What do you think about "COPS" where you live?
 

Hello - I'm an old guy, who was once a young rebel. I wonder what the young folk think these days - and the poll I have made is totally annonymous, single vote - nobody afterward can tell who voted for what.

This is not some wierd scheme to try to expose anyone.

I just want to get an idea of what young people really think...

I expect this may cause a firestorm of differing opinions among you - but please "Agree to Disagree" right from the start.

NO SLAMMING!

i hate the police in my area. they drive at least 40 in a 25. i live in a private community where kids are EVERYWHERE. im waiting for one da a cop flys over a hill and nails a little kid. other then that, there nice guys. and if it weren't for them being nice, i wouldnt have my license.

The ones around here are probably like everywhere else, never around when needed, don't care about the important things, only worry about getting tickets and making the county money, and lying to everyone and giving out false information. i mean it's pretty sad when we've got shootings break-ins and assaults right down the street and all their worried about is giving me a parking ticket cause im parked sensible in my court so my neighbors can get out their driveways. lol side note woman down the street knows the sheriff personally and for many years and when i told her that i got the ticket she was so pissed next time she saw him asked him right in front of everyone why his deputy's were more worried about giving out parking tickets in neighborhoods than arresting the people who shot up a house 3 blocks over. And all he could do was stumble his words and make up a bs answer.

where i live the police are clueless about how to perform their job. they spend more time hanging out in the local convenient stores shooting the chit. i live about a mile from an appartment complex where some "shady characters" sell crack out of without the police bating an eye. every few months they move back to the city and new ones move down here to replace them. a friend of mine used to sell pot to suplement his income and they targeted him and caught him rather quickly. i'm not saying one drug is more exceptable than the other but if your gonna go after one guy, you should go after all of them. the chief we have now got ran out of the last town he was chief in because his squad had a house party and some people got in a drunk driving accident after leaving. one officer ended up killing his wife as a result of the accident, but got off with a slap on the wrist. on top of that, i went to highschool with his son, so i personally know he's a drunk. i hate the fact that police can get away with acting like they're above the law because they are the law

I am no to crazy about this thread, I will watch it closely if it starts to get out of hand I will have to close it down. So please lets keep it clean and civil.

I see some valid points here - and yet not all cities towns and areas are the same. I think the ones in my area are pretty good at what they do, although they spent 45 minutes searching my truck one night and called out 3 extra units just to give me a fix-it ticket for a headlight that went out... :-X10

But then, the part of the county where I live is a notorious drug area so go figure. :confused:

I'll go against the flow here and come out and say it. I've got aspirations to become a state trooper.

Gone are the days of the fat, lazy, only got the job cause they know the chief police officers. Today's police officers must be in shape and the vast majority of them are college educated.

The police cannot be everywhere. If they were we'd be complaining about that too. They will usually only be around if you call or are driving around on the government owned streets they are paid to patrol.

They are just people doing their job the best they can. They are not the ones making laws. Their job is to enforce them. They are just doing their job. They cannot enforce a law or not enforce a law arbitrarily. They have discretion but it's not a whimsical type of thing. There are also times where the officer can get in trouble if they don't write you a ticket. Usually, though, if you are polite and courteous with the officer he will be more inclined to use said discretion in his stop with you and let you go with as little as possible. Not a guarantee but it helps.

For example the mod of this form is using discretion in not yelling at Greywolf for posting this topic even though it says under 25 only and we all know he is well over 25.

And the other thing to keep in mind is that you're not a "law abiding citizen" if you get pulled over for anything but a routine stop. Just because you didn't murder someone doesn't mean you're not breaking the law. That's not addressed at anyone here specifically just a general thing I hear about law enforcement all the time.

The other thing to keep in mind is the police are used to people lying to them all day. They will treat you as a liar until you prove otherwise.

Yes there are some overzealous jerks out there who are police officers but every profession has its idiots.

