Arizona is one of the most gun-friendly states in the Union. I love this place, but I'm not certain about my personal relationship with the local police.
There was a story about a year ago about our police belonging to a MC gang (they would say club) called The Iron Brotherhood. Turns out, our local Police Chief was the President of the local chapter and when some of his gang-buddies jumped some people at a local bar, then got away with it, he resigned.
There's no telling who is a member, but the way I see it, splitting your loyalty between an MC gang and the citizens makes you much less reliable.
Here's my question:
I want to support my local cops. I figure it starts at home. However, how do I get over the fact that some of them are gang members and therefore aren't committed to our community? Maybe this is a question for a psychologist or sociologist, but all input is welcome.
Oh - and how does the average citizen show support to the police without looking like they're trying to get special treatment? I'm truly grateful for what they do... when they're not getting in fights in bars and covering-up their crimes.
Cops, by and large, operate like gangsters themselves, so why should it surprise anyone that some of 'em are out front about it by joining an actual known gang?
The "average" citizen is only average because they are sheep. If they can't think outside the sheep-like axiom that cops are to be trusted and are only here to "serve and protect," they set themselves up for huge disappointment when reality hits them over the head with a baton for having a burned out tail light, or when they get
raped by the state for 14 hours over a rolling stop at a stop sign, a "bad" attitude and clinched-up butt cheeks (yeah, I know that sounds weird, but read the link).
I've been building and riding Harleys since I was 19 years old. Been to Sturgis nine times, Daytona seven times. I've known and/or worked with a mess of MC members. While rough around the edges, they were all "normal" guys when by themselves at work or if we just ran into each other at the range or wherever. When at a large run though, they closed ranks just like cops do. They were always on high alert because of rivalries with other clubs, just as cops maintain high alert and an "us and them" mentality throughout their work-days. The "good guys vs. the bad guys" meme is a myth. There are no "good" gangs, whether they wear leathers and build awesome scooters, or wear badges that make them look like the "good guys." Combining the two kinds of gangs is the perfect fit for the most violent among them. Hero-cops by day, racist, misogynist, steroid-raging thugs by night. Except it doesn't work that way; they're
always racist, misogynist, steroid-raging thugs, it's just that they have to have some "legal" rationale to ply their violent tendencies on the public when on the job. Otherwise, they're still the same people. Most of the thug-cops out there are perfectly fine with only having their time on the clock to abuse and violate people. The guys who join that MC need a little more time to feed their hunger for victims, but they're all the same type of people if they've got a thirst for blood, whether or not they actually join an MC or other outside kind of outlet for their aggression.
It's time to wake up to reality. As a vocation, being a cop no longer entitles one to respect simply on the basis of their job. I'm not saying that there aren't good cops out there, I'm saying that you should never assume that the one that pulls you over, or comes to your home to take a burglary report, or asks nicely if you mind if they search your vehicle before you take off with "just a warning" fits the profile of Officer Friendly that most of us grew up believing was the norm for public servants in uniform. Don't trust them until you drive or walk away from a contact without having been violated somehow. And don't trust 'em the next time just because you walked away from that contact. You never know whether a cop is "good" or "bad" until the contact is over and you put distance between yourself and them. If you want to thank them for their professionalism in those instances, that's up to you, but remember, chances are that they have witnessed their co-workers working outside the limitations of their authority in one respect or another, and kept quiet about it. Just because they're nice to you doesn't mean they don't carry that gang-like code of silence with them throughout their careers.
To the cops who cringe at what I'm saying here because you are or were good cops, sorry, but if cops were known for testifying and/or ratting out other cops who abuse citizens, there would be much fewer "regular" ol' citizens out here thinking like I do. It is up to you to fix the public perceptions of cops by not conforming to what those perceptions are, and that's done between you and your fellow cops, not between you and me or people like me who exercise the caution that your militarization over the last couple or three decades have caused to be prudent among thinking and awake Americans.
Blues
