Do you feel comfortable with your local cops?

[MannyGoldstein]

It's interesting...

I live near Boston, about a mile from The Bomber Brothers' last stand. Been living here for 20 years. Perhaps I'm nuts, but our local cops, in my town and in neighboring towns, don't worry me at all. In fact, I like 'em. In my dealings with them, they've always been nothing less than pleasant and helpful. When I saw the picture of the Brookline cop delivering milk during the Watertown craziness... not surprised (but still amused).

Our state troopers... not feeling quite as good, but not awful, either.

But it seems like many others on DU see their local police as threatening. I don't think they have a perception problem - I think that they probably have good reason for this.

So I'm curious to see, in general, how people feel about their local law enforcement. I'm particularly interested in how other Boston-area folks feel - perhaps I'm just being overly optimistic about our locals.

Thanks!

49 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I feel threatened by local law enforcement
	17 (35%)
	I\'m just OK with local law enforcement
	10 (20%)
	I\'m fine with local law enforcement
	22 (45%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[greytdemocrat]

1. No problems here in Sarasota County,FL. nt

[Archaic]

2. Small town cops can be bad news when they get bored.

Had one haul my brother in law in for attempting to hit him with a car. Three officers not at the site corroborated that story.

Case closed, prison time. You should have been richer so you could afford an attorney not so overworked that they didn't even mount a defense of a first time offender with no motive. In a town whose police have been regularly accused of inflating charges and having a lot of people "resist arrest."

[newmember]

3. You must be white and over 50

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Well, you're half right.

And that might be a good point.

[Bonobo]

16. Yes, that is an excellent point. Maybe the MOST important point.

If you look like Santa Claus, you could have a body in the trunk of your car with very little concern.

If you are young or dark colored or ethnic looking, it is a different world.

Also men face more issues than women.

[MADem]

27. Some shitty cops like to beat up on women just because they can.

I saw a cop berating an elderly woman awhile back and I really wished I had a camera. Enough people got up in his face and let him know he was outta line, and he toned it down.

And who could forget that famous police stop that was shown on TV over and over again where the cop beat the woman for not getting her seat belt off soon enough to suit him?

[DiverDave]

132. That is classic roid rage

unreasonable escalation of simple issues.

[Honeycombe8]

37. There might be reasons for that, too.

Men are responsible for most crimes, so I would think they'd have more "issues" with law enforcement.

It's seldom that law enforcement is looking for a female serial rapist, or a 55 year old armed robber, or a 50 year old plump female home invader.

[pipi_k]

87. This is one of those

"damned if you do, damned if you don't" types of situations, IMO.

The police take a lot of shit for profiling, but what you said is true.

How many women my age and size are out there raping and pillaging?

During a traffic stop for say, a burnt out taillight or going through a stop sign, how many chubby middle-aged women (or men, even) are going to be carrying drugs or guns?


One of the consequences of 9/11 was people being searched before boarding planes.

People got all foamed up over little old ladies in wheelchairs and Depends being searched, but the alternative is to profile based on a combination of age and ethnicity.

Or don't check at all.

What do people really want? I don't know...

[Honeycombe8]

122. It's a problem. Israel profiles, and takes people aside and extensively questions them.

They know what to look for. But it's a small country with a more manageable # of people to screen. But their system works, it seems.

[tblue]

52. If you aren't black or Latino and young

it really is a whole other ballgame.

Of course there are decent cops. But there are some real devils too. My local cops are okay to me so far but I'd just as soon have as little to do with them as possible.

[AnalystInParadise]

64. 39 year old Mexican/Russian

And I have only had one experience worth of trouble from cops in my life. I am definitely brown, and look ethnic Hispanic and Russian (well actually Tatar, but I say Russian because no one knows what a Tatar is). Dark Skin, brown hair, blue grey eyes. I have been stopped for speeding in 7 states and was always treated cordially by police. Been arrested twice (once for a bar fight when I was 21 in Hartford, Connecticut and once in Killeen, Texas. I am very aware that there are more than a few fascist pricks on the police force, but in my life the only cop that ever treated me badly was a Hispanic cop in Reno, Nevada. Stopped me for speeding and took one look at me and started grilling me in Spanish, I don't speak Spanish at all, my parents were Russian and Hispanic, English was what we spoke at home. So he got pissed, I produced my military ID and that made him even angrier. He gave me a ticket and proceeded to tell me if he ever stopped me again I would be sorry. To this day I have no idea what pissed him off. I am always polite.

[Bonobo]

65. That' good for you but...

It is not, I expect, the experience of most.

[AnalystInParadise]

67. I don't know enough to say yes or no

Most of the people I personally know that have trouble with LEO are people that give attitude. Again just relative to me and I don't want to paint cops as innocent because they certainly are not. But I would believe there are far more good cops than bad cops.

[ieoeja]

82. You say "for more good", but admit there are a lot of bad cops to people "that give attitude." n/t

[IrishAyes]

106. And I agree with you there as well.

[IrishAyes]

105. He was probably angry

because you didn't turn out to be quite the easy mark he thought at first. I'll bet it was the military ID as much as anything else. Quite a few in my family line were military or law enforcement, so I grew up hearing war stories, and for some crazy reason some local cops resent military because they perceive a difference in rank and prestige and pay. Wouldn't matter how polite you were to somebody like that.

[Lunacee_2013]

86. I've seen how some of my local cops treat women.

It seems like *some* of them like to get all macho and threatening when they pull a woman over, but if you call them to get help dealing with a man who's become violent, it's a whole different story. A few years ago a male relative had a huge mental health crisis, started mixing his bi-polar meds with alcohol, flew off the handle and tried to burn a couple of houses down. Now you'd think after all that the cops would have been there in a heart beat, but you'd be wrong. It took them over two hours and the first time they came he wasn't arrested. It took almost all night and several other ppl to convince the cops that he really was a danger to everyone, including himself. After that most of my family had to convince a judge to commit him to a hospital, but that didn't even last for a week. I just feel like the cops (and the justice system at large) around here don't want to deal with the real problems, or with ppl who could hurt them, they just want to throw their weight around and have everyone fear them. Sometimes they seem more like bullies than heros.

[IrishAyes]

136. Santa Claus - I just remembered

A particular 3-story movie I saw years ago. In one segment Dick Van Patten - the dad on tv's Eight Is Enough, I believe - played an innocuous salesman who in the course of his travels appealed to the local cops for protection from a serial killer who was on the loose. Bodies dropping everywhere. He seemed terrified and so vulnerable you almost had to feel sorry for him. Anyway, eventually some young lady gets in the car with him and he stops to get something out of his trunk. That's when you find out he's a knife salesman and the serial killer too.

