Dave Cutter

But it doesn't mean there ARE bad cops ether! Cops aren't built in factories. Cops are just people and people evolve and change. But people don't spoil or go bad. If you don't have a clue about human behavior... I guess you could just call people "bad". A little TOO simplified for most people though.

You write very well for someone so extremely young.

That's been pointed out several times on this thread... even by me. But in actually... it's more like not required to carry papers.

psy

Obviously not all cops are bad people, but I do truly believe that the profession does appeal to a lot of people with control/power issues and even outright psychopaths that want to kill people. I'm very skeptical of the guy who thinks HE should be the one carrying a gun around. The attitude that you should just go along and cooperate with their every demand regardless of the legality of the situation because "it will save you time or court fees" is ridiculous, and at the same time way too common.

Here's some of the great work your heroes have done this year. I'm sure they were ALL justified.


Killed By Police - 2015

asmac

Only when operating a motor vehicle.

rekmeyata

I don't understand this cop bashing crap. Cops have the toughest job in the world, they have to deal with the worst of us and do so day in and day out, year after year and then have to deal with the politics of the community and the department, then have to watch know criminals get off on light sentences. Cops suffer from more on the job stress (known as PTSD) than any other occupation, divorce is the highest of any occupation. Read this for more insight on this occupation: https://www.soc.umn.edu/~samaha/cases/police_stress.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0926105029.htm

And while some of you are bashing cops you expect them to save your life and those of your family should a gun man threaten you or them and put their lives in front of yours, which they do day in and day out yet we don't hear the news of all the times a cop puts his life on the line, just when a cop finally blows a fuse from stress and does something wrong that they regret and will have to live with that stress of knowing that for the rest of their lives and then the news sensationalizes it. A cop is a human being not a superhuman factory made robots as Dave Cutter said, and as a human being most have a finite breaking point due to the stress, this is usually taken out on the women that they love, but when it gets really bad they take it out on a citizen, usually a citizen that is trouble maker. Cops that are employed by large cities are the ones especially susceptible to on the job stress, small little 20,000 population towns not so much, most of these types suffer from boredom, and on top of the stress of being a cop in a large city, just living not even as a cop in a large city is more stressful than living in a small town, so the cop gets stressed from two different angles.

So the next time you get pulled over be extremely nice to the cop, ask them how there day is going, keep your hands on the steering wheel the whole time from when the cop exits his car and don't move them until the cop ask for you ID and registration, then before you move your hands tell the cop your id is in your wallet in your purse or back pocket and ask permission to retrieve it slowly, then hands back on the steering wheel after you gave them the ID and ask permission again to retrieve your car and insurance papers out of the glove box and retrieve it slowly then hands back on the steering wheel and remain there until you get your papers back and have to sign the ticket. Then thank the cop for doing such a great job for the community even though you may be hating the idea of receiving a ticket, but they're just doing their job to enforce the law that you failed to do your job at keeping, and offer to shake their hand by extending yours. You would be surprise if you do those steps I outlined here how many cops will let you go without a ticket.

skye

@rekmeyata -- what a bunch of self-serving, flag-waving tripe. Police not only don't have the hardest job in the world, they don't even have the most dangerous. They barely make it into the top 10, right behind factory workers. And the crap that your typical cop has to put up with wouldn't even be noticed by someone who has worked retail.

The chief of LAPD once described his own force as "a bunch of fry cooks with guns." That's the level of professionalism possessed by most cops.

Oh, and the reason their divorce rate is so high? It's because they beat their wives in far higher proportions than the rest of the population.

Yeah, rah, rah. Great guys. I wouldn't call a cop if I was getting burgled (I have my own protection, TYVM), and I've taught my daughters to never, ever stop for a cop car trying to pull them over except in a well-lit, populated area. Because we all know what might very well happen.

dksix

I've seen a lot of video's where people "know their rights" and don't want to give cops ID or answer questions and such but in the grand scheme of things I can't see any reason to make a cops life any harder than it already is. I don't always ride adhering to the same laws I know would be enforced if I was driving and I know I wouldn't want the DMV attaching those infractions to my driving record but as long as it doesn't cross over I wouldn't have a problem with showing them my DL while riding.

RandomTroll

Some years ago (10-20?) a bicyclist refused to show his driver license to a cop who stopped him. I remember that the eventual outcome of the case was that he had to show it, even if he didn't have to have it to ride. I'm looking for it but can't find it. I don't carry my driver license unless I'm driving.

I've been ticketed twice while bicycling even though I didn't have a license - I gave them enough info to identify me - so not-carrying it doesn't protect a bicyclist from tickets. (Once was bogus - running a stop sign at a slow speed when there was no one else at the intersection; the other time the cop was wrong. I beat both in court.)

As much as I execrate bad biking, laws protect law-breakers as well as punish them. Even if OP breaks the law cops have to obey them.

