My Leo is a hero

May 25, 2003 | Arpege92

[Arpege92]

I know alot of people have no room in their heart for Police Officer's and in a strange way, I understand that sometimes but before anyone makes a final judgement on all police officer's, please allow me to tell you my side of this debate.

I have been married to a police officer for twelve years....some good and some bad. He has seen some of the most tragic and de-humanizing sides of people and he has seen the best as well. He is the kind of police officer to stop at the house of a lonely elderly man who just lost his wife. He is the kind of police officer who will take the time to fix the mailbox for a family who can't afford to get it fixed for themselves....of course, he does this on his own time and with his own money.

He is the kind of police officer who cried at the drowning of a two year old little girl. This happened while I was pregnant with our son and to this day, he refuses to get a swimming pool. He is the kind of police officer who will drive a man to a hospital where his wife is fighting for her life and it doesn't matter how long it takes or how long he has to wait.

He is an excellent father to his son, he is an excellent husband to me and there isn't anything he wouldn't do for his entire family. His father is disabled and whenever he needs my hero, he is there.

My husband has been called just about every bad word you could think of......his patience has been put to the test.....and yet, he has this quality about him of never letting his anger get the best of him. His ability to stay in control in some of the worst circumstances is mind blowing and the respect he has of his junior officers is well known.

Am I biased? You damn right I am....police officer's don't get good quality press time. In fact, the only time cops get press time is when something has gone wrong. The press isn't interested in the truth about police officers....it's better stories for them! Al Sharpton and his cronies are the first to appear in front of a camera when a black person is killed at the hands of police officers and they aren't interested in the whole truth. It doesn't matter to them! Look at Tawana Brawley, this happened in my own back yard and the lives he ruined are just casualties in his quest for top black leader!

So, when you accuse all cops of being looters, murderers and whatever else you can come up with, please have the common courtesy of knowing all of the facts before you make final judgements. That is my hero you are talking about!!!

[Hank Rearden]

He sounds like a good guy. Hope he doesn't badger citizens about trivial chickensh&* like seatbelts.

[Amelia]

Great post! Policing is a pretty thankless job, and around here, not a very high-paying one. I think we're very lucky to have people willing to do it - and most of them do a pretty good job, too!

[Kaslin]

When I grew up in Germany I was taught that the police is your friend and your helper and I found this to be true

[babaloo999]

Interesting.

[Fawnn]

Kudos to your husband!

I know first hand how hard police officers work. For ten years, I served as what I often refer to as a "sworn-at" rather than a "sworn-in" (police officer) police department employee.

Eight of those years were at a small town department where as dispatcher, in addition to answering the phones, dispatching the calls, monitoring radio traffic, serving as the "desk officer," and doing what in a larger department would be handled by the records bureau (like typing and filing reports), I also handled the calls for the fire department within the city, volunteer fire department for outside the city, city utility calls and crew, and area electrical co-op utility calls and crew. (Can you say "juggle"?)

My favorite anecdote is one that probably isn't unique to our department. Somebody under arrest for a traffic offense (probably a DUI) started yelling at the officer, complaining that the officer should "go after the real criminals" and advising him that "after all I'm a taxpayer so I pay your salary!" Without missing a beat, the officer said, "Oh, so you're that cheap son of a b*tch! I've been wondering who I should complain to!"

Then there was the time when an officer related walking down the basement stairs at a little old lady's house to check out a noise she'd heard. About the time he got to the bottom of the stairs, a guy stuck a shotgun barrel (almost) up his nostrils, and, on relating the incident to some of us later, the officer said, "My aSShole puckered so tight my teeth chattered!"

Yes, working around police officers I learned to become immune to some of the language. But I also learned to respect those hard-working, underpaid, and under-appreciated employees. Sure, there's the occasional bully. (Likewise, we've probably all known the teacher who seemingly takes that job because he couldn't get away with bossing people around at any other job like he does his students.) But the bullies are the exception, not the rule.

Hollywood has done so much to discredit police officers, imo, by showing so many renegade or rogue cops, the constant shoot-outs, etc. In real life, it's an event -- and thank goodness, in most cases, not a frequent event -- when an officer even draws his weapon, let alone fires it!

