Will US LEO's become emasculated in the future?

I think a lot of LEOs need to be knocked down a peg or four, they had an attitude when they took the job and just got more miserable as time went on.
I've watched cops several time on TV and it always appeared to me that the cops in the northeast had the best demeanor and personalty where as the cops in the south and west were always looking for a fight or a reason to use their clubs or guns. As one retired cop said, they are gun happy.
The cops in Boston, Jersey City, Buffalo to name a few seemed to not get excited or be scared of anything, where as the cops in Las Vegas, Phonix, Houston to name a few are always screaming show me your hands, get on the ground, stop resisting while all the time 4 to 8 cops would be jumping on the person.
A couple weeks ago was the first time i had been stopped in 30 yrs other than the regular road cks for drunks, seat belts, inspection stickers, ect.
the cop had a nice attitude when i asked what the problem was,and he told me in a nice way.

Some cops would have said " Gimmy your licence and reg, ins card, you were speeding on my road in my town, stay in your car while i write the ticket, that's where most of the trouble starts with the public and the cops, their high and mighty snotty attitude, some people put on the badge and gun and the public must get on their knees for them.

I took one of my sons to boat safety class yrs ago when he was young, the class was taught be a couple deputies, one of the deputies was so miserable and snotty to some of the people that they left. the deputy finally rubbed the wrong person and is a school bus driver now.
I';m not anti police but i believe a better screening process could be done and they could be on probation for a longer period of time with strangers from the state spot cking them from time to time. just because they got a high mark on the test and can swing a club is no reason to give them a gun
 
Huchahucha,
But the one thing that always stays constant is the low pay wage. As more and more things become criminalized the risks for the officers will become greater. Eventually they will say enough is enough and just stop responding

our cops get 70 thousand a yr. when they leave the academy, that should buy anyone a little smile but it's the same old story, man wants job, but when he gets it, he's looking for a raise the first week or starts crying about putting his life on the line for you, yet he asked for the job, he was not drafted.
 
These threads kill me; the tough part is that I don't know whether to laugh or cry as I read the responses.

Stepped (sorta got shoved, actually) in behind a badge 30 years ago. Ex-military folks (which I wasn't) were preferred candidates. A homosexual couldn't get within 300 yards of a badge. Jimmy Carter was pretending to be president and you could smoke a cigar while patrolling your district. You could wear cowboy boots, your NRA "Expert" pin; hell you could wear stag handles on your six-shooter if you wanted. Since you only had six rounds, you sensed (if you had any sense) that you might want to make them count-so you practiced, and probably loaded your own ammo so you could afford to practice. You also carried a blackjack or hickory baton. The force standard was the same as it is now; "reasonable and necessary". That usually meant a polite request to "come along quietly" but failing that it went to "thump-drag" pretty quick. Confrontations were usually one-on-one, unless we were "storming" a building. This usually involved a lot of guys in uniforms with shotguns and a sledgehammer.

Today's preferred candidate is a college grad; gays (see, I can be a little PC) might occupy any seat from the next patrol district, to the US Senate. Bush is just being Bush; he's not pretending, but sometimes we wish he was. Smoking anything legal is anathema, nobody even owns cowboy boots and 'NRA" is a dirty word in most LE circles- especially among carreer climbers. The guns are now plastic & hold a handfull of ammo, but we seem less concerned with meaningful accuracy than ever before. Stag handles are 'out' would probably just offend the PETA's and Greenies, anyhow. The force standard reads the same, but newbies carry Buck Rogers zappers and batons that look like a mutant car antennae. "Thump-drag" is severely discouraged, but it is nothing to see videos of three cops shocking the pi** out of a smart-aleck college kid, while they tell him to 'get up.' We now use mask wearing ninja-cops for tasks that were once accomplished buy guys in uniforms.

Emasculated? Yes and no.. but if the intention was to make LE less threatening to the public- I don't think it worked. Many of the responses here reflect a distrust of, or outright animosity towards, law enforcement. I wish I had met some of you in person, before you felt that way.

