Do you trust the police?

Still, I have spent more than a few nights in jail and have been roughed up / hassled by cops in the past. But there are asshole carpenters, firefighters and bank tellers, too.

...what?

so far Long Beach police, contrary to reputation, have been amazingly cool.

Police in London are way useless for things like theft and burglary; once after my flat was burgled and the culprit had been VIDEOTAPED and ID'd they still couldn't be arsed to act further. You get a letter that says 'Dear Suzy, we are sorry to hear that you have been the victim of a crime. However, we are useless as fuck and could not use the stacks of evidence we had to get your stuff back or apprehend the burglar, because that would be too much like hard work, dig?' However they are good for directions if you're a tourist.

My record is similarly spotlessly clean, but i have been hassled by police pretty often. one grabbed me by the arm and tugged my walkman earphones out of my head the other day, because he wanted his drug dog to sniff me over. perhaps unwisely, i asked him why the fuck he felt he could assault me. when the dog, of course, turned up nothing, he looked pretty stupid.

my gut reaction is that the police do a difficult job, and that their job is to protect us so, ultimately, they must be good, right? only, there's a lot of bad apples. i saw police treating people like crap at the may day protests a couple of years ago (i was covering for NME) and club people for no reason, which was an eye opener (i'd heard of such stuff before but never actually *seen* it). i recently had to visit the US embassy for a visa and the guy before me was a nigerian, and the cops on the door (maybe they were private security though) talked to him like crap, swore at him, etc. He left his passport behind, so i picked it up and said, 'I'll just give him his passport', and the pig-eyed fat fuck behind the counter went, 'don't bother, we don't want him here' (which doesn't make any sense, but he was a racist fuck is guess, so go figure).

ultimately, its about power, isn't it? some will abuse it, some will wield it responsibly.

how come you keep getting hassled by the police, then? what do you think attracts them to you?

Oh, and they don't carry guns.

I was searched once at Bishopsgate because policeman claimed to smell spliff in the van we were all in. They're meant to ask profession when you give your details and 'journalist on Observer' (true at time) worked a treat, immediately stopped police giving stick to unemployed friends in van. If you want to use your job to intimidate me or I see you doing it to someone else, Officer, you are fair game.

I'm lucky to have grown up with a cop in the family who was pretty serious about being responsible to the public as well as being responsible *for* the public. I hold cops to pretty high standards of professional behaviour because of this.

The nigerian guy was, like me, totally courteous and, i think, overawed by the whole process of being at the embassy. i wish i'd said something, but at the time i felt like a gnatshhit who was lucky to get an appointment for a visa. it was pretty belittling, felt like a criminal for wanting to visit the US for work, and so kept my mouth shut, which i feel guilty about (though i did get the guy his passport back).

Probably the biggest problem with our police in the US is that they lie in court. ALL THE TIME. When it comes down to a 'he said, she said' situation, the police officer will always win unless there is evidence that the officer is lying, and they know it. I've had police stand up in court and lie through their teeth (after giving me a minor in possession of alcohol ticket for standing on a sidewalk outside of a party with no alcohol), and I've been involved in representing people for Driving Under the Influence charges where the police officers who pulled them over have stood up in court and basically invented probable cause to do so even where evidence directly contradicts them. When non-police officers do this, it's called perjury, and it is a felony offense. Unfortunately, as a society we have apparently decided that it is OK for American police to lie in court.

It's so annoying in Dublin how all the guards are fucking yokels who have no idea about the city whatsoever.

In broad daylight. At the Tennis Centre. In front of many witnesses, including one Niten Sawhney and band who were on the way to a festival.

The police are currently saying it didnt happen, because the guy hasnt made a complaint. Despite numerous witnesses reporting the incident to the police ombudsman.

Disgusting.

----------
Meet Dudley Hiibel.  He's a 59 year old cowboy who owns a small ranch outside of Winnemucca, Nevada.  He lives a simple life, but he's his own man.  You probably never would have heard of Dudley Hiibel if it weren't for his belief in the U.S. Constitution.

One balmy May evening back in 2000, Dudley was standing around minding his own business when all of a sudden, a policeman pulled-up and demanded that Dudley produce his ID.  Dudley, having done nothing wrong, declined.  He was arrested and charged with "failure to cooperate" for refusing to show ID on demand.  And it's all on video.

