Im believe I have gotten along very well with every police officer & fire-fighter I have met.
In fact, I even asked a lady cop out for dinner,
This was during the 88 olympics and she was working as a guard for ABC TV.

I told her : Please ....just say Yes so I don't have to cuff you and drag you to dinner".


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the City of Calgary , the Captain of any firehall has the same power as a cop when he is at the scene of a fire.

ie: Arresting an arsonist

 

I think it's more a sociology problem than anything else. An off duty fireman can walk into a group of strangers and let it be known he's a fireman - and be darn proud about it. Fire departments encourage community involvement.

Cops don't do that much, whether it be departmental fraternization rules or unwritten rules. It's one of the reasons a lot of cops get a, "us against them, " attitude. You know, what happens in the field - stays in the field. When your peers, friends and informal family are all cops and you are incouraged to stay with the group - it's almost cult like. It's the same pressure druggies have. So if cops hate druggies and druggies hate cops, it stems from the same social reasons. "To bring people together, find their simularities."

Ted Kazinski and Jeffery Dahmer weren't caught by traffic stops. In fact, they weren't caught using good police work either. When everyone starts looking guilty - it's time to take a vacation.

I've known a lot of good cops, they show their humanity.

 

Hello, you have reached the Police Department's Voice Mail. Pay close attention as we have to update the choices often as new and usual circumstances arrive. Please select one of the following options:

To whine about us not doing anything to solve a problem that you created yourself, press 1.

To inquire as to whether someone has to die before we'll do something about a problem, press 2.

To report an officer for bad manners, when in reality the officer is trying to keep your neighborhood safe, press 3.

If you would like us to raise your children, press 4.

If you would like us to take control of your life due to your chemical dependency or alcohol, press 5.

If you would like us to instantly restore order to a situation that took years to deteriorate, press 6.

To provide a list of officers you personally know so we will not take enforcement action against you, press 7.

To sue us, or tell us you pay our salary and you'll have our badge, or to proclaim our career is over, press 8.

To whine about a ticket and/or complain about the many other uses for police rather than keeping your dumb butt in line, press 9.

Please note your call may be monitored to assure proper customer support and remember.....
we're here to save your butt, NOT kiss it!

 

In every profession that deals in public relations, you will soon tire of the same old questions everyone asks all the time, as if they were the first to ever think them up.
Cops are almost universally hated & feared because of the nature of their jobs. Expect it going in, or don't go in.
Don't buy a house next to the airport & complain about the noise.

 

I have to agree with the general consensus; Fireman are always there to help, Cops on the other hand are generally kind of rough (look what they get to deal with) and as someone else said, they're trained to dominate a situation.

As a result, Cops come off a little rude or short most times.

FWIW, I respect all civil servants for what they do.

I think it was George Orwell who said something like "Good people can rest easily at night because men stand by to do violence on their behalf."

XXL

 

Speaking form personal experiance.....
I've was a firefighter/emt/arson investigator for many years. Many firefighters are arrogant and self absorbed. Many police officers are arrogant and self absorbed. As a matter of observation, many doctors, lawyers, programmers, truck drivers, waiters, secretaries, librarians, and family memebers are arrogant and self absorbed. Its the person. When speaking of firefighters and police officers, were talking about type A personalities. As are many of the professions I listed above. Its a matter of the person.
As for cops being the ones writing you a ticket, yes, thats the case. Although I must admit.....when I get tickets for speeding, I was. I dont remember a cop ever going to the trouble of making something up in order to write me a ticket. Also, I've been let off with a smile more than I've been written up.

Summertime my house tends to have cops, troopers, doctors, and fire/medics, and nurses when we have BBQ's. No, you sure didnt see lawyers mentioned. Actually, there might be one or two this year.

Either way, my point is that we need all the public service people you see out on the streets. Appreciate them, they appreciate the money you pay towards their salaries.
When the trooper or whoever calls asking for donations to their oranization, go ahead and give, they just might be sending you a support sticker for you car/truck.

I'm sorry, I did forget to mention there are bad apples out there as there are anywhere.

 

DougD,

Thank you for reinforcing my stereotype of police officers.

Traxxis, you're right, it isn't an excuse, though you are certainly using it as one.