In the old days, I could walk into any eatery in town, wearing my un-tactical uniform replete with stags, NRA pin and cowboy boots, cigar in my shirtpocket, and sit down next to a gease-monkey or a state rep, and *usually* get a big smile and a "Mornin' Officer; how are you today?" I often got some good intelligence during the ensuing conversations. Little kids have approached me on the street for nothing more than a hug. I picked them up and patted their back, and returned them to their Mommas, who were smiling, too. 'Community policing' was nothing new to most of us; and we didn't have to form a committee and write a mission statement, to make it work. We just did it.

I'm with you, Sulaco- "Glad I am near retirement....Let them take on the savages I will sit on the hill and laugh when they call..."

Amen, Brother.
 
Emasculated? Yes and no.. but if the intention was to make LE less threatening to the public- I don't think it worked. Many of the responses here reflect a distrust of, or outright animosity towards, law enforcement. I wish I had met some of you in person, before you felt that way.
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I think you'd be surprised...for instance, I'm one of the more vocal "anti-LEO" guys here, and I still have a strong respect for police officers in general and appreciate what you do. I have friends who are police officers (why does that always sound like the old "I have lots of black friends!"), and being in the National Guard I've known plenty. Most have been good guys, and like a vast majority of cops they themselves are honest.

I'm a "Mornin, officer," kinda guy myself...and not just the few times that I've been pulled over. A vast majority of the time that I've had to interact with police, they've either been helpful (if I wanted them there) or courteous (if I...didn't so much).

Heck, I've spent conversations defending the actions of LEOs before. A recent standoff around here went south, and I was very quick to defend the actions of the police on scene...had they gone another route, it probably would have still gone south (it was a lose-lose situation), and people'd have been wondering why they didn't instead take the route they actually took. I've used the "he's just doing his job" line many a time myself.

However. When I see or hear about something that appears to suggest police wrongdoing, I am not somebody who instantly assumes the cops must be in the right. I'm going to be extremely critical. Part of the reason for this is because the public has been given little to no reason to believe that police will actually police their own. Anything short of sodomizing people in the stationhouse bathroom with broomsticks, and other cops will tend to look the other way. Between that and the increased militarization of police, and the public has reason to believe that we have somehow become "the enemy." These are not the kind of things that build trust.

You want the real reason I personally don't trust cops? Stems from a single incident. A police officer has a prolonged sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl I know, in a state where 14-year-old girls are very much off limits to 35-or-so year old police officers. When she reports this to the police, they neglect to recommend a rape kit be done to collect physical evidence, even though she stated to them she had had sex with him just hours before. Maybe it was just a coincidence. However, now we've got a cop who commits statutory rape and never sees a day in jail (doesn't even get kicked off the force) because a couple other cops just happened to screw up that day. Fortuitous indeed...for the cop, that is.

Now, the distrust stemming from this incident is the only reason I ever bothered to read up on "no-knock" raids, or pay attention to any headlines involving use of excessive force or other police corruption. Once you start looking for such things, they aren't hard to find. Yet LEOs will still expect you to assume all police are "good guys" and just doing their job. Sorry, the few bad apples managed to burn all that trust in the eyes of most of the public a long time ago.

This doesn't mean that I think every officer I pass on the street is some dirtbag looking to pump 31 rounds into me at the first opportunity. Most cops really are good guys (despite their tendency to look the other way when it comes to their own). But by the time an officer makes headlines, I'm probably not going to be nearly as forgiving and assume he did the right thing. Innocent until proven guilty is for juries...and I'd honestly rather see bad cops walk free (though preferably off the force) than good cops go to jail. But I'm still going to call them bad cops.
 
invssgt, I'm right there with you.

