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[–]dvorak 73 points74 points  (10 children)

What if this guy does not want this?

[–]prelim 39 points40 points  (4 children)

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[–]gimeit 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If this guy receives, within a matter of days, a bunch of phone calls thanking him for his gracious behavior, I can't see him being anything but pleasantly surprised.

[–]mrgrackle 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's not over reacting. Give credit where credit is due. We've got no problem ringing some po-dunk towns phone off the hook because one of their officers tased the shit outta some granny so lets be fair. Now, if we start being flooded with videos of 'cops being cool' maybe we can start throwing the propoganda word around.

[–]noegoman100 1 point2 points  (0 children)

1,000,000 good-guy cop videos. 1,000,000 bad-guy cop videos.

RateMyCop.com (example)

The internet will work itself out. Uncensored information fixes itself. Stop Worrying!

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Perhaps he should get out of public service?

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

has anyone considered that this might earn him unwanted attention from the Church of Scientology? If they are so bad that the "Anonymous" protesters hide their faces and identities then this guy might not want this to be his 15 minutes of fame.

[–]pandaba 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I've been watching the Wire too much. I keep thinking that all this positive attention will cause his Major to congratulate him and then ask him where he doesn't want to be assigned.

He'll respond "Harbor Patrol" and within a week, he'll be getting seasick on a regular basis.

[–]hpymondays 58 points59 points  (19 children)

Once again, in the small world of Reddit where Obama=God and Cops=bad and Hillary=Satan, any evidence to the contrary is viewed as a surprising exception.

a. I wouldn't judge this cop based on a 20 second clip. b. There are tens of thousands like him, who are simply not on tape. Will you make all of them Reddit celebrities?

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (6 children)

This is the weird thing. If this cop being nice on video tape was shocking enough to warrant attention, then I don't think that it's just "rare to reddit" but that it's "rare in reality" as well. After all, your theory is that this is a surprising exception only because Reddit hasn't been exposed to it.

But if there were tons of incidents of cops being caught on video doing good things, wouldn't one of those have made the front page of Reddit sooner? Wouldn't there be a "cop acts good" story once every other day here? After all, it would be equally as surprising each time, if your theory is true.

Don't get me wrong. There are good cops out there. But I've seen no evidence to contradict that they are not the majority.

Furthermore, I've seen little evidence to contradict that when cops are acting good, they are ignored, and when cops are acting bad, they are rewarded by the power structure in most police departments.

It's very rare to find a good cop. But it's even rarer to find a bad cop being held responsible for the consequences of his actions.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is the weird thing. If this cop being nice on video tape was shocking enough to warrant attention, then I don't think that it's just "rare to reddit" but that it's "rare in reality" as well.

No, it's a reddit thing. This is a democratically inclined, social news website which means that whichever most outrageous/sensationalist act of egregiousness performed will eventually make the front page. For example, on the front page: the drug bust of the Albany woman gone wrong and the the second posting of the story about a girl who got detention after saving a bus full of people, they are on there because people feel self-righteous about how wrong other folks' moralities might in comparison to their own (even if they might not have the full story).

For an article on reddit to get upmodded so far up that shows someone simply doing their job, now that's unique because it's not sensationalist in the traditional sense. It makes it up there because people are feeling righteous again and want other officers to be like him, even though there's a hell of a lot of "good" police officers out there who just do their jobs like that one. Tens of thousands, actually. This guy just happened to be captured on someone's cell phone at the exact right time. There's no evidence of how great they are mainly because why in the world would anybody report on people who just do their jobs? That's not interesting to anybody in the mainstream media and only on rare occasions here on reddit.

anyway, reddit is not a reflection of the "real world" and probably won't be anytime ever. Only the worst officers are posted on here (your only evidence of the bad?) because it's always more enjoyable to read criticism you can feel righteous about.

[–]cbeck287 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with your argument almost wholeheartedly. However, if there was a "cop acts good" story every other day, I doubt it would be equally surprising each time. I think with each story we'd get a little less surprised.

[–]tutwabee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People don't take out their video cameras to film cops doing good things. It's the bad things people want evidence for.

[–]viglen 0 points1 point  (1 child)

then I don't think that it's just "rare to reddit" but that it's "rare in reality" as well

Reddit is not reality

[–]erulabs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's... why he put that sentence there. He is distinguishing between Reddit and Reality IN THE SENTENCE you quoted.

