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I am a college student studying Criminal Justice and so am always searching YouTube for police in action types of videos. A majority of the results when you type in, say "police shootout" or "police arrest" or something end up being about how all cops are pigs who should all die and what not.
I am very appreciative of police and the work they do for us. Now, I realize that police brutality exists, but am also keen enough to realize how isolated it actually is and how quickly liberal media scoops up stories and go to town with them. This is really beginning to get on my nerves!
Every business has bad seeds, yet I don't see people dubbing every coach a child molester after this UPenn incident or every foorball player a dog abuser after Vick.

I think America should be more respective of police in general. End rant.

Law Enforcement and the military are in the same boat

Yes, I should have included military as well, but that subject holds much more meaning to me and deserves its own thread.

Dunno, soldiers seem to get more respect, locally speaking, than cops do. Mind you, this is often because of the inconsistency of cops between various parts of a county-- such as a suburbian region's cops being far more strict than a downtown region's cops. It gets people annoyed at them, and understandably so-- but in the end I think people still generally side with cops over criminals at least...

Im not trying to make any claims but, atleast from youtube comments, it does seem like there are a high % of Americans that dislike cop / police. I would like to know why, im sure they cant be THAT bad or corrupted?

The only reason that someone once told me was...
"people dont like to get caught, it doesnt matter to them whats right or wrong, and police are the agents that stops them"

Well makes sense.

The internet is not representative of the majority.

people with a gripe or personal agenda make youtube videos, start blogs, and try to find an audience any way they can.

Look at the foolishness that gets posted in this very OT by some people. Most of it is not the majority opinion...

Tired of cop bashing? Find something more productive to do then watching yourtube videos me thinks...

Classic American hardcore punk band MDC.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDC_(band)

Soldiers goes off and fight other people for you. Cops enforce the local laws Against you, which is when people get mad.

I myself have never had a bad experience with a cop, even during one of the multiple times I've been pulled over. I appreciate the work they do to keep the rest of us safe.

CT GAMER wrote:The internet is not representative of the majority.

people with a gripe or personal agenda make youtube videos, start blogs, and try to find an audience any way they can.

Look at the foolishness that gets posted in this very OT by some people. Most of it is not the majority opinion...

Tired of cop bashing? Find something more productive to do then watching yourtube videos me thinks...

Nah, I think OP and me included has the right to be concerned. Like what has gone wrong to end up this way?
Police are just doing their jobs, what happened to make people dislike them...? Are the culture different now where the criminal % are so
high that its "common" to dislike cops?

Aduro wrote:Soldiers goes off and fight other people for you. Cops enforce the local laws Against you, which is when people get mad.

I myself have never had a bad experience with a cop, even during one of the multiple times I've been pulled over. I appreciate the work they do to keep the rest of us safe.

I agree with you for the pull over thing. Its funny the guy i talked to also used similar example. Him on the other hand says cops is bad because they gave him the ticket.

Dunno, I liked the cops more than I did the school authorities the last time I dealt with either. At least the cops tended to be reasonable about things...

LunaHound wrote:

CT GAMER wrote:The internet is not representative of the majority.

people with a gripe or personal agenda make youtube videos, start blogs, and try to find an audience any way they can.

Look at the foolishness that gets posted in this very OT by some people. Most of it is not the majority opinion...

Tired of cop bashing? Find something more productive to do then watching yourtube videos me thinks...

Nah, I think OP and me included has the right to be concerned. Like what has gone wrong to end up this way?
Police are just doing their jobs, what happened to make people dislike them...? Are the culture different now where the criminal % are so
high that its "common" to dislike cops?

Aduro wrote:Soldiers goes off and fight other people for you. Cops enforce the local laws Against you, which is when people get mad.

I myself have never had a bad experience with a cop, even during one of the multiple times I've been pulled over. I appreciate the work they do to keep the rest of us safe.

I agree with you for the pull over thing. Its funny the guy i talked to also used similar example. Him on the other hand says cops is bad because they gave him the ticket.

It's not, IMO, a question of "disliking" cops, it's about disliking individules who abuse the authority they have been granted...and before people start ranting that it's a " tough job", I'm quite aware of that fact...however, if a person can't do that " tough job" with out resorting to jack boot tactics...then perhaps they should find another line of work.

http://brainz.org/30-cases-extreme-police-brutality-and-blatant-misconduct/

Most countries experience with the United States is either through troops being station there. Its quite interesting to see soldiers who go "back on the block" mentality over the weekend and come monday rip them a new one. It was hammered into me on my first tour to South Korea that we are the first the impression that the locals have on the US. Law Enforcement on the other hand are the ones who are first responders to a situation but the problem is. They have no idea what they are walking into to and prepare to walk into a worst case scenario. Military does it for 12 months on combat tour and have 12 months off from combat tour.
Most police around military installations are more worried when they know the situation they're walking in to involves a soldier. One never know what the soldier is going to do

I'm going to have to agree with LunaHound. While YouTube is obviously not a very productive or representative site, I still see a huge amount of disrespect for cops in the media and around town.

