Do you instinctively distrust police officers?

[bryant69]

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[goddess40]

1. After seeing some nasty shit - I've become very distrustful

[Bassic]

29. As have I. nt

[DS1]

2. My townies and staties, yes. Sure

Miami cops? No fucking way.

[BuyingThyme]

3. If you don't, you're not a good American.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

(I just came up with that.)

[Cha]

4. At least, I never have..

There's creeps in every walk of life and in the police those ones have the power and the guns.

I've been fortunate in that respect..who's to say what the fu-ture will bring.

[Warpy]

5. As a nurse, I've been in contact with a lot of cops

and most are very decent people. A few are even friends.

However, I'm always cautious around them on their turf.

[bunkerbuster1]

6. Some are great, some are not.

It's like they're people or somethin'.

Anyway, I said "a bit" just because it's my nature to be somewhat distrustful of authority figures.

[Hippo_Tron]

7. Instinctively yes, and I believe that phenomenon started with prohibition

Before that people trusted police. Once prohibition started people became constantly worried that they would be arrested for something.

It's not that when I'm thinking rationally about the subject that I think of the police as bad people. It's just that instinctively when I see a cop I'm worried that he will arrest me.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

28. Posessing and consuming alcohol was not illegal during Prohibition..

Only importation and sales..

Wholesale distrust of police by whites started in the 60's during the counterculture era.

Blacks have always been wise to cops.

[Toucano]

8. I only trust Officer Friendly

And I haven't seen him since I was 8 years old.

[KansDem]

20. Don't forget Officer McGruff!

on edit: how could you not trust a face like that!

also to change his name from "Gruff" to "McGruff"

[Toucano]

23. True! n/t

[goddess40]

35. Our present Officer Friendly was the cop who threatened

to not protect us, from the local pro-war idiots, if we continued to protest the war

[Toucano]

38. Even Officer Friendly ain't what he used to be, I guess. n/t

[leftofthedial]

9. I never used to, but

experience of the last decade or so has changed my view

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

10. Anytime I see a police behind me when I'm driving

Even if I am completely competently driving, I become aware of how much power this person has, to ruin my life if he so chooses. So yes, I'm always just a tad distrustful. I'm not at the stage where I feel I need to mount cameras in my car.

[rucky]

11. as much as I trust/distrust anyone in any profession

the question is, would I rather have a flooded living room from a bad plumber, or a night in the slammer from a bad cop.

[EST]

12. I'm not sure it's instinctive.

I grew up in the hills and can remember being cautioned, from a very young age that cops would "kee yee" (kill you) if you were to run afoul of them.

[EFerrari]

18. They do have all those weapons all over.

Seems like a reasonable inference.

I get nervous around cops I know and like when they're packing.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. yes.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. No More Or Less Than Our Elected Leaders

eom

[Marrah_G]

15. Nope

I've run into a couple jerks, but 99 percent of the time I've had good interactions even when getting a ticket, etc.

[emilyg]

19. Same here,

[Hepburn]

16. As a college student and war protestor in the 1960s....

...I still have NO trust for cops at all. IMO, if their lips are moving, they are lying. And...DAs are not far behind the lying cop bastards either.

[underpants]

17. Well they tend to distrust me and everyone

So I would say that it is mutual. That being said I don't know that I distrust them I just understand them, as a group, for who they are-they are cops and they all pretty much act the same. Control the situation. Fine that works for them but that doesn't mean that I have to abide by it just because they show up. I'm no "rebel" or anything but I know how to deal with cops which is don't opening disrespect them and they will give you some leeway. Unfortuneately they have the ability to arrest me or you for pretty much any reason so err on the side of caution.

[Retired AF Dem]

21. Of course they distrust you

Anybody they approach just might try to kill them. It is an act of survival. Nothing personal.

[underpants]

22. Of course yes there is that

Correct you are

[Hardrada]

24. I used to know all our town cops and the police chief 20 years ago

but the younger ones seem all crew-cut and more militarized and less friendly.

[backscatter712]

25. Dealing with the cops is playing Russian Roulette

I'll concede. Most cops out there are decent people, who actually believe in helping people, and who respect people's rights and try not to abuse their powers.

But not all cops are like that. Approximately 4% of the general population is sociopathic, and the sociopaths are drawn to positions of power. Hence we see people like Bush and Cheney, and we also see a lot of abusive, nasty cops.

Every time you encounter a cop, you're rolling the dice. Most of the time, say 80% (depending on the locale,) you'll get a good professional cop. Maybe it won't be a pleasant encounter - you'll get a ticket or something like that, but the cop sticks to doing his job, and nails you simply for what you've been caught for, dead to rights. But then one day, you'll roll snake eyes on the dice, and you'll get Officer Asshole, and you could get everything from a physical beating to evidence-planting or charge-stacking that lands you in jail, scrounging for thousands of dollars for a lawyer, or you could even get killed. And there's nothing you can do - they've got the authority, they've got the cards, and if you fight back, they'll fuck you up. What's worse is that the asshole cops work in gangs - if you encounter one asshole, chances are good when they call for backup, you'll get three more assholes.