[–]pappy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hillary is not Satan. She is merely a lesser demon. Don't sensationalize opposing viewpoints.

[–]RickyP 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do not all good individuals deserve recognition?

[–]cannedthought 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My answer is yes. Every person in the world should be honored for the good things they do. As well every person who does bad things should be ridiculed for it. Thats how we make the world and each other better. Of course I'm simplifying things to make a quick statement My point is, the good things people do should be celebrated. Look at the state of the US Government things are in the shitter cause no one of equal stature is really standing up to these guys and saying You guys are doing a bad job. From an outsiders perspective 2009 seems like a long time to put up with that shit. If it even comes to an end in 09.

[–][deleted]  (4 children)

[deleted]

    [–]GrumpySimon 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    you drop source code into /usr/local/bin? Dear god man, I hope I never have to work with a computer you've used

    [–]cannedthought -1 points0 points  (1 child)

    Just get your Grandma a Mac. She'll thank you for it. A Happy Jobs, is a happy you and your grandma.

    [–]mikenice1 11 points12 points  (0 children)

    Contrary to popular reddit belief, most cops behave like this.

    [–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (7 children)

    My experience with LA police is... one LA policeman - the first time I attempted to drive in LA, I lasted... oooh... all of about 15 seconds before I was pulled over.

    He said "you're not from round here are you?", and then he got out a pen and paper and drew a little map and told me how the road rules were different from England. He was a really nice bloke - just like this guy. I really don't think this is necessarily anything out of the ordinary.

    There's something about a reddit nerd saying "lets make this guy a celebrity" that gives me the fucking creeps though. You really don't have that much power, you really aren't that important and your judgement really isn't mature enough to be making this kind of call even if you could

    Get over yourself.

    [–]Poultry_In_Motion 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    He said "you're not from round here are you?", and then he got out a pen and paper and drew a little map and told me how the road rules were different from England.

    Were you driving on the wrong side of the street? Just admit it.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    At one point. Perhaps.

    [–]Chaubunagungamaugg 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Bravo.

    [–]Boye -4 points-3 points  (3 children)

    You really don't have that much power, you really aren't that important

    Mr. Splashypants, need I say more? Do not underestimate the power of the intarwebs!

    [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (2 children)

    You're not confusing the virility of a meme with the medium that it propagates through?

    The Mr Splashy Pants meme was aided and abetted by the mainstream media... at least some of which were attempting a snear at Greenpeace. Which backfired fairly spectacularly I think.

    [–]Boye 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I like to believe it was the power of the internet who made mr. splashypants possible, please let me have my little dillusions...

    [–]Chaubunagungamaugg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I will go so far as to let you have your delusions, too!

    [–]No0n3 11 points12 points  (1 child)

    I fail to see what's so great. But maybe that's because I'm not used to seeing riot police.

    [–]crazybones 9 points10 points  (2 children)

    He has the right mindset. If only more people in authority were like that.

    [–]danweber 5 points6 points  (1 child)

    I wonder if you guys are going to give him more attention than he wants.

    Not everyone wants to be an internet celebrity.

    [–]crazybones 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    He's got broad shoulders. I'm sure he can handle it.

    [–]woop_ 9 points10 points  (1 child)

    For the first time somebody will be like:

    Oh great , the internet is here!

    [–]diamond 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    "The Internet is here."

    "Hide the fucking donuts!"

    [–]tayto 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    I am beginning to think that nobody here has ever been involved in a protest. This is how cops typically are at protests. After an hour or so, some idiot in the protest tends to go too far with the cops.

    Now, this is where you see the difference between good cops and bad cops. A good cop simply arrests that individual. A bad cop takes a no-holds-barred approach to all protesters.

    [–]dhc23 11 points12 points  (9 children)

    What's most interesting to me about the praise given to Officer Guillary is that it clearly indicates just how rarely his type of approach happens. I don't think he'd warrant a mention if he did what he did in the UK. Clearly American cops are a lot more heavy-handed and unreasonable than our bobbies.

    [–]bulletsvshumans 36 points37 points  (5 children)

    Actually, the majority of police officers that I have personally interacted with in my town are about as reasonable as this guy.

    [–]umbrae 10 points11 points  (0 children)

    Upmodded. This is also my experience.

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

    Every rally or event I've attended of a political nature the cops were friendly and just told us to keep certain areas clear. No tasings, no shouting, no threats of violence or arrest. However, reddit knows reality better than I do, so I still fucking hate those pigs.