Dick Van Patten! Who'd have thunk?

Another story I vaguely remember might've been a Twilight Zone episode, can't be sure. But it pointed out a very good reason to avoid vigilante justice. Some lady had been raped and she and her husband went out looking for the perpetrator. Extremely traumatized of course, eventually she points out some guy and insists he's her attacker and that her husband must kill him because she doesn't trust the courts to punish him. Hubby keeps asking her if she's sure that's the man. Eventually she talks her husband into killing the guy and when it's done, the husband feels very guilty but at least it's over and they can go home now. Only trouble, minutes later she points out another guy and says he's the one and must be killed.

I know these are just stories but they do illustrate valid points about leaping to conclusions.

I'd also appreciate other people out there not misinterpreting my words, as some are unfortunately capable of doing. But to those so inclined, maybe I should say go ahead, I'm used to it. Got my helmet and flak jacket ready.

Incoming!

[Warren Stupidity]

69. ^this^

I don't generally feel uncomfortable, but that is mostly because I know I am not a target. Until I am, like for example in a demonstration that is outside of the draconian rules for demonstrations these days. Then I am a target, and it is a whole different situation. Even so, I am distinctly aware that every interaction with law enforcement is problematic and you never know just what agenda is being played out.

[etherealtruth]

130. I am white, 51, college educated, suburban mom

I absolutely, positively do NOT trust my local police department.

I do not hate all cops. I do not think all cops are bad ... I live in a community that has an out of control (given to use excessive and lethal force with little provocation) police department. When 20/20 profiles one's city police department (a city no one outside of SE Michigan has ever heard of) you can bet your last dollar there is a problem.

[Fumesucker]

5. Class, race and lifestyle all enter into how people will answer your question

Upper class preppy whites will see the police as "on their side", the further you get from that set of characteristics the less friendly cops appear.

A family member of mine was a high ranking cop before he died some years ago, he told me that a lot of cops stay cops too long, that being a cop changes quite a lot of people for the worse after some period of time.

[Honeycombe8]

41. Isn't it also true that those upper class preppy types

treat law enforcement more respectfully, accepting their authority? That may have something to do with it.

I notice when I watch court tv shows that lower class types are generally less respectful to the judge (not saying "yes, your honor" or "No, ma'am" or dressing respectfully for court, etc.) than the middle class types. This doesn't seem to affect the outcomes of the case, but I just have noticed that.

Younger males are generally more disrespectful to authority figures these days. So I would expect them to have more trouble with authority than older more respectful adults.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

49. Wow.

Just wow. Ivory tower much? What a disgusting, if not racist (dog whistle) post.

And if you're forming your opinions based on reality/trash television shows you need help (you know those aren't real courtrooms, right?)

[Honeycombe8]

115. I didn't mention race at all. It seems your own racism is showing, if that's what you saw

in those generic words.

Observations are what they are: observations. Watch Judge Judy and the other court shows. You'll see what I mean. Young lower class ones will often say, "Yeah," while a middle class person is more likely to say, "Yes, Ma'am." Which is how you address a Judge. You also dress for Court like you would for any official business or church...but not everyone does, and it's very telling that they don't have respect for the Court.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

131. Judge Judy is entertainment.

That's not a real court room. You're basing your opinions on reality television. And the person you responded to mentioned race, don't act like I'm the one who brought it up.

Them: Upper class preppy whites will see the police as "on their side"

You: Isn't it also true that those upper class preppy types treat law enforcement more respectfully


At worst you're a racist, at minimum you're an elitist jerk.

[IrishAyes]

137. These so-called reality shows

often pander to the public's worst instincts. And the producers do indeed encourage and provoke the most outrageous behavior they can, then edit the results. With the possible exception of talent competitions, which can still be rigged, they seem pretty trashy.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

141. Well put!

I thinks COPS was the worst. Its racist intentions were more than obvious. Mock court shows like Judge Judy are pretty bad themselves however.

[LooseWilly]

61. You bring up a "valid" point. The victim should always be blamed, whenever possible.

Obviously the preppy types treat law enforcement more "respectfully", just like they treat their secretaries and butlers "respectfully"... because they know they're not a threat... they're the servants.

Meanwhile, the rest of us... they're not our servants, their job is to keep us out of the event horizon of those preppy types.

Respectful fo judges? More of the same.

Younger males? There are young preppy-types too. They just don't have to worry that their "disrespectful" behavior will be "misinterpreted" as disrespectful, rather than just youthful exuberance... as opposed to how it is taken by judges/cops, and you, when it is a not-preppy young male.

What you are typing is not a "truth", it is a "perception" by you... which I find extremely illuminating. I can only hope more readers find it similarly illuminating.

[RobinA]

77. Well, There Is Such a Thing

as common sense. Some things just are the way they are. I am a middle aged white woman ex-hippie. Nothing raises my hackles like the bully-boy testosterone cloud that surrounds most cops when they stop you. However, I realize that if I give in to my gut reaction I will be in trouble, so I put on my "respectful" persona because I want to be on my way with as little damage as possible. Same as I don't tell a person at work that I think she is an incompetent narcissist for whom I have exactly zero respect. Sometimes discretion just avoids a lot of problems. There is a time and a place. There are many different police with many different attitudes that, yes, can be different with different type people. You can only control your own actions, but if you choose to buy trouble you can expect...trouble.

[Honeycombe8]

120. It's human nature. People react to how THEY are treated by someone.

You are right. If you are snarky to a co-worker, you can expect some attitude back from him/her. It's human nature. If it's your boss and you're snarky, you may want to start looking for a new job, even if you do a good job. Respect for the boss or other authority figures is a requirement, until it's shown that it's not earned or warranted.

I was just raised that way. You call an authority figure ma'am or sir (less so these days, but still is the way it is in Court - I work in the legal business), you dress up a bit for church out of respect for the place of worship, you dress neatly and respectfully for funerals out of respect for the dead and his family, etc. Of course, showing up in work clothes because you can't go home to change is understandable and better than not going at all.

In Court you will find very wealthy lawyers popping up and down from their chairs constantly, as they address the Judge (they are required to stand when addressing the Judge), and call the judge ma'am or sir or your honor...even though the Judge may be a young whippersnapper who makes little money in comparison and is a minority (Asian or Af American or hispanic) compared to the older white millionaire lawyer. It's appropriate, respectful behavior for the Court system and the Court and the Judge.

