The Thin Blue Line

[Kanewpadle]

To all you fine coppers out there, you are appreciated.

There are more of us that support you than those that don't. Unfortunately their voices are amplified through biased media.

Upon arriving at a convenience store today I saw a "lady" giving a cop a hard time.

I parked in front and rolled down my window to hear the discussion. The discussion was very one sided because the trash that was berating the cop was very loud.

I looked at the cop expecting to see him pissed off. But he was smiling! I wondered if the smile was the wrong thing to do because it seemed to infuriate the lady. But then I thought that maybe it's how he deals with these situations instead of just beating the hell out of them.

I entered the store and asked the clerk what happened. She tried to steal something.

I paid for my stuff and watched the cop and lady for a minute wondering how it would end.

I got my answer when the lady spit on the cops badge. She looked like she hadn't had a decent meal in the last ten years. The cop, about six foot six and 300 pounds was very gentle with her. All the while calling her "mam". She yelled kicked and screamed. Then she cried. The cop smiled the entire time.

He put her in the car and left.

I'm sure the lady was homeless. On drugs. Maybe a mental health problem. It's a choice she made. And she will be back on the street soon.

I felt sorry for the cop and admired him at the same time.

I couldn't do it.

 

[Alk8944]

This is the kind of BS that makes me happy to have retired over 30 years ago. Even then it was getting so that we got just as much garbage from administration as from people on the street! It was like once they were promoted past Patrolman they forgot about what actually doing the job was all about!

I loved the first 15 years and hated the last 6 before I had to retire due to injuries. The state also changed retirement rules just a year or two before than. When I was hired you only needed 20 years to be vested and retire at any time after that. This was changed so you had to retire in five year increments. If you didn't retire during your "window" year you had to wait another five years to get full retirement! This applied to everyone from me! to everyone hired after me! Officers with one position more seniority than me could still retire at any time after 20 years, and they all had more! I had to retire no later than July 1 at 20 years and 9 months because of this. I couldn't even wait until October 1 to have 21 years even and get an additional 5% on my pension.

Honestly I don't understand why anyone would want to be in Law Enforcement these days. That appears to be the case because of the difficulty many jurisdictions are having getting enough qualified applicants for the job!

Sorry for the rant, but I think you understand!

Thank you for your nice comments kanewpaddle, they are appreciated even 30+ years later!

 

[Krogen]

I think just a "like" from me would fall short. So in addition I'm posting a huge THANK YOU to the folks in blue. You are deeply appreciated!

 

[Eric300]

We sure didn't get into this profession to get rich. It takes a special breed to be a LEO.....and do it right. I salute all my LEO brothers and sisters and wish them the best. Stay safe and watch your 6!

 

[IAM Rand]

I mainly drive a desk but, there are times when I miss the road. Then again, when it is 100+ or snowing, I grab another cup of coffee, look out the window, and realize how much better I have it.

 

[Puller]

I think one of the most unfortunate and disproportionate priorities in our country is how we pay millions to people who chase balls, actors, and singers yet we pay first responders so little and they get so little public notice.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I have 2 deputy sheriffs in my family so know the feelings. Prayers sent for all law enforcement officers

 

[Onomea]

I think, from my experience and from reading the news, cops are humans like the rest of us. Most of them are trying to do their best in a difficult job, and a few of them are bad apples, abusing their authority.

It is not a job I would want to undertake. I don't think I have either the patience, or the stomach, for it. Probably not the judgement either — I'm thinking here of Charlie Sherill or Faulkner here. I appreciate those who do, and recognize that the bad apples are a small minority with an outsized media presence.

We need cops to keep our communities safe, livable. Wish we had more of them on our streets. We ought to pay them more, too, so that they could have better, ongoing training, and better, more comfortable, lives, too.

My thanks to those of you who did and do the job.

 

[Krogen]

When I was a kid, many of the cops were beat cops. A few drove so-called "prowler cars." The beat cops knew people and rubbed elbows with them. They were your friends, unless you were a crook. They could be a crook's worst enemy. Beat cops watched you, but most importantly they watched out for you. When I got my driver's license, they kept an eye on me. I'd get department-labeled "courtesy tickets" under my wiper blade. Generally, they were notes saying "Hi Krogen, sorry I missed you." Beat cops were extensions of our parents in many ways.

