Why do people defend cops?

It's a system of legalized thugs with next to no accountability. And with all the camera's today it should be so much easier to realize the majority isn't the kind and empathetic humans you would want in that position. Power attracts pathological personalities and it is impossible to trust these types of individuals to protect us. Thoughts, bia's?

Not really. We are held quite accountable. Not only by the media, but by our own departments. I know plenty of guys put on administrative duty because they fvcked up.

You get exactly what you deserve from the Police. People who are respectful to me get respect back. People who aren't, don't.

Well cops get administrative leave for murder and for beating people, not really held as accountable as a regular person.

But they do a necessary duty.

I'm pretty almost nothing you said is actually true

The cops that see killing people and animals are a small minority of crazy cops consumed by power.

Most cops are cool people.

Administrative leave happens regardless. If the facts of an incident are in question they're not going to get suspended right on the spot. Innocent until proven guilty, amirite? A suspension w/o pay will only happen if there's incontrovertible proof that the police officer did something wrong.

The punishment scales with the crime committed. Cops go to jail just like everybody else. Just because some mope on GameSpot thinks something is murder doesn't make it so. I honestly believe there are very few instances where a cop gets away with something if it's been through the media. Just because the PD doesn't air its dirty laundry doesn't mean nothing happened.

Personal story. A well known and liked resident was murdered in my town the night before some deal with his soon to be ex wife. The ex wife's state cop boyfriend was the first on the scene, had fresh cuts on him (broke a window), and foot prints matched the exact size and shape of a pair of sneakers he owned. It took an unbelievable amount of outcry for them to even investigate their fellow officer.

Anecdotal and not common I know. And I'm sure you are a good guy but what happens when a good guy with a badge has a bad day, he could easily ruin someones life just for being disrespected. All I'm asking for is a little more accountability on their part, while on duty constant audio and video recording or something so they know their actions will have the same consequences as anybody else.

I don't know why I even started this, I know next to no one will agree.

Impossible! you're all a bunch of Brown Shirts oppressing the 99%, and killing minorities with no repercussions. It must be true! the internet said so

They really aren't held as accountable though. There are plenty of cases where cops get paid vacation, for killing someone without a reason or for beating someone.

And there are plenty of corrupt places where cops get away with most things.

Its pretty easy to see if a cop is formally charged with something (they usually aren't)

The truth is somewhere in between the first two posts.

Every large organisation will have some bad apples. But I agree that cops need to be held to a higher standard than the general public.

I don't think that's the case. Obviously I can't speak for every cop but I would be willing to bet that in most lethal force incidents the cop(s) had a reason. Whether that reason is justifiable(remember, all I have to prove is that my action was justified) is another thing entirely.

Obviously corruption will exist in places where there is little oversight. Not sure how that can be fixed, or held against Police Officers as a whole, when it's the civilian populace that can CHOOSE to create that oversight.

Being formally charged is not the same as being kicked out of the PD. You don't normally hear about cops losing their jobs for the very reason that I stated before.

Here, why don't you take some time to calculate how many cases there are of the cops not being held accountable out of the total number of cop related incidents, and then compare that to similar situations in the public. Perhaps generate some data, before making generalizations based simply on stories reported by the media

Because they aren't all corrupt?

Murder was a bad example, but lets be real police do get away with more than a citizen could.

They beat Rodney King an inch away from his life, and I believe only two officers got 32 months in prison. That's insane; the man suffered 11 fractures in his skull with permanent brain damage.

Well that's one of the problems, it easy for cops to justify things.

Well civilians can't really create oversight that easily in really corrupt places.

Well yeah the PD might kick someone out for something really bad (usually they just get paid leave though), but that's usually the end they usually aren't charged with a crime like a normal person would be in the same circumstances.

you keep making theses sweeping generalizations about the majority of cops, do you have any facts or data to back any of it up?

I'm not trying to do that because I don't agree with giving any human power over another.

^ I feel like right there is where if anybody was still listening to me, just stopped.

Because it's an idiotic statement

Nope. Authority figures are required to create order in society, Otherwise there would be chaos.

Because not everybody is stuck in an angst teenage state where they see the good guys as bad.

Grow up.

