Sad state of America's youth

[protege]

Around here, the next borough over has a, well, for lack of a better word, a *corrupt* police force. If anyone remembers the Johnny Gammage outrage of '95, it was those fools who killed him. Not only did they get *away* with it, but some of the officers were even *promoted* later Needless to say, I'm extremely careful when I drive through that area.

*Gammage was the cousin of Ray Seals, a former Pittsburgh Steeler. Gammage was borrowing his cousin's Jaguar, and got pulled over for 'driving erratically.' Specifically, he was applying the brakes "too much." Never mind that he was driving down a long hill In actuality, he was a black man driving a Jaguar. Anyway, Gammage died in police custody. after he was beaten. Allegedly, it's not the first time that's happened--I've heard similar stories about how those cops have roughed people up, or simply harassed them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Gammage

[ArenaBoy]

And I treat them all the same--I'm always polite and calm, so I never understand when they cop an attitude with me.

My cousin is a cop. He's a good one though. He has disrespect for anyone who abuses their status and embarrasses the good cops. My grandpa was also a cop but he hated the idiots who tried to flaunt their status. Both my cousin and grandpa said that the one thing needed is control. The cops mentioned in this thread are bad examples of it. They'd be having a fit if they were reading these stories.

[protege]

Can I throw a tomato?

I know that not all cops are bad...but the assholes tend to stick in your mind. Most cops I've had to deal with have been pretty damn nice, and take their job seriously. They do *not* bust balls, or abuse their power. These guys are professionals, and I have no problem with them. Unfortunately, they get lumped into the group with the assholes.

...and now for some *good* stories.

When I was in second grade, I my hand got crushed in a door. I was leaning on the door frame, or so I thought, as I was trying to reach the garage door opener. Imagine my surprise, when my father shut the door...and I saw stars! Turns out my hand was in the hinge, and I'd fractured 2 fingers Let me tell you, that hurt like hell! Dad flagged down a patrol car, and he took me to the hospital. If you've never been in a police car, at high speed with the sirens and lights going, well, you missed out

Then there are the guys who took care of my grandmother after she was seriously injured in an auto accident. They kept her calm until the helicopter arrived to take her to the hospital.

But, the ultimate cops were those who gave their lives on 9/11. People like that deserve our thanks.

[Bagga]

It's not the cops, it's the uniform - gets some asshats feeling powerful and important.

For example, when I was on my first train journey with my new superduper pushbike that was my pride and joy, I found that the guards van had NOTHING I could chain the bike to, so all I could do was immobilise my bike with a chain through both wheels. At which pint it weighed about 3 kg (well, very light, anyway) and was very valuable and still highly portable.

So I hunkered down in the filthy corridor of the next carriage along, so I could look in on my bike at every station to keep it secure. Later a guard found me there, and instantly flew into a rage and demanded that I pay the full fare for travelling in the First Class carriage with only a second class ticket. What? I am sat on a carrier bag in a filthy corridor!

I had to move through 3 first class carriages to the nearest second class carriage, with him following me all the way, ranting continuously.

Fortunately no-one stole my bike.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Is it really that bad elsewhere? Around here, I've had cops apologizing for having to write me tickets that they're legally required to write (I backed into a parked car that was on the road. On the road = moving violation. Yeah, my fault. Just write the ticket and stop apologizing. I know it's a dumb ticket, but I'm feeling stupid enough as it is.)

I'd have to say so, yeah. I thought it was mostly South Carolina, but apparently we don't have the corner market on bullying, armed assholes paid for by taxpayers. Not if I can go by what I'm reading here.

I'm going to shut up now, because I don't have the time today to go on about the ones we have here. And I'll just get too pissed off anyways.

[draftermatt]

I'm not going to bore you with stories of when I was pulled over (6 times now, only one that I disagreed with. Though I liked how the one followed till I was outside of the city limits to tell me I had a tag light out. I knew he was going to pull me over, as no one goes down that road at 4:45 in the morning, but I was picking someone up)

But the time I wasn't pulled over pissed me off.

My wife and I were driving home in our Jeep. We had just gotten groceries. I notice there is a State trooper behind me, I think nothing of it. I turn onto our street, and the patrol man stops in the middle of the intersection to watch me. Turns around and comes up the street as I'm backing into the driveway.

We start unloading, and he drives by the opposite way very slowly. When we are inside the house I see him drive by again very slowly. Then a Sheriff's deputy drives by. I go back outside (quite pissed off at this point) and I'm fighting with the door on the truck (it wouldn't stay open) and the state trooper drives by again. At this point I throw my hands in the air and yell "what the fuck do you want?!" My wife hears me and asks what's wrong "That asshole cop is driving by again" (Not my proudest moment, but whatever). He leaves. None drive by again, I don't know what that was about to this day.

In all though I have a lot of respect for cops. I have no problem dealing with them. In fact the first cop that pulled me over (44 in a 25) who was nice, but kind of jerk the next time I dealt with him (I yelled at a rent a cop, real cop didn't find it funny) ended up working with my wife (he worked part time as a tire guy at the C-store she worked at) and turned out to be quite nice. In fact if he's directing traffic he lets us through quicker.

