Wow! Been off the forum for a bit due to work and I'm impressed with the four pages this thread has gotten.
I've been a police officer for eight years now and despite what I see every day, I still enjoy my job. I've wanted to be a cop since I was very young because my dad was a cop. He retired recently and could not wait to do so because the world is a completely different place than it was in the late 70s when he first got on the job. Back then, it was cops and robbers, good guys and bad guys, no in between.
The police officer of today has to deal with a lot of different issues. We are expected to be counselors, mediators, fixers of everyone's problems. We have to think before we do anything, from a simple traffic stop to whether or not to stop and frisk someone on the street. The words 'reasonable suspicion' and 'probable cause' are at the front of our brains, and the fact that everyone in this day and age has a camera phone sometimes makes us hesitate (Which can get us killed).
Here's a story for some of you who don't understand what we go through. I swear this really happened.
I showed up for work one day in a sour mood (And I take pride in the fact that I have never taken a bad day out on the public). Wasn't feeling my best. I went to fetch a cup of coffee and a woman recognized me and said, "Do you remember me?" I told her I didn't. She went on to explain that a year or two before, I had shown up at her home when her child was having a seizure. It turned out to be related to a fever and I was able to calm the parents until the ambulance arrived. Anyway, while I didn't think I really did anything of note on that call, she went on to thank me as if I'd reached inside her kid and pulled Satan himself out of his little body. She finished by saying how much she appreciated my coworkers and I.
I left the store feeling ten feet tall and my day was instantly improved. Not even an hour later, I was dispatched to an apartment building to check a 9-1-1 hangup. I rang the doorbell. No answer. I rang another doorbell to gain entry to the building and this little old lady shuffled out and opened the door. Here's our conversation:
LADY: "What do YOU want?"
ME: "Your neighbor called 9-1-1. I need to see if they're alright."
LADY: "Why'd you ring MY bell?"
ME: "I'm sorry but they didn't answer their door."
LADY: "Well, I hope you get shot up there!"
Needless to say, I didn't get 'shot up there,' and the call turned out to be made in error, but my mood was in the toilet again. I'd managed to have one person treat me like gold and one person treat me like poo in less than an hour in the same day. This is what we signed up for, whether we like it or not. But we're human. We're people. We have a job to do. We go to work, deal with everyone's poo, get pooed on, and are expected to do it all without emotion and above all else, with professionalism.
Now, I'm not saying that's an excuse for cops to treat people like poo. But it does happen. I'm also not going to pretend that all of my brethren are angels, either. I'm not stupid enough to believe we're all perfect. Some of us are indeed criminals in uniform. I pray everyday never to become one of them.
By the way, I'm not intimidated by anyone who asks me for my name and badge number when I'm working. Sometimes, I give it before they even ask. That is because I make it a point not to say something to someone or do something to someone that I know in my heart is wrong. Am I perfect? Of course not. I try to make it a point not to treat the public like crap, even though there are many who deserve to be. For every bad cop, there are ten bad civilians. Our jails and prisons are full of "innocent" people, right Mike? (Not that I know you, but I'm sure you'll agree).
Is there a brotherhood? You're damned right there is, and I'm damned proud to be a member. Again, I won't pretend that everyone of my brothers or sisters is right every time, but I will be sure to find out the facts surrounding something before I condemn one of them.
The truth is, unless you are a cop (Or in some cases, military personnel and God bless you if you are), you don't know what we go through. You don't know the feeling of chasing someone and not knowing how it's going to turn out if you catch them. You don't know what it is to fight for your life (Okay, some of you might, but this is an occupational hazard for me). You don't know what it is to have a firearm in your hand, pointed at another human being, and having to decide whether or not to shoot and where the round is going to go if you miss in a split second (I thank God everyday I've never had to shoot anyone and pray I never do). Worst of all, you don't know what it's like to kiss your family goodbye, walk out the door, and not know whether or not you're ever going to kiss them...or even see them...again.
I'm sorry a good deal of you have had negative experiences, but I really wish folks would not just paint all of us with a broad brush. As stated by someone earlier, we are individuals and yes, some ***holes do become cops and remain ***hole cops until they retire. I'm not asking for violins, or a hug and a pat on the back. I'm just asking that before you condemn every cop because you got a traffic ticket or twelve, or because a cop didn't tousle your hair and say, "Run along, ya little scamp!" instead of locking you up, remember that we're all different and we're all human. Hate the player, not the whole team.
Me? I grew up wanting to be a cop and driving a Camaro. Did I get out of a ticket or two because of my dad's PBA card? Sure. So have a lot of people who didn't grow up to be cops. I won't pretend that I don't speed once in awhile (Although I do make it a point to pull over to talk on the phone, because I don't want to be labeled a hypocrite) or that I'm perfect, but you don't know me personally, so don't assume that just because I wear a badge for a living that I'm garbage because of what I do for a living. It's a JOB. Like most people, I do the best I can at my job because I like it, but it's much more important to me to go home at the end of my shift, be with my family and play with my toys!
Sorry for the monologue Bubba, but being who I am and doing what I do, this thread definitely hit home, especially since I freely give answers and opinions when someone posts up legal questions. I wonder what some of you would think of me if you'd met me before finding out I'm a cop? But that's kind of impossible since my Trans Am probably won't be done until I retire and I just outed myself.
Anyway, I thank all of you who have an open or neutral mind on the subject, but I don't think that anyone who said no is an ***hole, either. I don't know you well enough to judge, and if you live in my town, I'll go just as fast to help you as I would anyone else if you were in need because that's what I'm paid to do.
And no, you can't have a PBA card. I'm all out of them and don't know any of you personally.