About two months ago my friend's uncle was beaten into a coma. He never woke up, succumbing to his injuries last week. According to my friend, to this date the police haven't even bothered to start an investigation, and haven't been any more willing now that the crime has moved from aggravated assault to murder. His uncle was not well to do, and lived in a shitty area of this city, but does this matter? According to him they haven't even bothered looking for witnesses, did nothing to collect evidence at the crime scene, and have been difficult to even get in contact with. The reason I believe him, other than that I know him, is that this lines up perfectly well with my own experiences with the police. I've never known someone close to me who was murdered, but that complete and utter lack of give a fuck is pretty similar to my own experiences. - I've been robbed twice. The first time was in college and was only $2000 worth of stuff. Between myself and my roommates it added up to maybe $4000. Not huge as far as crimes though, but the cops refused to do anything other than take down information so they could prove they answered the call. They wouldn't even phone local pawn shops, or ask the neighbors. I had to do that for them. - The second time I got robbed I had enough possessions to amount to a much higher monetary total, and again, they refused to do a single fucking thing. The really crazy part of it was that one of the neighbors recognized one of the robbers, who she had known before moving into the area. I had shown up after work (which was at about 2am because I worked as a 2nd shift ops supervisor at the time) and one of the police who had arrived on the scene after getting the call told me straight to my face that none of the witnesses had seen anything. I later found out from the witness herself that he blatantly lied about this. Every time I asked them to do ANYTHING it was one excuse after another. They wouldn't check for fingerprints "because they were all contaminated" even though I hadn't yet so much as entered the house after the robbery took place. They all arrived on the scene before I did. I should point out too that they took practically everything I had so it was conceivable they could have left fingerprints virtually anywhere. They couldn't follow up on the witness' ID later because of "the conditions the robbery took place in. It was dark and stuff." Six fucking cops showed up just to tell me there was no way any of them were ever going to get off their ass to actually do anything. One of them left his number, and I left about 20 voicemails. He left me one eventually, saying nothing other than that he was returning my call and I should call him "if I want to." Fucking worthless. I've been pulled over a few times. Some officers were very friendly and cordial. Others were downright looney. One pulled me over for throwing a cigarette out on the interstate. I don't give a fuck what anyone's views on smoking are, that's an insane reason to pull someone over. He demanded I pick up the cigarette I threw out, and when I pointed out it was over a mile back he demanded I find something else to pick up. Really. Another pulled me over as I was leaving a friend's place. Like, moments after I got out the door. He started screaming at me that I was part of some car chase. This continued for a good 15 minutes before he finally seemed to accept that he was an idiot and drove off. No apology though. I have to assume that whoever he was chasing was long gone by the time he realized he hadn't been following me. The funniest time I got pulled over was pulling into a friend's driveway meeting all latino friends. The cop followed me right into the driveway and started apologizing profusely for bothering me almost the instant I got out of my car. He had no pretense for even pulling in there (said he was looking for drunks) and it seriously looked like he was ready to hassle everyone for no reason, and just did a complete 180 as soon as a white dude showed up. I got shit about it from my friends all night. I really think the problem with the police that's likely to affect most people isn't that they're shooting people, it's that a lot of them seem unwilling to engage in anything that isn't directly related to revenue generation and hitting their quotas. How often are rapes reported where the cops don't even bother to investigate, or follow up? Even if you completely ignore the really feministy sources, the answer apparently is a fucking lot. When I think about all these tv shows like 'True Crime' that show cops as 'do anything to get the job done' heroes, busting their ass on a case it makes my blood boil. Where the fuck were you when my friend's uncle got murdered? I don't mean to generalize, but I do wonder why are some putting months and hundreds of thousands of dollars into one murder investigation while another is completely ignored? Focus: What are your experiences with police? Do mine sound unusual? Alt Focus: Is there a problem in this country with police engagement and misallocation of law enforcement resources? Are cops handing out too many traffic tickets when their attention should be directed at crimes far more heinous?
I’ve had only a few interactions with the cops. I grew up in a pretty rural area and we had one part-time cop for the whole town and he was old. Every now and then the state cops would buzz through, and we had cops in our house one time because my dad couldn’t figure out how to shut off the brand new security system. The other time was when we had a near home invasion, which necessitated the said security system. Other than that and the occasional pull-over, I haven’t had much police-citizen interaction. My best friend growing up is a cop and his town is full of old Jewish people and he sleeps in his cruiser at night when he was watching traffic if he doesn’t get a call. In general though, it seems like cops and departments are only as good as their municipal politics and resources at their disposal. Some cities have amazing police departments, others are insanely corrupt. Most are probably in between like the Baltimore Po-Lice on The Wire.