I saw a bit of a dressing down in Court this week, when a man (white, older, portly) came into Court to represent himself in a proceeding. The Judge - Af. American young female. The man came into Court in grungy work clothes. She handled his matter briefly, as he and another stood in front of her bench. After it was over, she held him back for a moment and mentioned that he was dressed inappropriately for Court. He apologized and explained. She smiled and was nice and said she understood but that in the future he should make an effort to dress more appropriately. She was right. How you dress tells others what you think about where you are. So does how you act and speak.

[IrishAyes]

107. Good post.

And good point.

I've always been well aware that my socio-economic level and skin tone made a world of difference in how I've usually been treated. Even with the L.A. cops I complained about, it was my fiance they gave a hard time much more than myself. At least in the game they played, they tried to act as if I needed rescuing. Some of their retribution towards me was of an extremely petty nature, such as conveniently running out of neighborhood watch signs they'd promised to hold for me 3 times, until I stood in the middle of the station lobby and chewed out the police chief for it when he tried to make it sound like my fault. Due to my background, I had a pretty good idea of just how far I could take it w/o arrest. And of course being in full view of dozens of civilian witnesses didn't hurt either.

[Honeycombe8]

116. Oh, pleeez. Middle class and upper class people don't have butlers, and most don't have secretaries.

You sound a little bigoted.

[Honeycombe8]

118. What victim? Who is talking about a victim? You got a name? nt

[Fumesucker]

80. If you are getting your ideas about people from TV that may not be an accurate depiction

"Younger males" have always been more at odds with authority figures, that's certainly nothing new.

When I was younger I sometimes had longish hair and sometimes short, it was really eye opening to see the difference in how I was treated by virtually all authority figures based on nothing more (or less) than the freshness of my haircut. I know how to be "respectful" and I'm fairly well spoken if that's needed but just six inches difference in the length of my hair was like night and day in how I was perceived by authority figures.

[Honeycombe8]

117. So you agree that younger males have "issues" with authority figures? That's my observation, too.

No, it's nothing new. But speaking of observations, that's what I have noticed these days, generally speaking. There are always exceptions.

Yes, I've been treated differently, too, depending on how I've been dressed. And how I have acted has been influenced by how I've been dressed, as well. Studies have shown, I've read, that kids at school behave better on days when they have to dress up (school picture days & such).

No matter how we are perceived, it does make a difference how you interact with people. If I have an attitude or am disrespectful to someone else, it definitely affects how they react to me. Duh.

[Fumesucker]

128. I think those who have an attitude with authority figures never really lose it

They learn to conceal the attitude or sublimate it but I know I still resent authority I don't feel is legitimate, which is quite a bit of it actually.

I certainly resented Smirk and Sneer when they were in positions of authority, one of the major reasons I ended up at DU.

For me authority and responsibility go hand in hand, if someone has the authority for something then they are responsible, if someone does not not take responsibility then their authority is not legitimate.

The Republican party as a whole wants authority, demands authority and absolutely refuses to take any responsibility for their actions, any authority they might accrue then is illegitimate in my eyes.

The most spit and polish portion of our society, the military, has an atrocious record for taking responsibility for their actions. Cops are spit and polish oriented also and their record of taking responsibility is miserable as well.

[arely staircase]

129. i think there is much unwarranted cop-bashing here on DU and this is

not an example of it.

well, said.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

92. Absolutely, but it's clearly a sacred cow that this be ignored.

It's also true that "upper class preppy types" commit fewer crimes per capita, and hence that the police are less likely to have legitimate cause to clash with them.

[Honeycombe8]

121. This is true. As I pointed out above, cops aren't usu on the lookout for a middle aged female serial

rapist. And there are no middle aged women on the FBI's most wanted list, I bet, though I haven't looked.

[DiverDave]

133. Young men (and woman) have alot of chemical imbalences going on

at certain ages.
I know, I went through it myself ( I thought I was going crazy) and my son is in the soft grips of it himself.
I joke that there is a testosterone imbalance in our house.
My son has wayyy too much and I have next to none.

I folks would just account for this simple dynamic, alot of the "disrespect issues" one sees from young adults
would be clearer.

What do I do?, tell my son that he shouldnt say rude things, then drop it.
We have went stare down a few times, but I'm the dad, I will out stare anyone...
It's funny how after a few minutes he apologizes, which I always accept, it's just hormones, no big young v old conspiracy.

[IrishAyes]

138. Want to hear something odd?

I won't deny there are some ill-behaved youths everywhere you look (let's address abusive elders another time), but even here where I retired in RedNeckLand, they are far more kind and open to me than some of the so-called adults who can be absolutely brutish. I always loved visiting college towns because some of the students I passed by would high-five even me, a total stranger and little old lady. Maybe it's something subliminal, maybe my habitual mode of dress had something to do with it, who knows. (A good shrink friend always told me I present soft.) They probably know old hippies when they see one. But hardly ever in my life have I had a single negative experience with the 'kids'. That's why it's hard for me to give up on them as a group.

Your parenting skills are to be admired.

[DiverDave]

140. sweet, thanks

[Brickbat]

6. I live in a rural area and the nearest town is very small.

I know the city police as well as the sheriff. I'm fine with them.

[graywarrior]

7. Live in Georgetown

Cops here are pretty cool unless you rob a bank or liquor store

[rug]

22. Did you pick option 1?

[graywarrior]

24. No

[IrishAyes]

108. Georgetown was pretty upscale last time I looked.

The police in Beverly Hills are pretty nice, too.

[graywarrior]

109. GTown MA? Hahahahahahahaha!

[IrishAyes]

112. Ooops! Obviously we were referring to different places.

I'm not so familiar with MA as you might be.

[graywarrior]

114. No problem.

This is a straaaaaaange little town.

[Anymouse]

8. This rural county . . .

. . . has less than three thousand people, one sheriff, one deputy, and one car. They are usually too busy rounding up cattle to do anything else.

A few months ago I had business in the sheriff's office. Sheriff Milo peered over the desk at my waist-long hair and said "I remember seeing you in the paper." (He was right, I was elected to my town board.) I assured him I am a respectable citizen. He said he wasn't worried about that, he just wanted to know if I was reporting cattle on the roads. (No.)

[Skip Intro]

9. I'm happy my local cops are out doing the thankless job they do. n/t

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

10. As someone who would like to go into law, I am comfortable with our local police

Our County Sheriff is a great guy, and all in all, the local police is trying very hard to deal with the infiltration of drugs into our area.

