What do you think of Police Officer's?

Hey SW toes

I saw a very nice policeman on Monday as I lost my handbag, and he was so sweet and helpful I took him a packet of chocolate biscuits the next day to thank him!

He typifies for me the average cop we have here in the UK as a decent guy who genuinely wants to contribute something to his community and to help and comfort people when they are distressed.

Even when I was younger (and a bit of a bastard - if truth be known!) I had to respect the cops I came into contact with as they were always professional and treated me with respect - even after chasing me and my mates all over town or arresting us!!

That is what I would consider the most important thing a cop (or anyone) can do to inspire confidence. Recognise that you are being paid to do (an often unpleasant) job and that showing a consistant and humane face to the public is the ideal that people hope for, but don't always get.

A cops attitude may be the only thing that sticks in the mind long after the problem or offence is a dim memory - and as others have pointed out; you sell more papers with bad news than good. So unless you have firsthand experience with great policemen you are going to have a skewed perception of what most of them are like.

I hope you get treated well on the streets, as from what I have observed of you - and the fact that you even care enough to ask - I guess you're the kind of copper that people are glad to run across!

1

I bought a new car once and the seatbelt was digging into my neck so I stopped wearing it. A couple of weeks later I was stopped at a spot check and warned to wear it or I would get a ticket.

1 week later I was in a head on car accident and the seatbelt SAVED MY LIFE. I would not be here today if it was not for the work that you officer's do.

Improvements: Be more consistent in enforcement. Every once in a while there will be a "blitz" on aggressive driving or seatbelt use but after the "blitz" period I have seen people getting away with the same things (agressive drivers passing cruisers who don't stop them, etc. I once had a car pass me on a double line coming out of a town and the cop at the side of the road simply pointed at them and let them go.

How to gain more trust and respect?: Some people will not respect you no matter what but the majority of the public holds officers in very high regard. Simply by treating the public with respect I believe that they will respect your duties in return (even if we don't like getting tickets we understand the need for it.) The best way to start is to educate people. Our local paper (Dundalk, ON) has a section just for the OPP enforcement to let the community know the calls they have been on over the past week. It is very enlightening.

Keep up the good work! :)

The problem is that the people that you have to interact most are the ones that are going to be giving you attitude because you by and large are dealing with the dregs of society. The majority of the law abiding citiczens that you are out there for from my perspective appreciate what you are doing. For the girl above who made the comment "you do not have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world" her ignorance astounds. Granted that depends on where you work, but to make a blanket statement like that is just plain ignorant. I would challenge her to take a ride through Gary, Indiana, Ford Heights, IL or one of any 100 low income gang infested cities or towns. Much like that tuna fisherman she spoke of, some police officers go to work at night and really don't know if they are coming home in the morning. Furthermore, she should look up a little thing called posse commetatus (or how ever the hell you spell it), the law that says you can not use military as civilian law enforcement.

I think as far as gaining more respect, I guess that depends on where you work. my suggestion would be, simply to remain professional no matter what the situation, and respond to every situation with the same professionalism regardless as to how ridiculous it may be. A concerned citiczen called you.

Thank you for what you do.

Well. They are good. I am not going to say this to be mean. But I think some cops use the badge to do things other cant. Some when they are in the cop car turn on the red lights to get through traffic. But we need cops. Some cops take to mutch pre-caution. I under stand you have a job but like the insodent in ny an inocent guy was killed by a mistaken of kepping his hand warm in his jacket to a gun, he never actully had a gun. But still cops shot and killed him. But maby if cops were better and some nicer people would like you btter. Not sayin you are mean but some can.

Well, this is an easy one,,,there's 'good' cop's and 'bad' cop's.. You can't paint them ALL with the same brush. Generally speaking, there's a couple of thing's I dis-like about cop's. 1), I find it strange that cop's (in general) have "an 'air' of authority. They just 'seem' to come off as "BETTER, "SMARTER", and "ARROGANT" and a step ABOVE the general public. It's as if they forgot who pays their salary and, I don't 'buy' that stuff "they're risking their life,,,,". That's baloney. There are cop's that will WORK FOR FREE, just to have the power. And, 2), I hate to see a FAT cop. When I see a cop that's overweight, (BIG BEER GUT) I think; "That guy DOESN'T CARE". and if he should find himself in an 'running' situation, he's gonna lose, or an 'altercation', (that's part of the job) and there's not 5 other cop's around, he's gonna get his a*s*s kicked ! the LEAST a cop SHOULD DO is, get off his behind and work out. Last, (but not the least) I DON'T expect a cop to PROTECT MY life, with his. If I'm too dumb to avoid being caught in something where MY LIFE is in danger, HOW can I expect a cop, (or anyone) to save it ? Well, there you have it,,take it, or leave it, I hope it help's,,As a society, we need cop's to survive, but, IF you're going to be a cop, BE A GOOD ONE. GOOD LUCK,,,,

Well for starters, I sure wouldn't call a Plumber if I was being violated in some way or my well being was being threatened. Police Officers have one of the hardest jobs of any profession in our country. You are the first responders, you are the ones to show compassion to an old homeless person. Now and then a couple bad seeds slip through the cracks in the Academy but for the most part, our nations men in blue are tip top. I salute all of you and Good luck. What does gripe me is the officers who let themselves go, I've seen some heavy officers who couldn't run if their lives depended on it. They are the ones who give departments the donut eating rep. I thought there were physical guidelines to follow. Bottom line, I couldn't imagine our country without you......*Our Unsung Hero's*.

I like police officer's. I do respect them only if they are curtious with the people that's curtious to them. With all the cruelty that some police officer's do to people is unnecessary. I think some police officer let there authority go to there heads and that's when there are problems. So, as long as theses kind of things goes on our public streets and highways, there will be more people that won't respect the law.

People who want to be police officer's should be screened more carefully and closely monitored to be law enforcement officers. The good thing is, at least we do have some honest, and caring officer's out there on the job. I think there should be alot more on our streets and highway today. They are so short in officer's now days. There's not enought to go around. I don't think its right that 1 officer has to cover 100 miles of state highways by him or herself. Which I know this for a fact because, my husband and I are on the state highways constanstly year around and when you need a officer they are never within just a few miles from you. You always, have a long wait time. Depending on where you are located.

So, to all you great police officer's, I take my hat off to you. Keep up the great work that you do and putting your lifes on the line for others. God Bless Each Of You!!

I realize police have a hard job I'm not disputing that but lots of us have hard jobs I just don't see why they have to be all arrogant and puffed up acting as if there better and throwing around the intimidation card. I mean is it necessary to be so damn mean all the time. Example a couple of weeks ago it snowed it was about 10:00 pm I was on my way home from work, tired and struggling to get home cause roads were bad. Got to the street I live on and it was closed the cops had it blocked because of the ice. I stopped and a cop walked up to my window, he said TURN AROUND AND GO BACK YOU CAN'T GO DOWN HERE. I politely asked why he said I DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE YOU A REASON, JUST BECAUSE I SAID SO, I said well I live down there and really need to get home he said YEA WELL EVERYBODY LIVES DOWN THERE ROADS CLOSED COME BACK LATER. Bullshit everybody does not live down there he was just an arrogant jerk, instead of trying to help or at least be nice he had to throw his authority around whatever.

Just lije the rest of the working world, just do the job. As in any other group of people, he "bad" ones always make the rest look bad, when in fact the good people out number the bad many times over. Since they are in the public, just be compassionate with those you deal with. It is a hard job that has to be done