These days, most of the cops I know are members at my gun clubs. All of them are great people and fun to be around. It seems they can let their guard down a bit around other shooters at private clubs. I'll never be in their brotherhood, but I enjoy their company and count them as friends. It's almost like the old days of rubbing elbows with beat cops, except we're all older.

 

[steelslaver]

Do I believe in police brutality? Yes, I do

I also believe that the vast majority is caused by a small minority.

I also, believe that cops are human and exposed to a lot and that from time to time some nit wit pushes a good man, having a bad day, to far and gets his just deserts.

I probably would not have lasted long. In my 20s through my 40s if I had to deal with some of the total jerks they have to deal with I would have handed out a some "excessive force." Hey, I admire the restraint they showed in dealing with me from 16 to 40.

 

[bgrafsr]

I retired in '97 after 25 years on the Dept. I was given credit for my 4 years in the Air Force, so my pension was based on 29 years of duty.


I had a good career, but there were times I wanted to quit, and the only thing stopping me was the time I had in.
I started out as a beat cop for 3 years, and then went into a squad car. After getting a car, I wished I had stayed a beat cop.

Patrolled the downtown area and had it made, but at the time I didn't realize it. Went into the Detective Bureau and stayed there for several years, ending up as the evidence officer. I was also one of two Range Officers and the Dept. Armorer.
After leaving the Det. Bureau, I went back to car patrol and ended up with Badge 1. My last 3 years I was Court Officer and my duties included transporting prisoners to and from Court, and taking them to jail if they got time for what they did. Made a lot of overtime and that boosted my pension considerably.


I had planned on staying until I had 30 years in, but I was offered a job with the Clerk of Municipal Court and took the job. Ended up in IT which I loved and did 11 years there until I retired completely.

 

[Rudi]

Cops rule!!

 

[RetCapt]

Put in 30 1/2 years. Still miss solo patrol at night.

Sometimes I loved it.

Sometimes I hated it.

But I was always addicted to it.

 

[Faulkner]

There are a lot of variables in the making of a good LEO. I have no doubt I would not fair long in a large inner city and I have no desire to do so. Conversely, I've seen some big city officers decide they've had enough and come to our more rural setting and they were quick to discover a lot of what they learned in the big city was not well received here.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I wanted to be an LEO when I was younger. My aunt's boyfriend was a Cincinnati cop. He told me that I did not have the patience for it and should do something else. He was right.

 

[bgrafsr]

I liked working night shift (10PM to 6AM), especially weekends, as we were usually pretty busy. On top of that we didn't have to contend with the brass on day shift. I didn't like afternoon shift because of all the juveniles calls, which I disliked very much.
Night shift was good. I knew the buildings that I could get into and that was good during the Winter, because I could get warm, or when it rained I could stay dry. We had 3 beat lights downtown when I started, and you had to keep you're eyes on them, because if they lit up you had to call into the station.


We finally got portable radios, big bulky ones, but we didn't have to use the beat lights anymore. The first or second day I used one, I spotted a stolen car and called in to report it. The perpetrator was caught right away, and I got an attaboy, but no raise in pay.



Our beats consisted of a West end of downtown, a Central area, and an East end. Used to be two beat cops working downtown, but eventually it was only one cop on the beat, which didn't bother me. Got to know all the merchants, and always checked doors at the start of my night shift beat, and again at the end of shift.

 

[jbull380]

1469 days and I'm out.

 

[Muss Muggins]

. . . It's a choice she made. . .

Five bucks says it's not . . .

 

[Kanewpadle]

Five bucks says it's not . . .

And you might lose that 5 bucks. I know homeless people. It was their choice.

 

[Doug M.]

Are there imperfect cops? Yup. Are there cops who simply should not be in the field? Yup. The vast majority are just men and women trying to do a job and go home at the end of their shift.

If one looks at the available data, cops use force pretty rarely. They use lethal force very rarely, and at most, 5% of the time it would be justified. We see videos of force, out of context of how the incident developed, and yeah, it looks bad, but force is ugly and effective force on a person who is not compliant is really ugly.

Sadly, some politicians have bought the fabrications and enacted laws that place the well-being of offenders at a level that is at best on a par of the officers and citizen victims. The consequences are showing. Some places that used to be ok are really bad now, and even in my small city there are enough problems that one of my colleagues has asked me to walk with her and her middle school daughter on early release days.