I took this from another message board, if its a repost sorry

I think this a great write up, I figure it relates to many people on this board, read it please and comment.

A POLICE OFFICER SPEAKS

Well, Mr. Citizen, it seems you've figured me out.
I seem to fit neatly into the category where you've placed me.
I'm stereotyped, standardized, characterized, classified, grouped, and
always typical.
Unfortunately, the reverse is true. I can never figure you out.
From birth you teach your children that I'm the bogeyman, then you're
shocked when they identify with my traditional enemy...the criminal!
You accuse me of coddling criminals...until I catch your kids doing wrong.
You may take an hour for lunch and several coffee breaks each day, but
point me out as a loafer for having one cup.
You pride yourself on your manners, but think nothing of disrupting my
meals with your troubles.
You raise hell with the guy who cuts you off in traffic, but let me catch
you doing the same thing and I'm picking on you.
You know all the traffic laws...but you've never gotten a single ticket
you deserve.
You shout "foul" if you observe me driving fast to a call, but raise the
roof if I take more than ten seconds to respond to your complaint.
You call it part of my job if someone strikes me, but call it Police
brutality if I strike back.
You wouldn't think of telling your dentist how to pull a tooth or your
doctor how to take out an appendix, yet you are always willing to give me
pointers on the law.
You talk to me in a manner that would get you a bloody nose from anyone
else, but expect me to take it without batting an eye.
You yell something's got to be done to fight crime, but you can't be
bothered to get involved.
You have no use for me at all, but of course it's OK if I change a flat
for your wife, deliver your child in the back of the Patrol car, or
perhaps save your son's life with mouth to mouth breathing, or work many
hours overtime looking for your lost Daughter.
So, Mr. Citizen, you can stand there on your soapbox and rant and rave
about the way I do my work, calling me every name in the book, but never
stop to think that your property, family, or maybe even your life depends
on me or one of my buddies.

Yes, Mr. Citizen, it's me...the cop!

The author of this article was Trooper Mitchell Brown of the Virginia
State Police. He was killed in the line of duty two months after writing
the article.

As a salute to the millions police officers who put their lives on the
line for us everyday, please pass this on

 

I still wish I had been able to become a cop

 

My best friend is on the road to becoming one. Few more years and he will be writing me tickets.

I myself have thought of it.

 

Your only chance would be to go down south, and become a big, dumb, southern redneck cop.

 

And you'll be my first Rodney King.

 

Too many bad... and so-so cops around now adays to actually take pride in your force if your an upstanding cop.. ontaio seems to have no screening policy or mental fitness/evaluation policy for it's municipal depts.. so all the redncek bullies/wackjobs from HS who can go to a 2 year jr college programme somewhere and be qualifed to be a cop.. great now you've got the HS bully with a gun/badge and the ability/desire to abuse it. I've seen it done many times.. it puts a dim light on the force and on those cops that ARE 'good people'.

( Iv'e got a total of 6 family members who are on either a municipal or provincial force or retired with honours ).. I obviously don't hate cops for being cops but I dislike those cops that abuse thier position.. My sisters BF was just last weekend beaten up by two undecovers.. he was peeing in the shrubs , beside his explorer in his golfing togs.. he's ~ 170lbs soaking wet and the two undercovers wer both ~ 230 or more.. Some how his yells for ' help' ( as they chose not to identify them selves other then a quick flip of the wallet ) and moving to the other side of his car was thier excuse to tag team his ***.. when the uniforms show up , these two undercovers claim he was resisting and yet they had nary a bent fingernail between them yet his back and face were beaten badly. Then when he calls to report it.. the duty sargent tells him he donesn't want to hear , don't talk to me.. So now he's got to find some way to tell someone something.. besides his lawyer who is preparing a case that will inevidably end up with the Metro police settleling the cops themselves being protected by thier unions ( gotta love those unions ) and nothing happening to solve the problem..

Yeah that's great policing in action. Cops have ONE job, to uphold the law in every respect and to use GOOD judgement on a daily basis.. The above has nothing in it that comes close to being good or upholding any law.. and I'm sure these incedents happen DAILY ..

the bad apples ruin it for everyone.. now you've got a former everyday joe supporter of the cops, with a very valid distrust of any police...

