Tough Job

[old skool]

Have several buddies in law enforcement, one @ the local level, two county, one state. Get together with any of them after they've had a few days off and to a man they're the nicest down to earth people you'd ever meet but after 10 or 12 straight days working 12 hrs a day they have completly different personalities from dealing with all the BS they have to deal with in a normal working day, it's a tough job & everyones not cut out for it, but I agree there are a few bad apples out there.

 

[Boston Boy]

Have several buddies in law enforcement, one @ the local level, two county, one state. Get together with any of them after they've had a few days off and to a man they're the nicest down to earth people you'd ever meet but after 10 or 12 straight days working 12 hrs a day they have completly different personalities from dealing with all the BS they have to deal with in a normal working day, it's a tough job & everyones not cut out for it, but I agree there are a few bad apples out there.

Just because there are a "few bad apples" does not mean the apple tree should be cut down.

 

[PestControl02]

I couldn't do it. or rather I would be really bad at it.
I lean more towards "no victim-no crime" type of thinking so I couldn't write seat belt tickets, or arrest someone for doing/selling drugs, or prostitution, etc..
I always feel putting someone in cage should be the last resort and only for the most serious offenses.

I believe most cops are in it for the right reasons, and I believe they have a useful purpose in society..in 99% of encounters I've had..the cops gave the exact amount of respect that they received- or gave more than I deserved at the time.

I am concerned about the police state we are becoming though, and I dislike that law enforcement has become a so militarized.

I don't blame the street cop. his kids are going to have to live in it, the same as mine are..so, believe it or not, we're in this together, the citizens should have more empathy and the cops should too.
in my opinion anyway.

 

[Deanimator]

There are some VERY rotten orchards out there, Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia being three.

When a police department comes under Federal supervision, it's not because of a "few bad apples". It's because of a profoundly corrupt organizational culture.

But then some people think that a cop having a citizen assassinated in a contract murder because she filed an internal affairs complaint, or home invasion, and torture RINGS operating INSIDE a police department is "no big deal".

 

[Sandy Scott]

As an ex police officer, I cannot recall running into any "bad apples," however saying that there are bad apples is such an overused cliche. There are bad apples in teaching (having sex with students, Sandusky, etc), the clergy (abusing little boys), the financial world (you know the stories), the legal profession, politicians, inept physicians, etc., etc., etc.

I must say that as a police officer, my friends were almost exclusively fellow police officers in that civilians simply didn't have a way to truly relate to what we did and our lifestyle.

 

[ares338]

Everyone has a tough job or worse...no job and that's tougher. I chose my profession and therefore chose to deal with the ups and downs. At any time I could have started another career and so could any LEO so I don't buy in completely into the they can't relate bit. I don't have any problems with LE or anyone else for that matter and they are no worse or better than I for what they do for a living.

 

[Deserteagle]

It certainly is a tough job, but that is not to say that any other job isn't tough as well.

More unique than other jobs for sure though.

 

[NavyLCDR]

My trash collector has a tough job. They don't have automatic trucks in my area and he has to still hump all the trash cans old school. I wouldn't want his job. And he is more likely to die on the job than a police officer is.

I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to dust the pedestal off for LEO to stand on. There are many jobs that affect our lives much more on a daily basis that people die in more often than law enforcement. Have you hugged your local farmer or lumber jack lately? The farmer is responsible for food on your table every day for you to eat and the lumberjack is responsible for the roof that you sleep under every day. They die more often on the job than LEO does. Where is their pedestal?

I respect law enforcement officers exactly the same as I respect the person that takes away my trash every week, the person that provides food for me and my family, and the person that provides for the roof over my head.

What I find very humorous is all the threads get started when people feel the need to tell us about some LEO encounter where the officer did their jobs, within the bounds of law, in a pleasant manner, and did not hassle during some traffic stop when they were told about the presence of a gun. Even if we had a sub forum for trash collector, farmer and lumberjack encounters, I doubt many people would post about how great those people are when they follow the law, do their jobs, respect others, and not abuse their authority.

 

[NavyLCDR]

A police officer just wants to go home safe to his family at the end of his shift. Many military personnel just want to go home safe to their families after a 6 to 18 month deployment.

 

[K7lvo]

As an ex police officer, I cannot recall running into any "bad apples," however saying that there are bad apples is such an overused cliche. There are bad apples in teaching (having sex with students, Sandusky, etc), the clergy (abusing little boys), the financial world (you know the stories), the legal profession, politicians, inept physicians, etc., etc., etc.

I must say that as a police officer, my friends were almost exclusively fellow police officers in that civilians simply didn't have a way to truly relate to what we did and our lifestyle.

I was a civilian technician employed by a police agency for over a decade. I repaired the police equipment, and new all of the officers well. I never met any cops who committed criminal acts, but they ranged from those who would get a "thank you" from the driver when they handed them the ticket to those who were in an altercation the minute contact was made. While I had lots of friends outside the department, I got a taste of the cop/civilian thing from time to time - you know, the guy who insists on telling you how his cousin's friend's wife, who lives on the other side of the country got a speeding ticket 10 years ago, and wouldn't I agree that she couldn't have POSSIBLY been guilty.

Oh, yeah... Most civilians do not understand how a cop can, over lunch, laugh about the grinder he worked the night before. The cant figure out that it's a relief valve...

But, I agree with one of the posts below. It's not the only job in town. Like any other job, if a person doesn't like it, they can look for one that fits them better.