That's why I'm always very, very wary around cops. You never know when you'll end up with Officer Asshole, who'll ruin your entire life just for fun.

[bemildred]

26. Instinct has nothing to do with it. nt

[Bill McBlueState]

27. Everyone gets paid to do a job

Everyone gets paid to do a job, and people tend to act in ways that they think will allow them to continue getting paid. Same goes for police officers.

When interacting with police officers -- or any kind of employee, really -- it's always good to consider how their interest in keeping their job might conflict with your interest in being treated fairly.

[Mugu]

30. No more than they distrust me. n/t

[guitar man]

31. pretty much

I know most cops are just doing a job they get paid to do and are for the most part decent people, but I have been beaten and kicked around a couple times by the bad element in the law enforcement for no good reason. So after that, the rule I have with cops is that they are bad apples until they prove otherwise.

It might not be fair, but I can't help feeling that way. Neither can my ribs when the weather gets cold and damp, I always get a reminder of the beatings I took when fall arives :(

[Indy Lurker]

32. Depends what I'm doing N/T

[paulk]

33. I had to answer "somewhat"

I've known a few police officers in my time - some were good people, some were not.

I've also had both positive and negative experiences with law enforcement - the problem is, when someone has that much control over you, one bad experience can wipe out a whole lot of good ones.

[Dorian Gray]

34. I voted "not really."

My father-in-law is a cop, and I have met many of his co-workers throughout the years. They are all very nice men. Of course, I get nervous everytime I see a cop car. Sudden guilty feeling. And I've known a few bad seeds, but for the most part, they are men who just want to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

[porphyrian]

36. Not really, but I hate that they make me feel guilty whether I am or not. - n/t

[HEyHEY]

37. Yes, as a reporter I've covered enough cases of them being corrupt fucks

That I always assume them to be so at first.

[uppityperson]

39. Not instinctively, but I have learned to

[Solon]

40. I don't instinctively distrust cops, I learned to from experience. n/t

[fujiyama]

41. Not necessarily

but I think it takes a certain authoritative mentality to become one.

I think most cops are decent and are there to uphold the law, but it's obvious that there are way too many in it for the kicks of using force. I think we'll see more enter the police force as they come back from Iraq...and I think we'll see more brute force tactics being used.

I also think the education a cop needs is a joke. I think the education they receive regarding constitutional rights is also not nearly enough.

[AZBlue]

42. There are some real assholes here on DU.

Does that mean everyone on DU is an asshole? Of course not. Same goes for the police (or any large group for that matter).

[EST]

44. What you say is true, to a limited extent.

The group that is named "cops" is not drawn from a well distributed cross-section of people and most certainly not from a cross section of personality types.
Police have to have a quality called "command presence," a quality we normally call "bullying."

So it is then true that they have been selected from a cross-section of bullies. There are a few very good cops who are nothing like their brethren and the rate of pathologies is much higher than in the general population.
Whether this arises from some original pathology or is a kind of ptsd result of the horrible pressures they must sometimes operate under is still an open question.

[warren pease]

43. I am extremely distrustful of anyone who can legally kill me...

I went to jail a couple of times in the late '60s for the crime of driving a rat car while long-haired at 2:00 in the morning on El Camino in Palo Alto looking for cigarettes.

Actually, the real crime was blatant stupidity and the excuse to mess with me was, once, a broken license plate light and, the other time, a broken tail light that they just happened to nail with a flashlight while approaching my car.

They'd take me to the drunk tank -- no booking, no paperwork, no charges -- then call me out for a cavity search, return me to the cell and let me out the next morning. They didn't even tow the car that I remember, so I didn't have to spend the money to bail it out.

Being 19 or so, I had no idea what my rights were ("were" being the operative word these days in Amerika) so I didn't sue them for any number of code violations -- probable cause, arrested without charges (I stress this was prior to Amerika 2.0), illegal (cavity) search, and probably a few more.

However, no matter the outrage, I cooperated politely on the assumption that, once they've got you, you're fucked and until there's a lawyer present, you're on your own.

Point being, between the pistols on the hips, the shotgun in the car, the clubs at the ready -- as they say, "resistance is futile." There's absolutely no point in giving a cop any reason whatsoever to kill you, particularly since they show such willingness to do so these days. In fact, if I were black and the rest of the above circumstances were the same, I'd have probably been dead these past 36 or 37 years.

So, when dealing with the cops, act as if your life is on the line, because it may well be.


wp

[baby_mouse]

45. :-O I don't INSTINCTIVELY trust ANYONE!

Of I course I don't instinctively trust police officers! What's special about them? They're people just like everyone else!