Poll: Do you trust the police?

[IIOY]

I've worked with cops and seen the good, the bad, and the very ugly, so I would have to say that it's complicated.

I tend to believe that most of them would at least try to do their job properly, but I don't doubt that many would take shortcuts if possible. I would be incredibly reluctant to be alone with a male officer, and I know that many officers harbor a lot of prejudice about a lot of people.

[pixy0stix]

I grew up thinking that the police were not to be called unless it was something dire. They were the ones that could break up our family. It's stuck with me throughout adulthood. In the last 10 months I've had nothing but good interactions with them. There's been a few times where I've had to fight down the panic that being around cops still gives me, though.

The last time we discussed this as a board, someone linked a study or an article that talked about this phenomenon. Mostly that if you grew up poor and/or lived in bad neighborhoods, you would have a more negative association with cops than if you were middle class or above. Mostly because the only time you would see a police officer in your hood, it would be because something bad happened. So there are negative feelings just by association.

ETA: I also have family members that are police and a good family friend who is a police officer. I tend to forget that because I know them in settings outside of them being a police officer. The family friend has a much more conservative view towards social programs than I do. Again, it goes to always seeing people at their worst, and not having an opportunity to act with that community in other capacities.

[wawa]

Not really? I dunno. The times I've had to report things to the police the in person interaction just makes me nervous as hell. Standing there next to a person wearing a gun, in uniform - I just don't feel comfortable around them.

I have no real reason for this. I had no negative interactions as a kid. I've had positive and marginally negative interactions as an adult. But they just put me on edge.

But my BIL is kinda technically a cop. He considers himself a cop anyway. (He is technically an MPO or whatever they call them in the AF, but right now he's working as a ROTC instructor, so he's never in cop mode anymore) So - I mean - I do know first hand that they don't all suck. But that doesn't mean I ever deal with them willingly.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Generally, as a profession, yes. Because I've never had any interaction that was negative. I agree with IIOY that I might be nervous as a woman to be in certain sitations with male officers, but otherwise my experiences have been neutral/positive. But I absolutely recognize that privilege and understand that the same police who are kind and helpful to me could be harboring and exhibiting abhorrent behaviors toward people without my profile.

[jigsy]

I know that there are good police officers, but I also think that a lot of them let the power go to their heads.
I have had issues respecting their authority since I had run ins with cops in high school. Once, I was pulled over for speeding and the officer offered to let me off if I went out with him. In another instance, some friends and I were being stupid teens, and the police were called. We were harassed, forced to stand in the mud, and yelled at for no reason. Which, sounds so petty when I type it in light of everything else. So my respect is hard to come by.

But like PP said, I have that luxury because of my skin. I am a white, blue eyed, blonde (sometimes) haired woman. I will never be seen as a threat, and therefore, when I give lip to an officer, all it gets me is a ticket.

[itsme]

Maybe I am biased because I work with a lot of cops and have cop friends. The ones I interact with are awesome as people outside of the patrol environment. I cannot say how they are in the patrol environment though. I did do a ride along once for an entire night because I was considering becoming one and oh man the crap they have to deal with. No thanks. I do know there are some bad apples (LAPD has been in the spotlight a lot lately) but as a whole I think the majority aren't bad and out to get people.  In my department there was a really bad incident with an off-duty cop murdering someone.  Yea, that was a bad apple. 

[nomad100]

Nov 26, 2014 9:57:57 GMT -5 IIOY said:

I've worked with cops and seen the good, the bad, and the very ugly, so I would have to say that it's complicated.

I tend to believe that most of them would at least try to do their job properly, but I don't doubt that many would take shortcuts if possible. I would be incredibly reluctant to be alone with a male officer, and I know that many officers harbor a lot of prejudice about a lot of people.

While I haven't worked with any law enforcement officers directly, I have pretty much this same stance.

