Generally Speaking, Do *YOU* Trust the Police Officers in Your Area?

[IdaBriggs]

Poll question: Generally Speaking, Do *YOU* Trust the Police Officers in Your Area?

Please to explain why or why not. Thank you. :)

[Selah]

1. Not impartial.

[Mythsaje]

2. I'm above the age where they'd knee-jerk a reaction to me

but I'll never feel completely comfortable with the amount of power and authority that they possess, and the lack of real oversight.

Of course, I live in the city where the Chief cut down his estranged wife a few years back, so a certain amount of nervousness is only to be expected.

[liberalnurse]

3. Absolutely.....100%

O8)

[Nezvanovich]

6. 25%

Only when if i were in an accident. Even then my areas average response time to an accident is 45-50 minutes. Other than that they either do nothing or kill minorities.

[burythehatchet]

4. in Atlanta? no chance in hell

[mrmartinbong]

11. History Prof?

What are you a visiting history professor in town for a conference? Ha.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2007/01/11/0112historian.html

JAYWALKING PROFESSOR

'Atlanta police are barbaric, brutal, out of control'

By FELIPE FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO

Published on: 01/12/07

"No one truly knows a nation," said Nelson Mandela, "until one has been inside its jails."


Jonathan Dresner/History News Network

British historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto sits on the sidewalk, surrounded by Atlanta police officers. The police inquiry into the Tufts professor's treatment by Officer Kevin Leonpacher is expected to last several weeks. Leonpacher has said he did nothing wrong.



Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is a British historian teaching at Tufts University in Boston.

Last week, after living in the USA for more than a year without understanding the country, I acquired — briefly — a jailbird's authority. I can now share insights you can only get from being assaulted by the police and locked up for hours in the company of some of the most deprived and depraved dregs of the American underclass.


If you need to access the site please feel free to use: [e-mail] and frank for the login.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. I'm lucky to be served by a very profesional force

mind you, if you asked that same question oh ten to fifteen years ago, my answer would be very different

[otherlander]

7. Most of the cops around here seem okay.

But what bothers me is that if ONE of them breaks the law, the other ones will all most likely jump to his/her defense and the cop will be more likely to get away with it than one of us mere humans.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. I'd trust my local cops,,,,but only the local ones

I work in a small town and live in a rural area where everyone basically knows everyone else, so I know the cops, and know they are all decent. But if I were in a big city, I would be leery of cops.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

9. 100%, And God Bless Them For The Service They Provide Each Day.

[williesgirl]

10. Yes - in fact, one day I left my purse on my front porch, drove 50 miles

before I realized it. I called our Sheriff's office. They were great - sent a car out to get it and I picked it up at their office when I returned late that night.

They also responded within 15 mins when my alarm went off when my daughter's former fiance tried to break into my house. That's hard to do cause I live on a mountain well off the beaten path. After they caught the creep, one of the deputies called a friend of his to come over and board up my front door for me. I live alone and was pretty new to the area and had no one to call. They even helped me clean up the glass from everywhere so my dogs didn't get cut.

I must say this is a HUGE DIFFERENCE from where I used to live in Fairfax, VA. I love the small town atmosphere.

[WindRavenX]

12. absolutely not

They harass college kids and I have witnessed myself several racially motimated incidents, one of them involving my friend, commited by them.

[oblivious]

13. Funny, I live in a virtual police state, but I like and respect the police here.

Sounds strange to hear myself say that.

In other countries I visit, though, it would be closer to 10%.

[Raine]

14. 25% they've been alright when

I needed help but I live in a conservative burb of Los Angeles County and I see that most of the time it's minorities that the cops have stopped. My city is a white enclave and has a real reputation for wanting to keep it that way. Even though I'm white I distrust them and know they will stop anyone who doesn't look like a belong for no other reason than that.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Alexander]

16. It is cop hell all over Arizona...

At ASU the police have a tendency to single out students as well.

The mayor hates us, calls the students "bums" and the party patrols are ruthless.

