Hate Cops?

[PKRWUD]

I'm not here to tell you you're wrong, because you most definately have your reasons. I personally have mixed feelings, which I've discussed in Skyman's thread, but I wanted to share something with you all. This is an email I received from another member of this website on April 4th. He's a cop in Florida, and I haven't seen him around here much in the past several months, for personal reasons. We have spoke on the phone before, and I firmly believe him to be one of "the good guys". I'm not sharing this email to take away from anyone elses feelings, because like I said, I'm sure they are all well deserved. I just want to let you get a glimpse into the mind of a real cop doing real work. Out of respect, I'm not going to ID the author, but I'm sure if he see's this, he'll cop to it (pun intended).

It was titled "Venting".

Hi everyone. Here in Palm Beach County today, I attended a funeral for a friend I never knew: Deputy Donald Schavolt. He died on Easter Sunday from a massive heart attack after fighting with a resistant teenage prisoner who had threatened to kill Deputy Schavolt as he charged him. Like all police funerals, the display of uniforms from throughout the state was impressive. I would estimate about 600-700 officers were present. Donald left behind four children and a wife, Dana. Dana and Donald were friends of my father.
When I came home today, emotionally spent and tired, I turned on the news. I wanted to see the funeral coverage with the hopes that the media actually did some good for a change and gave Donald the respect he deserved. Instead, what I saw was another tragedy. A fellow officer in Lantana, a neighboring city to my jurisdiction, was found dead in a lake behind his home after being reported missing for two days. Ofc. Jan Ickes covered my back many times, as I did for him since he worked the north end of his city and I cover the south end of mine-we met up quite often.
It's been a rough week for law enforcement here in Palm Beach county. Last month, a coworker of mine's brother was killed in the line of duty in Louisiana. He was shot in the face after a high speed pursuit of a bunch of juveniles who had attempted to defraud a bank with bad checks.
This world is a rather shitty place to live. Some of you on my "To" list are fellow officers and see more of this filth than the general public. The others on this list are people I care about that we swore to protect. If you are a religous person, say a prayer for these two officers. If not, just give a thought to what police officers do on a daily basis. Get out of your head that we are ticket writing, harrassing, trouble making, do nothing wimps hiding behind a badge. I wonder how many times Ofc. Ickes and Deputy Schavolt heard that. I wonder how many times their families, their children, their widows, will hear that in the future-it's only getting worse.
I just needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

FWIW, this gemtleman is a speed-loving Mustang owner, who takes pride in his car, and appreciates and respects others who have devoted so much time to a hobby they love so much.

Take care,
-Chris

[DRASTiK]

I want to reply to this, but now I'm speechless. I guess it's just something to think about, and hopefully an eye opener to some. I'll just leave it at that.

Dear Chris, I am so sorry to hear of this bad and tragic turn of events, when I was about 19 one of my best girlfriends married a cop and he was on duty one night and was involed in a shot out of some punks in a building needless to say they gunned him down, he was only 20 at the time with 2 very young children and of course a wife, my friend, reading this reminded me of that tragic day and the sacrafice that our law and order put forth when they put that uniform on......I will say a prayer for the familys and light a candle... wish there was more I could do...you also will be in my prayers, I know how hard this must be for you...take care......Hugs.. Odie

[StoplightWarrior]

My take on cops is this:

You cannot stereotype an entire profession based on the actions of a few. Mostly, my experience with police officers has been ok. I just HATE it when I see a cop sitting outside my house (i live on a very busy road) waiting for a speeder to go by, and he sits there for literally half an hour. What a waste of time just to give some guy heading home from work a ticket for going 47 in a 35. We need traffic enforcement, but there are real crimes going on too that I feel deserve WAY more attention. Speed traps are just plain stupid.

[The Deuce]

A good friend of mine is a detective locally. When I met him he was a SWAT Seargant and rode a motorcycle. Now this guy will talk freely about how bad things used to be, cops beating people up, etc, from other departments and many years ago. He is an avid car guy, even though his current hot rod is a '56 Bel Air. When I asked him if would race my bike he just smiled and said, "We'll talk." We will...
I also have had more than one run in with the other side of the law, and know they like to harass people for sport. The worst I've seen is up in Santa Barbara (IV especially).
Generally speaking patrol cops rate pretty low on the ladder of law enforcement. I don't think anyone grows up thinking they want to be a traffic cop. With this in mind, consider the following...

Do you like your job? Are you happy to go into work in the morning? Chances are most people will say no. Do people recoil when they hear what you do? Does the general public make fun of your profession and think you spend your time harassing them? Probably not. This would make a not so good job terrible and you may want revenge on society for all the crap you get. Just a thought for the next time you pass a cop on foot, be polite it may get you leniancy later.

Chris, tell your buddy thanks, and that I am praying for those families.

[tireburner163]

Hey this is it, plain and simple. Cops are people and some people are jerks, and some people are cool. Get it, got it, Good.

[Ponycar_302]

Do you like your job?

No.

Are you happy to go into work in the morning?

No.

Do people recoil when they hear what you do?

Sometimes.

Does the general public make fun of your profession and think you spend your time harassing them?

All the time.

I work as a corrections officer in a maximum security prison. The only difference between corrections and police are:
1. CO's get paid less. (Not always true though)
2. We know who the bad guys are.

I don't want a cop's job. I know a lot of cops who don't want mine. Hell, I don't want my job! There aren't many people who have to go to work and worry about being shot. It's a real threat for the boys in blue. I don't worry about being shot because there are no firearms in jail. I do pray every day that I won't be raped by multiple men during a riot or hostage situation.

