How is your local law enforcement?

Z Draci · July 29th, 2005, 10:35 AM

I've lived in Los Angeles most of my life. I can safely say that everything you see on TV is true regarding most police officers here. They are just plain arrogant and rude. (There are many who are exceptions to the rule but that's not the point here.)

The police here believe they are above everybody else--including the law itself. I constantly see police vehicles breaking driving laws for no reason except that they want to. One time, a highway patrol motorcycle was tailgating me and quickly swerved to pass me (on the wrong side) at the same time I was trying to change lanes to get out of his way! We came close to hitting each other but that idiot blamed me for trying to do the right thing by getting out of his way! They just think they can get away with anything because nobody can really accuse them of wrongdoing. Occasionally, they don't. I see police officers mistreat suspects, kill innocent bystanders, crash into buildings, run over children, etc. on the news all the time.

Every time I try to have a conversation with an officer, they won't even talk to you let alone make eye contact. It's as if they view you as an inferior human being.

It's not just police officers. When you give power to somebody that never had such things in their life, they become overwhelmed and misuse it. (Similar to giving a teenager a Ferrari and expect him to drive it well. It does happen, but very rarely.) The teenager with a Ferrari will surely go and show off his car's power to other teenagers with slower cars. The police look like they are doing the same exact thing.

Don't take me wrong. I respect the law enforcement officers for the job they do. They make our country safe enough for me to live peacefully every day. I always treat the police with full respect JUST AS I TREAT EVERY OTHER HUMAN BEING. I don't give them special treatment as if they're gods or superior beings, because they are not. We employ them for our own protection with tax money. They should give the same respect back to us in return.

I know this isn't true for the police in Japan and Germany. The Japanese police are very approachable and are very polite. Some will even tip their hats to passing people! Plus, they aren't too harsh on enforcing the law. If any dispute can be handled without an arrest, they will do so. They won't waste their time cramming their jail cells full with people. They leave the space open for those who really deserve it. I found the same was true for the German police. They walk among the people and not over them like those American police.

What's your take on this subject?

bone · July 29th, 2005, 01:41 PM

cops over here are generaly realy nice, if you make no trouble when they catch doing sth, they will be very polite and treath you with all respect.

but even when you make trouble and argue or be aggressive, they will still deal with you in a calm way, they will put you handcufs on, but will never hit you or sth

but there are some who take joy in confronting a younger people for the smallest things.
like not so long ago there was quiet a thunderstorm and some roads where covered with mud which came from the fields. so the street where a friend lives. the firemen were cleaning the road and my friend had to get off his driveway. a cop who came along with the firemen was making signs he had to get away quickly. and he spinned his tires in the mud.

when he came back home they still hadn't finished but the cop walked up to him to fine him for aggressive driving, and a dispute arrised. after a while the cop said "you could also take it to court" and my friend answered "might consider that". on that moment the cop got a call for a car accident he had to go check and left.

2 days later there was an official complaint in the mail.
but the cop pushed it, and there were contradictions in his proclamation. and now the cop is trying to save his ass, but although it still has to come in front of a judge, other (more friendly) cops already said my friend should be expecting to much problems anymore around the issue

fingers crossed

jayjaya29 · July 29th, 2005, 03:24 PM

I rarely see cops in my area, but I went out for a walk with a friend at like 11 at night. We went to the local shopping plaza and we saw a cop litterally doing laps around a block of stores. He was going pretty fast, I think he was just pushing the car a bit for some fun, I don't blame him, as it gets pretty boring around where I live. He wasn't close to hitting us or anything, he did like 2 laps around the block of buildings then disappeared.

If you do call the cops they come very quickly and they are usually very civil and understanding.

Militant-Grunt · July 29th, 2005, 05:35 PM

NYC cops are pretty nice for the most part. Although if you do commit something wrong they will act fairly harshly. Just last week a guy scratched the hell out of my rear bumper on the ML. A cop saw it all, me and the guy in the other pulled into a bus stop to assess the damage. We call the cop over who saw the whole thing, the guy who hit me was trying to make a case when he was clearly at fault. Cop told him to shup up and step away, talked to me very nicely gave me a police report in my favor, shook his hand and thanked him, so it was all good. Id say NYC cops are fair.

///M · July 29th, 2005, 06:02 PM

Toronto pigs are living scum.

Some divisions are generally nicer, like downtown pigs, but pigs in my area are piles of shit.

