Thought I'd share this witht he group...

POLICE OFFICER SPEAKS
(The author of this article was supposedly Trooper Mitchell Brown of the Virginia State Police.)

Well, Mr. Citizen, it seems you've figured me out. I need to fit neatly into the category where you've placed me. I'm stereotyped, standardized, characterized, classified, grouped, and always typical.
Unfortunately, the reverse is true. I can never figure you out.
From birth you teach your children that I'm the bogeyman, then you're shocked when they identify with my traditional enemy ... the criminal!
You accuse me of coddling criminals ... until I catch your kids doing wrong.
You may take an hour for lunch and several coffee breaks each day, but point me out as a loafer for having one cup.
You pride yourself on your manners, but think nothing of disrupting my meals with your troubles. You raise hell with the guy who cuts you off in traffic, but let me catch you doing the same thing and I'm picking on you.
You know all the traffic laws ... but you've never gotten a single ticket you deserve. You shout "foul" if you observe me driving fast to a call, but raise the roof if I take more than ten seconds to respond to your complaint.
You call it part of my job if someone strikes me, but call it Police brutality if I strike back.
You wouldn't think of telling your dentist how to pull a tooth or your doctor how to take out an appendix, yet you are always willing to give me pointers on the law.
You talk to me in a manner that would get you a bloody nose from anyone else, but expect me to take it without batting an eye.
You yell something's got to be done to fight crime, but you can't be bothered to get involved.
You have no use for me at all, but of course it's OK if I change a flat for your wife, deliver your child in the back of the Patrol car, or perhaps save your son's life with mouth to mouth breathing, or work many hours overtime looking for your lost Daughter.
So, Mr. Citizen, you can stand there on your soapbox and rant and rave about the way I do my work, calling me every name in the book, but never stop to think that your property, family, or maybe even your life depends on me or one of my buddies.
Yes, Mr. Citizen, it's me ... the cop!

The author of this article was Trooper Mitchell Brown of the Virginia State Police. He was killed in the line of duty two months after writing the article. As a salute to the millions of police officers who put their lives on the line for us everyday, if it strikes a chord with you, then please pass this on.

Mark

 

Very good. My son needs to read that.

 

I have the greatest of respect for police officers - I know that these are people who put their own lives on the line on a daily basis.

I also understand that one of the reasons that cops appear to be rude when they approach you after they pull you over is because they have ABSOLUTELY no idea what they are getting into. They just try to play it safe.

Being originally from a country where lawlwessness is rampant and where almost everybody walking the streets is armed to the teeth - I can tell you that in perspective getting a couple of speeding tickets now and then is worth the security of life and property that these people provide you with.

My $0.02

 

It's all true, good for him, A shame he's not around. I feel like dropping this off up the street to the Police Station. I figure they will get a kick out of it.

 

Just playing the devil's advocate here:

Can I blame the police for no-knock raids? How about the ones that kill innocent people or occur at the wrong address?

Can I blame the police for civil forfeitures which steal property without showing that any crime was committed?

Can I blame the police for using racial profiling?

Can I blame the police for corruption, lying on the witness stand, framing innocent people, etc., as occurred at the Rampart division in LA?

Can I blame the police for putting loyalty to each other over their loyalty to their community and justice (any of a dozen incidents in NY where police have lied and protected criminals in uniform)?

Can I blame the police for using those "thin blue line" badges on their cars as secret way to get out of tickets for themselves, friends and family?

The police do a great job the vast majority of the time, I think. They do a few things which are reprehensible, as well, which make many of us wary.

 

I have the highest respect for them. But they are human just like the rest of us. They can and will make mistakes and sometimes do it intentionally, just like the rest of us.

That said, a well-written piece.

 

I come from a law enforcement family, and have many friends on the force....it's like a double edged sword. The majority are just trying to do the best job they can......just like us all.

 

Funny, I've never done any of those things to any cop I've ever met. I try to treat police officers with the utmost respect when I have to deal with them. I know their job is difficult. I put my hands in plain sight when pulled over to put their minds at ease as they approach my car. I don't argue with them. If I disagree I figure we'll discuss it in the appropriate place: court. All of that being said, I've had the following experiences:

1) I was sitting at the side of a road changing the CD in my CD player, with the lights and engine on in my lowered mini truck, on a FIRST DATE, when a cop pulled up behind me and put on his lights. He had no probable cause but decided to harass me anyways. He checked the whole car over trying to find any reason to give me a ticket but couldn't. He was also a pompous A$$.

2) Was arrested after getting pulled over for speeding. The cop decided he didn't like my "attitude" when he started the whole thing off wrong by his first words to me being "Do you know your rights?". It turns out he had had an UZI pulled on him earlier in the evening. I'm sorry about that but I didn't do it and if you can't control your emotions take the rest of the day off or retire or something. Don't take it out on the next guy you pull over. The charges never made it to court but I spent a night in jail, had to pay impound fees to get my truck back, and had to take a day off from college to go to court because noone notified me charges weren't being filed.

3) A week after incident #2 I'm stopped at a red light. A cop pulls up behind me and turns on his lights. I pull to the other side of the intersection and pull over. He just wanted to know why my truck was impounded the previous week. I tell him because I got arrested and he says "OH" and let's me go.

4) I got pulled over for DUI by a sheriff on the freeway. He gives me the sobriety tests and let's me go. As soon as I pull back onto the freeway a CHP officer pulls me over again. When told that I had just been pulled over he says "yeah I saw but Sheriff's don't know how to give the tests". I was taken in and arrested, but again the charges never made it to court.

I have more stories but suffice to say that while I'm respectful and try to do the right things when I have to deal with cops I don't have a huge amount of respect for them as a whole. I've been harrassed and abused enough to know that they do have a decent percentage of bad apples. If they want to get the respect that the author of this piece obviously felt they weren't getting they should get rid of the "code of silence" that protects the bad cops. That would be a good start to getting rid of the A-holes that make the whole group look bad.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strike
[B]Funny,

 

NO! I work with these men and women all the time. You've got the odd bad one but most are good people. They're human like anybody else. They just have a higher perceived standard to uphold. Like any other profession, you've got good people and bad ones. Why, I bet there's even computer guys out there who use their talents to steal and do evil! I don't get tickets very often but the ones I've gotten, in retrospect, I deserved them. Lips: good post.