Waxy

 

Waxy,

You must be one of those people that would call back 9 times in order to leave a complaint with each department Or perhaps you are just one of these people who wouldnt be happy if you were hung w/ a new rope?? So tell me, since you have appearently been so "wronged" by the Police, who are you gonna call when your house gets broken into??? Or are you just gonna try to go vigilante'?? Ever thought that maybe if an Officer treats you wrong (pulling you over for something that you infact knew was wrong) that it is YOUR FAULT?? Im sure that if your attitude on here reflects the attitude that you would give upon being pulled over, I'd have to say, I think I'd do you wrong too.

 

Personal related comments.

 

- I wouldn't complain at all, never have, I realize it's futile.

- New rope?

- My insurance agent - he'll do something about it.

- I was the only person that could track down my $25,000 worth of landscaping equipment when it was stolen. I was told by the cops it was a futile excercise to look for it, it would be "half way across the world by now". I found it at a farm about 30 miles away after about a week of asking around. The cops were happy to go and pick it up for me though. Of course they weren't able to pin the crime on anyone. However, NO, I don't think vigilante is the way to go in most cases, and I certainly wouldn't put myself in a situation of potential conflict or violence.

- Sometimes I deserved the ticket, sometimes not. When I deserve it I politely take, I'm a firm believer in personal responsibility. As for the not, I won't go into it, it REALLY raises my blood pressure.

- Respect is earned, not by buttoning on a badge, but by your actions.

Waxy

 

Nice way of saying, FREEZE MUDDA...............



Okay, sorry. I couldn't resist. It seemed appropriate.

 

There are some honest comments here. I still agree with WAXY. I don't like the cops who are automatically demanding respect. Respect is something you earn, it is not automatic.If GOD floated down on a fluffy white cloud and acted arrogantly, I would treat him the same way. I feel the OHIO state patrol are mostly arrogant. I live here and when I was driving truck for a million years, they were my biggest problem. Vigilante worked in the old days, autta try it again. Right to carry laws might make the bully cops think twice before thinking their **** doesn't stink. There are bad people in every profession. If you wear a badge you just get to get away with a whole lot more.There blood is blue and they stick together. I personally know cops, and they said they would never turn a bad one in. That bothered me. I'll still be nice to the ones that are nice to me.I too asked out a lady cop that pulled me over in my 5.0.Turns out she was engaged. Oh well.

 

For the most part, I respect cops for the jobs they do, the same as I respect members of our armed forces. In a lot of cases, it's a dirty job, and I'm more than willing to let someone else do it.

However, my son (while still a teeny bopper) was driving the family car through Raytown, when one of their "finest" pulled in behind him, and followed on his bumper with his brights on. My son tried to be nonchalant, and wove up and down side streets for about a half hour until the officer tired of his game. This happened more than once. Finally, when my son just pulled over, got out, and asked the officer what the problem was, the cop asked if he could search the car. My son said "Sure, with a warrant." This was not what the cop wanted to hear, so he slammed my son against the car and frisked him, emptying his pockets out onto the ground. When my son asked for his badge number, the cop covered it up, and then pulled his gun and placed it against by son's head and asked him if he still wanted to know.

In the meantime, another patrol car pulled up, which meant there were at least three other cops watching all of this, all while covering their badges. Not finding anything on my son, or seeing anything through the car windows, or having anything to charge him with, they let him pick his stuff off the ground and leave, with a warning not to come back (was he supposed to move?).

So, despite my respect for their profession, I have a strong bias against most cops in general, and against all Raytown cops in particular. The ones who stood and watched, without intervening, are every bit as guilty as the offending officer. The department that puts up with this sort of behavior is every bit as guilty too, and probably more so - they shouldn't have allowed psychos on the force.

 

You're right, they do stick together. I dont think clean cops should not turn in crooked cops, but then one who doesnt, isnt clean, that would be harboring, right? Just like people of any close profession, they stick together. I dont see truck drivers turning in their brother truck drivers who avoid weigh stations because their overweight. More often than not, I hear them giving directions to avoid a weigh station.

 

Another gripe: Way back during the gas shortage, when our speed limits were reduced to 55, the primary reason was to save gas. But, the added benefit touted was that it also saved lives. Many times I saw radar traps set up on freeways (originally designed for high-speed traffic), but hardly ever did I see or hear of speed traps set up on old, narrow, curvy highways, where even 55 mph could be a dangerous speed. Of course, it's only human nature to take the easy way out, but I'm sure many more lives could have been saved by enforcing the limits on roads ill-equipped for high speed travel as opposed to modern freeways.

Side note: I've found that an easy way to save time getting across town, is to fall in behind a police car. Most of them in this town routinely go at least 10 mph over the limit, as one of their perks seems to be immunity from traffic tickets.