Firecat · July 29th, 2005, 06:07 PM

Cops in Orlando are alright. I've had some problems though....

Um, I guess the problem with cops in L.A. is that they are too "hollywoodized"

///M · July 29th, 2005, 06:10 PM

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...acodalogin=yes

http://www.thestar.com/images/thestar/img/040216_jama_jama_125.jpg

http://reodica.com/jeff/main.html

That's the Toronto Pigs for ya.

Renesis · July 29th, 2005, 06:28 PM

Cops here are ok, they're just dumb and use their lights in order to go eat more donuts more quickly.

Atleast they're not too arrogant or violent like in USA.

kanderson · July 29th, 2005, 06:39 PM

Well, that's a false generalization. Cops in different cities in the USA are as different from each other as cops in different countries are different from one another. The ones here in my small town are very polite, and would rather solve problems than create them. In the next town over, cops are power hungry, rude, and quoata-driven, and toward the end of the month they are looking for any excuse to write citations. It's really different from town to town. Los Angeles is the biggest police department in the world, and are constantly battling officer coruption and politics in the ranks. But other large departments, such as Seattle, have a culture of friendliness and politeness that you rarely see in L.A.

While there are assholes in every group (police or not), the Chief of Police in each area really sets the tone and attitude for the department, and if the Chief is an asshole, the rest generally follow suit. I know in my town, the chief doesn't tolerate officer misbehavior and has fired officers that don't treat people well.

Firecat · July 29th, 2005, 08:04 PM

The biggest problem we are having in my city, or really in the entire state of florida, is tasering (especially of kids).

zenkidori · July 29th, 2005, 09:34 PM

Kanderson is right, the majority of police I have met in the states(and that's a lot of policemen) have been very courteous and even friendly, even when you've done something wrong.

It really varies from county to county here in CO. Douglas County cops are either big jerks or really nice, the old ones tend to be jerks. DC is a pretty boring county for a cop, so they get bored and pull you over for no reason at night sometimes. In Denver they have bigger fish to fry so they rarely pull you over for simple traffic violations unless they are on traffic duty, and then they aren't really very mean at all.

It really does vary. I got caught mid drift in Colorado Springs and the cop just laughed at me and sent me home(I was also trespassing on a National Park). Then in Morrison I was pulled over for doing 4mph over after a speed change. It just depends. The cops here aren't violent or anything, I've never been yelled at, but some of them can be jerks, just like anyone.

cvrefugee · July 29th, 2005, 10:50 PM

I've only had two run-ins with cops. The first time I was racing my parents Mercedes (and won, of course). A cop saw us and pulled me over (while my friend took off). He gave me a lecture and called my parents. I was under 18 at the time and it was past curfew, but he let me off with a warning.

The second time I was pulled over for speeding. The officer was polite and asked for my license, registration, proof of insurance, etc. He came back 10 minutes later and gave me a ticket. He told me I can just go to traffic school since this was my first ticket.

Jostyrostelli · July 29th, 2005, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ///M

Toronto pigs are living scum.

Some divisions are generally nicer, like downtown pigs, but pigs in my area are piles of shit.

I called policemen pigs when I was little, come on, show at least some respect, or show you're mature (I assume you are over 16?)

///M · July 29th, 2005, 11:56 PM

I'll show someone respect when they show me respect.

Ultra_Kool_Dude · July 30th, 2005, 12:46 AM

Cops here are exactly what you want them to be -> unnoticeable (unless you need them).

I've only been in "trouble" twice because the cops got calls that someone on a Seadoo was driving crazily. They were very friendly though.

images/smilies/thumbsup.gif

to cops who don't enforce stupid rules and do us all a service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ///M

I'll show someone respect when they show me respect.

What if they have the same attitude? No one is getting respect then.

The world is often a mirror - it reflects back what you send out. images/smilies/wink.gif

Jostyrostelli · July 30th, 2005, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ///M

I'll show someone respect when they show me respect.

Yes yes, reminds me of my childhood, HE STARTED MUMMY!! He must apologize!!

If you give respect, you get respect.

//Edit\\ UKD said it perfectly.

///M · July 30th, 2005, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jostyrostelli

Quote:

Originally Posted by ///M

I'll show someone respect when they show me respect.

Yes yes, reminds me of my childhood, HE STARTED MUMMY!! He must apologize!!

If you give respect, you get respect.

//Edit\\ UKD said it perfectly.

