<p>It looks to me other officers seemed totally cool with the beating. After few interactions with the police (traffic violations), I had formed negative opinions about them and wondered if most of them are “jerks” (I was totally fine with the citations and they were fair but the way the officers acted or their attitude kinda annoyed me). I don’t have any friends that are police. My brother is one but he’s in Hong Kong and I believe the police “culture” there is probably different. What’s your impression based on your previous encounters?</p>
<p>You probably aren’t going to see videos of the thousands and thousands of instances of policemen and women confronting and arresting murderers, rapists, thieves, those who commit assault, those who stop and arrest drunk drivers, those who respond to accidents and save peoples’ lives, those who protect us in so many ways every single day - often putting their lives on the line (and sometimes losing) to protect us and bring order to our society. You will, however, occasionally see a video showing some transgression because it’s sensationalistic but hopefully you’ll be able to apply some critical thinking and realize that the unusual cases of these sensationalistic videos are by far the exception rather than the rule.</p>
<p>My personal encounters with the police which have been either through traffic stops or when I’ve called them on burglaries have been positive - they’re generally very polite and professional - especially given the confrontational nature of many of the public citizens they encounter in their work.</p>
<p>I have had many encounters with police officers in the 4 years I served on the bench and found nearly all of them to be very hard-working and doing their best to try to provide a safer society for all. Yes, I know there are a few who lie and have their prejudices but most of them put their lives on the line for all of us every day and our world and society would be a lot scarier without them.</p>
<p>I think most law enforcement officers are solid…I happen to have a lot of contact with them thru our business. I have been let in on a dirty little secret that I have suspected for a long time which makes me a little ill…in NJ revenue from moving violations of all sorts is dramatically down. One local dept ( probably more ) has been told to target drivers and give out tickets with no mercy…they have quotas. Almost like making a commission</p>
<p>Also, a statie we met yesterday ( arrogant jerk ) made a point to tell us how much fun he has messing with people when he pulls them over. We played his game but were pretty disgusted with him.</p>
<p>I am feeling like their oath to serve and protect is being superseded by the need to generate revenue</p>
<p>I think the majority of police officers are fair and not looking to lord their power over civilians. The problem is, this same majority will not try to stop or even report those officers who abuse their position and authority even if that behavior reaches the level of criminality. The Blue Wall of Silence exists to hide misdoings.</p>
<p>A policeman gave me a ticket for pulling over to ask him for direction because he thought I was driving on the wrong lane(parking lane), it’s because that’s where he was parked and standing. He was very threatening when I tried to explain to him what happened. I wrote a letter to his supervisor. When I went to court to challenge the violating, he told me that he didn’t appreciate my letter and he knew where I lived.</p>
<p>My D1 also had some problems with police, D2 were in the car for most of those incidents. </p>
<p>I brought my kids up to respect police and see them as friends. I now tell them to be suspicious and question their motive.</p>
<p>H’s best friend is a NYC policeman. One of the most clean-cut, cautious, polite guys we know. That said, I will be the first to admit that’s not typical.</p>
<p>My niece is marrying a policeman in June. He’s a great guy. And I was raised to think of policemen (no policewomen back then) as friends of the average citizen. But I’ve seen too many abuses of the naive, the poor, and the weak.</p>
<p>I think tom1944 and toblin cleared my ambivalence about the police and explained the behavior shown in the video. I am glad to hear that most of them are solid and fair. I am aware that my own experience might not be representative but then I never asked what others’ have been before so that’s why I ask here to establish a better frame of reference and gain back the confidence and trust I kinda lost because of the annoying experience I had.</p>
<p>I know some really good people who are police officers. There are bad apples in every profession. The many good things that police routinely do don’t get as much press and attention as do the heinous actions of a few.</p>
<p>So easy to stereotype and be critical. These men and women face the possibility of life-threatening danger everyday and because there are some bad apples, the whole profession is called into question.
Let’s substitute policemen with gay people or blacks…give some anecdotes and then feel free to caution our children to beware of these people.<br>
I bet all of you who are critical would only be too happy to see the police when you have an intruder in your home.</p>
<p>I am a tech manager for my local police department. My husband is a comand officer also. Most of the law enforcement community are committed to public safety, more than you can ever imagine.</p>
<p>There are some who just shouldn’t be in law enforcement, but they are. There are procedures in place to deal with the bad apples, up to and including US Dept of Justice Consent Decrees. Rest assured that the police departments, once they are aware of the offensive members deal with them. It may not happen as fast as you’d like, but they are entitled to due process also. Invistigations happen, results reported and action is taken.</p>
<p>So yeah. I like the police. And yes, I knew several who have died in the line of duty.</p>
<p>Please do not think I do not loke the police. I have many friends that are officers. I do believe that there is no denying the blue wall of silence however.</p>
<p>Up until 3 years ago, I would never have questioned the actions of any police officer. I live in an affluent area and our police force is wonderful. While leaving a volunteer job, in the worst part of Toledo, I saw an unmarked police car purposely run down a fleeing suspect. I’m getting tears in my eyes as I write this. They jumped the curb and ran him down on the front lawn of our elementary school, 15 minutes after school dismissed. After the ran over him, they put the car in reverse and backed over him. They got out of the car and I could see they were in uniform. At least a dozen adults and children witnessed this. I was the only caucasion witness and the officers were caucasion. One of the witnesses actually called the police to report the incident. I couldn’t get any of them to accompany me downtown to fill out a complaint. In filling out the complaint, I was raked over the coals. Finally, the supervisor told me that my story didn’t match the film from a marked squad car that was also on the scene. I said that the man ran behind a car when he actually ran in front of a car that was parked at the curb. Who cares?? I know I got the important details right. Three teachers inside the school witnessed it, too, but one actually said, “We have to rely on these guys to help us sometimes, so I can’t say anything.” Another said, “He stole a car. How would you feel if he stole YOUR car?” The whole episode was very disturbing.</p>
<p>As long as you take the position of silence, you encourage the “blue wall of silence” or whatever you called it.</p>
<p>My City has a Consent Decree for Use of Force and I am not only watching, but involved in the process of change. It’s not easy and its painful from top - down and bottom -up…but understand this, people are trying. The Consent decrees were brought on because of citizen complaints of excessive use of force. Processes are now in place and being audited…however…
If you don’t report the abuses, then you are part of the problem. We cannot measure a darned thing if you don’t report the issues. We cannot make the adjustments. We cannot trend officers and / or areas, if you do not report the abuses.</p>
<p>When I was on the bench, I heard a few very upsetting and disturbing incidents–when the officers stories didn’t jive & all the witnesses stories and their written accounts were all consisitent, it shook my faith in officers involved.</p>
<p>I also heard young women testify that they were frightened when pulled over late at night while driving alone by officres along lonley stretches of roadway. I’m convinced that most of our police forces are realy very honorable and take their oaths of office very seriously but the bad ones surely do shake our confidence, especially when we get grief for trying to do “the right thing.”</p>