I'm sorry we couldn't have talked when you were at your best than.

Now I know you're joking. Fast food workers are some of the worst little assholes there are. Try to find a group more willing to spit in your food.

wth?

The problem with the police is that they tend to treat everyone as if they are the bad guy. They have a 'them vs us' attitude. A majority of them are on power trips and unlike what airshocker says they aren't held accountable for the real problem which is they act like assholes on a regular basis. And this logic where people say that the stuff that gets recorded is rare is fucking nonsense. There are thousands of videos of cops acting like assholes or criminals themselves with new videos every single week if not every single day. Those sorts of videos should be exceedingly rare but are all too common. And those are just the ones that end up on tape...

I still don't quite understand the hate for cops. They are humans just like everyone else so there will be mistakes made and a faction that think they are above the law. But I still think they do a helluva good job with the shit they have to deal with everyday compared to what they do bad.

I wonder how many "**** the police!" people around here will be the first to call them (Or wish they were around) when they are getting robbed at gunpoint or getting beaten half to death....

The world is built for angsty impressionable teenagers. Not old bucks stuck in their ways, putting progress on the back burner to keep things the way they are. Boom! Pass of the baton of global responsibility and we'll show you how to wreck this earth much faster than the geezers in charge.

Okay, then please show the data that proves "a majority of them are on power trips" and that a majority aren't held accountable, or that the majority act like assholes on a regular basis

You've clearly had some bad experiences with "the cops."

... and if you search the web you can certainly find some extreme examples of police misconduct.

But the fact is that most "cops" don't meet your negative steriotypes.

everyone hates cops until they need one

wth are you trying to say

Because people don't like to generalize

Try to find a group more poorly treated by their customers.

Perspective is everything.

According to Wikipedia there are approximately 800,000 police officers in the US.

The year has 365 days and the potential interactions with a member of the public per officer per day is obviously greater than 1.

It has been 22 years since the Rodney King incident there have been at least 6 billion police days.

Quite frankly it is astonishing that we don't have far far far more significant incidents.

It's not cryptic, dud. He put down angst ridden teenagers, saying he is no longer stuck in that state of mind, I referenced this period of his life as his best. Then you asked wth? so I took it a step further and said angsty teens could run the world better than its being ran today.

Because some people are smart enough to realize that there are almost 800,000 law enforcement officials in the US, and so even if every day for a year 20 officers made headlines news for some sort of corruption, that would still be less than 1% of all police officers.

That's just simply idiotic, and most likely untrue

Okay, so? One incident is a very poor benchmark of Police activity. Also, cops went to jail over it. I'm not seeing an injustice WRT the punishment.

I wouldn't be a good cop if I couldn't justify my actions.

That's not the community of police officers fault. I'm not sure why I'm being judged because there are corrupt places out there. Judge me on my actions, not the actions of others.

Again, you might only hear about paid leave. As I've said, the department doesn't really let it be known that a police officer was fired.

Jeez mang, is there anything you won't take seriously?

Depends on my mood

Why do people fly on planes when they keep crashing?

A subjective stance is fine unless it conflicts with objective facts.

@FuggaJ: I'm going to make an assumption that your criminal record, or the criminal record of a friend or family member isn't clean. It seems like most people who criticize the police had a negative run-in with them in the past even if it was their own fault.

Gang in Blue

Most cops I interact with are professional and respectful. True, some cops overstep their bounds, but it's incorrect to generalize that all cops.

The way I see it is, if you're obeying the law, you don't have anything to worry about.

The police are there to enforce the law, protect, and serve. Obviously there are going to be a few bad apples that slip through the cracks whether it's your typical fast food joint, a corporation, military, or the police but those bad apples do not represent the entire organization and usually those bad apples get fired, put on leave, retrained, or whatever. They are human afterall. The police are necessary and a lot of them are good men and women doing a dangerous and stressful job.

Well, they have done a lot of good for this country generally. Their organization has made plenty of mistakes, don't get me wrong, but they can seriously kick ass when it comes to major crime. Just respect them when you're approached by them, and most of the time they'll return the respect. Don't think stupidly.

I do not defend cops, most of them are as corrupted as the criminals they save us from.