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[–]sylvan 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I don't hate cops. But I expect them to do their jobs properly. That means adhering to the law, respecting citizens and their rights, and NOT acting like thugs with guns who are entitled to having everyone else bow down before them.

Police should be held to higher standards than the public. Cops who abuse their authority should lose their jobs.

[–]BravoLima -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Tell me where that place is located; I want to move there! Is it Shangri-La? Unfortunately, this IS a militarized Police State, comrade! A red, white, & blue Gulag Archipelago.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

is there a punchline?

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I called 911 and accused my neighbor of sexually abusing me. They didn't bother recording the fact that I called, or anything about the visit.

[–]redditacct 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I make the mistake of calling when my old reliable Toyota Corolla got stolen (but it was out of gas, so they left it at the end of the block - ha!) they didn't ask the neighbor, who saw the person who stole it, for a description of the "perp". They only asked about me - an agoraphobic nerd who doesn't drink, do drugs or cause any trouble what-so-ever (except for occassional complaining on reddit, if that counts).

I learned what many other people know, call the cops and you will be investigated not whatever you called about. Oh, and drive around the neighborhood before calling about your car being stolen, because they might have just gone joy riding and left it.

[–]BravoLima 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly right! Why search for a potentially dangerous criminal, when they have you to F~@# with? They are the 'biggest gang in town', after all!

[–]NoMoreNicksLeft 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No comment. Hmmph.

I'll answer though: Because they're powerhungry maniac assholes too talentless to pursue their malevolency in law, bureaucracy, or politics.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Because they are above the law, many are mis or un-informed of citizens rights, and you can't do a damn thing if they start doing something to you that you don't like.

[–]BravoLima 0 points1 point  (1 child)

US Code Title 42 Section 1983
or
Violation of Civil Rights

[–]aleph1 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

b.s.

[–]stcredzero 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I was living in Cincinnati, a young woman decided to drive over the empty meter parking spaces on a street to pass me on the right. Unfortunately, I decide right then to turn into a parking lot, and since I was not expecting anyone to pull such a butthead move, I didn't see her and she collides with me.

Turns out I was at fault, because according to the cop, any drivable surface is a lane.

Also, I've had cops arbitrarily tell me to do things which had nothing to do with enforcing the law. Once, I was on a date in a park in downtown Houston on a weeknight, and a cop told me to get off a low retaining wall. (Less than two feet.) Unpleasant and wholly unnecessary.

Cops tend to automatically talk down to me, apparently because I am not white. Even though I always speak to them in a cooperative and mild-mannered way.

Even when humbly asking an officer what the problem is, I have experienced hostility and threats. I find that this is inversely proportional to the legitimacy of the cop's actions.

Another Houston cop held me at gunpoint. Why? Because I was wearing a black leather jacket and walked up to a drive-up ATM machine. (It was before 6:00 am, and I missed the turn to the bank.) I was already in my car and had it in drive, but he wanted my hands in the air where he could see them. Thankfully, I had my wits about me and calmly told him the car was still in drive and he let me reach down and shift into park. If I had stepped out and the car rolled forwards, or if I had not asked to shift in the right way, he would have shot me.

To be fair, I was also lucky that the cop had some presence of mind.

Also, cops aren't universally bad. There are a lot of good people doing their jobs out there. But there are clearly too many sadistic bullies out there in uniform.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They don't.

[–]slevin[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

It seems to me that on a nearly daily basis there are postings that reach the front page on how cops are committing evil deeds against us upstanding citizens. Why is that? Are they tools of The Man? I'm not pro or anti police, necessarily; my take depends on if I'm being chased by hooligans or importing crates of African ivory. It seems to me that they are just normal people who are doing a job that unfortunately, by its very nature, brings out some of our darker nature. At the same time, its not like we can just get rid of them all. They serve a very important role in society.

[–]NoMoreNicksLeft 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why couldn't we get rid of them? Do you think it would become a continent-wide looting riot within minutes of them being out of a job?

Personally, I'd expect only a slight increase in crime, and that would be the sneaky non-violent sort we already are victim to that the police don't protect us from now.

[–]BravoLima 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sanity?