The media nowadays has no sense of country, only for finding a niche, fitting in with the mainstream, and making money. In 1940's and 1950's America, reporters knew when to keep their mouths shut and let some things get swept under the rug for the interest and continual advancement of the country. Now, when a Navy SEAL, fighting insurgents and seeing the atrocities they inflict upon US soldiers and Afghani civilians gives a Taliban fighter a little love tap, he is court martialed and swamped by the media. Cameras, fake tans, and botox being shoved in his face, he must defend himself for defending us. There's the classic story of Patton visiting the field hospital during WWII and exploding on a traumatized solider (lulz) because he had no external wounds. (Of course we now know about PTSD). But the news personnel with Patton on his visit made no note of Patton's poor judgment, maintaining his public integrity so he could focus fully on his enormous task of defeating the Germans.

I'm just saying...

LunaHound wrote: Like what has gone wrong to end up this way?
Police are just doing their jobs, what happened to make people dislike them...? Are the culture different now where the criminal % are so
high that its "common" to dislike cops?

The advance of technology, the internet, cell phone cameras, and various other communication tech has made it very easy to spread info/video/etc.

So while I woud imagine the amount of police corruption/brutality/etc. is probably less then it was in the past, the ability to bring attention to it in a viral way when it does happen (or someone feels like making such a claim) gives the impression of many people disliking cops, when in fact I don't think this is the case at all.

Bottom line: Too many people spend too much time putting stupidity up on youtube/blogs/message boards; and worse yet too many people read it...

YouTube is going to have more videos of cops being bad, than cops being good for the same reason that you are more likely to see negative reviews than positive reviews on the internet.

People expect cops to be good, so why would they make videos of good cops doing what they are supposed to be doing and posting them on the internet? Why would you go out of your way to showcase good cops if that is their job?

People are not going to go out of their way to post a review of a restaurant saying "the food was ok, price was fair, waitress was nice" since that is what we would expect from EVERY visit. If the service is crap or the food is crap then we are going to rant about it.

For that same reason, cops being bad on the internet is not a representative example of cops being bad in real life.

With that said, I have a big issue with cops throwing a fit about being videotaped. They are in public, they work for the public, they are accountable for the public. If you are a good cop, then you should not be worried about the public watching what you are doing. The usual excuse is "they feel pressure about being caught screwing up, and are more likely to make a mistake". Tough, if there is a cop driving behind me I feel pressure about being caught driving stupid and if I make a mistake you bet the cop is going to jump on that and write me a ticket. Which I deserve for doing something wrong.

Just as a cop deserves to be punished for screwing up.

FITZZ wrote:
It's not, IMO, a question of "disliking" cops, it's about disliking individules who abuse the authority they have been granted...and before people start ranting that it's a " tough job", I'm quite aware of that fact...however, if a person can't do that " tough job" with out resorting to jack boot tactics...then perhaps they should find another line of work.

Is it abusing authority if an ambulance driver happens to turn on the lights and sirens in order to get across an intersection and pull into a KFC drive thru? That single act made me want to be an EMT immediately because with the flick of a switch you can get to fast food places faster. Oh, and helping people is alright too.


The cops around here vary by season, during the summer they're more tense thanks to tourists coming from all over the place and flooding the local area. During the winter and off-season they're much more calm about things, I personally have never had a bad experience with an officer and in fact they usually let me off the hook with a warning or speak on my behalf at court. When I rear-ended a guy the officer who wrote me up actually helped me out as a character witness by omitting the fact that I had told him I was turning off my cellphone in his report. Note: It was a low speed collision with no injuries, although the guy's trailer hitch went in pretty far. Let's just say that he actually towed me off of the road and onto the grass.

There's the classic story of Patton visiting the field hospital during WWII and exploding on a traumatized solider (lulz) because he had no external wounds. (Of course we now know about PTSD). But the news personnel with Patton on his visit made no note of Patton's poor judgment, maintaining his public integrity so he could focus fully on his enormous task of defeating the Germans.

He slapped the soldier a few time to. He later apoligized to the soldier for that incident.

I am also tired of all the cop bashing, My fist are all sore and bruised.

No real problem with cops but I gotta be honest I think police in OZ are far more professional then the American police force.

And to be fair ive numerous run ins with police and they have a habbit of taking my licence of me and most of them seemed easy to deal with and one even gave me a break for stopping (I ride sportsbiles stopping for police is optional)

halonachos wrote:

FITZZ wrote:
It's not, IMO, a question of "disliking" cops, it's about disliking individules who abuse the authority they have been granted...and before people start ranting that it's a " tough job", I'm quite aware of that fact...however, if a person can't do that " tough job" with out resorting to jack boot tactics...then perhaps they should find another line of work.

Is it abusing authority if an ambulance driver happens to turn on the lights and sirens in order to get across an intersection and pull into a KFC drive thru? That single act made me want to be an EMT immediately because with the flick of a switch you can get to fast food places faster. Oh, and helping people is alright too.


