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skycop

The American police officer

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this is going around -

http://www.fox10phoenix.com/clip/11014328/activist-critical-of-police-undergoes-use-of-force-scenarios

so sorry to the usual crowd that it's a Fox local station, I know that's automatic discard for some

Every rabid activist needs to get this type of more productive exposure. much better than just angry dialogue.


One thing that good cops do, they get to know as many people as they can in their coverage areas. They can make better decisions if the guy in front of them is someone they've observed grow up, rather than dealing with a total stranger (i.e., completely unpredictable).

People can mock concepts like "Mayberry" and "Barney Fife" stereotypes, but cops that live and breath with the people they protect is the best possible scenario available.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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I am with you ill say most cops are good guys, here is where it all goes to shit in my opinion.

You have one bad cop who does horrific shit and the "good cops" don't say anything because of a brotherhood. Thats when they all become bad as they are no longer serving the public.
Other issue when they do get caught they often serve a much reduced sentence which defies logic to most as we think they should receive harsher punishment.

When that happens you are no longer serving the public you become no different then a gang.
I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

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See the thing is that that is your perception based off of movies, or a couple remote real world incidents. In real life I and every cop I have worked for or with are not gonna risk going to jail or loose my job covering up for you because we were both on the same call and I saw you pistol whip some homeless guy, or steal something out of a business while on an alarms call. Just like the shootings it's not a rampant out of control situation your led to believe.

Postes r made from an iPad or iPhone. Spelling and gramhair mistakes guaranteed move along,

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Nice story. Makes everyone feel good. Too bad there aren't more like that. You should come up with a site that links to positive police actions. The story about the cop that bought the single mom groceries and diapers would the kind of story that the site would cover.

For those that are interested in the activities of bad cops, and the heinous management that allows them to continue in their employment as LEOs, here is a link to the Bad Cop, No Donut reddit site.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bad_Cop_No_Donut/

The site links to articles about LEO activities, and the management of LEO activities, that aren't "feel good" stories. They are more like horror stories. The links are updated often.

Bad cops need to actually get fired, stay fired, and the POA unions stop defending the proven bad cops. The "thin blue line" is real, and needs to stop.

As a juvenile, I was convicted on charges that I had nothing to do with, knew nothing about, and was away on a camping trip when the crimes took place. I did not know the people who did the crime. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. The perjured testimony of two officers was taken as truthful, in spite of the documentation provided as to my whereabouts at the time the crime was committed. To this day I do not trust any LEOs under any circumstances. It was well proven to me and others that LEOs can and will lie to make a case. Other people in my home town were convicted under similar conditions. The entire PD was corrupt to the bone.

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Anvilbrother

See the thing is that that is your perception based off of movies, or a couple remote real world incidents. In real life I and every cop I have worked for or with are not gonna risk going to jail or loose my job covering up for you because we were both on the same call and I saw you pistol whip some homeless guy, or steal something out of a business while on an alarms call. Just like the shootings it's not a rampant out of control situation your led to believe.



Yes that's my perception, my view after seeing incident after incident of police acting horrifically and getting away with a slap on the wrist, even when there is proof of abuse.

I think cops are people and just like most people very fallible add the ego you have or get from being one not a great recipe to be left unchecked.

I don't understand how we don't have an organization that actually watches the police. one that's independent of the their hierarchy.
I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

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It's not as bad as any media outlet would let you believe.
As far as 'cheerleading" goes, I've been able to answer many myths far too many beleive. If that's cheerleading, all I can say is "RAH! RAH!"..............
Plus paying taxes and looking at the internet makes EVERYONE an expert............;)

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

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On a percentage chance that it would affect Americans I would say the local, state, and federal politician would be more on my list of worries. Sure they cant shoot you, well Dick Cheney could, and Romney advocates his wife blasting a few warning shots out his back door, but the chance that the local cop would is like %0.000014 or somthing as calculated by lawrocket(?) iirc is almost %0. If you wanna talk corruption, breaking laws, and infringing on peoples rights I would start there.

Postes r made from an iPad or iPhone. Spelling and gramhair mistakes guaranteed move along,

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The attitude that those are above reproach is wrong



You mean like lawmakers that are immune from traffic violations while in session, and have staff that handle all their correspondence so you never actually know if you are in touch with them, staff, or a robot with autopen.

Postes r made from an iPad or iPhone. Spelling and gramhair mistakes guaranteed move along,

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Those too, yes.

We need more external oversight of a number of the parts of this whole system wouldn't you agree?

I did a lot of court system networks years back...interesting things to be found on judges computers to be sure...not all of course, but there were a few that were jacked up!
Then again, it was a Florida court. :P

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>It's not as bad as any media outlet would let you believe.