[trunks2k]

My friend and I were playing video games, 11pm on a Thursday night. I keep my door open so if anyone walking by wants to come in, they can. A RA walking by decides to right me up for being too loud. Yea, great, even though everyone else in the hall was out that night. We were literally the only ones who stayed in that night. COMPLETELY unnecessary.

Wow, an RA at WCU actually DID something?! My ex used to beg them to take care of noise as well as other stuff that I won't go into here, and they pretty much did nothing.

[trunks2k]

There was one asshole cop I had to deal with. I had an accident on a slick road, when the car in front of me suddenly stopped after leaving a light. I couldn't stop, and slid right into him. Even at 5mph, I still totaled his car. Cops came and the one in charge *refused* to hear my side of what happened. He even ignored what witnesses, as well as the *other* guy had to say about it. In his mind, because I was only 16, it was *my fault* and I was *speeding* Yeah, that 5mph is a bitch Rather than deal with that prick, I called my father. He showed up to get some things out of the wrecked car, and to see what was going on. Cop told him, and because my father argued with the cop, I got cited for "reckless driving" and a few other charges. Total? About 6 points on my license

well, technically it is all your fault. You rear-ended the person. There's not much that can absolve you of that. At the very least, it's that you were travelling too fast for conditions and didn't leave enough room between you and the car ahead of you - even if you were going 5MPH. Next time, don't argue with the cop, just fight it in court.

[protege]

well, technically it is all your fault. You rear-ended the person. There's not much that can absolve you of that. At the very least, it's that you were travelling too fast for conditions and didn't leave enough room between you and the car ahead of you - even if you were going 5MPH. Next time, don't argue with the cop, just fight it in court.

After the hearing, we found out that the cop had a well-deserved reputation for harassing kids around town. The only reason he cited me was just to be a dick. The cop knew what the situation was, but he wanted to "stick it to someone." He refused to document what actually happened. Instead, he wrote up what *he* decided happened...which conflicted with not only my own account, but that of the witnesses and the other driver. He got caught trying to falsify the report.

[wagegoth]

There are a lot of good cops. It seems in some areas the police force is good, while the sheriff's deputies are bad, in some other places it's the opposite. A lot of good people join the police force with the hope of doing good and get beaten down by their superiors and coworkers to the point where they give up. Others want the badge and the gun and the license to abuse. Others somehow manage, despite their job and their coworkers to go out everyday and help people. Unfortunately, as said above, we often only deal with the abusers.

I've personally known a few cops and ex-cops, and I don't want people here to think I have an unrelentingly bad attitude about them. When they're doing their job properly, I'm happy. I could never be a police officer, and they have my respect. But the petty little tin gods should, just like any other bad employee, be fired.

[blas]

Sometimes I wish I hadn't moved to the bigger city. The cops were good for patrolling the ghetto when I lived there, but now that I live in a better neighborhood, on the rare occasion they do patrol around here, they'll park and stare at people in the pool or people walking or sunbathing.......

My godmother and her husband are both State patrollers. I have to watch my mouth around them. They work further south in Wi, but man alive does Wisconsin have some real asshole Sate boys.

The Sherrif's deputies and county cops are just as big of asswipes around here as well.

The only good boys in blue were the ones where I used to live. *cry*

[Pedersen]

Time for me to throw in my own story, I guess. PA State Troopers taught me to tell the cops what they want to hear, not the truth.

First, some quick background: I was moving across the country, from Colorado to New Jersey. This was in July. I had some pet gerbils. Two of them, to be precise. Gerbils have been domesticated for less than 50 years at this point, and were originally desert creatures (at least, that's what I've read about them since then).

I'd been driving long and hard for two days, and stayed with my parents this second night. For point of reference, this meant I'd covered about 1800 miles in two days. LONG hours driving.

I had meant to get up at about 8am, and be on my way to the new apartment in NJ. Getting to my parents house at 2:30am, coupled with that many hours, I was way more exhausted than I thought I was. I didn't get up until almost 10am.

Due to the place my parents live, I had to leave my truck (towing a trailer) parked at the top of the hill. I didn't think I could park in their driveway, and get back out safely. I parked at the back of a culdesac there, out of the way of everybody. The side I parked on didn't even have a house. One of the people who lived near there reported it to the police.

The police came out, saw the gerbils in the cab, and were ready to break the window. I got there about 30 minutes after they did. They proceeded to interrogate me about this. Finally, one of them asked the question "Do you think your mom would have liked it if they died?" I answered honestly that I thought she would. That was it. I was cuffed and taken down to the courthouse. The judge refused to hear the case, because he felt it was too ridiculous. He told the police to decide on a fine. Fine + court costs = $125.

Had I told them that I didn't think she'd like it, they'd have likely continued to harangue me for a bit, and that would have been it.

For some reason, I'm not overly fond of police.

[Elf]

I've some good run and bad experiences with the cops in various places where I've lived. The two times *knocks on wood* that I've been pulled over both cops were really nice and let me go on my way while chuckling at me. Probably because each time I was so nervous that I was shaking and my voice trembled.