I don't live in a police state. I don't need to respect anyone. It's their duty to treat me with the respect that I deserve. As a taxpayer, I'm the one that's putting food on their tables every night. I don't need to deal with random checks and harrassement because I'm a minority or the fact that I live in a neighborhood with a notoriously bad police force.

In a free society, a citizen should NEVER have to treat an officer in any way and hope that the officer returns the courtesy. It's the officer's duty to SERVE and protect. You live in the Netherlands buddy, you don't have to deal with the garbage we deal here. Some officers do their job right, some think it's OK to profile a group because of the actions of a few. In that case, I'm going to profile all cops because of a few. How do I know the next officer isn't going to beat me to a pulp and claim that I assaulted him?

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...acodalogin=yes

images/smilies/wink.gif

Jostyrostelli · July 30th, 2005, 02:02 AM

I know what you mean, and I didn't say I disagree with you about bad policemen, I know there are, and there are loads of them here too, actually, I hardly see good actions from the police (problem lies with the people with money and power).

But I only said you should show some maturaty (sp?), calling the police 'pigs' isn't very nice to say about loads of policemen who do their work and get food on the table for their children.

And saying

Quote:

As a taxpayer, I'm the one that's putting food on their tables every night.

doesn't make any sense. They are the ones who make sure you can go safely to work to earn some money for your own and pay the damn tax.

SL65 · July 30th, 2005, 02:06 AM

Generally speaking, cops in Aus are real bitches...especially come long weekends when the chance of loosing ur licence doubles. But if you do get pulled over, they are quite linient compared to other nations cops.

There are a few crooked cops here and there but then again, where don't you find cops..Singapore?

General public safety is a huge issue in Sydney images/smilies/sad.gif

At night time, there are certain parts of the city where tourists wouldnt want to go. Its kinda like BigBro here in that there are cameras being put up everywhere.

kanderson · July 30th, 2005, 02:20 AM

If you get pulled over for speeding in the Las Vegas, Nevada area, they accept credit cards on the spot for the fine. I know, because I've had it happen to me many times. images/smilies/smile.gif

And if you don't live in Nevada, it doesn't go on your driving record, because speeding records are only kept for Nevada drivers. They just ding you for $300 and send you on your merry way.

July 29th, 2005, 10:35 AM	#1
Z Draci Joined: Mar 31st, 2005 Last Online: May 23rd, 2007 Location: Glendora/Riverside, CA Posts: 915 Rep Power: 0	How is your local law enforcement? I've lived in Los Angeles most of my life. I can safely say that everything you see on TV is true regarding most police officers here. They are just plain arrogant and rude. (There are many who are exceptions to the rule but that's not the point here.) The police here believe they are above everybody else--including the law itself. I constantly see police vehicles breaking driving laws for no reason except that they want to. One time, a highway patrol motorcycle was tailgating me and quickly swerved to pass me (on the wrong side) at the same time I was trying to change lanes to get out of his way! We came close to hitting each other but that idiot blamed me for trying to do the right thing by getting out of his way! They just think they can get away with anything because nobody can really accuse them of wrongdoing. Occasionally, they don't. I see police officers mistreat suspects, kill innocent bystanders, crash into buildings, run over children, etc. on the news all the time. Every time I try to have a conversation with an officer, they won't even talk to you let alone make eye contact. It's as if they view you as an inferior human being. It's not just police officers. When you give power to somebody that never had such things in their life, they become overwhelmed and misuse it. (Similar to giving a teenager a Ferrari and expect him to drive it well. It does happen, but very rarely.) The teenager with a Ferrari will surely go and show off his car's power to other teenagers with slower cars. The police look like they are doing the same exact thing. Don't take me wrong. I respect the law enforcement officers for the job they do. They make our country safe enough for me to live peacefully every day. I always treat the police with full respect JUST AS I TREAT EVERY OTHER HUMAN BEING. I don't give them special treatment as if they're gods or superior beings, because they are not. We employ them for our own protection with tax money. They should give the same respect back to us in return. I know this isn't true for the police in Japan and Germany. The Japanese police are very approachable and are very polite. Some will even tip their hats to passing people! Plus, they aren't too harsh on enforcing the law. If any dispute can be handled without an arrest, they will do so. They won't waste their time cramming their jail cells full with people. They leave the space open for those who really deserve it. I found the same was true for the German police. They walk among the people and not over them like those American police. What's your take on this subject?