I grew up pretty in a pretty homogeneous middle/upper middle class part of my city and TBH, until I moved to Chicago and had direct exposure to some less than stellar cops, I had a much higher level of trust in the law enforcement.  Now that I have had that experience and exposure, I have a much more jaded perception of them.  

[saz]

I don't really trust them either. They make me extremely uncomfortable and I haven't had any positive experience with them. Nothing huge as far as negatives, just traffic stops and them telling us that they weren't going to bother looking for our stolen camper. I get really anxious when they drive down my street or when I see a police car while driving. I'm sure there are great police officers out there but I don't have an overarching trust of them.

[eclaires]

I've never had a negative interaction with a police officer, nor known anyone personally who has.

But I've never really totally trusted cops. Idk. Maybe I have a problem with authority but I am generally quick to believe that the cops might be in the wrong. I don't immediately give them the benefit of the doubt, I guess, but I wouldn't say I really automatically distrust them either.

[Deleted]

I would also agree that its complicated. My brother was a highway patrol officer and I have a cousin who was a Sheriff, and I know they're good people. But I also know my good friend's ex husband is a super shady as fuck cop.

I have never personally had a bad experience with law enforcement, but I also know that there are ones out there who are shitty people who are on power trips even if I haven't met them.

I try to respectfully avoid them I guess.

[Deleted]

It depends on if they have a moustache. When they do, they are almost always assholes. When they don't, they are usually okay. This sounds like a joke, and it sort of is, but that has been my honest experience countless times.

[twotrue]

Nov 26, 2014 10:07:32 GMT -5 wawa said:

Not really? I dunno. The times I've had to report things to the police the in person interaction just makes me nervous as hell. Standing there next to a person wearing a gun, in uniform - I just don't feel comfortable around them.

I have no real reason for this. I had no negative interactions as a kid. I've had positive and marginally negative interactions as an adult. But they just put me on edge.

But my BIL is kinda technically a cop. He considers himself a cop anyway. (He is technically an MPO or whatever they call them in the AF, but right now he's working as a ROTC instructor, so he's never in cop mode anymore) So - I mean - I do know first hand that they don't all suck. But that doesn't mean I ever deal with them willingly.

I suppose I trust the police but I absolutely agree with the bolded above.  It's almost the same feeling I have when having to interact with a powerful CEO.  Except LEO have guns.  When around an officer it's like my head is making sure I've dotted my i's and crossed my t's and I'm not going to get in trouble for anything (even though I've never been in trouble with the law).

[itsme]

Nov 26, 2014 10:26:26 GMT -5 @eveer said:

It depends on if they have a moustache. When they do, they are almost always assholes. When they don't, they are usually okay. This sounds like a joke, and it sort of is, but that has been my honest experience countless times.

It's Movember or whatever it is that they call it where they grow out their mustaches.  The guys in my dept have a mustache growing contest during the month so they almost all have mustaches right now.  A ton of cops with mustaches running around. 

[thatgirl2478]

Yes & no.

I actually had worse opinions of the police in my small rural home town than the ones in the rougher city I owned a house in.

*I* would have gotten back on the sidewalk (though I seem to remember a story about it being safer to walk in the streets in parts of Chicago due to the gang related shootings. I could be making that up or misremembering) if a cop told me to.

*I* have no reason to think that a cop would be engaging with me in anything less than a civilized manner. But, *I* have no criminal record and generally try not to break laws etc.

I've heard enough stories of people of color being targeted for doing nothing other than being there to know that I am lucky to have an easy going relationship with the police.

[malibu]

I used to. Now I'm not so sure.

[irishbride2]

Yes but I realize that comes from a place of privledge. I will likely be given the benifit of the doubt.

I understand why many do not feel the same way.

It is absolutely positively the foundation of the disagreements. I honestly didn't get it until I taught in bmore.

[ajj]

I have had a couple of incidents in my life that make me very distrustful and a couple that have made me really appreciate them. It's complicated for me. I studied to become a Law Enforcement Officer when I was younger, but at the time I did it saying that I wanted to become one of the "good ones".