I had 5 cops on me once, when I was pulled over for speeding. FIVE. Because they thought I was driving stoned. Which, after giving me a DUI field sobriety test, they learned I wasn't, and I could see the disappointment on FIVE cop faces as they realized I would be staying out of jail that night.

Back home, in Connecticut, my experiences with the cops have been far more enjoyable. One cop even helped me get my keys out of my locked car, so as far as Hartford area CT police go, I have no complaints.

[doodadem]

17. Absolutely NOT!!!

Speaking as someone who was roughed up by one of the local mounties here, and treated badly by most of the Fresno Co. Sheriff's Dept.--no. This same Gigantor not only hurt me (in my own home with no one else at home of course), he kicked my pup in the head that was coming to my rescue, and sent him sailing across the yard. Then he lied about what happened in his report, and lied under oath in court. When I made an official complaint, I was told--we will not be responding to any more calls from you. Word around the community was that they were still blaming our entire little town for a transient shooting of a deputy 5 years previously--they even said as much.

In the past few months, the dept. has rotated this particular group of deputies out of our little mountain community because they received so many complaints about them. I personally know if at least three other cases of physical abuse--one of them a 70 year old woman for goddsakes! These guys are on a major power trip here, and hate any woman who does not keep her eyes on the ground and speak in a complacent little girl voice, agreeing with everything they say. We can only hope that the recently elected new sheriff--a woman who was avidly campaigned against by the dept.--will clean up this bunch of thugs.

[Mz Pip]

18. Absolutely

I've had occasion to call them and they have been prompt, professional and efficient.

When my kid was a baby, he locked himself in the bathroom. The police came and took the door off its hinges. Found my kid waving his dad's razor around. :scared:

Someone tried to break in my house. They were there in a flash.

My kid got mugged. They came and encouraged him to come down and look at mug shots. He did and they made an arrest.

Most of the police in my community live here, so they know the community.

No problems here.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[ellisonz]

19. It depends on the cop...

But then again I make a habit of avoiding the coppers...can't trust that itchy taser finger.

Edit: Never trust them about anything having to do with drugs, even the good herb, unless someone's life is in real danger. Not a word.

[Bobbieo]

20. I called 911 not long ago because someone was trying to break into my house my house

It took 20 minutes for the police to get here. This is a small town andI lost confidence in them that night.

I was alone and luckily had everything bolted down but I could hear someone rattling the doors. I heard a siren and also heard the person climb on the roof and jump across the fence into the desert.

The police track record in this town is not very good. Somehow very few murders ever get solved!!!

[ellisonz]

21. That's pretty bad. Good to hear you were locked down!

But it is a border town, so its easy to be lazy and corrupt. Ever see Easy Rider...:evilfrown:

Get a dog?

[catnhatnh]

22. 25%....

..small New England city,but the cops here tend to be young, steroidal, and a bit right wing/millitaristic for my tastes.As an aside I recently watched a city council meeting where they were asking for tasers and a shill was stating that "no one has ever won a lawsuit against taser" and was NOT challenged....Tasers-no,but as far as them being misapplied I've seen HUNDREDS of settlements...GOD,I hope these kids don't get them....

[Zorra]

23. No, I don't trust any cops. I'm sure there are many good, honest

cops out there, but I don't know which ones they are.

I was beaten by cops with billy clubs at the Seattle WTO protest for no reason. I was arrested and jailed overnight once for something I did not do, and for which there was absolutely no evidence against me. I've been harrassed by cops many times, for no good reason. A cop tried to accuse me of starting a fire and almost took me to jail once when I had stopped along a rural road to help someone try to put the fire out. It turned out that the person I was helping had started the fire and confessed. Several times I've had cops stop my car and search it without a warrant, and without reasonable cause.