With that said, every now and then, one of the local cops gets ridiculous with targeting people for going slightly over the speed limit or minor things like that, but one or two bad eggs shouldn't ruin the whole bunch.

[Ian David]

11. Once you understand that my local cops love any excuse to bust down a door, they're pretty good.

Your burglar alarm goes off? They're going to bust down the door in your fence.

You have an indoor paintball facility, and you let the cops practice in it one day? Does it have doors? Yeah, not any more.

[onehandle]

12. Small town pinned between a major city and rural Pennsylvania.

The police here are totally involved and open with the community.

We have a fair amount of poverty and drug problems here. But they treat everyone equally and with friendship.

[backscatter712]

13. Of course I feel threatened. Denver's cops are fucking thugs!

I know, when you live in the sticks, every cop is Andy Griffith.

Not so in big cities. They're trained to keep the poor and the brown properly beaten down.

[Nye Bevan]

18. Yeah. Big city cops are absolute thugs when it comes to the downtrodden. (WARNING graphic image)

[TheMadMonk]

34. And why is it that (until the guy with the milk) is pretty much the...

...sole photo available to illustrate police "nicicity".

There are litterally thousands of examples of cops going "above and beyond" in the completely wrong direction.

And a bare handful of stories about going out of their way to help someone in need.

A pair of boots and 2 gallons of milk don't stack up very well against dislocated joints, broken bones, and wrongful death.

[backscatter712]

38. Yep. For every cop buying a homeless guy a pair of shoes...

there are thousands of stop-and-frisks, violent arrests, beatings, killings.

Why are DUers shocked that so many Americans do not trust their police?

[Honeycombe8]

43. A few bad eggs shouldn't spoil the whole bunch. W/o law enforcement there would be anarchy.

They're the only ones standing between you and a gang of real thugs who'd as soon kill you for a CD as look at you. Whether you think so or not.

They're just people doing a job for not much money. Just like a lot of other people. There are good ones and bad ones, experienced ones and inexperienced ones. They're constantly criticized and harrassed. They are spit on and shot at and called names....and they can do little about it.

They're not angels, for sure. But neither are a lot of the people they come into contact with. You should work for a year in law enforcement and get back with us on that.

[TheMadMonk]

47. No they shouldn't but when the good close ranks behind the bad...

...they become no better.

Japan has law enforcement. Germany has law enforcement. Lots of places have law enforcement, but in America, unless you are white and privileged, you have jackbooted thugs.

[Honeycombe8]

123. I don't believe that's true at all. I think it's in CERTAIN urban areas...

where there are high crime minority areas. I don't think you'll find minorities harrassed in more rural areas or areas where there's not a high crime rate associated with poverty or whatever.

I also think urban areas attract those big thugs and corruption, that smaller, less crime rate areas don't.

New Orleans, Chicago, L.A....high crime, high minority crime, law enforcement corruption and abusiveness. They also get a lot of media attention. It DOESN'T get media attention when a cop does not do something wrong, or a minority is not harrassed by a cop and simply given a ticket like a white person would be. People in urban areas don't seem to realize the immensity of our country and how millions of people in the country live...not in big urban areas. For most of us, there's no shooting in the streets, no people being beaten up by cops weekly, no home invasions. (Although I DO live in an urban area and am concerned about crime, I come from a less populated area, so I can compare the two.)

[TheMadMonk]

142. You might want to tell that to all those out of towners who have had 10s of thousands...

...of dollars confiscated on no authority other than that of the cop who pulled them over.

You might want to tell that to the tens of thousands who have been victims of small town shakedowns. Found themselves on the receiving end of a jaywalking charge for the crime of stepping around a puddle in the street. Hell I've heard of littering charges over cigarette ash (not the butt the ash).

AND you might care to explain exactly what relationship your response has to my observation, that police, far too often, close ranks to protect the guilty amongst them?

[hfojvt]

59. some people here are determined to post every bad story there is

Good news does not have that kind of noise machine to help spread it. Good news may not even make the paper.

People are quicker to complain than they are to write thank-you notes.

In 1996 I was visiting my brother. Pulled away from a stoplight and heard a rattling noise in my car. Found out later the timing chain had broken. So I had no power. Grab my dog and walk the quarter mile back to a gas station. Cannot remember my brother's new phone number and it's so new that apparently directory assistance does not have it either. So I try to call his workplace, but it is long distance, and the phone jams up as I am trying to feed it quarters. I could walk the two or three miles back to my brother's house, but he is heading to work in half an hour or so, and my dad is heading home soon as well. Happen to see a cop driving by, so I flag him down and explain my problem and he gives me a ride to my brother's house.

Not exactly a front page story, just a random act of serve and protect.

Similar story in 1976 or so when we got our second flat tire in forty miles (and this had no spare). Highway patrol drives by while dad is walking the half a mile to the nearest farm.

Personally, I found this story rather inspiring. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/29/mall.shooter/

That guy killed three people, and was killed by the cops before he could kill any more. The news showed one cop grabbing a shotgun and running towards the mall - into potential danger.

But unlike the shooting of Oscar Grant or the arrest of Skip Gates, that story did not launch a thousand threads on DU.

If a cop kills somebody in error, there will be dozens of outraged threads about it. Meanwhile 120 cops were killed in the line of duty in 2012, about one every three days. http://www.odmp.org/search/year/2012 Is there a thread every three days to mourn their loss? To express outrage at the thugs who murdered them?

No, because the good things they do, the sacrifices they make are taken for granted, swept under the rug. Only the bad things count. Only the bad things are worthy of attention.

[DiverDave]

135. "good" cops look the other way when

bad cops do their thing.
To bring anything to anyone's attention almost guarantees no back-up when needed
by the "good cop"
So yes, the only way the bad cops stay is to tell the others they are on
their own when they need help.

[Bonobo]

14. Why did you restrict this to local police?

If I go to another town or city, why is it less important how I feel there?

Shouldn't we be able to expect a uniform level of trust anywhere in the US?

As it happens, I lived in Northampton, MA where I wouldn't have felt threatened but in other years felt other ways.

It also depends on what stage of life you are at.

When I was at my financial peak and rode an Audi, I could have snorted coke off the wheel and felt quite secure, but when I was in college and had long hair, even a rolling stop would have put me in danger of really negative attention and verbal abuse.

[MannyGoldstein]

17. I guess because we're more likely to actually know whether our local cops are OK, or fascists

I agree, we should be in a world where everyone should be comfortable with all cops. I'm not comfortable with NYC cops, even though I grew up in NYC. I'm not-quite-comfortable with Boston cops - I have a feeling that being white and over-40 helps with those folks, although I do think they did a good job working with the Boston Occupiers, compared to anywhere else in the country, so I might not be fair.