 

[Billy_B]

LEOs are nothing more than a Cross Section of their communities. 10% of the people in the community are bad then 10% of the officers will be bad. In a community where 25% of the people beat their wives you will having the same on the dept. Depts like Chicago had officers buying their beats lets $10,000 buys a small beat where there are lots of cars to be towed. The officer gets a kick back from his chosen wrecker service to help pay back the beat cost. When he retires he resells the beat for lets say $12,000. Why because its always been done that way> New Orleans has had corruption from the top down why? because it alwaysbeen that way and thats what was to be expected. NO has a very high crime rate and YES so will the PD. As a retired LEO and ex IA officer there is no perfect commujnity or Polilce dept. Citys, counties and states get what they expect out of their officers for the most part!

 

[Sir Diealotz]

A guy I used to work with became a deputy in Lexington KY and back a few months ago he & other deputies got busted selling evidence room firearms to local pawn shops.

He never was the brightest



LEXINGTON Ky. (WKYT) - We continue to track the case of two former deputies accused of stealing guns confiscated by the sheriff's office.

Merle McDaniel and Bill Beers headed back to court this morning, once again entering pleas of not guilty during their circuit court arraignments.

A judge outside of Fayette County presided over the hearing. It was back in May when Fayette County Sheriff Kathy Witt announced the charges against Beers and McDaniel.

Sheriff Witt said following an internal investigation it was determined numerous confiscated guns were missing from the office's evidence locker.

Merle McDaniel is charged with two counts of felony theft by unlawful taking and one count of official misconduct. Bill Beers is charged with two counts of felony theft by failure to make required disposition, one count of misdemeanor theft by failure to make required disposition and one count of official misconduct.

The two sergeants resigned shortly after the allegations arose. Sheriff Kathy Witt said in all 14 guns confiscated by the former deputies were missing. The guns were supposed to have been logged into a that evidence locker.

McDaniel is accused of taking taking a half-dozen guns from two men beginning in 2010, pawning two of the guns at Dan's Discount Jewelry & Pawn. All but one gun of the six guns have been returned, according to authorities.

Beers allegedly took eight guns in 2012. Shortly after the investigation began, he returned the guns to the sheriff's office.

Following today's hearing, McDaniel's attorney declined comment, however Bill Beers' attorney did talk with WKYT briefly.

"No question we believe in his innocence," Brent Caldwell, Bill Beers' attorney said. "We look forward to showing that to the court, and to the jury."

The judge set a pretrial conference for Aug. 30.

 

[Mountain man]

My trash collector has a tough job. They don't have automatic trucks in my area and he has to still hump all the trash cans old school. I wouldn't want his job. And he is more likely to die on the job than a police officer is.

I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to dust the pedestal off for LEO to stand on. There are many jobs that affect our lives much more on a daily basis that people die in more often than law enforcement. Have you hugged your local farmer or lumber jack lately? The farmer is responsible for food on your table every day for you to eat and the lumberjack is responsible for the roof that you sleep under every day. They die more often on the job than LEO does. Where is their pedestal?

I respect law enforcement officers exactly the same as I respect the person that takes away my trash every week, the person that provides food for me and my family, and the person that provides for the roof over my head.

What I find very humorous is all the threads get started when people feel the need to tell us about some LEO encounter where the officer did their jobs, within the bounds of law, in a pleasant manner, and did not hassle during some traffic stop when they were told about the presence of a gun. Even if we had a sub forum for trash collector, farmer and lumberjack encounters, I doubt many people would post about how great those people are when they follow the law, do their jobs, respect others, and not abuse their authority.

I believe that other dangerous jobs are not quite the same as being a cop. My Son-in-law is a cop, and from talking with him I think I am qualified to make a few observations. The Garbage man and the logger have, albeit recently, been given some recognition for the danger and dirty aspects of the job. Thank you History channel. But for the most part these jobs dangers don't come from another human being setting out to kill you. These jobs don't include wrestling a dealer or druggy to the ground and disarming them knowing full well they may be HIV + or HEP infected. And they usually don't include getting shot at just because you are doing your job. They don't include running into a burning skyscraper, crawling into a burning wreck, or going into burning house to try and save a life, yet police and firefighters do it every day somewhere in this country. It is a job that generally asks more than just being a good employee, respecting others, and not abusing authority, as does the logger and the trash man and farmer, who do indeed have thankless jobs much of the time. The job of a police officer expects you to put your life on the line, where as the others barring an accident do not. It is for this reason I respect a police officer, and also demand a higher level of integrity from them, and believe that those who soil the badge deserve the worst of punishment. Most of the cops in my state earn about 2/3 what I do and I drive a truck. Many went to some form of school for at least 2 years to begin their proffession, I went for 30 days. They will be the ones to put the cuffs on me when/if I screw up. They are often among those who hate or dislike what I do, many for good reason. There are too few really good cops, there are many honest ones, though maybe not very good at what they do. There are too many that are lazy and don't try to make a difference,maybe because so much of the public hate them or they have gotten tired of trying with no positive visible result, I don't know. And there are some that are crooked. One crooked cop is too many. But out of some twelve million cops in the country, there are too many fine public servents, Choosing harms way for me, for me not to show them respect. And my job ranks higher in danger than a cop also, I just don't have to go after someone knowing I could be shot, knifed, or run down by doing so.