Poll of the Day > Do you have a mostly negative or postitve view of most law enforcement?

(+) Yeah! (+)

def. most of the news that makes headlines do tend to be negative, kinda like how most local and national news is of the negative variety
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Despite most cops being "good cops" I still have a mostly negative view.
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I've only had positive relations with the police, and I'm both related to and friendly with several current or aspiring members, all of who are good people.
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Positive mostly; at least where I live.
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I've had no problems with the popo, now my brothers on the other hand dislike cops but they were criminals growing up so eh.
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I have a poor view of politicians and the fucked up laws they enact while I have a good view of UK police, but they still have to enforce fucked up shit so I'm very wary of them.
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I've only ever had one experience with a police officer that was any better thanks to their interference. (that exception being a cop who stopped and helped me push my car out of a ditch during a storm once, cool guy) Interacting with them just isn't worth the risk if you can help it.
I've never been a part of any major crimes though, which is obviously when they're much more useful.

The system itself is absolutely crucial to society. People obviously can't be trusted to self-determine without the threat of violence keeping them in line. But our implementation leaves a lot to be desired.
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I respect the badge, but there needs to be some serious reforms in how they train officers and some crack-downs on a lot of departents around the country.
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PMarth2002 posted...

I respect the badge, but there needs to be some serious reforms in how they train officers and some crack-downs on a lot of departents around the country.

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Mostly negative. I appreciate that cops are necessary but I just don't like the personality associated with it. It's a bunch of bros and wannabe tough guy turbo patritotic military guys for the most. That and a great many of them only enforce the law on men.

Los Angeles PD are worthless cowards
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australian here

the police around here are fine
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They never seem to be where they're needed. Plus I got unfairly called out a few times... So I don't think much of the ones around here (Cleveland Co).
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I've only had positve interactions with officers but as a black man, I cant help but worry when I see them
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TheSlinja posted...

I've only had positve interactions with officers but as a black man, I cant help but worry when I see them

So you've made racist assumptions despite having evidence to the contrary?
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I am law enforcement. Most of us are perfectly normal people. There are meatheads and straight assholes, though.

Fuck the police

Kyuubi4269 posted...

TheSlinja posted...

I've only had positve interactions with officers but as a black man, I cant help but worry when I see them

So you've made racist assumptions despite having evidence to the contrary?

Since when are cops a race?
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Kyuubi4269 posted...

TheSlinja posted...

I've only had positve interactions with officers but as a black man, I cant help but worry when I see them

So you've made racist assumptions despite having evidence to the contrary?

every person is different, the really stupid assumption would be to assume that all cops are good just because I've only met good cops, only takes 1 bad cop to fuck someone over
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Muscles posted...

Fuck the police

Fuck druggies.

Muscles posted...

Since when are cops a race?

Black people are a race, and the assumption is that the police are a racist institution.
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TheSlinja posted...

every person is different, the really stupid assumption would be to assume that all cops are good just because I've only met good cops, only takes 1 bad cop to fuck someone over

Being black isn't the only, or even main, way to be fucked over by the police. Leave race out of it, the issue is bad cops, not racism.
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More positive than negative, but I generally try to avoid interactions with cops all the same. Once or twice when I couldn't get directions from passersby, I had to cave and ask a cop.

In general, though, there's a LOT of fucked up shit cops do like no-knock raids, civil forfeitures, entrapment, etc, and I'm sure almost everybody here knows somebody who was either roughed up by a cop, had something stolen by a cop, or -- more rarely -- had their home raided because the cops got the address wrong.
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metaIslug posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

Being black isn't the only, or even main, way to be fucked over by the police. Leave race out of it, the issue is bad cops, not racism.

Yea and bad cops tend to be racist. Stop pretending otherwise

No, racists tend to be bad cops. There's an awful lot of bad people and racists make a small portion of them.
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what? there's an awful lot of bad people and racists make a small portion of them?
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The majority of cops, and the majority of people, are decent, even if it's not an overwhelming majority. It just takes one asshole to ruin the day of several people, so that negativity is magnified.
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Muscles posted...

f*** the police

Please tell me you aren't over 20

Guide posted...

The majority of cops, and the majority of people, are decent, even if it's not an overwhelming majority. It just takes one asshole to ruin the day of several people, so that negativity is magnified.

you believe most people out there are decent people? i've heard opinions to the contrary
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I mostly view law enforcement positively, but I maintain a healthy distrust of them. By that I mean that I believe most officers are good people, but I don't offer up more information than necessary to them to avoid potential backlash.
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UT1999 posted...

Guide posted...

The majority of cops, and the majority of people, are decent, even if it's not an overwhelming majority. It just takes one asshole to ruin the day of several people, so that negativity is magnified.

you believe most people out there are decent people? i've heard opinions to the contrary

Quite a popular sentiment, one I used to hold myself. But you work enough with enough people, and you realize that most of them really don't want trouble.
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Guide posted...