[Bernadine]

If a cop told me to walk on the sidewalk, I would, because I'm a total scaredy-cat rule-follower.

My experience is mostly with small town police, and they are generally not great. They spent a lot of their time picking on the same people, going after the kids with the tinted windows and loud music. And they were hella arrogant.

[AJL]

As a child, yes. I trusted the police without question. As an adult, it's not so simple. My experience with the police has been neutral. Traffic stops that were uneventful. However I am more wary of police officers these days because of what I see in the media.

[Velar Fricative]

I've had both positive and negative experiences, and the negative was due to what I perceived to be racism (not against me, but against a mostly-AA community I worked in where cops just didn't give a shit whenever something was happening because hey, it wasn't their neighborhood, they just worked there).

And I know a few cops who have a chip on their shoulder and think they're hot shit because they're cops. In other words, they care less about what the goal of being a police officer is and are just in it for the "perks" (all the women who love men in uniform, etc.). So while they are a minority overall, it does sour me a bit.

But overall, I do trust police because there are bad eggs in a sea of good ones. My experience working in another community was really really positive and I like to think the rest of the city's cops are like the ones that were working in that particular precinct. And then my personal experiences were all good too.

[meshaliuknits]

Kinda sorta but not really. I've had some really bad experiences, some questionable experiences and I grew up in a hood where even if you did call the cops, they weren't gonna hurry to get to you. It makes me squishy on people in the profession even if I know *intellectually* that not all officers are bad people. I struggle to find the balance when teaching my children. I don't want them to be afraid of the police, but I don't want them to unquestioningly trust them either.

[pixy0stix]

Nov 26, 2014 10:39:41 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

Nov 26, 2014 10:25:24 GMT -5 eclaires said:

I've never had a negative interaction with a police officer, nor known anyone personally who has.

But I've never really totally trusted cops. Idk. Maybe I have a problem with authority but I am generally quick to believe that the cops might be in the wrong. I don't immediately give them the benefit of the doubt, I guess, but I wouldn't say I really automatically distrust them either.

i think that's what it is for me. my gut reaction when someone tells me to move to the sidewalk would be "fuck you. i do want i want! YOU DONT KNOW MY LYFE!1!1!!" lolz

LOL! Mine is, "I know my rights! I can be in the fucking street if I want to be in the fucking street!"

[jln]

I come from a family of Texas Rangers and currently have 2 sheriff deputies in my family. I believe that police, as a whole, are good. However, just like anything, there are bad people within that group who use their power to hurt others. What I do not support nor understand is when the bad police officers are then protected.

[mbcdefg]

Yes

But, I'm also a white woman from a middle-class area. I've never been in a situation where a police officer has been mean or bossy to me, especially not "just because." If a police officer told me to get on the sidewalk then I'd do it without complaint ... but I haven't been in situations where cops where repeatedly singling me out and telling me to do things that really didn't matter.

I also have a lot of friends and acquaintances who are cops and who are very good people, and a lot of them find themselves in rough/dangerous situations every time they go to work. That being said, there have indeed been instances where they've bossed people around just because they could, or where they've gotten tough with people who have mouthed off to them rather than just done what they said.

It's tough to find the line between respecting authority and standing up for your right/preserving your self-respect. Especially when certain classes of people are held to higher expectations than others. I haven't found a lot of middle ground when discussion the Michael Brown situation with others ... it's either, "He should've listened to the cop" or "The cop shouldn't have bothered him in the first place." And it's really hard to argue the first point with people who refuse to acknowledge that most cops probably wouldn't have bothered a couple of white kids walking down the street - either they wouldn't bothered with them at all, or they would've just said to a mouthy white kid, "Enough, you little punk, get out of my sight."

Re: what @littlemoxie said about NYCers' opinions about the NYPD, I wouldn't doubt that a lot of that has to do with 9/11. I'm in North Jersey and cops/firefighters were like gods after that day.