[Bonobo]

19. It should be more than a feeling.

It is 100% CERTAIN that being white and over 40 gives you a level of safety and security around police that others do not have. You can take it to the bank.

[MannyGoldstein]

26. Is it conceivable that cops can be reasonable people?

I'm trying to understand if you think they're all awful.

[Bonobo]

28. Oh absolutely.

But people, as you know, behave different ways when alone then when they do with their peers.

Call it peer pressure, call it a subculture, whatever.

But groups have their own culture and ideals quickly get tossed out under such pressure.

[IrishAyes]

111. And I'm 100% certain you're right about that.

Part of the reason I loved my time in L.A. was because my house turned into a sort of informal welcome center and hangout for foreign visitors and new immigrants. Never a dull moment.

But they all avoided contact with the cops as much as possible, with good reason. And when they couldn't, they tried to have me with them because often just that made a great deal of difference in how they were treated.

[jimlup]

15. My experience in life has been that

most cops have something of a "bully" complex built into them. This is selected for by the nature of the program. Who would go into to such a profession? I give some of the them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are capable of out growing this complex but I think it tends to be rarer than we'd like to believe.

[Bonobo]

20. I agree.

They select out for those qualities in addition to the fact that the power itself corrupts.

One sees the same thing among "mods" on message boards and those who think it is their duty to "police" them.

It is about reinforcing how they view themselves and how they are viewed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Other, you should ask

Before Occupy absolutely.

After Occupy I am not the only one at marches who feels a tad at unease, even if they do a good job of protecting marches.

I don't think I will ever feel completely at ease and I worked with cops for a decade.

[DreamGypsy]

23. I have had few interactions with local police ...

...so my view may be irrelevant.

When I was 15 or 16, standing outside the Paramount Theater in Idaho Falls, Idaho, with a friend, collecting signatures for an anti Anti-Ballistic-Missile-System campaign, a policeman walked up and took a photo, with a camera...not a phone. No consequences as far as I know...but the FBI probably still knows my location.

At 17, driving my parents' Cadillac, filled with my possessions, I was stopped by one of Chicago's finest and handed a ticket for going above the speed limit on the Eisenhower Expressway, probably 63 in a 55 mph zone. The transformative experience of arriving at my new home in a dormitory at the University of Chicago, leaving my childish roots, and becoming independent was sullied by the $50 speeding ticket I would have to pay.

Some years later, leaving a visit at my sister's house in Sunnyvale, CA to go back to the room I occupied in the house in Palo Alto, owned by the woman who would become my future wife, I merged fairly quickly. The officer in the car that pulled me over said he had to break abruptly and was concerned about skidding. I suggested that he should consider a vehicle with anti-lock brakes. I attended a few weeks of evenings of safe driver instruction so that my transgression wouldn't stain my record forever.

Since then, 38 years or so, the local cops and I have avoided each other. I think they are doing what they are tasked to do and I have attempted to stay within the acceptable boundaries.

However, I have stupidly fallen into the abyss of reading news stories...fact or fiction...that make me shudder at the character of ... the local cops and/or ... the citizens of this nation.

[CokeMachine]

91. Off topic but I remember the Paramount Theater in Idaho Falls

When I was a kid we'd load up the truck and go see a movie at either the Paramount in I.F or the Bannock (Chief) theater in Pocatello.

[hrmjustin]

25. I get along with the cops in my area.

[RainDog]

29. aka how much white privilege do you have

that's a big part of any response to this question.

[me b zola]

85. ^This^ Race & class privilege

[dlwickham]

31. I live in a very small town

and our cops are generally morons but that's what you get when you hire part-timers

[Mnemosyne]

32. High-speed chases where people die for stealing at WallyWorld or for running a stop sign have made

it very hard to have good faith in them, though there are some decent ones.

Hearing two separate officers ask abused women what they did to "make him angry", make it even harder to trust they would have my back. The one woman had been beaten with a rubber hose, by her pedophile brother, for drinking beer. The other was my sister.

I view cops on a one on one basis, as I do the rest of the world, but am very leary of having any contact with them.

[Mnemosyne]

33. Where is other? nt

[closeupready]

35. Not really. Some are terrific, some are completely incompetent.

[eridani]

36. Poll has no value without info about race, age and gender

I more or less feel safe around local cops, but I'm over 65, white and female, and therefore generally regarded as harmless.

[GoneOffShore]

39. In Philly, it depends on the district you're in.

The 26th, north of Girard, there are some bad cops. Center City, their on there best behaviour.

But generally, Philly is not known for "good" cops. Bribery, corruption, police brutality, manufactured evidence, we've got the lot.

[Egalitarian Thug]

40. Are you kidding? We live in Las Vegas. Our cops are so bad LAPD uses them to excuse their own

criminality by saying "at least we're not as bad as them".

[drmeow]

42. I am

a white, middle aged, professional, home owning citizen in Arpaio country. I do not feel threatened by my local cops or sheriffs but I certainly am not "OK" with them!

[LadyHawkAZ]

44. Nope, not really, now that you mention it

There have been too many problems here, maybe not so much with Salt Lake PD but certainly with some of the unincorporateds and the UHP. So I'm suspicious of all of them now.

[petronius]

45. It might be interesting to re-run your poll with an environment category:

large city, small city, suburbs, rural. Where I live - a smallish city in a ruralish county - my minor interactions with local agencies (city PD, SO, CHP, campus PD) have all been positive. But in larger cities my experiences have been, while not negative, less pleasant...

[Downtown Hound]

46. My community is very racially segregated

White and affluent people on one side, mostly brown and working people on the other. I have lived on both sides. I don't fear the police in the nice, white part of town. I do fear them in the other because they act completely different. I think that's why many people think cops are great and many others think they're a menace. It all depends on who you are, where you live, and how much money you have.

[Hoyt]

48. More comfortable than with the police wannabes and their weapons.

[Mopar151]

53. Fact.

And MP's (military police) should have extensive retraining before working as civilian police.

[Paladin]

73. +1. (nt)

[ForgoTheConsequence]

50. Good to see white privilege alive and well.

......

[jberryhill]

51. It depends. Is anyone naked?

How comfortable was anyone planning on getting, exactly?

[tularetom]

54. The ones we have now are OK

The old sheriff was a douche and his deputies were mostly fat lazy incompetent asswipes.