Yeah, and to be clear from my post I realize there are cops who are good at their jobs. The disparity kind of amazes me though. Definitely a much wider gap than you would see in most professions. I'm sure being an authority figure, and being able to get away with it far more than you would in most jobs is at least part of it.
The traffic cops that were from our small town, were fucking douche bags. Yes i was young and dumb, but if i got pulled over from regular RCMP officer they were nice and polite, traffic cops doing the same thing fucking douche bags. Other then that i haven't had any problems interacting with them. My latest one was from last year, and it has been a long time since i have gotten pulled over. I was going 148kph in a 100 zone, and good thing it was on a shit corner or else it would of been a lot quicker then that and i probably wouldn't of stopped. When he pulls up he says "Well you win today's highest score, do you know how fast you were going?" He didn't take my bike or give me a huge fine so i take that as a big win.
You want to know what I've got to say about cops? I'm at work right now, so I can't really go into it, but I'll be back.
I had a search warrant executed on me when I was eighteen. Two things still stick out to me. The hidden drawer I built into my nightstand that I built in woodshop class held up to a police search. If I had actually had something to hide, it would have made it through. Kinda proud of that. Even the tamest and most polite police interview is a mindfuck and an exercise in professional gaslighting. Your brain starts questioning itself about things that aren't even physically possible to have happened.
I don’t believe in luck (or bad luck), but if I did my truck certainly qualifies for the wrong kind. It’s put me on the receiving end of three different hit and runs, including the second coming two weeks after I got it back from the shop for the first one. The second of course was the most scary, as the asshole was on his cell phone and went into my lane. Woulda been head on on at 45 mph but I managed to squeeze up against the guardrail and he ping ponged off me. My son barely noticed the impact in his car seat. Anyway, as a CCW holder who keeps a loaded gun on his person at all times (when legally possible), those no-insurance having fuckers put me in an awkward position with cops at a time when there was a lot of publicity around the po pos shooting people. My solution was to tell the cops immediately that I was armed, give them my CCW license and offer them to take possession of my firearm if they wanted until they were done (I wasn’t legally obligated to do any of this, but whatever). My favorite response was the cop who said “it’s fine, just don’t shoot me and I won’t shoot you.” The two others made similar jokes and none of the three cared at all that I was literally standing next to them with a firearm on me. I’ve had similar responses the two or three times I’ve gotten pulled over for speeding. Never asked to see the gun, always thanked me for being upfront with them, always gave me a warning and nothing more. It likely helped that I was never going more than 5-10 mph over. Absolutely nothing but positive experiences with cops, and I’m certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that is in no way the norm.
I’d be curious to hear your opinion on corrections officers too since that kinda falls under this umbrella. I’ve interviewed quite a few former corrections officers and as a general rule they were not the most intelligent or polite people I’ve ever come across. I’m curious if that observation aligns with what you experienced.
With my DUI trial the whole "never talk to the police" trope really sank in. When the focus of the investigation is you, they aren't there to help you in any capacity. They might not find enough evidence to pin you to a charge but the "everything you say and do will be used against you in a court of law" is absolute truth. I talked to a lawyer the night of my arrest and he had advised me not to take the breath test and not answer anything about the night in question. This was after I had given some answers to the general timeline questions, where I had been etc. I answered the remainder of the specific questions with "Uggh I guess Im going to remain silent, invoking my 5th amendment right?" In a kind of sorry Im not sure how this all works kind of way. Fast forward to the trial and the prosecutor painted as obvious evasion tactic to get myself off the hook, not that it's a fundamental right we all can use, but a nefarious subterfuge to avoid prosecution. There were also near complete mischaracterization of my behavior while in custody, just framing it in the worst possible light it might has well been outright lies. I kept thinking to myself "was I even in the same room when this stuff happened?" In the end I ended up getting off because the cop had been too overzealous and my lawyer caught him a few times where he overstated evidence that was clearly shown on the tape not to be so. Biggest thing was that he first claimed in the paper work, then again at a pre trail hearing under oath, that I ended saying my ABCs during the field sobriety test with, w-x-S-I-N-G (actually spelling it out with the dashes in the report). At trial we played the tape a couple of times while he was on the stand and I obviously ended it correctly. My lawyer pointed out the discrepancy in his testimony and the tape so the cop corrected himself and said, "ow no actually I wrote sing because he sang the last few letters and I wanted to point that out in the report." To which my lawyer said "so we just watched the tape multiple times, I didn't see him sing anything did you?"....."No he didn't sing it, Im not sure why I put that int he report." We asked the jury after my acquittal and that moment was the big breaking point for most of them. It put doubt on a couple of other points of evidence that weren't as glaring but showed they had at least been over stating them as well. The officer and the prosecutor had been hopping for a slam dunk case because I had rolled my friends car in the accident. I know a couple of cops because one of my college best friends became one and Ive hung around them a bunch. For the most part they are trying to do the right thing, their job is to investigate and prosecute crimes, which is what theyre doing. They aren't evil assholes on power trips, at least Ive never gotten that from my friends, I have seen cops on obvious power trips. I think the broader issue is more the failures in the criminal justice system which they play an entry and pivotal role. They are the first contact point of a system that has been warped in so many ways by politics. DAs wanting huge conviction percentages. Rolling up 15 different minor infractions to get the toughest sentence out of a conviction. Using jailhouse snitches to get around the 5th amendment, as well as incentivizing snitches to lie to get reduced sentences. And so on and so on. I really wonder what Dixie's stance on cops is gonna be..........