July 29th, 2005, 01:41 PM	#2
bone "bangle for president" Joined: Jan 14th, 2004 Last Online: November 27th, 2008 Location: belgium!! Age: 24 Posts: 6,069 Car: yamaha banshee (and an opel astra from work) Rep Power: 28	cops over here are generaly realy nice, if you make no trouble when they catch doing sth, they will be very polite and treath you with all respect. but even when you make trouble and argue or be aggressive, they will still deal with you in a calm way, they will put you handcufs on, but will never hit you or sth but there are some who take joy in confronting a younger people for the smallest things. like not so long ago there was quiet a thunderstorm and some roads where covered with mud which came from the fields. so the street where a friend lives. the firemen were cleaning the road and my friend had to get off his driveway. a cop who came along with the firemen was making signs he had to get away quickly. and he spinned his tires in the mud. when he came back home they still hadn't finished but the cop walked up to him to fine him for aggressive driving, and a dispute arrised. after a while the cop said "you could also take it to court" and my friend answered "might consider that". on that moment the cop got a call for a car accident he had to go check and left. 2 days later there was an official complaint in the mail. but the cop pushed it, and there were contradictions in his proclamation. and now the cop is trying to save his ass, but although it still has to come in front of a judge, other (more friendly) cops already said my friend should be expecting to much problems anymore around the issue fingers crossed __________________ groups/artists i've seen live: coldplay, the cure, cypress hill, damian marley, deftones, depeche mode, dEUS, franz ferdinand, grandaddy, guns n' roses, interpol, jamiroquai, korn, lenny kravits, marilyn manson, massive attack, metallica, moby, muse, the pixies, placebo, prodigy, queens of the stone age, the raconteurs, radiohead, red hot chili peppers, REM, skin, tool, the who, Wu-Tang and so many more...

July 29th, 2005, 03:24 PM	#3
jayjaya29 Joined: Mar 18th, 2005 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Lindenhurst, NY Age: 20 Posts: 4,822 Car: 2000 Nissan Altima Rep Power: 20	I rarely see cops in my area, but I went out for a walk with a friend at like 11 at night. We went to the local shopping plaza and we saw a cop litterally doing laps around a block of stores. He was going pretty fast, I think he was just pushing the car a bit for some fun, I don't blame him, as it gets pretty boring around where I live. He wasn't close to hitting us or anything, he did like 2 laps around the block of buildings then disappeared. If you do call the cops they come very quickly and they are usually very civil and understanding. __________________ Check out my Gallery. Check out my Car.

July 29th, 2005, 05:35 PM	#4
Militant-Grunt Joined: Mar 14th, 2004 Last Online: November 30th, 2008 Location: New York City Age: 21 Posts: 476 Car: Audi A4 01.0 1.8T Quattro Rep Power: 21	NYC cops are pretty nice for the most part. Although if you do commit something wrong they will act fairly harshly. Just last week a guy scratched the hell out of my rear bumper on the ML. A cop saw it all, me and the guy in the other pulled into a bus stop to assess the damage. We call the cop over who saw the whole thing, the guy who hit me was trying to make a case when he was clearly at fault. Cop told him to shup up and step away, talked to me very nicely gave me a police report in my favor, shook his hand and thanked him, so it was all good. Id say NYC cops are fair. __________________ -Militant Grunt 2001.0 Audi A4 1.8T 2001 Mercedes ML 55 /////AMG

July 29th, 2005, 06:02 PM	#5
///M Joined: Feb 28th, 2005 Last Online: November 24th, 2008 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,067 Rep Power: 0	Toronto pigs are living scum. Some divisions are generally nicer, like downtown pigs, but pigs in my area are piles of shit. __________________

July 29th, 2005, 06:07 PM	#6
Firecat Politically Charged Joined: Mar 23rd, 2005 Last Online: 03:42 AM Posts: 3,610 Rep Power: 28	Cops in Orlando are alright. I've had some problems though.... Um, I guess the problem with cops in L.A. is that they are too "hollywoodized" __________________

July 29th, 2005, 06:10 PM	#7
///M Joined: Feb 28th, 2005 Last Online: November 24th, 2008 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,067 Rep Power: 0	http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...acodalogin=yes http://reodica.com/jeff/main.html That's the Toronto Pigs for ya. __________________

July 29th, 2005, 06:28 PM	#8
Renesis Lazier than Viper Joined: Nov 27th, 2003 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Quebec, Canada Age: 21 Posts: 9,677 Car: 2007 Pontiac G5 GT LFS Status: Rep Power: 0	Cops here are ok, they're just dumb and use their lights in order to go eat more donuts more quickly. Atleast they're not too arrogant or violent like in USA.

