DO LEO'S live in a Democratic (by definition) society...??

[May'aki]

I was reading the WA Police Journal this morning and an article made this statement..

"You(LEO's) might like to think you can live your life as part of a democratic society, but the reality is you live your life in an adversarial society."

So..do LEO'S live in an adversarial society??..if so..what makes it that way??

The article was titled "living in a glasshouse"...

[acreature]

Obviously wriiten by a Lib :p

[hitnrun]

Yes, we live in an adversarial society. Why? Because everyone hates us. We don't let the bad guys have fun and we make fun of democrats who think hemp is still cool.

[May'aki]

Obviously wriiten by a Lib :p

its actually written by a former COP...the basics of the article is that cops have it tuff..24/7..

i wish i could link to the article but WAPOL doesn have it on their web page...

I might just have to type it in....

[May'aki]

from the article.....

"....but you, your a cop living in an eternal galsshouse with windows which are never clear... There are no walls in your glasshouse; relative anonymity just isnt possible. Not much is done without the possobility of accounting for your actions, inactions,ommisions,admissions and whatever else, and its never for positive reasons (altho breathing is allowed).

Your neighbours know who you are, your kids are cop kids, your spouse avoids answering questions about what you do - it only invites criticism, whingeing or even sympathy

You have a silent number so people dont harrass you; you dont give out personal details like addresses, family names ect without very good cause- PO boxes will do just fine. You arrange to be notified when certain offenders are released from prision, just so you can be a little more alert in case they come looking for you...

It doesnt matter where you are, or when you are there or why you are there, you are ever accountable to the OATH you have taken to the community you serve and to those less than desirable characters who know it.

I could make your life miserable in an instant by just picking up the phone and other people do so for no other reason than the pleasure they recieve knowing the angst its going to cause you because you are a cop.

You can be arrested where others in identical cirumstances would likely be summonsed - all because someone has decided you are far above the commoners like me that you deserve special treatment!

When i was a cop, we had guidelines for arrest and bail of citizens, you know the seriousness of the crime, the risk of flight, witness interference ect ect: OH SORRY..thats right your not citizens your cops, so it obviously doesnt apply. And as for bail, well like i said, your special so you have to go before a magistrate for bail. The custody seargent just wont do.

What ever happened to the preumption of innocence.???

The thing is, Ive been in that glass house, also. I think I know where I prefer to be."

[Question]

I don't know if this applies, but a First Sergeant once told me that the military was not democratic so that it would be able to protect democracy.

IMHO, maybe cops have to be "adversarial" so civilians like me get to live in a democratic society.

[oscarmitre]

This is really a variation on the "woe is me" that sometimes is published in police association/union journals/magazines. As a former editor of one of those magazines I was always a bit loathe to publish this sort of thing as it's not original and not usually written well enough to be a new take on an old problem but...misery loves company and each time I'd publish something like this there would always be a few "right on" letters. All jobs have their downside, this is just another variation.

We're given immense authority over our fellow citizens - if accountability is to much to ask for then the objectors should find another job that doesn't require so much.

[bpd35]

Well dont pull any punches there Oscar. LOL. I agree with you to a certain extent. The things that upset me aside from the nasty aspects of the job are the subtle things. Things that people take for granted .

For one instance ( and i could name many ) . Going to the store on your 1 day off you MIGHT get and getting asked a question or someone will say hey i saw about 2 weeks ago ... That usually provokes me into a sarcastic type answer which i try to think out so that the person asking me is still trying to figure it out hours after i answered it . Thats why the law is so fun ... You can say 10 different words all with the same meaning and if you talk long enough with this jargin people will start to ignore you and bring up another topic.

No matter what you are a cop 24 hrs a day 7 days a week and so on. Like it or not. This is not a job you can like just enough to stay here. Either you love it, hate it , or are born with it in your blood.....

I think if people wanted to get technical on the issue that because of the left leaning that this country has taken over the past i dont know how many years that it has caused a great amount more of stress than used to . This is general done by blaming the police everytime something happens. We now live in a society were its easier to dope a kid up on drugs to control his behavior , or to Kill an entire family and blame it on drug abuse or something stupid and everyone knows were I am going with it .

Has anyone seen the movie Seven ???. A damn good movie. Why because it has a lot of truth in it. I hate to be the god father of pesemism ( SP ? ) but its the truth folks.

People single you out because you are a cop. Nothing more. People see your uniform and thats it . They dont care. That to me is another form of racism. Isnt that what Racism is ??? The color or religion or sex of a person over that person ??. Think one second about it...... Nathaniel Jones. Here you have 2 cops on VIDEO and AUDIO confronting a guy who moments ealier was tearing around a white castle and you can hear him say " Red neck Cracker " or some racial comment to the officer right before he took a swing. Now these 2 officers are put on trial ..... WHY ????????????????????????????

I will tell you why. Because we tolerate it .... Society Tolerates it . Will it make me perform my job any less ... NOPE. Will i treat people differently ..NOPE.... However I dont see it getting any better. When I was growing up I saw a police officer and it made me want to stand up straight . I dont see that anymore. One big difference between me and everyone else .... I know what i am doing is right. Regardless.....

[oscarmitre]

Good points bpd and taken. I spent a lot of my career as an elected unpaid, part-time official for our Association and several years as an elected, paid, full-time official and I worked for the interests of our members in both the unpaid and paid roles. I can point you to a website that proves those claims if needed.

BTW I know that wasn't a shot at me so please don't think I'm taking it that way, because I'm not.

Cops do get crap, for sure. But we're not the only occupation that has to put up with this sort of rubbish. We're just the most visible.

Having said that I, like everyone here on RP (I think), live in a society where the police - collectively and individually - are controlled by the law and the rule of law is our rule of engagement, as it were. Some years ago I was in Czechoslovakia when the communists were in charge and in quick succession had a cop stick an AK-47 in my face and then had his boss stick an automatic pistol in my face during a vehicle search (I was driving the vehicle). There was no question of my complaining about their behaviour, that was pretty clear.

I prefer the way we do policing, even if there is a significant downside.

[bpd35]

No there was nothing directed towards you . I appreciate that you did not over react . I know at times i can be to direct . It comes from doing this job and being prior military i guess ...