[ESF]

I have interacted with a couple dick cops, and I've known people who have had bad experiences. But some have been fine. The interactions with my current local police force have been good, though being where I live, the town really keeps them in check.

So I don't really have a strong opinion either way, except to say if I were on a jury, I feel that I would automatically feel like the fact that they were in law enforcement would make their testimony less trustworthy to me, not more.

[zelda25]

Nov 26, 2014 9:57:57 GMT -5 IIOY said:

I've worked with cops and seen the good, the bad, and the very ugly, so I would have to say that it's complicated.

I tend to believe that most of them would at least try to do their job properly, but I don't doubt that many would take shortcuts if possible. I would be incredibly reluctant to be alone with a male officer, and I know that many officers harbor a lot of prejudice about a lot of people.

I'm here. And I would add to this that, just as the priesthood attracts some pedophiles because it gives them (or used to give them, anyway) unfettered access to trusting victims, I think police work can attract people who like to have power and control over others and a green light to act on those urges.


I don't think most priests are abusing children and I don't think most officers are abusing their positions, but bad people are going to go where they can do bad things with impunity, so you'll always have that element--however small--fostering distrust toward the whole lot. 

[Velar Fricative]

Nov 26, 2014 10:47:36 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

 

Re: what @littlemoxie said about NYCers' opinions about the NYPD, I wouldn't doubt that a lot of that has to do with 9/11. I'm in North Jersey and cops/firefighters were like gods after that day.

I'd venture to say that along with 9/11, people here love cops because of how low our crime rate is now compared to what it was 20+ years ago.

[pixy0stix]

Nov 26, 2014 10:50:38 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Nov 26, 2014 10:47:36 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

 

Re: what @littlemoxie said about NYCers' opinions about the NYPD, I wouldn't doubt that a lot of that has to do with 9/11. I'm in North Jersey and cops/firefighters were like gods after that day.

I'd venture to say that along with 9/11, people here love cops because of how low our crime rate is now compared to what it was 20+ years ago.

I read an article yesterday about how crooked the NYPD was in the 70s. Holy hell.

They've really had an image change.

[ESF]

Nov 26, 2014 10:50:38 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Nov 26, 2014 10:47:36 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

 

Re: what @littlemoxie said about NYCers' opinions about the NYPD, I wouldn't doubt that a lot of that has to do with 9/11. I'm in North Jersey and cops/firefighters were like gods after that day.

I'd venture to say that along with 9/11, people here love cops because of how low our crime rate is now compared to what it was 20+ years ago.

Well that and the L&O franchise.

[eclaires]

Nov 26, 2014 10:39:41 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

Nov 26, 2014 10:25:24 GMT -5 eclaires said:

I've never had a negative interaction with a police officer, nor known anyone personally who has.

But I've never really totally trusted cops. Idk. Maybe I have a problem with authority but I am generally quick to believe that the cops might be in the wrong. I don't immediately give them the benefit of the doubt, I guess, but I wouldn't say I really automatically distrust them either.

i think that's what it is for me. my gut reaction when someone tells me to move to the sidewalk would be "fuck you. i do want i want! YOU DONT KNOW MY LYFE!1!1!!" lolz

but in general, i get cops that mansplain the shit to of me. ive had some cop do that while giving me a ticket and i was too scared and young to say anything to him. i would NEVER pull over for a cop at night on the side of the road. i would drive to a public parking lot first.

you know that asshole power trip cop? i worked with that kid when he was in high school and was all dick swinging, talking about being a cop and working out to get ripped to be a cop. and he became a cop. and he raped women while on patrol and would offer women to give him a BJ to get out of tickets. and that is my first impression of cops, unfair as it is.

the dick swinging it takes to be a cop is off putting to me

Yes I am a total bossy older sister type and I don't like anyone telling me what to do. My immediate reaction is super childish (just ask my H!) and I'm like "no fuck you, you don't tell me what to do!!!!"