Nor as good as some outlets would let you believe.

>As far as 'cheerleading" goes, I've been able to answer many myths far too many
>beleive. If that's cheerleading, all I can say is "RAH! RAH!"..............

Yes, you have. Others have punctured other myths, both good and bad, about police and their actions.

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The attitude that those are above reproach is wrong.
We as citizens all have the right to question it.



I never said anything was above reproach, never. Questioning authority is a good thing, as a matter of fact I ENCOURAGE it. Questioning, not bitching.

Questioning has a point, bitching does not. The average local PD in America has less than 10 guys. I encourage everyone to get involved and get to know your local PD or if it's a large agency the local district, most have some type of program to involve citizens. I think you'd be surprised how open they'll be. If they aren't encouraging involvement, they should be. Then question why they aren't.
State and Federal agencies not so much, I question some of their actions often.

We had a guy do an open records request for our military surplus stuff, I guess he thought it was a big secret. We gave him a list and offered to show him anything he wanted, we never heard a word back.
All he had to do was ask, and we'd have shown him the items without a need for the open records request.

If your local agency is accredited, citizen involvement is mandated. CALEA accreditation includes customer satisfaction surveys and other means of performance based input.

If you feel you've been treated improperly or an officer did a good job , call the officers supervisor. Believe me, complaints are taken seriously and tracked, transversely an atta-boy is a good thing too. Now if you want to troll officers with a video camera, then call for a supervisor at the slightest hint of something you may disagree with, I think that may fall into the bitching category.

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

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I have been trying to stay away from law enforcement related threads (or use of force) since all the increased hatred toward law enforcement has started. On this one I will say this: In 11 years in law enforcement I have worked with 1 officer that I felt had morality issues. I reported him immediately to the Chief and he was "voluntold" to seek new employment. I have no idea where he went after working for us but I have been told it's not in law enforcement. I have worked with a few lazy officers that would look for a way out of doing extra work, but not actually violate law or look the other way to cover for anyone. I personally would NEVER look the other way. I have pretty high standards for the officers I work with as well as for myself. I have always been able to come home at the end of the day and know that I did a good job.

When I was a new officer I wrote a girl a ticket for having a clear plastic cover over her license plate. It is illegal to have a covering over the plate, even if it is transparent. This particular plastic cover was scratched and sun-faded and it made it somewhat difficult to read the plate. After I wrote the ticket I left that traffic stop feeling like I had done something wrong. It wasn't a violation that warranted a ticket. I called the girl and told her I was going to tear up the ticket but that she needed to take the cover off her plate. I still remember that and regret writing it because it was the singular moment in my career that I took enforcement action that I feel wasn't warranted, even if it technically met the statute.

I have worked with some really great people. I have also worked with a few douches that I couldn't stand but could trust when it came to police work. Officers can be some of the funniest, most laid back people you will ever meet, but we currently live in a time when the media has perpetuated the image of the abusive officer who is above the law. People post on these threads and base their anti-LEO statements and arguments on the use of force cases they "know about" but the majority of the time it seems they are referring to the cases in the media. What they don't take into account is the media reports the minority of cases that they feel is entertaining. They then sensationalize the news stories to draw in viewers. The news articles online are no better than the buzzfeed click-bait bullshit links. "CNN Eclusive Report: This officer got out of his car and you won't believe what happens next"

Of course nobody reports on the thousands upon thousands of officers that go to work every day and work an 8, 10, or 12 hour shift without a single use of force. Nobody would read that. The issues you typically see in which officers are legitimately doing wrong and others are looking the other way are usually a small group of officers within a large department. They have come up with their own code and they protect each other. Here's something you won't read in the news, other officers hate those guys even more than you do. They tarnish the reputation of all of us and degrade public trust that took years to build.

The media has done a fantastic job of focusing on problems of a couple officers and leading their readers (or viewers) to believe it is a true reflection of the majority. For those of you who have expressed support and understanding that the majority of us are good people, I thank you.
www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

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I don't dispute that the majority of the cops out there are good people, trying to do their best.

But, how about all the incidents where people got arrested for videoing cops doing their job?
Not the "troll & bait" ones, but the simple ordinary people who, for whatever reason, pulled out their phone and started recording.

And then were arrested and sometimes even charged under "wiretap" violations for recording the sounds.

Those weren't "bad individuals", those sorts of incidents were pretty widespread across the country.
The cops didn't want people to record what they were doing.

And used their authority (wrongly IMO) to stop it.
"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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Something to consider is that police officers have to understand the average Joe's point of view at least as much as the average Joe has to understand the point of view of a police officer.

It's their job, for one thing.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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