Was a student at U MD in the '70s.

fietsbob

Anyone looked up their state vehicle codes Yet to read what Laws apply?

rekmeyata

I can tell your anti police and you don't have clue, next please.

skye

Well, if you can't address the issues, I guess running away is one option.

rekmeyata

You don't address a hater.

yooperbiker

Well, in Michigan at least, and I believe any USA state, there is no legal requirement to carry identification. Exception is if driving a motor vehicle you must have valid drivers license. In order to buy liquor or cigarettes or cash return of merchandise, or to purchase pseudoephedrineyou can be required to prove your age via "acceptable" picture id. You are required to provide your full legal name to police when requested (although police are supposed to have cause to request this).

skye

You aren't addressing the issues, either.

kickstart

I'm 51 and haven't had a issue with a cop except for when I was In the Coast Guard on duty, and It wasn't an issue civilian would have. Many of the reservists were cops, and we worked with many police agencies. In all my experiences, cops run the range of personalities just like with any other profession.

Anyone implying that most cops have emotional disorders suggests to me that its actually the accuser that has the issues.

Ajenkins

My experiences with the police have not been, err, uniformly positive:

My Crime? Riding A Bicycle On a Public Street

bakes1

I feel sorry for and seriously wonder about anyone with this type of ignorant and blind hatred towards any class/group of people.

skye

1. "Alcohol abuse among police officers is a serious and widespread problem, with some studies estimating that it afflicts one-quarter of all police officers in the U.S." -- Alcoholism Among Law Enforcement Personnel: Its Unique Challenges, James Genovese, The College of New Jersey.

2. Statistics show that 1 in 4 women in the US is a victim of domestic violence, those numbers jump to 1 in 2 if they are married to a cop. -- Johnson, L.B. (1991). On the front lines: Police stress and family well-being. Hearing before the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families House of Representatives: 102 Congress First Session May 20 (p. 32-48). Washington DC: US Government Printing Office.

These are real stand-up citizens we're talking about here.

rekmeyata

Agreed 1000%

I think the next time Skye is in trouble and needs cop protection he should instead call the garbage man to come help him, he might find that more to his liking instead of some lousy psychological whacked drunken divorced maniac cop that just wants to kill him.

Maelochs

I am generally pro-cop--after all, they are risking their lives to protect me and all that I hold dear. I have had numerous dealings with police from about every angle, and I know that while they are doing a sometimes dangerous, often dirty, generally underpaid and under-appreciated job ... they are still just people. Some are bad, some are good, most are a mix.

Good ones should be appreciated, bad ones are criminals and should be treated as such. Laws do apply to cops.

As for LEOs' propensity to substance abuser and anger issues, there are a lot of reasons, including the underpaid, under-appreciated, generally socially shunned, dealing daily with the worst sorts of people doing the worst sorts of things and finding it difficult to discuss with anyone except other cops ... the macho code of stoic silence can't help....

And there is no doubt that the job can attract people who want power, people who have anger and violence issues and use the job and the badge as a way to exercise them. There are also corrupt cops, and just plain bad cops.

Funny thing is, when you need a cop ....

I saw a pretty funny video by a guy in one of the CopWatch groups, who was deliberately visibly filming police encounters in a town where there was supposedly a lot of police harassment. One cop approached him, questioned him---the guy knew his rights and legal obligations and was adamant (and very polite) that he would only do exactly what the law required, and would not stop filming or recording. That first cop was also very polite, was very firm about exactly what the photographer could do according to the law. The cop walked off and all was well.

A second cop, a sheriff, came over and immediately started barking orders at the photographer, telling him he was breaking the law, and even tried to seize his camera--totally without due process or legal right. The first cop had to come back over to calm things down.

The contrast between a good cop doing a good job and a bad cop doing a bad job was so stark it was painful.

Pretty much, the vast majority of cops are good or at least okay, a few are really good, and a very, very few are really bad. But ...

When you need a cop, he is always a good one, no?

dedhed

****

Retro Grouch 

As with every other group, there is no "they". There is only the individual that you are dealing with at the moment. Even assuming these statistics are true, that means that 75% of law enforcement officers aren't alcohol abusers.

Chief

so much fail in one sentence!

Bugstomper2000

I think you can operate any vehicle on public roads without a license as long as it fits in a lane and either has no engine or an engine with 50cc or less. That would mean even on a old motored bike you don't need a license. But wait, what about e-bikes?

Chief

that's also wrong in many of the 50 states.... no ID is (yet) required to vote (so far, voting is still a right)

(returning items to a store is a private transaction between consumers and private businesses... anything goes)

Bugstomper2000

and hey, a cop tried to give me a ticket for riding my bike across a crosswalk when I was in seventh grade. I didn't have my id on me so he just let me go