A snapshot of police psychology in America...

[kentuck]

The police are there to protect and defend. Unfortunately, they seldom protect and defend as they usually show up after the fact, be it a murder, a bank robbery, or a domestic dispute.

But police forces of America have become an extension of our military. Many have deep psychological problems, like many others in our society. But give them a gun and a can of Mace and a Taser and many feel superior to their fellow citizens. Some of these folks are armed thugs. Witness the number of people killed by "tasers" in the last year. I guarantee you there have been more killed by tasers than by bullets.

Policemen are programmed to believe that whatever they say to any citizen is to obeyed without question, no matter the illegality or stupidity of the request. "I said get out of your car! I said get out of your house! I said to lay on the ground! etc. etc." A lot of respect for the average citizen has been lost to the psychology of "policemen".

Unfortunately, we cannot give them a billy club as if they were in London and patrolling the streets. There are dangerous criminals that they encounter. That is their mindset at all times, it seems? Even when they are encountering honest citizens.

[TexasObserver]

1. Recommend

[seabeyond]

2. but the worst, they have hands on ears singing there song so they cannot hear any of the criticism

lack of trust, abuse, eroding of their police force and have an all out effort to protect themselves at their own expense. until they wake up to their abuse of their power, and their ego, until the higher ups draw clear lines and enforce those boundaries, the cops will continue to erode their support from ordinary citizens at their expense. it behooves them to listen to the community. but they are so fuckin god like they refuse. a bunch of power driven male testosterone at its worse.

[DaveinJapan]

3. It really depends on the cop, however

what the problem is in MY view is that they are being TRAINED to be belligerent assholes. It's like when you go to McDonalds. Some places are friendly, and hand you half-way decent food quickly. Other places suck so bad you wish you'd gone out back to the dumpster for your meal. The difference, always, is management. Cops "on the beat" are not so very special...they are similar to the kids on the cash register who are either trained well or they're not.

What WE, as a society, need to examine (and I hope the President considers this an initiative as well!) is who is the management, what are they telling their underlings, and what exactly are they training them to do? Think of it this way; IF it's actually true that there are a vast majority of belligerent cops out there, is it really THEIR fault or the fault of the system? A handful? Their fault. MOST of them? Fault of the system.

Just my 2 cents.

[L0oniX]

4. Don't ever get married to one ...they are total control freaks.

[juno jones]

6. No shit.

One of the reasons I (and ex, etc.)moved fron IL: My ex had been involved (before me) with a cops ex-girlfriend. He wore a target on his back and was abused by cops (because of surgery, he couldn't raise his hands behind his back) when they would arrest him for walking home from a bar, etc.

The cop was batshit psycho even tho the girl had left him and had had multiple partners since.

[RoccoR5955]

5. My snapshot...

Cops don't have to obey the law, because they ARE the law.
That is what most of them believe. I see this all the time by their actions, not by what they say.