On the 22nd of March 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether Dudley and the rest of us live in a free society, or in a country where we must show "the papers" whenever a cop demands them.
----------

I think if the cop had explained himself at first, this would have gone down better but I hate how the cop automatically assumes that this guy is a perp.

Never trust a cop ever.

i always used to get a kick when the fuzz would harrass me for whatever and then proceed to ask my name and since my very irish name doesnt match with my brownish skin then they thought for sure i was lying and up to no good.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

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Apache/1.3.33 Server at bondles.ohmss-007.com Port 80

so i did, back in february, and talked to the cashier who set my court date for 6 months later. I get to go in to try to get out of it during the first week of August.

But I don't fear them, as I'm not the kind of person they fit up for crimes.

ohmigod this is SO OTM.

The lowlife realised his mistake before being hospitalised.

Peaceful protesters stop police provocateurs from starting a riot at the Stop the SPP protests in Montebello Quebec. The police admitted they were thier officers. CEP President Dave Coles confronts men with rocks and sticks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St1-WTc1kow

to answer the question: well, i would if they showed an effort and some intelligence. we had a theft in our shop - the "switch" trick (?) - and as a result lost money. i called up the cops. instead of pursuing the matter - going around similar shops - they questioned us for more than a bleeding hour. instead i called the shop and asked if they had seen the guys who stole from us. stupid assholes. my husband was right: why bother?

sebastien, I do not see your link, but that might be because I work for The Man, and he does not want me to see it.

I live in a fairly wealthy, all-middle-class-and-higher suburb with a low crime rate and a well-funded police dept. Because I am white and middle class and middle aged, all my interactions with the local police are all relatively pleasant. After all, they are predisposed to regard me as their meal ticket.

Police in general? Nope. I don't trust them at all. But as a law-abiding, middle-class, middle-aged white man, I can usually avoid them. Lucky me.

raise yr post and add in that i'm related to most of the local high-ranking officers.

i don't trust police. i don't trust any systems of domination and enforcement, though, so it's not like i only distrust cops.

I'll wait until I find out whether or not I'm a 'domestic extremist' and get back to you.

i don't trust police. i don't trust any systems of domination and enforcement, though,

this is my excuse anytime marriage comes up

oh suzy even in your extremism you can't get away from the anachronistic female ideal of domesticity.

Abbott - I'm being snide about this BOMBSHELL, am surprised it's gotten zero ILX traction: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/25/police-domestic-extremists-database

the answer is no, and also why is a police van idling behind my apartment? am i in trouble

Man, woman, 2 youths dead in apparent shooting in North Carolina
November 3, 2009 10:34 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- Police on Tuesday were investigating the apparent gunshot deaths of four people in a home in the upscale Haymount neighborhood of Fayetteville, North Carolina, authorities said.

Police were called to the residence at 8:08 p.m. Monday by someone who reported there were bodies inside, Police Chief Tom Bergamine said in a news release.

Bergamine said police were able to see the body of a woman in the house before entering. Once inside, officers also found the bodies of an older man and two juveniles -- a male and a female. Police did not name the four.

"At this time, there is no reason to suspect foul play; however the investigation remains in its early stages," the release says.

According to the Cumberland County tax assessor's office, the home belongs to William Maxwell Jr. and his wife, Kathryn. Family friends told the Fayetteville Observer newspaper that the couple have two children -- a daughter, Connor, and a son, Cameron.

natural po-lice

i keep reading this thread title in eazy e's voice

trust the police/trust-trust-trust-trust the police

Abbott - I'm being snide about this BOMBSHELL, am surprised it's gotten zero ILX traction: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/25/police-domestic-extremists-database

― fake plastic butts (suzy), Tuesday, 27 October 2009 20:49 (1 week ago) Bookmark

Hardly a bombshell - the police have been doing this for years - it's just that someone who could get an article about it found he was on it (like he was surprised). Whole thing pissed me off tbh. Suddenly middle classes discover that the police keep their eyes on people who haven't broken the law. Entire estates up and down the country go "Ooooh reeeaaallllllyyyyyy?"

http://cbs2.com/local/Left.Handed.Eyeglass.2.1306511.html

lots of good info to go on here

i keep reading this thread title in eazy e's voice

trust the police/trust-trust-trust-trust the police

― chemical ali v. chemical frazier (m bison), Tuesday, November 3, 2009 7:18 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

was just coming to write this

I've had to deal with some detectives, and they were crackerjack - listened, thought, were incredibly diligent and thorough and smart. even they were not above playing mind games though. but uniformed cops, beat cops? forget it.