The professionalism of the SO has gone way up since the new guy took office.

[SheilaT]

55. I am a white female, over 60.

Gray hair. I have had almost no dealings with police, other than a handful of minor traffic violations. These days, I don't even get a ticket, because not only do I behave politely, but the cop sees me, and I look like his mother, or possibly his grandmother, and I'm safe. Someday I may have the misfortune to be stopped by one who really hates his(or her) mom, and then I'll get the ticket, but the odds favor me.

I do periodically see local police escorting someone into the hospital where I work, and I've never seen them behave in a way that would bother me.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

56. Would it be accurate to say that they haven't para-militarized the police in your area yet?

No parked tanks or armored vehicles ("just in case&quot ?

No LEOs with uniforms that look they came out of a swat-team/ninja movie set? With military-type helmets and shields?

No steroid-bulked LEOs with hostile and suspicious stares towards ordinary citizens, as though ordinary citizens were the enemy?

If not, be patient.

When they start dressing up like they are soldiers preparing to take on the enemy, they want to take on the enemy. And the "enemy" can be your fellow citizens. If you don't mind what the LEOs did to those involved with Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Boston, and elsewhere, then you may not be concerned at this time. If you don't mind the Constitutionally unjustified stops-and-frisks in New York City, which has been considered for Chicago and other cities, then again you may not be concerned at this time.

Be patient a little longer.

[HiPointDem]

57. in general, i'm ok with them. only one questionable experience, but it was also understandable

from the cops pov.

[snot]

58. Local police lied and provoked to get rid of local Occupy.

Not trust-inspiring.

I expect there are good souls within police. But I think their notion of who they serve has become perverted.

[Spider Jerusalem]

60. "Do you feel comfortable with your local police" = "are you white and middle class?"

For the most part, anyway. The answer for a lot of people who are members of an ethnic minority, or poor, or both, is going to be somewhat different to what a relatively affluent white person would say.

[Jamastiene]

62. Some, I am fine with and respect.

Others, I wish I had not ever met, especially that one ex-cop who was passing out The Color of Crime and claiming that all black people are guilty of one crime or another. That guy should never have been allowed to be a cop with that attitude.

So, to me, there are some good ones here and some are ginormous assholes.

[Jasana]

63. From Revere...

I'm a bit confused about the Revere Police Department. Several years ago I had a run in with a Revere cop. A plow truck driver called the cops on me during one of the worst winter snow storms in history. Long story short; idiot plow truck driver nearly ran me over while I was trying to dig out my driveway. I threw my snow shovel at his 1 ton truck and for that he called the cops.

I was ripping mad when the cop came; shouting explitives (the plow truck had tried to plow in my driveway on purpose and nearly hit my 80 year old grandmother) so you can only imagine what I was shouting. I was also daring the driver to get out of his truck so I could "kill him." I was dead serious. By then I'd been shoveling 8 hours straight and was wearing nothing but jeans, boots, a tanktop, gloves and earmuffs and the sweat was rolling down my face. When the cop arrived I unloaded my torrent on him while neighbors shouted, "You go girl!" in the background.

The cop slowly talked me down but if I could have got at that coward prick plow driver I would have smashed his face into the pavement or worse. The cop showed real professionalism that day. In the end, I'm glad he was there.

On the other hand, there's a cop that lives on my street and polices in Revere. He's a real dick. Got special no parking signs in front of his house, brings his cruiser home overnight even though Revere cops aren't suppose to do that. Worst of all, he flouts Mass laws. Every goddamn July 4th he shoots off fireworks that are illegal here and on several occasions nearly caused car accidents because of his negligence with them. That's not too mention some of the drunken parties with his crazy girlfriend running down the street screaming like a banshee for no reason.

I'm in the middle. I've seen some horrid cops in my time and I've also seen some good ones. I try to take each as they come and hope I get one of the good ones.

[cali]

66. pretty much. I'll never trust cops in general

but I've never had a negative experience with the cops here in Northern Vermont.

[Earth_First]

68. I'm fine with our County Sheriff's Department...

However if I am in the city, I am concerned.

The RPD (Rochester Police Department) is as violent and corrupt as they come...I wouldn't trust an RPD patrol officer with my life.

[Aerows]

70. Where I live they are fine

When I lived in Jefferson Parish but worked in Orleans Parish, I wanted to stay as far from their police officers as possible. New Orleans police are corrupt to the core, and it doesn't matter if you are black, white, or blue - you don't want to get mixed up with them period.

[Phentex]

71. Threatened? No. Uncomfortable? Yes.

Those are two different things to me.

Have they been helpful? On occasion, but still made me uncomfortable when one asked why I didn't have a gun.

I didn't care for the officer who entered my back yard through a gate without asking. (I had two dogs at the time and the police have shot dogs before.)

I do not feel threatened but I also know you have to be very careful because my perception is they are trigger happy.

[sorefeet]

72. 60 year old white male

lefty, liberal and fuck no I don't trust any cop. Cops are rotated out of Billings to the surrounding small towns. They do not want the people or cops to be personable or friendly. They stopped that 20 years ago. The cops used to be like Andy of Mayberry, knew every one personally and could stop a domestic problem easy usually. Had been known to take a drunk home rather than jail. THAT MEANT NO REVENUE. So it all changed. The son of a retired cop, is now a cop, just shot and killed a bar owner a few days ago in this small community. I don't know if that would have happened if it were his father on duty and who knew the bar owner personally.

[bike man]

74. I have no problem at all with local LEOs, city or county. Some of them are the same age as

my children (40s), and when they were teens were often at my house.

I know many now who are younger, and work out with them at the gym frequently.

[NCTraveler]

75. I feel just fine with them.

I only call on them when needed, and expect for them to leave me alone when not needed. To this point it has been a pretty good relationship. I have know a few that were extremely good people. I know one who is an authoritarian asshole. The problem is, with that job, abuse of power can be huge.

I am a white woman. I am sure that plays a role in my personal dealings with cops. Other communities in my area have a different presence. You see, they leave me alone. In other areas they are simply looking for the smallest infraction knowing that it could lead to something larger. The will stop a black man in St. Pete for J-Walking, and then grill him. If they see me J-Walking, they smile and wave.

[Shankapotomus]

76. I think it's natural to feel uncomfortable

anytime brute force is used or is required to be called upon to resolve anything. It doesn't matter whether it's employed for good or ill. The presence of muscle is a bad sign and means people are not willing to get along with each other and that should always make people uncomfortable. Brute force is not a very intelligent or civilized solution to anything no matter who wields it. So we shouldn't be surprised that some of those who make their living wielding it may not always be the brightest bulbs.