I may be showing my age but I can still do those things. I do not have stag grips on my 45 (too expensice) but another sergeant with my department has them on his 45. Yes, they are cocked and locked and safer than the plastic guns of which I also have. I still wear boots while in and out of uniform. The NRA is not a bad thing but I have never been one to wear anything on my uniform other than what is needed. I have no tazer, carry only 25 bullets (9 in gun and two 8 round mags), no baton, and dress in a dark blue shirt and light colored pants with a metal badge I wear proudly. I can still go into eating places and have people come up and thank me for doing my job. Even out of uniform people will go out of their way to say "hi" and drink a cup of coffee with me. Most places want leo's in their store and will not allow me to pay for coffee. No, I'm not asking for freebies. I have tried to pay and even gotten into friendly disagreements with managers who refuse to take my money for coffee or a coke. I still enjoy my job after 16 years; 8 of which was as a reserve.

I still enjoy taking calls for assistance and often find myself sitting down with warring spouses to see what can be done to help the situation. Most times it is just a refusal to talk because both sides are mad and will not listen to the other one. Maybe I'm different (or crazy) in actually liking domestic disturbance calls. It gives me a chance to help. I am not a bully when entering someone's house after they call for help. I am respectful even when a citizen refuses to return that respect. I am still respectful when I caution the citizen about their attitude. I am respectful until the citizen doesn't allow me to be respectful any more which is very rare.

Before others judge about the size of the population I serve, my department has taken over 19,700 calls for service this year. Also, you will note that there is not an "us vs. them" tone to this very long post. Since "we" officers are not perfect, "we" sometimes are "them". Do I give officers special treatment? You betcha. But I give the same special treatment to john doe citizen.

Am I unique? I don't think so. Most any leo will give the same kind of service if you allow them to. invssgt, I too do not know whether to laugh or cry; maybe both. I laugh at posts that try to get a rise out of someone. I cry for those who believe the hype about so many bad leo's out there and for those who will never give an leo a chance to be human.

Are there bad cops? Sure and they need to be reported to their department. Now here is where I will offend some and I'm not meaning to because I am just using their profession as an example. LEO'S AIN'T PERFECT! Having said that I would argue there is smaller percentage of bad cops then say, bad truckdrivers, bad doctors, bad clergy, or bad whoevers.

ANYONE can make a bad decision. It's just more apparent in law enforcement.


Chuck
 
I think you'd be surprised...for instance, I'm one of the more vocal "anti-LEO" guys here, and I still have a strong respect for police officers in general and appreciate what you do.
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Huh? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron
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Notice I put "anti-LEO" in quotes? There's a reason. I think it's possible to question the actions and decisions of individual LEOs in specific situations while still respecting and appreciating the jobs that LEOs in general do.

If you, or anybody else, cannot figure out how that's possible then I don't know what I can do to help.
 
JuanCarlos,
I wasn't taking a shot at you. I was just confused by the apparent inconsistancy in that sentence. Your explanation clears it up. I didn't mean to offend.
Regards

Jim

EDIT:
If you, or anybody else, cannot figure out how that's possible then I don't know what I can do to help.
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You don't have to do anything. Your opinions and your feelings are yours and you are entitled to them.;) Sharing opinions (and facts) what this board is for.
 
JuanCarlos,
I wasn't taking a shot at you. I was just confused by the apparent inconsistancy in that sentence. Your explanation clears it up. I didn't mean to offend.
Regards
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Did you...read the rest of the post? ;)

Sorry if I was extra sarcastic in my reply, though...I've been going back and forth with a few of the "question any LEO ever"="hate all LEOs always" crowd.
 
I dont know about regional differences. I have been living in SE Texas since 1976 and have had only one bad experience with a policeman. However, his partner who was also his senior took care of the attitude. Most of my experiences have been pretty pleasent. I was also polite to the officers so that might have influenced the outcome.

The powers of police will depend on society and government. With the government/criminal justice system deciding whether it wants crime control or due process to be the priority. If more terrorism becomes the norm then we will probably veer towards crime control which would mean fewer limitations. If citizens become concerned about individual rights and elect officials whose priority are those rights then the sytem will lean towards due process.
 
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