,,,,,,,,

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The only reason the cops left you alone Jimmy; is not a single cop I've ever known is going to follow you up that steel.
I'd wait at the bottom till shift changes, then I'm going home,,,,,,or to the donut shop, ,,on the way home.

Yes, there are situations where the officer provokes fights but a lot more where the fight is started by stupidity. The station house is the place to sort out " who did what, when, with which end, to who!" Yes I have been hassled by cops of a different ethnic background over the years and totally believe the station is the place to be further questioned.

I was a police officer in my youth. Both military and civilian for periods of time. The worst possible situation is to go into a dwelling on a domestic. Like the "Freedom Fighters" they ask for help but when it arrives they double team the officer and he may be killed. I can guarantee that some of the domestics caused me an underwear change at the station. That still hasn't changed but some other things have changed for the worst.

I live in a small college town and we have dealing, prostitution, murders and rapes by so called students, some from big cities and some from other countries. They cause almost more damage and problems than the huge meth using population in our countryside. Some of them always go armed..without permits...and pulling a car over may be taking your life in your hands. Even our University Campus Cops now go armed.

We used to be "Mayberry USA" in uniform and equipment. That was in the mid 60's. The students, drugs, and living next to the MPLS to Chicago freeway changed that over the years. Yes our small community does now have a SWAT Team and it has been called out a few times.

I give the "cops" in general a lot of credit as they have to deal with the suspects and often internal corruption of the system. Back in the day, a in most towns, we had two factions. The Mayor and the Chief of Police. Any one who was someone to one of them was never booked..regardless of the nature of the offense. Back then the country boys often called the cops to the fight to enjoy the both the fight in the bar and a place to sleep it off over the weekend. 'Specially during cold weather and no farm work during the winter..

I lost a grandson to suicide in cell due to a drug situation that he had not caused. It was his choice to try to get even with the perpetrators of the problem. He all of a sudden was looking at five to ten of hard time for attempted arson and could not handle it. Not the cops, but the years of getting off after a problem because of being a "juvvy" with a mild warning from the authorities and "don't do it agin." No pain no gain.

Just my take. It is a changing world and factionalism is rampant... Tribalism if you will. I am glad there are some folks that will still be a cop! Or serve in the military!
~Richard

I would have been a cop, but NYC doesn't hire those with above average intelligence

Originally Posted by Magpie

I would have been a cop, but NYC doesn't hire those with above average intelligence

For that you can thank your ward politicians and the "EQUAL OPPORTUNITY" rulings.
~Richard

Well magpie I guess being a cop with two masters degrees .. Would make me not above average intelligence..lol.. And many nyc cops now need two yrs degrees to b hired .. But I can tell u I do work with some crazy people.. That have no common sense or street smarts but degrees from Harvard its the funniest thing.. But I haven't been a NYC cop for about 10 yrs so I don't know what there turning out these days..

As a retired sheriff's deputy (28 years on the job) I can tell you that there is just a whole lot of gray area in law enforcement. And usually there's a whole lot more to a story than it first appears. One thing I learned long ago is that the media, for the most part, love to present cops in the worst possible light.

@hirlau.

I am not saying the cops are more or less likely to do something than civilians. However, when it comes to 'word against word', the cop will win. If a cops says that you were behaving or driving erratically, you did, whether it was true or not.

There have been a couple of high profile cases lately which only got attention after video footage surfaced. One involved a SWAT team locally nicknamed 'the jackboots' who dogpiled a naked man in a cell which wearing full body armour. 7 guys pinned him down while the eighth punched him in the head several times, so hard it was like a martial artist trying to punch through a stack of bricks. The guy ended up dead and the entire case got buried for 2 full years. During that time, noone peeped. And although this was the first time someone died, those people had earned their nickname long before then. Only when someone leaked video footage to the press, the police department suddenly sprang into action. It's not that they didn't have all that evidence before then.

Yes, there was a reason for them to restrain the guy, and the fact that he was in a cell instead of in a psych ward at the time was already the second or third time someone screwed up.

Anyway, a colleague of mine was once up for a judge on charges of rioting and resisting arrest. Him and his friend. He got cleared after an elderly couple turned in the foottage from their new camera which they had been testing on their balconey. It shows a handful of football hooligans running past them as they were getting into their car. The police (who were chasing the hooligans) jumped them and started beating them with batons. The other guy was recovering from earlier head injury so my colleague dove on top of him to protect him from being hit in the head some more. With multiple police officers telling the same story, my colleague and his friend would have been convicted if not for the video evidence to the contrary.

Again, I am not saying that cops are worse than others. But when the bad ones have interactions with the population, it seems that video evidence is the only way to insure that your side of the argument gets credibility.

One is always around the other only show up after you are either dead or too late to be of any real help.

Most police depts are so short staffed that a cop can't b everywhere at all times.. There have been plenty of times I can recall where my pct was holding jobs or back logged with 911 jobs because all available sectors were tied up.