Can you give me instructions on how to build something like that? Really. Okay, let me start off by saying that I don't wish all cops dead. I think that there should be law enforcement agencies, because without them, it will be gangs/ the mob robbing/killing/ extorting people like they do in 3rd world shit-holes. With that said, I've narrowed down my issues with law enforcement to a few key points: 1) Selective enforcement of laws. 2) Enforcing stupid laws that don't really benefit public safety 3) Harassment of innocent citizens. Let's start with number one: 1) Selective enforcement of laws. This is a problem I've had with authority figures dating back all the way to when I was a kid. Other people would do something, but when I tried to do the same thing, I got in trouble. Let's take speeding as an example. MOST of my run-ins with LEOs happened on the roadways, and it was almost ALWAYS Texas state troopers. Usually, I was caught speeding. Not excessively so (although I have had some notable offenses), though. You want to know how many times I've gotten pulled over and fined for going SIX miles per hour over the speed limit? A SHITLOAD OF FUCKING TIMES, THAT'S HOW MANY. I remember the first time, too. I was sixteen, and I was working on my truck, but there was some part that I needed, and I had to run into town with my dad's car. On the way back, a state trooper pulled me over for going 66 in a 60 zone. He kept asking me if I'd stolen the car, for some reason. At any rate, I asked him if he could possibly give me a warning, that I'd never do it again, blah, blah, blah. I will never forget what this shithead said: "If you'd only been going three or four miles over the limit, I'd give you a warning. But if it's five or six miles over the limit, I've got to cite you." "Oh, okay," I said. But then it occurred to me: He'd pull someone over for going THREE MILES PER HOUR OVER THE LIMIT? That could be speedometer error, for all he knows. Over the next 15 years, I probably got another 10 tickets for six miles over the limit. A number like that sticks out in your memory. Now, I'm sure that there are going to be a few cocksuckers out there who are going to say "But Bandit, the speed limit is posted! Whenever you go over it, you're in violation of the law! You should know better!" There were plenty of times where I was just going with the flow of traffic, and cops singled my car out. Also, I've heard of plenty of times where other people got breaks, but I never did. What's really entertaining is when I've talked to off-duty cops, or people who are friends with/ related to cops. When I bring this up, I ALWAYS get the same answers. If it's an off duty cop, they say: "Well that guy was just an asshole. I wouldn't have given you a ticket for that speed." Sure you wouldn't, pal. I've even heard some say that they get in trouble for pulling people over for infractions like that; it's never stopped the ones I've dealt with. If it's a friend/ family member of a cop, they say: "My dad/ brother/ husband/ buddy wouldn't have done that! He's a good guy!" What you mean to say is: He wouldn't do that TO YOU, BECAUSE HE KNOWS YOU. Okay TiB, that's all for now, I have a busy day to prepare for tomorrow. I'll elaborate on the other points tomorrow (probably), and answer any questions anyone has.
The police are not your friend. Yes, there are good ones out there but that’s not their purpose. “To protect and to serve” is bullshit when you have forfeitures from innocent citizens and it’s completely legal. My brother had a uniformed cop threaten to “blow his fucking head off” when asking for directions. Of course we need them but remember they’re not on your side.
The biggest problem with the current state of American police can be largely improved by doing three things: 1) All successful lawsuits will come straight from their collective pension instead of the taxpayer’s pocket. Its ridiculous to foot the bill of an employee who screws up royal. Watch misconduct drop 80% the first year. 2) Stop hiring the breed of human being who became the hall monitor in high school just so they could lord it over everyone who picked on them. There are too many of them with a badge in America and those morons are dangerous. Fucking. People. 3) No more arbitration for the assholes who actually manage to get themselves fired. They need to STAY fired, and they need their LEO license permanently revoked so they can’t be rehired two weeks later as a new town’s problem ten miles down the fucking road.
