June 19, 2007
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Law Enforcement
I was watching an episode of Law & Order SVU the other day, and was struck by how much Detective Olivia Benson cares about people. It really struck me as strange, and so I thought about it a bit… and I realized, I have never had a positive experience with law enforcement.
- When I played football in high school, the local Virginina cops would use racial profiling to pull over my teammate’s cars on the way to practice. It got to the point where the black players would get out of their own cars, and ask the white teammates to drive.
- Later in high school, my family experienced a serious crime. The detective who came to my house was an evangelical Christian, and spent his entire investigation trying to convert our family to his religion. I’ll never forget his first visit, where he started quoting scripture to explain that the emergence of the modern state of Israel was proof of the Bible’s literal truth. My sense at the time was, perhaps a home visit during a criminal investigation is not the best venue for this sort of wisdom.
- A few years ago, I was assaulted on the streets of New York. Immediately afterwards, I ran up to a nearby police officer and explained what had just happened – I thought he would want to possibly chase down and apprehend the assailants. But I could tell when he looked at me that all he saw was extra paperwork. He said, “I guess I could take you to the nearest station and you could file a report there.” I just walked away.
- Recently, the police blocked off a block or two near our office and flooded the area with officers in order to do crowd control. Most of the crowd was low income and poorly educated, since they were there for an impromptu job fair for poorly paid retail positions. The police treated EVERYONE there like they were criminals and idiots.
The only time I have ever had a positive experience with police is when I ask for directions. Anyway, maybe I am biased. I would like to believe that there are Olivia Bensons out there who really care about my safety and well being.
Have you ever had a positive experience with law enforcement? If so – please share specifics stories, and restore my faith in the police!
Comments (76)
i will have to agree.
i dont think i like the polce very much..i think im generalising them.. maybe im also biased.. but i see them as corrupt..i also see them at mcdonalds..
Yes I have had positive experiences, but I live in a small town.
I’ve had both types here in NYC. Although I know there are horror stories, I have to admit most of my dealings have been on the good side and therefore can’t complain. Sorry to hear about your negative ones though.
my brother in law use to be a cop, then got promoted to detective (he’s only 25 now, 23 or 24 at the time) and is now a high crime scene detective or something like that. so as far as he goes, he’s a very caring person and really tries to take care of those that are having trouble. and those that are in trouble, he tries to talk to them on a personal level and be kind of cool with them. he said it has resulted in a lot less cases of uncooperative people than his coworkers. but he’ll tell you… people like him are few and far between. he’s not perfect, by any means, but if someone needs help, he’ll do whatever he can to help them. but he’ll be the first to tell you… most of them are not like that at all. there are definitely more wishy washy cops than good ones out there, or so it seems…
i remember my husband was on his way to his great grandma’s funeral (like his mom) and he went through a road block. we hadn’t been living here too long, we had moved from Mississippi. well, his inspection sticker had JUST run out and we had yet to put NC plates on the car… the man stops him and was just totally rude to him. told him to pull over. well, chris was already upset and crying, and told the man he was on his way to a funeral. the cop was like “that’s NOT my problem” and asks to see his license and registration “If he’s even got one, HAHA” in his exact words… WTF?? then the cop goes and gets his stuff and SITS in his patrol car with some young teenage girl, laughing and talking! chris was about to be late for the funeral, so he went and beat on the cop’s door and told him to give him a ticket or take him to jail. luckily the cop just gave him a ticket, which my brother in law got dropped of course… but geez. how rude can you get???
ok, sorry for the ramble. have a lovely day!
*Jac*
yah cops are nice to me
gotten 3 warnings and
no tickets. i like Law
and Order SUV.
Wow, well, I am not shocked.
I was married to a cop for a time. No, I can’t say as I’ve had any positive experiences with cops while being married to them or not married to them. Ha!
