Nonsense. None of this is about the “occasional” rogue cop. There’s a clear hatred for cops in general. It couldn’t ~be~ more obvious. This thread is only one of hundreds over the years, and is still just getting started.
It doesn’t surprise me when lefties and hippies get all puffy-chested about “the man keepin’ me down, man...” but it does get a little curious when conservatives do it.
Like the alternative is what... to not have cops?
No, the alternative is that the police follow the constitution and respect our constitutional rights. Which most do. But a few don't. That's why we are each given constitutional rights.
It's because at the bottom line, people don't respect what police do, and that's a lack of respect for the law. If you don't respect the law, you aren't going to respect its enforcers.
For better or for worse, people simply don't feel that most traffic infractions should be against the law. Because the vast majority of most folks' encounters with police are the result of traffic violations, they aren't going to respect the police. Likewise, I think that people really don't respect the idea behind the War on Drugs. I think that most people would agree in theory with the concept that drugs should be illegal, but they don't respect the means by which the drug war is fought.
Bottom line: people don't like speeding tickets, so they don't like cops.
The alternative is to have cops that (1) lose that "respect my authority" posture that many seem to have adapted as of late (I had to deal with one just this morning, in fact), and (2) remember that they are civilians, just like the people they're protecting. Too many cops these days think they're bad-ass paramilitary commandos.
I was stopped by the latter type about a month ago, while driving in my truck. My crime? Paying the toll I was required to pay at an exact change tollbooth---fifty cents. I still don't know exactly why I was stopped.
But this punk fit the stereotype to a T---high and tight hard-charger haircut, aviator sunglasses, hell, he even had his blouse tucked properly in the Marine Corps style. He railed at me in his best R. Lee Ermy impression the entire time, and got extremely pissed at me because I answered his questions yes or no---and I told him I was not required to have a full-on conversation with him while his partner checked my credentials in the cruiser. He was a total parade deck Jarhead pining for his days in the Corps, and I was a long-haired blond dude in a pick-up truck.
And then he saw the sticker on my truck: US Naval Academy Alumni Association. All of a sudden I was this a-hole's "brother," and he tried to be all cool with me. Within minutes, my license was back in my hand and I was on my way.
I still have no idea why I was stopped.
My little tale is just one of the million or so you could probably collect in a fortnight if you wanted to. And you wonder why many people of all political persuasions don't really like cops?
Cops do nothing but harass people and show up after the fact.
Get a weapon and learn how to use it. If all law abiding people did that we would need very few cops.
There are conservatives who have problems with specific actions by specific cops, and then you have Libertarians who always, immediately whip out the torches, pitchforks, and ropes, and form a lynch mob. This lynch mob mentality is set off by any media report of any police misconduct regardless of who the complainant is or how poorly the article is written or how few, if any, facts are present in the story.
Yes, it is.
There’s a clear hatred for cops in general.
No, there's not.
It couldn’t ~be~ more obvious.
You're paranoid.
There is nothing wrong with people standing up for their constitutional rights.
Worked for the majority of this nation's history.
I like it.
“Nonsense. None of this is about the “occasional” rogue cop.”
True. They are a little more frequent than “occasional.” Those of us who grew up in small towns are well acquainted with cops who do exactly what they want with no consideration for the law.
I can personally remember 4 different cops in 4 different towns who searched when and where they pleased, among other indignities. Eventually, they all get fired or in some cases, prosecuted, but in every case I know of, the process took several years.
Perhaps city cops or state cops are a bit more professional. I suspect not.
I don’t hate cops. As a group, I respect and genuinely appreciate the job they do. As individuals, I don’t trust them to abide by or enforce the law. Too many horror stories both personal and from my acquaintances.
“There’s a clear hatred for cops in general. It couldn’t ~be~ more obvious”
You need to return to the post office and have them re-boot the chip in your head. Don’t stand so close to the microwave when you are zapping that lunchtime burrito next time.
One alternative is to force agencies, and their “swarms of officers”, complete with the multitude of laws and regulations which empower them, back into the carefully crafted confines of the Constitution.
PS How about de-mythologizing the cops? Theirs isn’t not a job that even made the 10 Most Dangerous Occupations list.
If the Media doesn’t make a big deal of a logger or fisherman or construction worker killed on the job, why hte hue and cry whem a cop is killed?
Could it be that a media known for socialist tendencies wants a police state?
Just wondering.