Jesus there is a lot of stupid things being posted here.
Every once and a while this topic comes up in various forms and I stop lurking and try to explain a few things(usually to my frustration, but whatever).
I am a cop of some years experience. I also am in a unique position to comment on this stuff as part of my duties are to train other cops so they don’t get killed(or kill the wrong person).
First let me address the idea of feeling intimidated by the police. If you feel intimidated because the cop was physically impressive, carried himself with military bearing and clearly gave the impression that he would kill you if you tried to kill him, this is a good thing. This is how cops go home at the end of the shift. If you feel intimidated by his mere presence, this may be a sign of some ego problem on your part. Personally, I feel our weakness as a culture and the way we socialize men now has lead to a lot of the problems people get in to when dealing with the police. The old school was that the police were in charge and you respected them for this. When you grew up in the depression or stormed the beaches of Normandy, listening to what a cop told you to do for a few minutes was not that tough.
That does not mean he has the right to be impolite to you(provided you don’t set an ungentlemanly tone up front). My rule has always been that an officer should start off with a very high level of respect toward whoever you are contacting. I teach other cops this. Just like the suspect determines how much force I will use on him, so it goes with the give-and-take of respect.
Police should be disciplined, honorable warriors. I know some of you are chuckling because that is the exact opposite of a lot of what you see. Sadly, I have to agree. Police hiring has always been a mess and in most places, training is not much better. The vast majority of police, in my experience, do not take their job seriously enough. If they did, they couldn’t possibly be out of shape, uneducated about their profession and generally unable to handle conflict at all levels. If any of you have ever had the pleasure to know truly dangerous, yet still honorable men, you know that they have a humbleness and respectfulness about them that is striking. That in itself would eliminate many of our perception problems.
I feel safe assuming that most of you guys posting your concerns here are good people(if you are not, I couldn’t give a fuck about your opinion). It is hard for me to explain this to you unless you live in our world, but we see a lot of ugliness. More than any person ever possibly could in their life(or many lifetimes for that matter) under most circumstances. You might want to try and disagree, but I know I am right because I have lived on both sides of the fence. That much negativity effects a person, subconsciously at least. If a cop is a professional, they should battle constantly to not let such forces overwhelm them but it is a difficult road to walk. Trust me.
I have spoken with Mikeyali at some length about the role of police in our society and I come from the same uncompromising libertarian school of thought that he does. I believe wholeheartedly that the police are overused in our society. It is a reflection of a larger reliance on government than has ever existed in our country’s history. I can’t even begin to tell you the things we get called for. 80% of it should be handled by the individual citizen or by cooperation among neighbors. Instead, they throw all of their individualism out and expect the government via the police to solve their issue.
The most severe issue is a largely corrupt and ever-increasing governmental monster using the police to enforce the massive number of bullshit laws that are expanded on every day. I doubt any of you would have a problem with us if we fought gang members and other murderous thugs, caught thieves and prosecuted rapists. These basic laws must be enforced so that a society can thrive. However, we are all too often are used to close municipal budget gaps with traffic tickets or enforce a million other repressive regulations on individual freedom at the behest of idiots who don’t even begin to understand what America should be about.
As an aside, I for one don’t distrust the American populace and could never seek to disarm lawful people. Quite the opposite. More decent armed people make my job easier.
Sometimes gun owners are surprised by how supportive I am of their rights and it builds a tremendous trust between us. Try and tell that to many of our legislators.
As a final word, let me say that don’t construe any of this to be an apology for or
a damnation of my profession. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else, and done right, I believe it is God’s work as much as anything on the planet. The benefit of the doubt should still go to the police if they are acting in good faith, such as the NYPD cops who were just rightfully acquitted.
I am fairly certain that our society is destroying itself at all levels. If you want to skyrocket it to oblivion, neuter the police a little faster than 40 or 50 years of the anti-society gangsters have already managed.
I can’t think of much more to add.