General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you feel comfortable with your local cops? [View all]IrishAyes
(6,151 posts)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.