I live in a rural community, so it is probably different. We have had nothing but positive experiences. We had a detective out here a few months ago (identity theft and fraud issues) and he was helpful and understanding. In the past, we have had to deal with the police for issues as mundane as hit and run (we had made one payment on that car. The guy ran a red light.) to odd and bizarre. Like the time there was a runaway emu in our front yard. No kidding. An emu. We had three deputies and two cowboys wrangling this bird into the horsetrailer. I also witnesses a crime and had to go in to see the line up in a neighboring community. Everyone there was professional and courteous. But, we are small town. Pretty low crime rate, violence is rare.
When I was younger I use to work at my parent’s store… A small grocery store, (btw we’re Vietnamese) We were robbed by gunpoint and they took a lot of cash. I was outside sweeping when the officers were coming into the store, what did they say? “These damn chinks, somebody probably stole a f**king bag of chips and they’re calling us.”… that’s all I have to say about cops… I’m with you..
sorry. no stories to contribute here…
I agree with you. I’m not a fan of cops (but I do love Law and Order). I feel like a lot of cops in real life are on power trips.
My old neighbor used to be a police officer. He used to bring home beers that he confiscated from 16 year olds and sit out and drink them with my dad. Oh, the days…
I know the feeling. I live in Virginia, Va. Beach, and it’s the same thing here. If their not giving you a ticket for something or investigating something, they don’t seem to care one way or the other. Which is a shame cause that’s suppose to be their job.
So much for the illusion.
~g~
never. i hate cops.
I have been pulled over several times for speeding but I know they are just doing their job. I haven’t had a real positive experience but I have a great deal of respect for the police. I am sure that there are bad police and they tend to leave the bad memories where the ones that are doing a good job we don’t notice because they are doing such a good job.
That’s from a television perspective of cops, though; if they portrayed cops realistically, they’d probably run into a LOT of trouble. (Especially when the actors themselves got pulled over – “Hey, you play Olivia Benson on that show, don’t you? You’re an ASSHOLE!”)
my friend and i were crossing the street (57th, actually) when she got hit by a taxi. i saw her fly up into the air a few feet and land on her knees! i was in shock. the taxi just drove off before anyone got it’s license plate. thank goodness, there were no serious injuries. we called the police. they took down the report, were really friendly the whole time, and even got her an abulance so she could get checked out by a medical crew (for free).
I care about people so much. I know that I have a good heart. Humility is not a weakness, but a strength. But If I could run faster than a speeding bullet, shoot fire from my eyes, have a bullet proof body, fly and see through things with x-ray vision I would never let anybody hurt a helpless person again.
I have many good experiences with police but have seen others not fare so well which makes me feel bad…
I’m sorry, John.
i respected cops until i got a jay-walking ticket… at 3am when there were no cars in sight! i pleaded with him, but he wouldn’t budge. i guess they didn’t have his favorite sprinkled donut at 7/11 that night…
I was a cops reporter for ten years, and I used to drink with cops, hang with them in the squad room, have them leak stories to me, go to crime scenes with them, fly in their helicopters, ride in their cars, go to their funerals. I loved that beat, and I love shows like The Wire. Also, I’ve been pulled over twice in recent years and been given warnings. I think I have a positive vibe they pick up on. I’m also white and live in Newport Beach. I don’t kid myself that makes a difference.
my dad has part of the las vegas police department over his house on a monthly basis. they call get together and make homemade meatballs, sausage and gravy. it’s a very italian thing.
but outside of knowing these police officers, i have never had a decent experience with them.
My apartment was burglarized in college. I called the police twice. No one showed up. While I was working in retail, I called the police because a person was threatening people inside the store. The police never showed up and called 6 hours later asking if everything was okay.
I know a couple people in law enforcement and I don’t fault the individual police officers but yeah… something isn’t right.