Overall I guess what I'm trying to say is that officers are generally not out there trying to be d***hea*s. They are just doing their job as best they can and trying to keep the public as safe as possible.

i have to disagree to a point. i live in illinois and my mother used to work at a dry cleaning service that most of the police around my area used. while the state police and county have some pretty high standards the local pd's in my area generally consist of out of shape middle aged+ men. and i'm talking most of the towns in the surrounding 4-5 counties and 1-2 state districts. i do wish i could've become a police officer, but at a young age i made bad choices, and because of stupidity, i can't become part of law enforcement or join the armed forces. if only i could go back and change it.:-banghead

Sorry neglected to mention those are standards for new officers there are still officers around who got on the police force when the standards were lower and the unions mean they can't be fired too easily.

You are correct I'll concede that.

But state police have very high physical fitness standards and most new officers are held to strict standards as well even on local departments.

The military is much the same - and if you get busted for wrong behavior or drug use - you get slammed TWICE.

The military hits you, and you are still open to local law enforcement prosecution. Typically - once local law is done with you, you get your butt kicked by the MIL.

(for those interested in a military career)

LIKE the military - I have little doubt that law officers these days need to PROVE themselves able to perform the job.

If you ain't "BAD ASS" you might want to pass it up as a career.

I voted, i choose the middle area, they are not dumb. Usually way under manned yes.
They have there priorites a little off sometime i agree but thats not always there fault and they are helpfull getting drunks off the roads and taking care of people when they need it, usually.

I can say i have met great cops that are really helpfull and will let you slide with a warning, then i have met the cops that are out to prove they are the best.

I went to jail a few weeks back due to tickets i didn't pay 4 years ago.
My fault i take repsoonsibility for that, i got pulled over goin 6 over about 200 yds past where the speed limit drops by 5mph, sat morning on my way to work. Cop asked me to step out i straight asked if i was goin to jail. He informed me i was, i asked him if i could call my boss very quickly and tell him i will be in jail. He said nope, have to wait until jail.
I had my phone out and ready. Bit of an a-hole on that part. But alright.
Get to the jail, he write's me a ticket for speeding. The lady that checked me in said he was being an a-hole. Cops dont write tickets if they take you into jail for warrants or whatever, atleast not petty stuff like 6 over...

Most of the cops around here are jerks but i think that is because i live in a rural area with not police force but its just "patrolled" by the state cops from the city who are used to dealing with a holes all the time.

Ok so im half way changing what i said in the past two days I've had a run in with cops. one Thursday night was freaking out on us and blowing up trying to say we was gonna shoot him(aint no one had a gun) and told us that he didn't care if he shot all of us. and last night after the local car show two cops pulled up and kicked us out of the parking lot(which it is private property) but we've been there since like 3 am before and all the cops have done is pull up ask what were doing and when we tell em just hanging out throwing football they're like oh ok cool but no last night they pull up and ask what were doing and we told em hanging out after the car show and they're like what car show, when not 15 mins before there was like 40 cars and 100 people still left and a big ass sign saying "car show tonight" and that it happens every Friday. and made us pick up the food trash everyone else left, kinda pissing me off here, now whether these cops are new which could be possible cause they just opened a new sub-station in town but come on aint doing nothing. the whole parking lot is well lite and you could clearly see that we was just hanging out tossing a football. an i don't really have a problem with them wanting to check id's that's normal but the intense looking in the windows of the cars i don't like i mean i got my tools and a bunch of crap in there but damn actually stuck his head in my window with a flashlight to look and seem to always spending long time at mine cause of the stickers on the back window. some cops just aint got nothing better to do.

I've seen cops around my area.
All they do is give tickets.
Tickets, and roadblocks.
Roadblocks lead to more tickets.

Oh! And the Volunteer Fire Department around here is mostly high school students!

part of the problem is putting COPS into one group. there are a lot of ****ty cops out there and there are a lot of good cops. i have dealt with both types so im on the fence with a blanket decision.