You would be a star on the Cops show.Look at all the video we missed.
You know they have to take you to the ground for there protection.

 

You know they have to take you to the ground for there protection.

I disagree completely, but then I live in a country where every Tom, Dick and Dweedle has gun, but use them for hunting, not expressing opinions.

 

This is a subject I could rant about for hours. The first time I met a cop, he told me to "drop the stick". I was 8 years old, pretending I was fishing in a mud puddle. It didn't get better as the years went by.

The Indianapolis police staked out my high school regularly. One cop took an interest in me and pulled me over every time he saw me, even when I was walking! I called him my "pet cop". His name was Perkins. After messing with me at least a dozen times, I left Indianapolis forever, and he had never achieved any charge against me, not even jay-walking.

Skipping ahead 40 years: I had been stuck in the house with the flu for over a week and was getting "cabin fever" so I went for a drive at about 10 P.M. on a rainy night. I found myself on a deserted street and decided to check my turn signals in the refelections of the puddles. In the few seconds it takes for the turn signal to blink twice right and twice left, a car came zooming up behind me. I proceeded to the next intersection, turned left, and looked closely in my mirror at the car tailgating me. As he followed me around the corner, I saw the police insignia on the side of the car.

I drove about 8 blocks to a shopping mall because I knew there would be lots of light and witnesses. When I pulled into the parking lot I was surrounded by 3 police cars and a helicopter! After the usual, "Can you read my mind for why I pulled you over?" rigamarole, he finally said that it was "suspicious" to drive through an "exclusive" neighborhood. I told him that if there was a law against driving through an exclusive neighborhood, he should write me a ticket. You could see him deflating like a leaky inner tube.

In summary, ninety plus percent of the cops I have dealt with were making donkeys of themselves. They have taught me to be on the lookout for them at all times, never ask them for help, that they can make up any falshood they feel like, and that they don't even know the laws they were hired to enforce.

I could complain that cops are racist, or that they are always taking advantage of the weaker sex, but I'm a 60 year old white man. The cops I have met are equal opportunity menaces.

 

I was visiting Washington DC during June of 1983 to see the Electronics Technician assignment officer at HQ. I asked a DC Cop for directions to SW 2nd street. He stated he didn't know. So I headed off in a generally SW direction till I found it.

 

@ TbayBoy,have you ever watched the cops show every saturday
nite for 20 years in the U.S. and seen the number of people men and women
taken down to the ground with head locks.Sometimes 3 or 4 against one.

P.S. If you have law enforcement in the family It Is only fair to disclose that
so we can end this thread.We are story telling, which O.K. because every one
has a story even from the the police side,they have good stories too.
So lets hear both sides,how about that,no one go away mad or biased.

People are put to the ground for no other reason that being in the area,they
let you up and say we didn't know who was who,so every one went to the ground.

 

@ TbayBoy,have you ever watched the cops show every saturday
nite for 20 years in the U.S. and seen the number of people men and women
taken down to the ground with head locks.Sometimes 3 or 4 against one.

Yes I have watched it, but by virtue of being on TV does not make it true, your statement was they have to do it for their own safety, on occasion I agree, but such a blanket statement is to wide reaching and vague.

Prior to my new found dance with the electron, I spent a few decades in Emergency Services, including founding a critical incident response team, a professional association, and numerous basic and advanced medical teams, as well as a specialized training program for intervention in events that one or more persons are psychologically unstable.

My experience with multiple police forces and personal field experience has shown that some basic guidelines should be followed.

1. Establish communication. Think about that scene from night court where the paramedic approached a man who was convinced he was an alien, "Greetings from the people of earth, I invite you to tour one of our fine medical facilities" and the man went happily and peacefully. "Beats the hell out of wrestling them in the back" he said on the way out.

2. Rarely.. RARELY a person is of IMMEDIATE threat to themselves or others. This means you have time to use guideline one.

3. Persons held to the ground while agitated, or head locked, have a significant risk of cardiac arrhythmia. use should be avoided unless IMMEDIATE threat to themselves or others.

Sometimes you might find, peace officers are more upset at a person not capitulating to their orders fast enough, rather than an immediate threat.

A few extra minutes using guideline 1, might drastically alter the outcome. And department reputation

 

Thanks for the reply,you have first hand experience being in the mix.

 

Tbay,

I will agree with your item number 2, but I also know in the major metro areas Rarely is a relative term. You see more of it, and it makes the news or television series more, giving the illusion that it's a frequent occurance.

My son is a police officer in a major metro area. When his mother and I were playing pool, he did not like some of the area's where the games were held. Of course, his experience in those areas were nights but on Sunday afternoon (pool league), the clientel was of a different attitude.

I've yet to hear about a nightly takedown by my son. Yes, there were a couple of times he and other officers had to take someone down hard to gain control of the offender, but it's not a daily occurance.

Some view cop shows as "keeping it real," others have a bigger view of the world, but they also know there exists a segment of humanity that is capable of what we see on TV.

 

Thanks for the reply,you have first hand experience being in the mix.

Being in, yes, and it is much better to defuse rather than strike a match; albeit, defusing doesn't give as many bragging rights as taking down.

"You should have seen the ramped up drunk I successfully talked into the back of the squad car and booked without incident." carries less cache in the locker room at the end of the shift.

 

Tbay,

I will agree with your item number 2, but I also know in the major metro areas Rarely is a relative term. You see more of it, and it makes the news or television series more, giving the illusion that it's a frequent occurance.

Rarely is always relative I agree completely.

 

Loosewire,the thinker,please advise if you have police in your family
it give both views of the subject.Now # 12 can continue with his
experiences and others with opinions.Its fair to hear all sides.

 

I don't have any family that are police. I have had mostly good experiences with the police here in TX. Maybe because I'm calm, polite and respectful when I talk to them. I have been let off with warnings for things I should have gone to jail for. That was in a small town where everybody knows everybody. Cops out there don't need to take too many people to the ground. If it ever happens, I bet they talk about it for weeks afterwards. Now I live in the big city. There are some areas around here (one of them a few blocks away) that if I were a cop and had to go in there, I wouldn't just preemptively take people down, I would probably preemptively shoot them in the face.

 

The cops show is enterainment,attorneys are now getting the contracts for the scenes to see how much are charges and how much is show business.