Elizabeth Smart. Everytime an Amber Alert ends successfully. Everytime an Amber Alert doesn’t end successfully and I see a great many dejected officers. Yeah, there are jackasses running around in a uniform, but you can’t generalize on the basis of a few. For every one jackass, there are two or three good ones. I’ve had my run ins. But I’ve also had far more times where the local police have been very helpful to a scared or angry me. They’ve gone out of their way to do what they can for me–when my purse was stolen out of my apartment and I was sitting not ten feet away. When I had a car accident and was this close to freaking out completely, because it was my Mom’s car and the car was totaled. When I got pulled for a routine stop and the officer had to search my vehicle thanks to the law–passed by politicians, I might add, not the cops–and he kept apologizing but it was his job. They took care of me, kept me safe and calm. They take care of us all, putting their lives on the line daily. Even the jerks earn my respect for that.
Hope that helps.
i’ve never had a good experience with cops. they were always, always a dick to me, right from the start.
once i let my friend drive my car without me and she got involved in a car accident. flustered and not knowing what to do, she drove away assuming the other car would follow her into a parking lot around the corner. needless to say, the other car reported a hit and run.
the cop showed up at my house and proceeded to question me. for the longest while i let him talk until i realized that he was assuming it was me that had driven the car. so finally, i interrupted and said, “um, my friend was the one that was driving. and um, i wasn’t in the car and um, she doesn’t have her license.”
“oookay.” said the cop, “well. if you don’t say anything, i won’t say anything. the insurance company doesn’t have to know that.”
that was my only positive experience with a cop. but i’m pretty sure that could be debateable depending on which side you look at it from.
i’ve never personally experienced harrassment from cops, but i’ve heard enough stories from friends and people i know. your stories just reaffirms the negatives with cops. i have friends who are cops too. and they just tell me how desensitized they are when they’re on the job. they just stop thinking, and stop treating people like human beings, and how most people are just another possible criminal to them. from all the horror stories i’ve heard, on the news, and from friends, if i were ever approached by a cop for whatever reason, i’d be afraid that i’ll be killed in a barage of gunfire.
Never. It sucks because you’d think they’d be helpful… I took a photo with a cop once as a dare. He laughed.
I’ve had very positive experiences with cops, mixed in with some negative. But mostly positive. The one time that I got super duper service from a cop was when there was a fender bender and in the car was my ex’s sister, who is pretty attractive. Those two cops did everything under the sun to help us. That dude in the other car had no chance, hahaha.
Nope, sorry, can’t help you, but I can agree with you!
1. When my family’s van was hit by another driver, the Police were really nice to us and kept me from going into a total Downward Spiral Panic Attack.
2. We have mounted police in my town(college town, 30+ bars, mostly in a four block radius. makes sense to have them on horses rather than driving/walking), and they supposedly are very rude, but I ran into them two weeks ago and they were very pleasant, let me pet their horses, were much nicer than other local police(did not assume I was drunk/going to go spray a wall).
Other than that, though, not a lot of great experiences. The police around here alternate between being rude/mean/brandishing their status and disinterest. Their jobs are intense, but they could be helped by being slightly nicer to locals. (sorry for the long comment)
You have to fend for yourself here John, and when you become the hammer, never let anyone see nor hear you hit the nail.
I have alot of police friends. Positive story?
I always get a front parking spot when going to the Yankee games with them!
i dunno. i would like to think highly of them but i dont. one time i saw a person lying down on the streets faced down and i thought i saw maybe dried up blood on his head. i went to a police office that was a few blocks away and i told him that there was a man that looked like he was in trouble. the police office just said where and i pointed to him where the man was because you can see him from where we were standing. he just said ok and continued talkin to this guy he was talking to before i came along. I thought he would end the conversation since it seemed like they werent talkin about anything important. i know from then on that i am not sure they would help me if i needed help.
I’ve had both good and bad experiences with the police.
When I was younger and in denial of my mental illness I cam across the police a lot. Oftentimes they were very respectful and kind. I remember having a conversation with one police officer who had to bring me to a mental hospital. He told me that by our conversation it was clear I was intelligent and he said I must go to school and make something of myself. He encouraged me that there was a lot I might accomplish.
I think police are just like any other group of people. There are nice ones and nasty ones.
No.
No positive.
About a month and a couple weeks ago I came across a couple officers. I was MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS doing laps around the track and they started barraging me with questions like “why were my shoes off” (um, people take their shoes off) and a bunch of other stuff.