I could go on and on, but I will say this: No cop has ever done anything good for me. I have had so many unwarranted bad experiences with cops that I am constantly afraid that one is going to stop me while driving, and plant drugs in my car. And I don't take drugs of any kind, legal or illegal. I've had two guitars stolen, a keyboard, a TV, and some other things, and the cops never found them, or found the people that stole them.

No, I don't trust cops, and based on my experiences, I avoid them like the plague. They've been way more of a problem for me than criminals have.

[youthere]

24. I live in a rural area..

and I personally know the police in my area as well as everyone on the sheriff's dept. I trust them absolutely 100%.

[leftofthedial]

25. unfortunately, my dealings with the cops in my town

have all been negative

they've been needlessly arrogant, combative, obnoxious, sarcastic and all-around unpleasant

my dealings with policemen in neighboring 'burbs have been mostly okay

my dealings with state troopers, despite their poor reputation, have been outstanding


this is all based on a VERY small sample size.

[ben_thayer]

26. Back in the 60s

when I was a Hippie Vietnam protester, I had a LOT of run-ins with bad cops. Got pretty badly beaten once, and wound up involved in a class-action lawsuit against a small town department. Back then, the ONLY cops I trusted were the State Police, who (from my experience) were always polite, efficient professionals. Some of these experiences colored my attitude towards law enforcement for YEARS. Times have changed! I now work very closely with a local Sheriffs Dept. every day, and understand that they're just like ANY group of individuals. Some are outstanding people who I am proud to call friends, and some are garden variety A**HOLES! There's no way to judge them all by some cheap and easy scale-just like the rest of humanity!

[sandnsea]

27. No, lol,

The one truly good cop we had is quitting. A few others are egotistical blowhards. I don't know which ones are involved in protecting the couple of big big drug dealers in town, but somebody definitely does. Small towns are as bad as cities in that regard. I do know they aren't likely to shoot somebody when they pull a wallet out of their pocket, so that's something.

On edit:

This is my blowhard opinion, not an official accusation against any individual on my local police dept. It is not my intent to slander or libel any individual.

[Lex]

28. Now I dialed 911 a long time ago

Don't you see how late they're reactin'
They only come and they come when they wanna
So get the morgue embalm the goner
They don't care 'cause they stay paid anyway
They teach ya like an ace they can't be betrayed
I know you stumble with no use people
If your life is on the line they you're dead today
Late comings with the late comin' stretcher
That's a body bag in disguise y'all betcha
I call 'em body snatchers quick they come to fetch ya?
With an autopsy ambulance just to dissect ya
They are the kings 'cause they swing amputation
Lose your arms, your legs to them it's compilation
I can prove it to you watch the rotation
It all adds up to a funky situation
So get up get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Late 911 wears the late crown

911 is a joke

Everyday they don't never come correct
You can ask my man right here with the broken neck
He's a witness to the job never bein' done
He would've been in full in 8 9-11
Was a joke 'cause they always jokin'
They the token to your life when it's croakin'
They need to be in a pawn shop on a
911 is a joke we don't want 'em
I call a cab 'cause a cab will come quicker
The doctors huddle up and call a flea flicker
The reason that I say that 'cause they
Flick you off like fleas
They be laughin' at ya while you're crawlin' on your knees
And to the strength so go the length
Thinkin' you are first when you really are tenth
You better wake up and smell the real flavor
Cause 911 is a fake life saver

So get up, get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Late 911 wears the late crown

Ow, ow 911 is a joke

[Selatius]

29. This really depends on the police officer and the department he works for.

Some police agencies have very poor reputations. I believe their power should be more regulated than currently is, and as a result, I believe in mandatory civilian oversight boards throughout all the nation, and no, a civilian oversight board stacked with nothing but retired police officers is not an impartial body.

[bemildred]

30. Fuck no. Are you nuts?

I might use their services, but I trust them no more than I would trust a used car salesman.

[ruiner4u]

31. I have a small village PD....

I trust the Chief and one of the cops.. She is good...


The other cop I know is scum and loves having different women for all night 'ride alongs'...nudge nudge wink wink.... And I know that for fact..