at one point one of my detectives said "sometimes we can enhance the evidence" and i was like o_O and said nothing - i don't know exactly what he meant but i think he may have been testing me to see how eager i was to lie about things

at another point though they actively encouraged me to lie to the phone company in order to get a record of my calls over the phone - they said the phone company wouldn't give that info over the phone so i should say that my brother had taken my mobile and i wanted to see if he'd made calls on it (we actually wanted to see if a robber had made calls on it) - when i look back on that, i think the phone company probably would have just given me the info anyway

(NB the phone theft was not the whole story - i wouldn't have gotten to talk to detectives just for that i don't think!)

kill all pigs

My sister was all dressed up for a gig and the police were extra callous and unfair to my sister because she was all dressed up, calling her a fancy pants and oh you want to be an entertainer. Naturally they were pasty white and not so pretty, it isn't professional to keep a grudge because you're not as pretty as someone, with their pension they could buy her and use her as a sex toy, they talk to her like she could just get a sugar daddy to pay her ticket, they always do this, they are fat and ugly they get so such perks in life, of course this isn't professional but they feel entitled to it.

http://www.indymedia.ie/attachments/nov2010/img_1979riot_police_attacking_students_at_protest_against_fees.jpg

Gardai have a riot of their own against peaceful sit down protest by students in Dublin last Weds.

So, no.

How can police always get away with saying rude unprofessional condescending things to vulnerable people? There are few things more hurtful than having someone less educated than you with a gun strapped to them and talking down to you. I thought this was unprofessional conduct but it seems to be standard procedure in some quarters.

I have a generally positive opinion of them like most middle-class people. I know that's not "cool" but most of them aren't idiots in my experience.

My sister was all dressed up for a gig and the police were extra callous and unfair to my sister because she was all dressed up, calling her a fancy pants and oh you want to be an entertainer. Naturally they were pasty white and not so pretty, it isn't professional to keep a grudge because you're not as pretty as someone, with their pension they could buy her and use her as a sex toy, they talk to her like she could just get a sugar daddy to pay her ticket, they always do this, they are fat and ugly they get so such perks in life, of course this isn't professional but they feel entitled to it.

― like you really know who trisomie 21 is (u s steel), Saturday, November 6, 2010 5:51 AM (10 months ago)

ACAB.

ABACAB (all bad authoritarian cops are bastards)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BriIprFg-Y

police are 'effing shit' ime, plenty of incidents where they've been conspiratorially racist/indifferent to the complaint/flat out incompetent etc etc

yes this is the met i dealt with for fans of current affairs

I believe it takes one of two mentalities to want to be a cop. One is the kind where you genuinely wish to observe and protect your community. The other is that you're a complete cunt. I'm not sure of the proportional ratio.

http://youtu.be/bY5ioBvrYIg

I don't trust them, at least ATL cops. Got my house broken into once, and the officer that showed up accused me of making it up, asked me if I was on drugs, and basically treated me and my friend like WE were the criminals. When one of my friends was mugged on the street in front of her house a few months ago, the police accused her of making it all up too. Seems to be a common problem.

Another time a couple of cops knocked on our door and proceeded to go through the house, checking closets, looking for somebody, without presenting a warrant or anything. After an exhaustive and intimidating search, they realized they had the wrong house and went next door.

What happened to nijoli's DUI thread? I am glad things turned out for her.

Another time a couple of cops knocked on our door and proceeded to go through the house, checking closets, looking for somebody, without presenting a warrant or anything. After an exhaustive and intimidating search, they realized they had the wrong house and went next door.

I am excited, my friend whose apartment was ransacked by police when she wasn't home found an attorney to take her case is suing. Illegal search and seizure. They are screwed. If my friend wins she will get jillions.

Police being the way they are she will have to leave her beloved hometown. It's either stay in your hometown, or win your "greedy" lawsuit and you have to move.

POlice have the power, always will. It's just better to get therapy and cope. They are not going to change.

https://thinkprogress.org/anna-chambers-nypd-cops-attack-credibility-38ec1d7f9c22/

how are we supposed to make any progress in this country when our most reactionary organization is the institution in charge of enforcing our laws