The cops around here vary by season, during the summer they're more tense thanks to tourists coming from all over the place and flooding the local area. During the winter and off-season they're much more calm about things, I personally have never had a bad experience with an officer and in fact they usually let me off the hook with a warning or speak on my behalf at court. When I rear-ended a guy the officer who wrote me up actually helped me out as a character witness by omitting the fact that I had told him I was turning off my cellphone in his report. Note: It was a low speed collision with no injuries, although the guy's trailer hitch went in pretty far. Let's just say that he actually towed me off of the road and onto the grass.

No, if the EMT was going for the mashed potato and gravy and extra crispy, his "misuse" of emergency signaling can be overlooked, I'd grant the police the same sort of " amnesty" when the " hot donut" light is flashing at Krispy Kreme.

Jihadin wrote:

There's the classic story of Patton visiting the field hospital during WWII and exploding on a traumatized solider (lulz) because he had no external wounds. (Of course we now know about PTSD). But the news personnel with Patton on his visit made no note of Patton's poor judgment, maintaining his public integrity so he could focus fully on his enormous task of defeating the Germans.

He slapped the soldier a few time to. He later apoligized to the soldier for that incident.

Patton was something different. Also, the media was censored during WW2 unlike Vietnam where people at home saw everything that was recorded. Had WW2 been filmed and broadcast like Vietnam was I can almost guarantee that Patton wouldn't have to worry about his public image or the Germans, we probably would've backed out of the war thanks to diminishing support amongst the populace.

Also, the media was censored during WW2 unlike Vietnam

WWII the reporters had to wire their news back home. So vast majority of the "wire" were in military headquarters was run by the military. Veitnam era the video took right off and most news centers had offices incountry I believe.

Jihadin wrote:

Also, the media was censored during WW2 unlike Vietnam

WWII the reporters had to wire their news back home. So vast majority of the "wire" were in military headquarters was run by the military. Veitnam era the video took right off and most news centers had offices incountry I believe.

Yes, but any video they did record was chosen to be shown because its a lot better to show the happy GIs conquering the evil jackboots than it is to show a beach covered with the dead. I think that a WW2 combat journalist or cameraman actually got a medal for having both sides of the battle in the same footage. It was only for a few seconds, but the footage showed American GIs assaulting a Japanese trench as the Japanese ran out of their bunkers.

I generally do not like being around police. Without being able to go into details concerning it, they've pulled 'shady stuff' on me in the past.

This does not mean that I want all police to die. This DOES mean that I do not like them, however.

"Every business has bad seeds" is not really an acceptable defense, because they should be held to a much higher standard. By posting videos and stories about situations where there is brutality or shady business going on, people keep them in check.

I feel like I'm hearing "Cops are good and outstanding people. You shouldn't point out where they're bad."

Maybe we should set aside a day to celebrate soldiers and their sacrifices; it should be a national holiday. We can call it "Soldiers Who Served in Combat Day". Actually that seems a bit unwieldy. We'll work on the title.

Will...we have Veteran's Day.....but I no longer do it for God, Country and the American way of life...eerrrr...I more realistic. I do what I do for G-strings, 36DD, and Brass Poles

The whole "I am okay with cops roughing some people up to get their job done" mindset has a few problems in my opinion.

1) It craps on the concepts of innocent until proven guilty.

2) It assumes that cops would never ever make a mistake and rough up the wrong person.

3) Cops enforce the law. If they don't have to follow the laws that they are enforcing, then why should anybody else have to?

4) I doubt that the constitution was written to protect criminals. It was written to protect innocent people from the kind of action often caught on video and then posted. And by innocent people I will gladly include the suspected criminals, which again are in fact innocent until after a trial.

[/dead horse for me]

Jihadin wrote:Will...we have Veteran's Day.....but I no longer do it for God, Country and the American way of life...eerrrr...I more realistic. I do what I do for G-strings, 36DD, and Brass Poles

G Strings, 36DD's, and Brass Poles -ARE- the american way of life.

I hate the cops in my area.

I like other cops in other areas. Except chicago...

To OP
I wouldn't take You Tube videos and comments as a yardstick by which to measure opinion.

All you may be sure of at best is that a high proportion of people who post on you tube are anti-police.

Of course it is entirely possible that the majority of Americans feel that way too, but I would want a broader sample before making any claims

I have nothing against cops.

I respect them as much as I do soldiers.

I understand for the bit of aggressiveness (not to a extreme physical level) by cops, they don't know who they are dealing with, could be someone getting ready to shoot the cop in the head.


I do hate those "bully" cops. You know the type that were big shots in high school and try to keep authority by being a cop. Then there are corrupt cops. But these are the minority and are part of the reason for the blame on cops.

The whole "anti-statists" idea is very vocal about cops being just a bunch of "pigs"

There are quite a few female cops in my area, they are all nasty, one is a pervert.