you know, i have to agree with hammer here, that in my experience the majority of officers are perfectly decent. AS LONG AS you show them the same decency and respect that you expect them to show you.
i have a friend who "hates cops" because of some crap about them always bugging him when he was 14 for riding his scooter at night. he is constantly a dick to cops, shows them a ton of attitude, makes snide comments, demands to know what he did wrong, and basically is a prick. he even used to wave sarcastically at them and make stupid faces as he drove by. well, that ended one day when it got his g/f arrested because he drew attention to them. (she had an old warrant from her ex husband, she kicked him in the face after he knocked her on her *** once, he filed assault charges, anyway)
but basically what i'm getting at is, he's a prick to them, and they're pretty sh!tty right back. i, on the other hand, the few times i've dealt with the same officers, have no problems, and get fair, respectful treatment. why? because i do the same to them. i'm not a "victim", i'm a guy who was speeding, racing, smoking them, etc. if they happened to be around, and caught, it's my problem, not theirs. granted, it's a little disappointing, but, it's taught me a couple lessons in the past.
police officers are just guys doing their jobs. and the large % of them took the job because they want to help people and make things right as best they can, they're not "out to get" anyone, and i hate when people automatically condemn them just because they don't want to be "bothered" with laws. oh well.
The one thing i will say, though, is this: ALL police officers should be given significantly better training with both firearms, and vehicles. too many accidents happen because they are set loose to chase people down and have no training, and often no talent behind the wheel. and as far as firearms, i know there are a lot of cops that spend plenty of time at the range, and are fine marksmen, but too many think of the gun as something on his belt, and not a tool to be mastered for his and the public's safety. this should be changed, imo. in addition to having to run an obstacle course and scale a 6' wall, it should be required to pass a stringent combat course, and some serious high speed driving tests. this would weed out a lot more people, but i'd feel much better knowing that the guy in the white crown vic has 100% confidence and control. again, my opinion, but i think it's a good idea.
geez, i'm long winded these last couple days. sorry,
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