Imagine going to work, wondering if the next person you face will be one who tries to end your life, and all the while dealing with that stress, knowing that at the end of your shift there will be far more Monday morning quarterbacks (many of them within your own department) advancing their opinions about how you handle -- or should have handled -- your job than there ever will be supporters.

Granted, I only worked as a dispatcher in two different cities. But, in both cities, I was amazed at how hostile the city governments were about granting any pay increases for police department employees.

At some point in every job, everybody tells him- or herself: There's got to be an easier way to make a living! In the case of police officers, there are (easier ways). Yet, they still do their jobs, day after day.

The ones who do that job well feel as strongly -- if not more strongly -- about their mission as do the politicians who pay them, for in my opinion, police officers are the true public servants. It's sad that so many people try to treat them like a "servant class" rather than elevate them to the status and appreciation they deserve.

[Malsua]

I can't go far enough in support of your article.

Cops in general are good people. They give out and deal with the worst of people on a continual basis.

My Brother has been a Lousiana Cop, a Lousiana State trooper and ultimately a federal marshall.

The stories he tells me boggle my mind.

I work for a large company in a small town in Bergan County(NYC Metro) New Jersey. I know alot of the cops.

I've however run into some major attitude though in the past. I've not had a ticket since 1995. I've been in the car on a couple occasions where they seemed to suggest I was a drug trafficer or whatever when the driver was just speeding. He subjected us to more derision and attitude than was necessary. There are a whole lot of cops out there with attitudes that suggest you're guilty of something. I don't do or condone drugs and I have nothing to hide.

There has to be a happy medium. Safety for the police and reasonable treatment towards the "pulled over" people.

I got pulled over in 1995 for doing 75 in a 65. I never went over 70 on my speedo but he ticketed me anyway. (he wasn't a jerk or anything). It was late in the evening on Route 80, in PA, likely about 10 miles from anywhere and there were no cars in sight. I said "I've been right at 65-70 for the past 300 miles or so".

His response? "My radar is calibrated every month, when was your speedometer calibrated?"

Now however, I have a new option.

I have a handheld Garmin GPS that sits on my dash. It tells my my speed at any particular time. Next time a cop says "my radar is calibrated every month" my response will be "My GPS is calibrated 5 times a second and GPS guidance can drop bombs within 25 feet over distances of 600 miles, who's is more accurate?"

I'll be curious to the response. I don't speed except that I keep up with traffic, but I'm interested in how a cop might respond to my question.

-Mal

[I got the rope]

I'm sorry but soldiers don't practice defense...nor is breaking someone's door down to arrest them a defense of anything.

[Roscoe]

Cop haters also tend to hysteria and hyperbole.

[eno_]

Let's see what we get for the money. In New York, where they just had several botched no knock raids with one fatality due to domeone dropping dead of a heart attack when cops pitched a flashbang into his apartment, it costs NYC $118,025 in salary and benefits for one uniformed cop. Plus equipment, management overhead, facilities, etc.

At these costs, million dollar settlements are chump change. It's time to strip cops of liability protection, otherwise there is no deterrent.

Do the math:

Do you know how many crimes per cop are reported in NYC each year? In 1999 189,013 serious crimes were reported in NYC. Sounds like a lot, right? Sounds like every NYC cop better be solving a burglary or robbery every two days - maybe 50-100 crimes per cop per year to cover that. Right?

Well... That would make for a 100% solution rate. And that ain't happening. What is the solution rate for crimes in NYC (that is reported crimes, by the way)? They do OK with murder, for which the solution rate is 70%+, beating the nationwide rate of 66% (which is itself shamefully low). Nationwide, the solution rate for violent crime is 46%, and for property crime excluding arson, 16% (FBI UCR). Do you think NYC is beating those numbers?

NYC has about 40,000 uniformed officers. That's right: More than one officer for every 5 serious crimes reported each year. That means some cops, on averge, fail to solve even one crime in a whole year!

You want respect, Roscoe? Try doing a good job. Until those numbers are about ten times better than they are now, cops are rightly the butt of derision. You won't find job performance that bad outside a public school.

Let's hear your excuses.

[TankerKC]

That what the dopers do when they claim they have a "Constitutional" right to smoke dope and shoot cops.