 

What he says. I've had some bad experiences with cops also. I was in the army reserves for five years, and the numbers of guys there who want to be cops and are cops is quite high. I can honestly say most of them are the last people I think should be cops. Granted some of them are great guys and could trust them to be fair. But overall my experiences with cops has left a bad taste in my mouth (in most situations).

One small example: I was driving down the street in a 50 zone one time and a cop was doing 45. I passed him doing the speed limit.... and he proceeded to follow me for about 10 minutes (while I had done nothing wrong). He must have been searching for something he could pick me up on, I'm betting he was just pissed I had the ***** to pass him. he finally pulled me over and gave me a ticket for having 'plate covers', just a plastic protector really. He told me "technically you are not allowed to have these on here". I was pretty pissed.

Anyways overall I think cops just have the wrong mentality. Police should be used to protect society from the criminals. Not to drive around asnd scare people into acting 'properly', at that point their job has lost meaning and they are really only bullies. Too many times Have I seen 5-10 cops rushing to the scene of some small incident in the middle of the night because they have nothing else to do. And in the last 3 years AT LEAST 2 people I remeber were killed by cops running a light in the middle of the night and hitting an oncomming car.

Anyways I could go on, but Ive already written more than I intended.

 

Too many street cops used to be the public school/highschool bully.

 

lol, i like the point about the reverse abuse of power.. SUPERCITIZEN POWER... im a citizen so if u touch my im gonna scream rodney king. i have had numerous dealings with cops for all sorts of things, and i have never walked away feeling like a victim, even when dealing with hard *** cops. attitude and perspective count for a lot. i have more cops let me "slide" on what ever minor offense i had commited then i do try to bend me over. before you judge a cops action, you have to take into account -

your attitude
what you are doing
the honest truth of a situation (not what you would hope the cops will believe)
human nature

if people stopped bullshitting themselves and everyone else, and gave up tryin to be a victim, there would be a lot fewer victims. i learned early that if you know how to act and present yourself, the cops arent much of a hassle, even when you are truely busted. course there will be exceptions to the rule, there are some rotten ************* out there with badges. and it is unfortunate. but what the original post says at the end is true enough, even when you need a cop they suck *** because they take too long, they cant win, and most all in an honest effort to help. and in all truth, 75% or more of all cop haters i have ever known were criminals in some way shape or form so i mean its not a big surprise.

as to the license plate cover, did you request an opportunity to remove it right there on the spot in his presence to avoid the ticket?

 

No I didnt say I could remove it then. Even if I wanted to I didnt have any tools. I think the way a cop acts has to do with alot of things first and formost who he is and secondly stereotypical biases they have towards certain groups in society. It also depends alot on his age and your age. If you are young and seem to be driving an even somewhat modified car, good luck. It also depends on where you are living. Out west it sounds like cops dont care as much when it comes to driving infractions (according to my bro who lives in Calgary and his job is driving around Alberta and half of Manitoba year round). In Ottawa cops have nothing to do, and when anybody who has power and is bored, stupidity is bound to happen (well anybody who is bored really. ive been hearing sotires of kids in kanata setting bis shelters on fire since they have nothing else to do). I also hear that in Toronto cops have alot less time to spend on people since there are too few of them. But when people are stopped the penalties tend to be pretty severe.

Pretty much to sum it up I just think the whole police force mentality is pointed in the wrong direction in the first place. What was that line... "I believe in peace keeping, not policing."

 

well, when I got tickted because I was going "146km/h" in a diesel jetta, towing, my opinion changed a little. And when I get to spend $150 in gas and 12 hours of my life, and $150 more in lost wages to fight the ticket, it'll change a little further.

when I had to waste 6 hours and probably $75 in gas to fight a ticket I got because apparently it's illeagal to tow with a G2 license, (butthat wasn't even what I was told the ticket was for!) my opinion changed a little too.

I like police when they are the "model officer".
I like 'em a bit less but understand when I get caught red handed doing something wrong. (doing a burnout past one last summer seems to ring a bell)
but when it costs me a lot of money and wastes a lot of my time because someone feels like handing out an undeserved piece of paper, it changes my mind a bit... I've dealt with some great police officers, and some not-so-great ones. Generalizing the situation usually just screws you over, and frankly, if you're an *******, you'll be treated as one, no matter who you're dealing with, it doesn't make alot of sense to be a jerk to a cop.

am I a "cop hater"... not usually.

traffic police are no higher than metermaids, IMO.
and the RIDE program is full of angels, they tottally have my respect!