In a Cop Culture, the Bill of Rights Doesn’t Amount to Much

Unfortunately cops are human. They get frustrated, scared, pissed, and sad, just like anybody else. You can ask them to be superheroes, but the fact is, they can’t be. They see too much garbage, negativity, hostility, disappointment and abuse to stay above it all. Show me a 20 year cop and I will show you a burnt out human. No one sets out to do evil, but shit happens. They do not have. Cure for the long term effects of taking out the human garbage year after year. Evil seeps in.

For a growing number of Americans, those confrontations do not end well.

Is this actually true?

Certainly the number of Americans, and particularly black Americans, has been going down for decades.

Are there any solid statistics out there about police misconduct rates over time? Are they actually increasing or is it just the increased attention being paid now?

It is certainly a fact that in the relatively distant past the cops were pretty much a law to themselves. The movie LA Confidential was pretty accurate in that regard. Very little attention was paid to Bill of Rights back in the day. And most people didn't care because those affected were mostly minorities and criminals.

Since when does taunting justify an action that by any other person would be considered aggravated assault?

A cop does not get the right to assault a citizen because he feels insulted by him.

If I did that, or you, we’d go to jail. As we should.

We live in a police state? Really?

I don’t know if you are a retired cop or you’re the father of sons who are cops or just where you are getting your slant from. I’m 67 and for the first 40 years I was strongly pro cop. Then I began to smell corruption in government and yes, cops are the hands of our government. What they do doesn’t reflect back on the community populace. It reflects back on the community leaders. What the leaders decide is good enough for the populace is what they will permit the cops to do.

It is only in rare instances that a cop is brought to pay for the criminal behavior he/she exhibits. Judges / Mayors / PD Chiefs rarely ever remove the cops arrest authority from them as part of a punishment that you can probably count the number of annual instances on your hands.

When someone inflicts irrational violence upon another human and then they are permitted to continue to wear their police badge, the message to the community is that this behavior is condoned by police officers upon the civilian populace.

I am tired of SWAT teams being used for the arrests of non-violent criminals. That just adds to the numbers of wrong address instances, dog shootings and unavoidable (read unnecessary) people (read homicides) shootings by cops on steroids.

A cop who is a thug, a thief or a liar needs to be removed from the police population is the first instance without a lot of fanfare. Remove his badge and tell him to look for another line of work outside the law enforcement community. Don’t wait until he has twenty years under his belt and a sizable pension investment, do it when he’s still a young man. And don’t give me the line about learning the profession. Honestly and a good moral character are part of the qualifications (or they used to be). I don’t know what the rules for employment are now.

The corrections will come when the corrupt politicians are replaced by the voters if they ever get their heads out of their TV. Until then we will rant about the bad cops and how the good officers ignore their disgusting behavior.

Unfortunately cops are human. They get frustrated, scared, pissed, and sad, just like anybody else. You can ask them to be superheroes, but the fact is, they can’t be. They see too much garbage, negativity, hostility, disappointment and abuse to stay above it all. Show me a 20 year cop and I will show you a burnt out human. No one sets out to do evil, but **** happens.

But not at work, in uniform.

When you are at work you have to behave in a certain way, you cannot indulge your inner weaknesses and dark impulses, especially if you are a policeman.

That’s sort of fuzzy though, isn’t it? Where’s the boundary on a punch or a kick in the aftermath of a struggle with someone who just scared the shit out of you in a grapple? You play Monday morning QB on that. I won’t unless it is way over the top.

Are you kidding?

You want cops to beat the guys that scare them?

I have never done the things that you want cops to do, why have I always been able to play by the rules in bar fights and other fights, and cops can’t, even though they are uniformed, and on duty, and usually have a mob of other cops and the guy is handcuffed?

You are defending scummy guys that like to play tough guy, but only when they have the upper hand, let these cops go to the bars off duty, to do their beatings and tough guy act.

The police need support, not idiotic diatribes. Or do you just want to do away with all law enforcement?””

YES I DO, when they were “Peace Officers” we didn’t have these problems. In Fact, “Peace Officers” were regularly FIRED and Prosecuted for their Criminal Activity. “Law Enforcement Officers” are and always have been a product of ADOLF HITLER’S GESTAPO.

Sig Heil

The police need support, not idiotic diatribes.

The police will get all the support I can give them...when they deserve it. If they act in a reckless manner, abuse their authority, violate the law, or kill people for no real reason then I'll also give them all the criticism that they are due.