[OnionPatch]

78. I normally like our local cops but then I remember......

Most likely, I'm a criminal in their eyes because I smoke marijuana. (I have a medical license but from what I've seen and read, they don't respect that very much.) In every other way I'm what they would consider an upstanding local citizen but I have no doubt if they knew, they'd treat me like a common criminal because I've seen it happen to so many others.

Our anti-drug laws cause people to be alienated from their local police department. People who might otherwise be some of their biggest supporters. What a shame.

[Zorra]

79. Joe Arpaio Recall Bid Fails 05/30/13 08:11 PM ET EDT AP

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/30/joe-arpaio-recall_n_3362542.html

Well to do straight white folks may have a tendency to be more comfortable with cops than "others".

Most cops are conservative and republican. I am not comfortable with any cops, anywhere, at any time.

I never know which ones are the bigots, and which ones aren't. When you are different, every cop becomes a possible threat. And cops are generally not the brightest candles on the altar of justice.

I've had several unwarranted bad experiences with cops, enough to have the point hammered home that every cop has the potential to hurt me for no reason, and put me in a cage, and complicate my life and get away with it simply because they don't like my political beliefs, the way I look, or who I sleep with.

I fear the police, and distrust our profit based dysfunctional justice system. I am always one fucked up cop away from life in prison simply because some cop doesn't like who I am, or the way I look, or my commie pinko radical treehugging librul beliefs. I'm not hispanic, but because of where I live and the color of my skin, people sometimes profile me that way.

[sir pball]

81. I'm a white thirtysomething in NYC, I <3 cops!

I'm A-OK with the NYPD...I could probably get caught over a dead body with a bloody knife in my hand and get off with a ticket. I may not like Bloomberg but he's been very good to me..

(srsly, I've been ticketed a few times for innocuous things that theoretically could have ended up with me spending a night in holding...and I'm sure if I were a different shade I would have)

[damnedifIknow]

83. Local or whatever

I don't trust police period and I'm as white as the driven snow.

[me b zola]

84. I was beaten in the streets by Portland PD

...my crime? Taking my son with a heart condition to the hospital. Really. That was my crime. I still have nerve damage from the incident. Police target low income people to get their abuse on, because we do not have the power to be heard. Portland PD is inherently racist and classist. Abuse is very much embedded in their culture.

[bigwillq]

88. Fine (nt)

[TorchTheWitch]

89. I love my local cops - it's one of the reasons I live in this township n/t

[Marrah_G]

90. Yes

I'm fine with them. I just moved from Salem to Providence. Family is all from Boston, never had an issue with a Boston cop. I did however meet one asshole of a Statie once.

Not sure how the cops are here in Prov. They do have what's called community policing so residents get to know the officers in their area.

http://www.bos.frb.org/commdev/c&b/2005/winter/Esserman.pdf

Page 3 has a good description of the community policing concept.

[Rex]

93. Yes, but I know the CoP on a first name basis.

And I know most of the LEOs in this small town. They are NOT the type that would rush in and kill someone over mistaken houses or a depressed son. Cops are cops and some of them are fucking monsters behind a badge. Others are the nicest people on the planet earth and would help an old lady walk across the street without being asked.

Every profession has it's share of monsters and law enforcement is no exception. We just like to pretend that all LEOs are on the level and play by the book. The thought that they are all saints, keeps our minds at ease or at least it does for most people. Others would NEVER trust a cop, ever.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

94. if i were male + of color i would not be so comfortable around cops in nyc

as it turns out, i personally am, because a five foot tall girl does not fit any stereotype of violence/threat but i see how cops treat gay men of color during pride and it kinda sickens me

[Th1onein]

95. Sorry, I'm from Texas and I feel THREATENED by local cops.

A bunch of idiot cowboys.

[zappaman]

96. I get along quite well with my local cops.

Our SLO is very cool.

[RebelOne]

97. I really have no problem with my local cops.

I have been stopped for speeding twice and got off with a warning both times. But during the 2008 election, one cop car followed me all the way home. I think it was because of my Obama/Biden bumper sticker and he was trying to intimidate me. I live in a totally red county in North Georgia.

[politicat]

98. My locals are better than those I grew up with, but they've been highly visible recently.

That makes me uncomfortable.

I grew up in Maricopa County, AZ ( home of Arpaio, who was elected when I was 16). The MCSO reflects the sort of policing that was normal in the Valley in the late 80s. Half the town clowns were on the take, and the other half supplemented their income with shakedown. Police brutality was the norm.

I moved to Colorado in 97 and the local cops (with the exception of Denver and Jeffco) aren't nearly as bad as MCSO and the town cops, but they go through cycles of being all over the place, all the time and aggressive. They're in one of those phases now, and it feels disturbing.

[rollin74]

99. I have no problem with the cops in my area

the few interactions I've had with them have all been courteous and professional

most cops do a good job imo

[derby378]

100. I'm fine with Dallas-area cops

One or two cops may need to be slapped around a little, but Chief David Brown seems to be doing a good job overall with the resources he has. And our Sheriff? Google "Lupe Valdez" if you don't know about her yet.

[JustAnotherGen]

101. Bridgewater NJ

And they know me. Like the entire police force!

Ever seen The Goonies? You know Lawrence "Chunk" Cohen's character? That's me in Bridgewater NJ. Only when I was calling I *thought* they were legitimate reasons.

When I went to get my marriage license last year three were walking out of the municipal building as we were walking in and they were all 'filled with awesome' that someone would now be there to keep a cool head so they wouldn't have to deal with my nonsense 'odd person in the complex' calls.

[4_TN_TITANS]

102. The cops I've encoutered here

have to deal with so many bozos they seem pleasantly surprised if they come across a polite normal person.

It seems to make a huge difference in how you react to their presence, however if you want a fight, they will bring it.

[KamaAina]

103. More like wary than threatened

but that is likely because I am not Vietnamese. San Jose has only a 3 percent African American population, so the SJPD has had to find some other group to work out on, and it's most often the Vietnamese.

http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_12343463

"Don't kill him! He's mentally ill!"

That's what Brian Duy Pham, 29, shouted as police officers rushed into his Berryessa neighborhood home just about noon Sunday, according to family members.

His brother, Daniel, had just attacked him with a knife, and his girlfriend was still inside the home. But lodged in this Vietnamese-born family's memories was the high-profile police shooting of Bich Cau Thi Tran.