Have you lived in south Texas all your life? Or more specifically, did the events you mention occur in that area? If so, that explains a lot. Cops down there are fucking pricks... or so I’ve heard. Never had an encounter with one personally and I do my level best to avoid them at all costs.
My brother had a cop tell him "I'd take you outside and shoot you but it'd be a waste of bullets" at an 8th grade dance. One of the chaperones misplaced the bag of admission money for the dance and they immediately blamed it on him. He became the County Sheriff a few years later. Once a cop gave my girlfriend a ticket for tobacco possession when she was 17 for having a pack of smokes sitting out in the open in my car. He was 5 feet away from me when he told her "You shouldn't hang out with losers like that. You hang out with dirt bags like him and this is what happens." I did a lot of dumb teenage shit, but I wasn't a fucking dirt bag. Here is a list of some names cops have called me during my childhood and teenage years: Dumbass. Dumbfuck. Little asshole. Fuckhead. Stupid. Piece of shit. Loser. Dirt bag. Scum bag. Little shit. Prick. That's just what I can remember. These are all cops in a town of 5500 and deputies from the surrounding county. I get along with the sheriff and one of the deputies now. The rest can suck a fucking curling iron.
My biggest issue with cops is that they structurally aren’t there to protect the vulnerable, which is what I think their main purpose should be. Racism is such a massive issue in policing, they’ve essentially criminalized being homeless, wasted insane amounts of resources on ineffective “drug wars”, are massively undertrained on how to deal with people who are mentally ill, and generally do a terrible job of helping women dealing with domestic violence and sexual assault. Not to mention how little emphasis is put on deescalating situations. I obviously agree that resources/politics/culture/corruption all work together to determine the nature of a particular police force, and I think Chicago wins the worst cops award as far as I’m concerned. Not only are they infamously terrible, lots of people I know have personally had awful interactions with them. My cousin called the cops when she was 15 and her dad was beating her for smoking weed. I think there was a belt with a large buckle and maybe a stick involved? They showed up briefly and then, verbatim, told her to call back when she was chained to the radiator. A good friend in Chicago right now is being stalked and harassed but since the dude hasn’t put his hands on her, they won’t even give her a PPO. Never mind the repeated death threats, years of fantasy porn he wrote about killing her, or the picture he emailed her of the front of her office building. Clearly not a lot of protecting or serving going on.
Ever looked at what CO’s make? Not counting California they make maybe 15 an hour to start, your not gonna get the brightest people applying for that job, now give them absolute authority over people and see what happens.
To be specific, they "are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen." See, Warren v. District of Columbia. When the students of Majory Stoneman Douglas sued the cops when that security guard didn't enter the building after hearing gunfire, a judge threw out the lawsuit based upon long-standing case law such as above. Make no mistake, cops are not there to protect you. They have no legal duty to do so. Cops exist to enforce laws, that's it. Absent a special relationship with an individual (like that cop is also the victim's father), they are under no legal obligation to protect you specifically. Now, I do not in any way think this should be the case. But it is. If someone is breaking into your home and you call 911, they are getting there as fast as they can in order to catch the criminal. Not to protect you from them.
Yup, because of this and if we assume the idea that cops are part of an institutional racism hierarchy is true, Ill never understand how some people dont understand private gun ownership. If the cops have no obligation to protect the public and if they're racist or corrupt, why are people so ready to rely on them for their safety? Hell, early gun control laws were enacted so local sheriffs in the South could disarm minority communities. Sure law enforcement is easy in communities that have money and resources, but for every cop that protects someone you have a cop that runs and hides like the Parkland deputy.
Take the idea of institutional racism out of it, and you still have the major reason why you need to be able to protect yourself at all times. Maybe for some people that protection doesn’t mean owning a gun. I mean a hammer is the best way to get a nail into the wall, but you can use a rock too. I get it if you don’t individually feel comfortable with a gun on you, that’s a very personal and individual decision. But at least have a knife. It isn’t the risk, it’s the stakes. If a cop protects you, that’s by their own doing. Their own set of morals is making them stop whatever bad is happening to you from continuing. And given what I’ve seen from the public at large, I don’t trust anyone’s morals but my own. I don’t give a shit if the risk of something bad happening to me or my family is statistically low. I care that if something bad does happen, and even if a cop was right next to me when it takes place, they are under no legal obligation to protect my life.