You are teaching a clinic on logical fallacies on this thread.

[TankerKC]

You must be a Catholic, an Evangelical could never be so heartlessly cruel to his fellow man.

I think you are on the wrong site. You were looking for: alt.anticatholic.dumbass.net

[babaloo999]

It looks like they removed the offending posts from Darheel.
I think he's a "sleeper" just waiting for his opus.

[Eagle Eye]

Got cops in my family on both sides and I know plenty of retired feds. IMO, it is getting harder to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Too many swat teams, too much loot to be had from asset forfeiture.

[eno_]

If even cops' families are off the reservation when it comes to pro-cop propaganda, it's getting pretty near to game-over for policing as it exists.

No knock raids are another great Nixon achievement, and were probably supported by many Freepers now completely disgusted with today's policing. If there is no reliable "lawnorder" constituency among middle aged white males, what have the cops got left?

[Teacher317]

Half of my family is comprised of police officers and detectives. That doesn't change the rage and incredulity I feel for "no-knock" raids, sealed warrants, and the unconscionable absence of accountability for mistakes. EVERY other professional, citizen, and laborer is responsible for their mistakes, but when a LEO makes similar, or more commonly, worse mistakes that severly injure people and/or transfers their property to the LEO's, there are virtually zero tangible consequences. This is inherently stupid, unfair, evil, and invites abuse of the worst kind. It certainly deserves all the derision that can be heaped upon it. Some FReepers choose to generalize it and blame the profession, rather than the vile system or individuals. That does NOTHING to change the truth of their position.

A piece of advice to a FReeper, especially to a cop's wife: try to get a slightly thicker skin.

[Teacher317]

I think he just hates cops. Probably a dope smoker.

ROFL. Here you are supporting a woman who was upset by an unflattering generalization by making return unflattering generalizations. Arpege, does this make it better? (It's certainly fair, but does it make it any better? It seems to merely perpetuate the exact kind of repartee that has saddened you.)

[Servant of the Nine]

He seems to tell us that on the one hand we should strictly follow the law (Judges), but then on the other we should resist with controlled violence if necessary.
I think he just hates cops. Probably a dope smoker.

Sorry, no cigar. My only son starts Harris County Sheriffs Dept. Academy next month. I used to sell police equipment. I am totally pro law and order.

HOWEVER, that refers to cops in uniform or street clothes. I have never met an undercover cop who was not corrupt, nor a Ninja SWAT Cop who was not a loose cannon. They are the ones that call us "civilians" rather than "citizens". They think of us only as potential perps, and if they step on our rights by accident, it's no big deal cause we are bound to have either done something we didn't get caught for or we will in the future.

Cops will make mistakes in tight situations on the street and I will give them every benefit of the doubt that they acted in good faith.

Search warrants are very different. There is very rarely any excuse for a no-Knock warrant except that the Ninja Cops get off on doing it.
When cops are sitting at their desks preparing a no-knock search warrant aplication to take to a judge, they have no excuse for getting the address wrong or relying on a flakey confidential source.
Any cop who screws this up, even if no harm is done, needs to be retruned to uniform.

In sumary, I believe any cop on the street in a hot situation deserves every benefit of the doubt, any other time, the benefit of the doubt goes to the citizen. You don't go kicking down the doors of civilians without being 100% positive you have the right information.

I doubt that there are more than a dozen cases a year in which a no-Knock Warrant is truly justified. If any law enforcement officer knocks on my door with a warrant, I will give him complete cooperation. If anyone kicks down my door, I will attempt to kill them first and figure out who they might be later.

So9

[Roscoe]

it's getting pretty near to game-over for policing as it exists.

Hyperbolic hysterics.

[eno_]

Of couse not a single word to refute my post #50:

$120k per cop per year.

4-5 reported crimes per cop per year.

Solution rates that range from an acceptable 70% for murder to abysmal for property crime.

Cost to solve a single serious crime in NYC: $25,000 to $30,000.

Those are the facts.

The performance and productivity of police SUCKS.

The face of policing today is Chief Moose: Ph.D., and not a two neurons to rub together in his thick skull. And Moose is not one of the dirty ones. Lift any rock in any big-city PD and you find a corruption scandal.

Supporting police is no longer a conservative position.