The mentally ill Vietnamese mother was holding an Asian vegetable peeler, which police mistook for a cleaver, when a San Jose officer shot and killed her in July 2003, igniting the Vietnamese community at the time over issues of mental health and cultural sensitivities.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_13819041

A newly enhanced video of the arrest of a San Jose State University student further deepens the questions about why police repeatedly struck him with batons and shocked him with a Taser, as the student never speaks defiantly to the officers.

The video, taken with a cell phone by a roommate of Phuong Ho inside their house, shows Ho saying over and over, "I'm just looking for my glasses ... I'm looking for my glasses" as he is struck. Ho's glasses had fallen off earlier in the encounter as an officer shoved him.

In the video, Ho repeatedly apologizes as the officers strike him and asks officers not to stand on him.

A transcript of the enhanced version of the September incident, created by an audio and video-forensic analyst hired by the Mercury News, also indicates one of the officers said at one point, "I wanted to punch that (expletive) in the mouth."

[IrishAyes]

104. I've lived all over the U.S.

And have had very few problems with law enforcement anywhere, probably due somewhat to my skin tone and gender. Of course there've been notable exceptions, particularly in Los Angeles when I was engaged to a wonderful man from Sri Lanka. Black as coal, he was; and even though I acquainted the local police chief about the problems we kept having with his over-zealous officers even after they knew us, the problems never quite went away. Both of us lived quiet, responsible lives and I even started a neighborhood watch on my block; but at least once a week some cop stopped us or even came to the house. Eventually my fiance was killed, and then all of a sudden I couldn't get a cop to talk to me for anything. While I seriously doubt they committed the crime themselves, they showed little concern about it either.

In the tiny little MidWest town where I retired almost 8 years ago, the only time I had to worry about law enforcement was a brief period when the mayor was also a state trooper who made it openly clear how much he hated liberals and appointed his personal stooge to replace a good chief that the town council drove from office on political grounds. Other than that, few concerns. We only have 2 cops in town, the chief and one deputy. The latter is a fine young man much respected and loved by nearly everyone including even me. To a law abiding citizen he's polite and respectful in return, although I imagine he can take care of business if need be. If he ever decides to run against the current chief, I'll certainly support him. His boss is okay enough - I've seen times when he could've been much worse - but there's no love lost between us either. I believe a lot of the reason he's been careful with me is because he's seen me chew up the town council before and knows I wouldn't hesitate to press legal matters if he hassled me. So what we have is more of a fairly polite standoff.

Most places most times, though? The cops have usually done right by me. Which I appreciate even if it is their duty.

[kenny blankenship]

110. Comfortable? No way.

Scandals involving law enforcement in the Atlanta Metro area and surrounding counties are like rain to Seattle. Corruption is endemic, and the improprieties range from casual brutality and harassment
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/fired-officer-who-punched-suspect-back-job/nXY68/
http://atlantaeagleraid.com/
and evidence planting on dead "suspects"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Johnston_shooting
all the way up to murder for hire,
http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2013/02/12/ten-metro-atlanta-police-officers-arrested-for-allegedly-protecting-cocaine-traffickers
and even in recent memory, political assassination.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Dorsey

No, nothing personal against anyone in the local ganglan- er I mean, law enforcement community, but I would just as soon never have any dealings with any of them. (Just who is the dirty cop? You think you can tell that by sight? I don't.) I keep my nose extra clean so they never have reason to notice me.

[Savannahmann]

113. I was just thinking about the Atlanta Sheriff who was murdered

By his own officers at the orders of the defeated Sheriff. As I recall, Derwin Brown had campaigned that he would investigate and find anyone involved in corruption. For that, the Sheriff Elect was assassinated by Sheriff's Deputies on orders from the defeated Sheriff Sidney Dorsey.

[DeSwiss]

119. K&R

"I don't mind being accused of being an 'escapist.' On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge Maximum Security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break." ~Robert Anton Wilson

[HolyMoley]

124. I can beat that.

I live about 2 blocks from where the The Bomber Brothers' made their last stand, and I work in Brookline.

I think the response was excessive and unnecessary, but I also have my suspicions that it was part training exercise and part justification for all the Homeland Security $$$, grants and equipment doled out to PD's the past 10-12 years.

As far as contact and personal interactions with cops around here under normal circumstances
goes; I've never had any unsettling or dicey encounters in 50+ years of living here, nor have I witnessed any use of excessive force or unwarranted arrest (that's not to say that it doesn't happen around here, I've just never seen it).

The local cops (ie city and town cops), can be pretty laid back and personable, the "Staties" OTOH, can be pretty gruff, anal and humorless.

I would not want to be on their bad side under any circumstance.

[MannyGoldstein]

125. I'm curious: how did you feel when you woke up to that craziness?

Blew my mind seeing pics of it all. Totally surreal.

[HolyMoley]

126. Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with it directly.

I was working the night shift when the shit hit the fan and a coworker informed me about it... "hey, they got the bomber guys and had a shootout in your neck of the woods".

Meh, no big deal thought I, until I turned the TV on later that morning and realized what was going down.

I knew there was no fucking way I was going home that AM.

I ended up watching the events unfold on TV clutching my head thinking major suckage, "I don't need this shit".

[PopeOxycontinI]

127. Fuck 'em

I'm a young white guy. I've gotten some attitude and a "I got this job to keep bullying people after high school"
vibe during chickenshit traffic stops where I played it totally cool and respectful. I've been questioned as a witness
about an incident where they thought I knew more than I really did. They continued to hassle me with their
particular line of questioning when I tried to give them other helpful info (likely locations of victim and perp)
At least one had glee on his face when someone could have been dying while they continued to stand there hassling me. Belligerent idiots.

[YeahSureRight]

134. I consider ALL Law enforcemnt a direct threat to my person until they prove otherwise.

I have never been a big fan of the police but I also do not go out of my way to engage them either.

Now that the courts have said that the less intelligent can be cops but the intelligent cannot, in other words law enforcement can legally discriminate against smart people when it comes to hiring we are going to see an uptick in idiots with guns and badges.

Just think what will happen when even more idiot TeaBaggers are given badges and guns all over America. They will without question do the bidding of the corporate overlords.

I would highly recommend everyone brush up on your state, local and federal rights when it comes to dealing with law enforcement.

Baggers with Guns and Badges, America's worst nightmare.

[a la izquierda]

139. I live in a town of 5000

The cops hear are fine. They have college kids to worry about, not the the professionals that live here too. Actually, though, I'm out of the town limits, so we deal with the sheriffs. They're fine too.