Made me put my hands on my head and searched me. . .whose watch is this?
Mine. . .
And I had just been minding MY OWN FREAKING BUSINESS, so fck them.
All it made me was suicidal (the irony, they were “concerned” about my welfare)
So I ended up going about an hour away to my best friends house and spending 4 nights with her!
NO. NEVER.
I was robbed on the street, so went to the police station. Then, i wasted about 1/2 hours filling out paperwork, and other bs stuff. then, nothing happened anyways.
In Some UK cities I have read that some police have a tendency to keep on stopping the same person(s) over and over again – often the person(s) are black but it is not all the time.
i got stopped for making an illegal turn in AC once… the cop let me off with a warning after i flashed him my PDA card, which was expired.
that’s about the only positive experience i’ve ever had w/the cops. lol.
A lot of variables go into why a cop is acting a certain way during the initial contact. All the experiances I’ve had with cops have been both good and bad.
1. I’ve been racialy profiled and pulled over for “tail gating”. I didn’t know you had to be patted down and had to have your vehicle searched for such a crime. His partner apologized for the search and gave the other guy a dirty look.
2. Cop pulled me over on my bike for having headphones on. He asked me what I was listening to and then even jumped on my bike and did a few tricks on it. Then went on his way.
3. Was pulled over for speeding by two different officers. One was CHP (California Highway Patrol) on a bike, the other was a local officer. The CHP was first to talk to me and was trying to rip me a new one when he found out I didn’t have a license (I was only 16). The local officer had juristiction and asked him to back off. He explained to me that he had to impound my car, asked if I wanted to grab anything out of my car and even offered me a ride home.
The one thing that all the “nice” officers had in common was their age. They all seemed to be pretty young. I think for a lot of the older officers, the years of dealing with really violent and bad people just gets to them.
It’s because of the show SVU that I’m looking into being a cop. I’ve always wanted to help people. What better way than saving someone’s life?
its does suck that the majority of cops are asses that have the unfortunate advantage of having the power of law on their side. it seems people who become cops are usually either the benson type or just a bully who wants to make a living out of it. for example, in my township, all the cops used to be wise ass jerks at my school who pull people over for fun. they even go back to the school and laugh about it with one of their favorite teachers. it pisses me off because at the same time, i have family members who are police officers and they’re good people. so sometimes i find myself thinking what asses all cops are, but then i remember that im on that “police family” side haha.
i was a criminal justice major for a sort of benson reason … but then i realize, the bad cops outweigh the good ones … and well realistically speaking, its not gonna make a difference.
I’ll come at this from a different viewpoint. I was a cop (NYPD) for many years. And, sure, many cops are jerks, but as a former partner used to say, “many people are jerks, it’s unlikely we’ll be better off percentage-wise.”
Anyway, I’ll share a few stories if you’re willing to listen…
http://www.xanga.com/thenarrator/597277478/item.html
and this
http://www.xanga.com/thenarrator/594414863/item.html
which is the last installment of an eight part piece, but has links to all the others…
and this
http://www.xanga.com/thenarrator/589603588/item.html
and maybe this…
http://www.xanga.com/thenarrator/571710183/item.html
and maybe this…
http://www.xanga.com/thenarrator/568188448/item.html
if you’re interested, message me, I’ll find a few more.
I’m not out to defend cops. But I’d like people to have a bit of an idea of what it can be to be one. Sorry you had a bad NYPD experience, that’s not what I’ve seen, but like I said, there are jerks everywhere.
cops suck. I remember this quote from this one person. When deciding whether to be a cop or firefighter, he chose to be a firefighter… cuz everyone’s *always* happy to see a firefighter.
I’m a Christian, and I would agree that that was probably not an appropriate time. To be honest, I find it a bit stupid to just go preaching to complete and utter strangers in the first place (without an appropriate segue, somehow), since it seems pushy and just reinforces a negative stereotype against Christianity. I let people know where I stand in my faith, and I act differently – I don’t smoke or drink, and I never curse, for example. When my youth group is doing something not particularly evangelical in nature, I’ll invite some friends to come hang out.