July 29th, 2005, 06:39 PM	#9
kanderson Joined: Sep 26th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Springville, Utah, USA Age: 40 Posts: 364 Car: AC Cobra 427 1965 restored Rep Power: 0	Well, that's a false generalization. Cops in different cities in the USA are as different from each other as cops in different countries are different from one another. The ones here in my small town are very polite, and would rather solve problems than create them. In the next town over, cops are power hungry, rude, and quoata-driven, and toward the end of the month they are looking for any excuse to write citations. It's really different from town to town. Los Angeles is the biggest police department in the world, and are constantly battling officer coruption and politics in the ranks. But other large departments, such as Seattle, have a culture of friendliness and politeness that you rarely see in L.A. While there are assholes in every group (police or not), the Chief of Police in each area really sets the tone and attitude for the department, and if the Chief is an asshole, the rest generally follow suit. I know in my town, the chief doesn't tolerate officer misbehavior and has fired officers that don't treat people well.

July 29th, 2005, 08:04 PM	#10
Firecat Politically Charged Joined: Mar 23rd, 2005 Last Online: 03:42 AM Posts: 3,610 Rep Power: 28	The biggest problem we are having in my city, or really in the entire state of florida, is tasering (especially of kids). __________________

July 29th, 2005, 09:34 PM	#11
zenkidori Banned For Trolling Joined: Jun 12th, 2005 Last Online: November 15th, 2007 Location: A mile high...and then some Posts: 4,809 Car: RX-7, Jeep Cherokee Rep Power: 0	Kanderson is right, the majority of police I have met in the states(and that's a lot of policemen) have been very courteous and even friendly, even when you've done something wrong. It really varies from county to county here in CO. Douglas County cops are either big jerks or really nice, the old ones tend to be jerks. DC is a pretty boring county for a cop, so they get bored and pull you over for no reason at night sometimes. In Denver they have bigger fish to fry so they rarely pull you over for simple traffic violations unless they are on traffic duty, and then they aren't really very mean at all. It really does vary. I got caught mid drift in Colorado Springs and the cop just laughed at me and sent me home(I was also trespassing on a National Park). Then in Morrison I was pulled over for doing 4mph over after a speed change. It just depends. The cops here aren't violent or anything, I've never been yelled at, but some of them can be jerks, just like anyone.

July 29th, 2005, 10:50 PM	#12
cvrefugee Joined: Aug 16th, 2004 Last Online: 12:57 AM Location: Corona, CA Age: 28 Posts: 3,399 Car: 2005 Scion xB Rep Power: 58	I've only had two run-ins with cops. The first time I was racing my parents Mercedes (and won, of course). A cop saw us and pulled me over (while my friend took off). He gave me a lecture and called my parents. I was under 18 at the time and it was past curfew, but he let me off with a warning. The second time I was pulled over for speeding. The officer was polite and asked for my license, registration, proof of insurance, etc. He came back 10 minutes later and gave me a ticket. He told me I can just go to traffic school since this was my first ticket.

July 29th, 2005, 11:56 PM	#14
///M Joined: Feb 28th, 2005 Last Online: November 24th, 2008 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,067 Rep Power: 0	I'll show someone respect when they show me respect. __________________

July 30th, 2005, 02:06 AM	#19
SL65 Ambitious but rubbish! Joined: Jul 12th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Sydney, Australia Age: 18 Posts: 9,123 Car: 1998 Subaru Legacy 2.5L Rep Power: 39	Generally speaking, cops in Aus are real bitches...especially come long weekends when the chance of loosing ur licence doubles. But if you do get pulled over, they are quite linient compared to other nations cops. There are a few crooked cops here and there but then again, where don't you find cops..Singapore? General public safety is a huge issue in Sydney At night time, there are certain parts of the city where tourists wouldnt want to go. Its kinda like BigBro here in that there are cameras being put up everywhere. __________________

July 30th, 2005, 02:20 AM	#20
kanderson Joined: Sep 26th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Springville, Utah, USA Age: 40 Posts: 364 Car: AC Cobra 427 1965 restored Rep Power: 0	If you get pulled over for speeding in the Las Vegas, Nevada area, they accept credit cards on the spot for the fine. I know, because I've had it happen to me many times. And if you don't live in Nevada, it doesn't go on your driving record, because speeding records are only kept for Nevada drivers. They just ding you for $300 and send you on your merry way.

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