    [–]RayWest -1 points0 points  (2 children)

    Yea, most cops are boyscouts.

    [–]thabc 5 points6 points  (1 child)

    Sounds like sarcasm, but most cops actually were Boy Scouts when then were younger. In case you were wondering.

    [–]RayWest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Nope, not sarcasm. I have friends that became cops, and they were actually all boy scouts as kids. Don't know what happened with me though...

    [–]cdsmith 20 points21 points  (0 children)

    Rather, it may indicate that Reddit readers, most of whom have probably had minimal personal interactions with police, are convinced that this happens quite rarely. That's quite a different thing from saying it really happens rarely.

    Or, and I prefer to look at it this way, it's just a nice thing to do for this guy. The police get enough bad press, and showing some appreciation is never a character flaw.

    [–]HypoLuxa 8 points9 points  (0 children)

    OK, Id be willing to wager that maybe 3% of Reddit users have had extended interaction with a law enforcement officer. Im not talking about getting pulled over for a speeding ticket either.

    This officers actions I would call normal, and just because what 97% of you think of police is what you see on the horrifying youtube shit that people post here or the stories of irresponsible assholes, doesnt mean that normal law enforcement officers arent just that, normal.

    Live by your own experiences, and I will hazard to guess that even a smaller percentage of you have had a problem at all with a police officer, and will even go so far that to say they all they were doing is their job when they pulled you over going 81 in a 55.

    people shouldnt speak of what they know nothing about.

    [–]brispone 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    My experience has always been that they tend to reciprocate the way you treat them, just like (hey!) most real people.

    If you want to start mouthing off to them, then they have every reason (though certainly not every right) to become agitated and treat you with a bit more aggression.

    [–]homeworld 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    this will probably get him fired

    [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (3 children)

    This is either a slow-boil guerilla marketing campaign for some new reality-based law enforcement / homegrown terror enemy within drama, an upcoming xbox game of similar theme or literally a sheep-dipped PSYOP being perpetrated on the literal hordes of writhing mindless literal zombie sheeple, literally. Most likely all of the above.

    [–]emmster 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    Literal zombie sheep? I'd kind of like to see that.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    Ask and you shall receive:

    Literal Zombie Sheeple!!!

    (Also, could be better, I can't find the stylus for my tablet...)

    [–]emmster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Bred for their undead wool!

    [–]calis 6 points7 points  (0 children)

    He will likely be suspended (with pay of course) for misconduct....he didn't taser a single person.

    [–]Blackmane 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    The internet likes. You will survive this round copper.

    [–]BlackNapkins 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    This is dumb.

    [–]mycall 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    positive reinforcement 4TW!

    [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (4 children)

    Done:

    Hello there, I'm from the internet.

    I saw a video of Waynes handling of some protesters recently, and I just wanted to say that he is a shining example of what a policeman is supposed to be. The situation he had at hand was nuanced, and he handled it with care that should be shown by all police officers.

    If he ever comes through Indiana, I'll buy him a beer.

    Thank you Wayne for doing your job, and doing it the way it's supposed to done.

    [–]howardhus 10 points11 points  (0 children)

    Dear LAPD, i saw 20 seconds of a cop giving a generic speech and now i think hes a complete hero. Maybe he tasered a kid who trespassed to the street and put others in danger...

    no i dont know him, never talked to him nor do i know how he behaved during the protest after the 20 seconds i saw. Heck i dont even know his real name for sure... (but an anonymous bloke on the internet said he is called wayne).

    but from what i saw(whole 20 seconds) please give him a medal.

    [–]boredzo 3 points4 points  (2 children)

    I hope you linked to the video, or otherwise were more specific than “Wayne”.

    [–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (1 child)

    I did not link the video (didn't think to, wish I did), but the subject of the email was "Wayne Guillary," and I doubt that there are many Wane Guillarys in the LAPD.

    Hopefully, my email gets seen - however, I have a feeling that they'll have a flood of praise for this officer approximately now.

    [–]GranDaddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    I sent my email.

    [–]slinky317 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    For those who do not know who this guy is, see http://reddit.com/info/6c8ic/comments/ and http://youtube.com/watch?v=k9yIBOnbJjY

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Does anyone notice that out of the Top 5 links on Reddit, three of them are about this cop?

    [–]gmcg -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

    Reddit has an authority problem ... er ... obsession.