Yes, my car was stolen and the police found it.
nwa said it best . . . fuck the police!
ok that’s a little immature. i have a few friends who are in law enforcement. i appreciate their presence, but i hate police officers. everytime i hear sirens when i drive, the fear of god is stricken in me and my heart freezes. i HATE songs that have police sirens blaring b/c i always get nervous.
they sure did a number on me.
My experiences with law enforcement have never been pleasant, and I imagine it wasn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows for them either. When you think about it, how many days do you go to work stressed and frayed, just going through the motions to get through the day? How many days do you wake up in the morning, smiling because you get to go to work? If there are more days of the latter than the former, than lucky you. But if you think of it that way, perhaps we can be a little more understanding of the other party.
Police and other law enforcement officers have to deal with some pretty heavy duty stuff at times. If you had to deal with murder and rape and violence on a daily (or even weekly or monthly) basis, I’m fairly sure you’d develop a kind of cool detachment from your work. Sure, there are some bad cops, but there are some good ones. But they’re human too, and just as capable of being jaded as you or me.
I’ve never had bad experiences with the police. In fact, I’ve had very few details with them, but I think they (as a collective) have a tough role that doesn’t nearly get enough respect.
When they do their jobs well people seldom notice. People don’t recognize that they put themselves at risk and often sacrifice time away from their families to keep others safe. Who knows, the police may have thwarted a criminal who was going to attack a family member of yours. A society without police would simply not function.
Having said that, one must remember that the police are agents of the state and states are based on coercion. If one doesn’t pay taxes or doesn’t follow government regulations, it’s the police who come after you. This also means that as the state gets bigger, the police will be given more and more power to enforce the needs of that big state.
People who are wary of the police should be the strongest opponents of big government. Alas, they’re under some illusion that they can have extensive state services without far reaching enforcement mechanisms.
Nice post. I’ve never had a good experience with a police officer but I’ve not had that many to be honest. My sister has had some atrocious encounters bordering on ridiculous, even!
Maybe they get the rap they do because they are always “on guard” and don’t come across well to the public…. idk. ::shrug:: We can’t wish things better.
I’ve had good and bad experiences. Since you asked for the good ones…
Once I was leaving a concert with someone, and since we were in a city she had not noticed her headlights weren’t on. Cop pulled up beside us at a stoplight, rolled down his window, and yelled to put them on. Was nice of him, because he could have pulled us over, ticketed her, and generally made our lives difficult.
I’ve also seen a small town cop spend something like 40 minutes out in below 0 temperatures trying to help unlock a car that the owner had accidentally locked the keys into.
My car died at work, and a state trooper gave me a ride all the way home in his patrol car. He went way out of his way for me.
I’ve seen some dodgy dodgy stuff too though.
lets see.
my experiences are mixed, they were usually rude but i got away with a warning or something.
1st run in was i was doing nothing wronge at all i guess it just looked shady.
me and 2 friends were sitting at a golf course looking at the stars at 11pm at night.the cops came by and wanted to get us for curfew yet we were all 16. i had no id except school id so they made me call my dad at 1130 at night when he had work the next day to have him say yes shes 16 and to come and get me. EVEN though i wasnt breaking any laws. we were both ticked.
2nd was ya.. i shoplifted and got caught.. but they took like 2 hours to show up.i think the best part about it was once i was in the car he talked to me nicely and just asked what was going on in my life (was a bad time for me).
3rd me and a friend were drinking. I was 17 she was 15 like 16 in 2 months. she always bragged that she could drink so much and i trusted her to use restaint. she ended up getting wasted off like 4 shots and puked everywhere, couldnt walk, ect. my friends mom called 911 i didnt get introuble but did get put in the car until my sister showed up. they talked to me like i put a funnel in her mouth and poured it down.that cop always comes into my work ( i work at starbucks) and is relativly nice but everytime someone says he pulled them over they say he acts like they commited a murder or something.
oh course if a detective looked like olivia, she can spout bible-ism all day as i’ll only be processing visual.