I never give cops a hard time. They are just doing the job they are paid to do. Even if they are violating policy you'll be hard pressed to prove it. The judge will most likely side with them. Just take the ticket and pay it. There is not much else you can do. If you're going to be arressted for something, and will most likely spend time in jail, RUN!!! If you think cops are bad, CO's are 10 times worse.

[czstang1701]

Hey this is it, plain and simple. Cops are people and some people are jerks, and some people are cool. Get it, got it, Good.

amen.

[PKRWUD]

Originally posted by StoplightWarrior
Speed traps are just plain stupid.

They are also illegal in California. The cops can use radar, but they have to be in plain sight.

Just thought you might want to know.

Take care,
-Chris

[6T9PONY]

Tireburner hit the nail on the head.

Hey this is it, plain and simple. Cops are people and some people are jerks, and some people are cool. Get it, got it, Good.

This is exactly true. The bad thing is, in my hometown (Pop. 6000), most of the cops are pricks. MOST--not all.

That's a pretty whack story. I feel sorry for that guy, and the officers that were killed and their familes. That's rough...

[czstang1701]

THey are illegal? All over my town cops will hang around corners where they cannot be seen. So thats illegal?

[joe4speed]

I remember hearing this on the news here, and I know the cops here get a shitty deal most of the time... Of course I've known some jerks, but I've known way more cool ones then jerks. I feel for the family of them, and know it's a real hard profession. I couldn'tdo it. My friend, Thad on this board bought his 12 sec Stang from a Riveria Beach officer, so not all cops are against fast cars as we all know!
Good viewpoint, Tireburner!

[93blkGTfun]

I'm a firefighter here in Indiana and after working with some sheriffs and policemen, I wanted to see what their job was like. I think it is the hardest job I know of. Firefighting is hard, dangerious, and firefighters die too, but I am glad that I never have to get worried about being shot, or fighting someone to the ground to save my life. Most of the stuff we did that night was respond to calls from white trash losers who were hopped up on meth, fighting with their wife/husband because of some stupid crap that makes no sense. The officer had to sit and argue with people that were acting like 10 yr olds. I know that they are just people too, and that they make bad judgement calls, but they work hard, and risk their lives and die, alot of times over stupid stuff, for a very, very small pay check.

but i still chringe whenever a cop follows me for more than 10 seconds!!!

[StoplightWarrior]

Originally posted by czstang1701
THey are illegal? All over my town cops will hang around corners where they cannot be seen. So thats illegal?

Yeah. WTF??!?! I let my brother drive my GT the other day and he was cruising down a straight road. The posted limit was 30, he was doing 47. He passed a brick wall, and there happened to be a cop sitting on the other side of it, hidden from oncoming traffic. The cop pulled him over, and my bro just paid his $200 ticket! Is it illegal for sure??

[69fastback]

Yes it is illegal in califonia. Not very many people know that so the cops hide all the time. My freind just went threw the Highway patrol acadamey and he told me that if a cop writes me a ticket and i couldn't see him cuz he was hiding then it was not a vaild ticket. So for those of you that live in Califronia you can fight any ticket where the cop was hiding.

[93blkGTfun]

it's not illegal here in Indiana

[Crazy Horse GT]

as a firefighter in the navy & as an ex-soilder in a war, no i don't hate cop's,yeah josh said it best, i was scared as hel- everyday in iraq, so i know cop's face this danger everyday,even though some are as--- not all are they are just people with the worst job in america, so, i salute them, even if they give me a ticket, hey i was speeding right?

[Skyman]

There good cops and bad cops, assholes and nice ones. Its just like life, theres assholes and nice people out there. Just the power of the job probably gets to some of their heads, so we have a few more assholes than is most other professions. I have nothing against cops as a whole, just the few dickheads that create the reputation for the rest of them.

Skyler

[SilverPoet]

ITA, there are good cops and there are bad cops and sometimes the ones that annoy you might not necessarily be bad even.

For example: I generally drive home late at night or early in the morning from my friends house. She lives in the one of the few areas in MN that still is "in" the suburbs but is still mostly country. Lots of people around there own horses...it's really really nice. So I head home, I use a couple of dirt roads and the cops just love to sit there and try to find any reason to pull you over. Now, I know that they are trying to catch the majority of teenagers that are either out after curfew or the drunks, BUT I'm not them. So little old me, 'cruisin home in my Intrepid, becomes a target like everyone else.

This isn't to say that I don't HATE when it's fog so thick you can't see five feet in front of my car and I have a cop RIDING my tail. It's annoying and unneccessary. BUT I just do the most fun thing to piss them off. Give them no reason to pull me over. Just slow right on down to 15 MPH and let them ride my bumper until they decide I'm no fun.

[Robocop]

Sorry to hear of the loss of a good cop.Even though I did not know this man it is still a loss felt by any who wear a badge.I can relate to this as I also wear a badge for Birmingham Al. police dept.I have been to many friends and co-workers funerals and I can say that it is never easy to bury a fellow cop.I have spoke ,in detail, about cops in other threads on this forum and I will sum all this up by saying that most cops start out as decent people.The system usually changes them.By the system I mean low pay,long hours of shift work,death and danger on a daily basis,and criminals with more rights than honest hard working people.I hate to see any cop abuse his power but usually behind all the ego is a good person at heart.Cops are a necessary part of life and they stick together like glue so any loss of one is a loss for all.I think this is a tradegy for all involved especially the fallen officers family and my as well as thousands other brother officers thoughts are with his family.