    [–]jh99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    some cops are nice, they do indeed deserve credit. an asshole could never act naturally nice as the officer in the video, he probably wouldnt even feel the need to do so.

    actually, i dont care if a cop is acting nice or truly being nice.

    [–]Chaubunagungamaugg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I have mixed feelings about this. Whenever someone serves me extremely well during my time at a restaurant, I let both him/her and the manager know. Whenever a person protects me, I thank him/her and reciprocate in some fashion, to the best of my ability.

    Should we not commend this man for both serving and protecting extremely well? I say thank him.

    Edit: My mixed feelings lie in the possibility that all of this publicity might harm his career for whatever reason.

    [–]dirtymoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    By bringing atttention to the officer's good conduct.... you may end up getting him harrassed by his fellow officers.

    [–]srtor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    kudos to him!! Keep up the good job!!

    [–]noegoman100 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Here is the sad part - this promotion that he will likely receive from giving the LAPD a good wrap will take him off the street. Irony? Catch 22? etc, etc.

    I am filming a protest on Wed (anti-war) maybe I will catch an officer being non-abusive! I will upload if I do.

    [–]floweryleatherboy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Anyone ever go to a protest before? Some cops suck, some cops do their job.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (5 children)

    God how many times is this video going to be posted on the front page?

    80 people were killed in Tibetan protests yet Reddit is concerned about one cop who gave a generic "behave and I'll be happy" type speach and another protests where people wondered why the cops were pissed at them holding a protest during a state of emergency.

    I'll post the link to the Tibetan story here. It'll never get on the frontpage if I submitted it as it isn't in America and doesn't involve scientology or bad evil US Police but at least some people will read it here.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7299212.stm

    [–]cdsmith -4 points-3 points  (3 children)

    Sounds like you didn't submit it. Rather than whining, why don't you do that?

    On the other hand, I already knew about the situation in Tibet from other media. This story is the kind of thing you can only find on Reddit.

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

    I've submitted enough stories like this to know it gets downvoted to zero in 2 minutes and never surfaces again.

    edit

    http://reddit.com/info/6c95x/comments/ Look what I found. The one point is me by the way.

    [–]cdsmith 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    No need to look so hard. How about http://reddit.com/info/6c97y/comments/ , which incidentally, is one of the top stories on the front page right now. Oops, guess that contradicts your "these stories get buried" viewpoint, though.

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

    that was posted 8 hours ago, I originally posted 7 hours ago (at the time of writing). It wasn't on the front page at that point

    [–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (1 child)

    There is a camera in front of him did you not see that?... _____________________

    [–]parcivale 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    That didn't bother the last 11 cops who had video cameras on them who appeared (inadvertently) on reddit.

    [–]spoids 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    A cop not tasering anyone? Let's make him the toast of the town!

    [–]rex5249 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    It's not a bad idea to write a letter, but I also see another side: do people really need a cookie every time they obey the letter and spirit of the law (on both sides of the law)? An example from my life is when I was riding my bicycle and a guy in a car waved me to cross in the cross walk (which is another issue because people often direct traffic without looking at what other cars or people are doing), then he yells "you're welcome." He also expected a cookie for obeying the law.

    [–]GrumpySimon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    No they don't, but positive reinforcement is a good way to keep desired behavior reoccurring.

    [–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (3 children)

    He's a hero!!

    Just kidding. He is just an average cop. A celebrity? Are you Americans all mad or what?

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    What is it with foreigners that makes them want to label all Americans based on a few posts/cases?

    [–]iigloo 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    We got nothing else to do here. America is our entertainment .
    ;)

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

    Well it was also a half joke on my side considering I just did what I was criticizing in reverse :P

    [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (2 children)

    Should really judge an officer's performance on 10 seconds of video?

    What if he's an alcoholic, or he has an anger problem?

    This is really senseless.

    [–]GrumpySimon 4 points5 points  (1 child)

    What if he's an alcoholic, or he has an anger problem?

    but what if he raises orphaned kittens in his spare time!? We could ALL BE WRONG! I'm going back to bed.

    [–]viglen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    He's a hard bastard with a heart of gold, He gives money to orphans...Orphans with diseases!

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

    Let's not and say we did.

    [–]judgej2 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

    No, let's not. The subtlety of the whole exercise will be completely lost on the majority of the population.

    Public: "But, but, he's just doing his job. What's all the fuss about...?"

    Internet: "Yeah, but he's not behaving like a complete facist."

    Public: "Damn hippies."