I reported a stolen watch, and they asked me to fill out a form.
I think police is becoming more like a desk job everyday.
fucking fagots. They should stuff themselves with some maggots.
I’ve dealt with police a few times. I have to say that they are definitely more gentle and attentive to sex crimes victims than in general. But even the ones who’ve pulled me over have been generally friendly while writing me my tickets. Then again, I tend to be nice to them up front as well…
My brother-in-law is a cop in Philly, and he’s a great guy, but I have no idea what he’s like on the job.
HIHI JUST SAYING HI TO EVERYBODY COME AND SEE MY XANGA PRETTY PLS.!!!!!!!!!!
my boyfriend is working on becoming a cop for that very reason. there are good cops out there, but it depends on the day and what has been happening lately. they already work 9 pm to 9 am. Sometimes you gotta give them a break. But some of them are assholes anyway. Luck of the draw. But my boyfriend wants to make a difference due to that very behavior.
not even for directions. i tried to ask a cop for directions once and he screamed at me to keep driving. so now i just avoid them. i’ve been involved in a couple of situations recently where it might’ve been appropriate to call the cops, but I don’t even bother any more.
Back in the early 70′s when I was about 7, I was at the schoolyard park with friends when a child molester came over and cornered me,he then reached under my dress.We threw rocks at him and ran away .An off duty cop was walking in the distance but saw us running away.He took the man in because he had suspected him before this..He then searched the neighborhood door to door to find us girls to identify the pervert.He was very helpful in preparing us for court.It was my first expierence and it was a good one .I have had some good and a few deplorable ones since .
I’ve got a good one for you. Years ago, when my eldest daughter was just a baby, her mom and I were driving to the local ice cream parlor. A policeman pulled me over, and came up and said, “I’m really sorry, I need to have my glasses checked. It thought your tags were expired but they’re not.” He then continued on with friendly chit chat for a full ten minutes, making me wonder what the heck was going on. Then he smiled, wished us well, and walked off.
We arrived at the ice cream parlor to find a car had lost control and smashed through the windows, crushing the table where we ALWAYS SAT, and it had JUST HAPPENED. If that officer had not pulled us over for no reason whatsoever…………….
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Think about the job. They’re always either bored, scared or pissed off. EVERYONE lies to them. People use them as weapons against eachother. You wannta know where all the cops are when there’s a real crime? Moderating disputes over barking dogs and someone blowing snow into someone else’s driveway. For the idealist who joined to BE an Olivia Benson, this crap gets old fast. An old man was killed by a hit and run driver on my street a couple years ago. The cops canvassed, questioned, canvassed again, followed every possible lead they could to try to catch the guy. They really hate a hit and run. As far as the racism goes, I dunno. I know it’s pervasive in Maryland and Virginia where I used to visit a friend. It disgusted me, not only as a human being but as a taxpayer. I don’t pay taxes to have police act out their personal grudges. But here in CT, they do okay. I don’t go near them unless I have to, because they act like pricks. But when I have needed them they’ve been there (and no, I’m not that pretty)
I live in an area that can be described as low income and full of small patch towns. To say the least our cops LOVE to play. Like the one night after play practice (we were all in high school at the time) a bunch of my friends went to McDonald’s to get some long awaited dinner. They came back around 10pm and cops came barreling out of the school in plain clothes and started pointing guns at my friends. They didn’t know they were cops at the time because they didn’t flash any badges and were dressed like normal people. They pushed my one friend against his car and pointed a gun at his face. Everyone was pretty pissed, you just don’t do that. To this day we never found out why they did that. I’m guessing they wanted to feel like heroes. Heroes indeed.
I now live in a town full of really stupid college kids, in a shit hole socialite dominated neighborhood. They destroy this place like crazy. So whenever the cops come to this part of town they automatically think of trouble thanks to the retards living around me. The one day a cop came to find my roomie to arrest him for not paying some fines or something (don’t ask me how I ended up living with the dipshit). He makes it a point to barge into my house without permission (which ISN’t permitted) and then proceeds to look around as if we had a meth lab in my house or something. To his disappointment we didn’t have anything that he was looking for. When we were talking he was quite the jerk.