UT1999 posted...

Guide posted...

The majority of cops, and the majority of people, are decent, even if it's not an overwhelming majority. It just takes one asshole to ruin the day of several people, so that negativity is magnified.

you believe most people out there are decent people? i've heard opinions to the contrary

Quite a popular sentiment, one I used to hold myself. But you work enough with enough people, and you realize that most of them really don't want trouble.

That doesn't necessarily mean they're good. Just that they aren't dangerous

I said decent, not good. Good is hard to define, but then we'd be getting into semantics. When I say decent, I mean they want no harm brought upon themselves or others.
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Alexandra_Trent posted...

Positive mostly; at least where I live.

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Cops are like lawyers: ninety-nine percent of them make the rest look bad.

There's a saying how one bad apple spoils the bunch. The police need to do a better job of getting rid of those bad apples instead of coddling them. They need to do more to build trust, and they're not doing a good job of that.
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metaIslug posted...

Yea and bad cops tend to be racist. Stop pretending otherwise

They also tend to be far harder on men. I'd say being a man gives you valid claim to what he's saying.

The only ones who hate the cops, are the ones most likely to get arrested to begin with. Stop breaking the law, and they will stop shooting at you. All of this "racism" nonsense is bullshit.

metaIslug posted...

EightySeven posted...

metaIslug posted...

Yea and bad cops tend to be racist. Stop pretending otherwise

They also tend to be far harder on men. I'd say being a man gives you valid claim to what he's saying.

Then the point must be that bad cops are racist and sexist. If you're a black man, or a man period, you have more of a legitimate reason for thinking cops suck. Looks like his claim isn't very valid at all

Not really, if being male is the main identifier that gets you fucked over by the legal system, which it might be. Being black definitely plays a big part, though. Black men have it the worst.

most places I lived cops are fine, but there usually is the one dick who thinks hes special cause he has a badge.
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metaIslug posted...

EightySeven posted...

metaIslug posted...

Yea and bad cops tend to be racist. Stop pretending otherwise

They also tend to be far harder on men. I'd say being a man gives you valid claim to what he's saying.

Then the point must be that bad cops are racist and sexist. If you're a black man, or a man period, you have more of a legitimate reason for thinking cops suck.

You're fucking up the order. All racists, sexists or any kinds of bigots are bad cops, but there's a lot of bad cops that don't need to judge you differently to any other person to fuck up your day.

Everybody has an aspect of their character or circumstances that a bad cop may use to treat them harshly, drop your hang-ups, bigotry is a small part of the overall issue of shitty people in positions of power. You don't matter, when somebody wants to be an asshole, you are merely an outlet or a means to an end.
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most people dont even read the story, just a headline. they certainly won't read the story when it proves what the cop did was justified.
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

most people dont even read the story, just a headline. they certainly won't read the story when it proves what the cop did was justified.

yeah makes me laugh when my step father who you'd think is old enough to know better "likes" articles on facebook that the headline goes along with his political ideals, but then you read the article and it does a 180.
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Mostly positive but I am aware they are human too and make mistakes and have personality flaws that might not be suitable for the job.

I wouldn't be stupid enough to try them by back talk, curse, try to run from or attack them in any form even if I thought I was in the right. Things can escalate very quickly with the police, especially one who is green or feels threatened.

Action53 posted...

Despite most cops being "good cops" I still have a mostly negative view.

Well, most cops aren't "good" or "bad", they just showed up to work to earn a paycheck, not to risk their life for strangers (which is kind of part of the job whether they like it or not).

The big problem is when the good and neutral cops rally around the bad cops to protect them and support their bad decisions. Then all cops look bad.

It's like they're afraid if the bad cops are punished for their bad decisions, they're all at risk of being punished for mistakes, so they want to continue the precedent that it's extremely difficult for cops to be seriously punished for almost anything.
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mostly negative. I recognize that probably at least half of all cops are good. but whenever I see a cop, I think of the bad ones. they scare me and I don't trust them because of their guns and their power over me. they might be good but they also might be bad. and I dwell on the chance of being bad. anytime I have to be near a cop I tense up.

Action53 posted...

Despite most cops being "good cops" I still have a mostly negative view.

mostly because the system protects the bad ones.
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metaIslug posted...

Kyuubi4269 posted...

No, racists tend to be bad cops. There's an awful lot of bad people and racists make a small portion of them.

None of this makes any sense

How do?

A racist cop is likely to be a bad cop.

You can be bad in many ways without race being an issue.

Action53 posted...

Despite most cops being "good cops" I still have a mostly negative view.

The bad cops are protected by the "blue wall" from facing actual punishments for their criminal activities, said wall being made up of the police union all cops support.
The good cops thus enable the bad cops and are complicit.

Negative. Half of them need to be fired
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