When my car was broken into and I called to report it...no cop. They took the report over the phone. When my ex was held up at gunpoint outside our apartment door (where drugs were dealt on a regular basis) no cop. (needless to say we broke our lease and never spent a night there again) When my mom had to call them to try to get a restraining order against my (now deceased and very ex) stepfather they were incredibly unhelpful and told her that he was in the right.

I've been ticketed once and it's finally off my record for reckless driving. I was at a stoplight, the truck in front of me decided to go in reverse and proceeded to dent my front bumper with his trailer hitch. Technically the cop had to ticket me since it was a "rear-ender" even though I never moved. Go figure.

The good stories are the cops that caught the men who robbed, kidnapped and murdered my uncle and another store clerk and they found them quickly. For that I'll always be grateful.

I'm actually in school now working on my criminal justice degree. I dont' plan to be a cop but I am working towards being a crime scene unit tech. So far I'm doing okay. Come May I'll have the first degree and can start applying for the jobs. Luckily where I'm at they don't require you to go through the academy to be CSU tech.

[Ree]

Having police officers in my family, I get very upset at generalizations about the character of all police officers.
I'm not so naive and stupid to think that they are all perfect people. They're human.

All I know is, I can overlook the minority when I know, if I'm ever in trouble, I can pretty much guarantee, a police officer is going to be there to help.

I still recall the face of that police officer, who was a stranger to us, and whose name, sadly, I don't even remember, standing there in the ER, his pants stained with my daughter's blood as he held out a Teddy Bear with a little handmade police uniform on it, his face filled with concern for a little girl he didn't even know.
He had run out to the trunk of his car to get it, because that particular force keeps them in their car for those very situations, when a child has gone through a crisis.

He followed up with a phone call a few days later, just to see how she was, and invited her down to the station, as there were a few others who had been called in on the accident, and they were all anxious to know how she was doing.

We never made it there, as we were out of town when the accident happened, and we had to head back home.


These are just a couple of stories my nephew (a police officer) sent me, and I hung onto them. You may think they're drivel and overly sentimental, so you're free to ignore them, but I think they have a pretty good message.

Me, The Lousy Cop

Well Mr. Citizen, I guess you have figured me out. I seem to fit neatly into the category you place me in. I'm stereotyped, characterized, standardized, classified, grouped, and always typical. I'm the "lousy" cop.

Unfortunately, the reverse isn't true. I can never figure you out.

From birth you teach your children that I am a person to be wary of...and then you're shocked when they identify me with my traditional enemy, the criminal.

You accuse me of coddling juvenile criminals, until I catch your kid doing something.

You may take an hour for lunch and several coffee breaks each day, but point me out as a loafer if you see me having just one cup.

You pride yourself on your polished manners, but think nothing of interrupting my meals with your troubles.

You raise hell about 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 never got one ticket you deserved.

You shout "Foul!" if you observe me driving fast enroute to an emergency call, but literally raise hell if I take more than ten seconds responding to your call.

You call it "part of my job" if someone strikes me. But its "police brutality" if I strike back.

You wouldn't think of telling your dentist how to pull a badly decayed tooth, or your doctor how to take out your appendix, but you are always willing to give me pointers on law enforcement.

You talk to me in a manner and use language that would assure a bloody nose from anyone else, but you expect me to stand there and take it without batting an eye.

You cry, "Something has to be done about all the crime!" but you can't be bothered with getting involved.

You've got no use for me at all, but, of course, it's OK if I change a tire for your wife, deliver your baby in the back seat of my patrol car on the way to the hospital, save your son's life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, or work many hours overtime to find your lost daughter.

So, Dear Citizen, you stand there on your soapbox and rant and rave about the way I do my job, calling me every name in the book, but never stop a minute to think that your property, your family, or maybe your life might depend on one thing - me, or one of my buddies.

Yes, me, the lousy cop.

- Author unknown

"A Cop on the Take"

First he takes the oath.
Now look at all he takes -

He takes it in stride when people call him pig.
He takes time to stop and talk to children.
He takes your verbal abuse while giving you a ticket you really deserve.
He takes on creeps you would be afraid to even look at.

He takes time away from his family to keep you safe.
He takes your injured children to the hospital.
He takes the graveyard shift without complaint because it's his turn.
He takes his life into his hands daily.

He takes you home when your car breaks down.
He takes time to explain why both your headlights have to work.
He takes the job no one else wants - telling you a loved one has died.
He takes criminals to jail.

He takes in sights that would make you cry.
Sometimes he cries too, but He takes it anyway because someone has to.
If he is lucky, He takes retirement.
He takes memories to bed each night that you couldn't bear for even one day.

Sometimes, He Takes a bullet.

And, yes, occasionally he may take a free cup of coffee.
Then one day he pays for all he has taken,
and God takes him.

by

Wayne A. Linney

[kibbles]

I agree that all cops shouldn't be generalized at all. The crooked and the bad ones, they aren't worthy IMO to be considered cops and aren't even in the same category.