But I can’t represent every police officer, there were many helpful ones who tried to straighten out fights and such, so I’m glad they’re always around.
The police really are good people. My buddies Danko and Beau and Kellar and Malcolm and Roberts and Joe are all cops, and they work hard to keep all of us all safe. Thanks!
When I was taking personality assessment we learned about how various types of personalities tend to flock to certain jobs, like therapy-resistant pollyannaist flight attendants, and psychopathic surgeons. I remember something about how cops are really high in aggression, and I remember us talking about there being a thin line between cops and criminals, because the personalities may be very similiar in a lot of ways, it’s just that cops tend to have taken the socially acceptable route. It’s a lot like the theory of people becoming surgeons so they can cut people up in a socially acceptable way. Just food for thought, I guess. Obviously these not everyone in these professions is psycho, it’s just trends that have been picked up. Besides, psychologists are crazier than any other profession. Haha. ~amber
Some guy ripped me off on eBay to the tune of about $160. I went to the police to be told that, apparently, fraud is a civil matter.
I was once pursued by a teenager with a knife, called the cops and 7 cars were there in less than 2 minutes, that must’ve been the only time I was really glad to see them.
Once a cop pulled me over for “rolling” through the same stop sign twice to ask me if I was lost, then gave me directions.
My brothers were mugged in Central park, skateboards stolen. The cops drove them around looking for the guys.
The local police where I live now are responsive. When we were doing some construction the site was robbed. They seemed genuinly interested in helping, not that anything came of it.
Other than that, I have some less favorable stories as well, like you. Young kids on power trips, etc. Bullies. Maybe we need to just see them as less bad than they could be (like for example racial profiling is not as bad as police brutality).
I’ve had some good personal experiences with off-duty cops. They expressed a desire to do things the right way and make a positive difference in the community and on the police force. They weren’t into cracking heads or harassing people over nitpicky things. They were frustrated with having to arrest the same people over and over again.
I’ve known others, though, that were clearly racist and eager to commit violence.
When my brother was younger, he found a knife and some other strange articles in a ditch. He called the sheriff, and the officer who came over was really nice. He gave my brother a couple gifts (one was a rain poncho packed in a novelty tin labeled ‘squirmy worms’ or something) and thanked him for his concern. We lived in a small/low-crime town, so they had time for that sort of thing.
My car was stolen last year. The cop handling the report was super nice to me. He drove me around all the parking lots in case it was there then helped me through the paperwork. He made me as comfortable as possible and tried to take my mind of it by making jokes. He answered all my questions and gave me his card and explained what would happen if it was found, etc.
And this is in Irvine where police are known for giving jaywalking tickets and other obnoxious things.
Sorry to say this, but I have nothing. I used to live in Guam right next to a club or something with an apartment on top. I was just about to sleep when I hear a girl screaming her head off, and through my window, I could see the shadow of a girl being harassed by some other man who was fairly bigger than her. I told my parents, they called the police who were just stationed a few blocks away, and they didn’t come until thirty to forty minutes later. At that time, I was sure that the poor girl was raped or seriously hurt. Maybe police officers like the one you speak of don’t really exist.
i have good experince with police!
My sister ,my sister friend,my -boyfriend,and my so 2 be friend we were walking Alex my older sisters friend (my boyfriend sister) let me carry her purse(this was when i was like 11). Will my so 2 be friend tryed 2 get it from me. I said Alaxa said i could carry stop. She grabed alexa purse from me and hit me with it . In the purse was makeup and unbrilla (sp) . I started 2 bleed really bad and i was crying . when we get home my dad walked down the steet 2 talk 2 her mom and the woman want do anything cuz she did fight her dahgter fights so my dad called the police. my so 2 be friend want 2 jevillie jail for like a month.
I’ve had only one positive experience with the police and that was when I was younger I acted tough and bad like any typical 7 year old, anyways we were coming back from the grocery store and I went to my screen door with a lot of bag in my hands and tried opening it, conveniently at that time the screen door had caught my skin and put so much force it kind of sucked in my pinky finger and locked in my finger making the door lock through my finger. When that happened immediately I cried out for help and luckily i had a neighbor whom was a police officer and just returned from his work, working on a case that took a fifteen hour shift obviously he would have been exhausted for all the previous work done in his investigations but he decided caring for someone else was much more important than lying on his bed so he helped my mother get my finger out the lock he dialed and ambulance and stayed with my mother and I until i was through with all the doctors and paper work and spent about five to six hours with me so in the end he only had about three hours to sleep that day, but thanks to him he helped me from having four fingers rather than five and saved me from years and years of being ridiculed by others; to this day that man still works with law enforcement and i still appreciate him for what he did, so i can not say for sure there are other Olivia Bensons but what a better world it would be if we could have all law enforcement like her.
Restore your faith? That’s a tall order. Just like any high stress job with high pay, good people and bad people both are attracted to the job. Their reasons are many. And even a good person can have a bad day, perhaps even letting that bad day leak out onto others. I could add my voice to the many here who have stories of bad cops, but you specifically requested good cop stories:
One night I was headed home from a friend’s place rather late. We had been working on our presentation for an upcoming convention, and I was tired. I stopped by an ATM to pick up some cash for the next day. Miles later I was pulled over by some cops. I hadn’t turned my headlight back on after the ATM. They were really cool when they saw that I actually had a headlight and that it worked. Both seemed concerned for my safety, and after running my ID through their computer and seeing that I was clean, they wished me a safe journey home.
Another time I was at work when the night alarm went off. My coworker was apparently too incompetent to put in her code in time, and the alarm company called. I explained what had happened to them, but they warned me that cops were already enroute. Sure enough, the cops came in, demanding rather forcefully to know what the two of us were there for. So my lame coworker who tripped the alarm starts flirting with the male cop. That started making things worse, but luckily I was able to get the two of them to see how dense she was, how she was at fault, that it would definately be reported to our boss, and that the alarm company had already been informed of the situation. They seemed rather relieved that someone competent was indeed present, gave her a stern warning about the waste of resources when cops have to go out on a false alarm, thanked me, and left.
At another job a poor lady came in crying that she’d been raped. The cops came fairly rapidly, were incredibly kind to her as they tried to get as much information as they could. Once they had a suspect description, some left on that while others stayed to help her until she was ready to leave with them.
I have more possitive experiences, as well as neutral and negative ones. However, I feel that these three possitive experiences showcase a spectrum of crimes in which I had good experiences. If you want more stories, don’t hesitate to ask.
I was in a car accident and my car was totaled. Not only did the cop climb through the mangled hole in the backseat to get some of my important stuff out of the trunk, but he also bagged it up, called my parents, let me sit in his heated cruiser (it was 13 degrees) and he gave me a ride to my job site. Pretty nice if you ask me.
And don’t blame the evangelical too much for trying to convert you. I’m an evangelical, and we believe that we are supposed to give a testimony of Christ in every situation. So, its kind of like expecting a buddhist to eat a hamburger JUST because he’s at a McDonalds. You’re asking him to do something against his religion. Asking an evangelical christian not to share the gospel is asking them to do something against their religion. And besides, what is it going to hurt if they’re just talking? it might be irritating, but they’re just doing what they believe is right. Its the best a person can do.
My only memorable experiences with cops are not necessarily positive.
I’ve lived in smaller towns most of my life, so I’ve never met very many unfriendly cops.
Of course, the police in Mexico were very friendly when I lived there — friendly enough that they’d just let you off the hook for anything if you handed ‘em 20 USD. Haha.
no. I’ve gotten frisked for having a headlight out on my car. I look at it the same way as lawyers. They’re ok when they first start working, then lose all morals and sensitivity a few years down the line. As with all things i’m sure there are a few exceptions.