Slandering Police

[Scooter79]

Why is it that we get members on here (and on nearly every other car forum. SC forum is the worst of all) criticising police for doing their job. I read posts all the time about how police are arseholes because someone got defected for their car being only an inch off the ground. How police 'harassed' someone by following them. How someone was supposedly 'forced' to participate in a street race against an unmarked cop car and then getting busted for it.

I'd like to see these people criticise the police to their face when their car is stolen or their house is broken into. Who you going to call then? Sadly there seems to be an attitude of Us vs Them. I remember 18 months ago when the local cops organised a car show in the local area with prizes and different categories, and most idiots made stupid statements like "They're only trying to get us all together and lock us in the gates so they can defect us."On another car forum you got whole threads about police bashing. Thankfully we have better moderators on JC.

Simple fact is if you car is legal you have nothing to worry about. If you don't break the road laws for your particular state you'll have nothing to worry about (ignorance is no excuse. Make an effort to look up regulations on your states traffic authority website). If you do get pulled up by the cops don't be a tool or smart arse and you won't have anything to worry about.

I have my flame suit on so go nuts. :flame:

 

[one_and_only2004]

Personally i have no problem with the police, i respect that they have a job do do just as i have. A while back i was harassed by a cop nearly every week. He'd "randomly" pull me over for a breath test, then walk back and sit in his car for 15mins checking my license on the computer - happened twice in one week, though i do have a bit of a colourful driving record so maybe it just took him a few goes to read through the whole of it... Fortunately he moved to another district. Generally they're nice people but as it goes with anything, there's always a few arseholes

 

[tommo82]

I'd like to see these people criticise the police to their face when their car is stolen or their house is broken into. Who you going to call then?

Sadly, no one.

I don't accuse police of being arseholes or harrassing people, but I also doubt their ability to respond to actual crime. Around my area we've got alot of problems with violent refugee gangs and other crimes (people breaking into cars, etc). Whilst I don't expect the police to be able to respond to every incident - I would expect some level of investigation especially when patterns develop.

Every time I've reported something it is never followed up. In one of the examples above I believe the Police are too frightened to touch the criminals in question - for fear or reprimand (racial hatred, etc) - and find it easier to just pretend it never happened.

Then I see enormous police resources being diverted to things like pulling over P platers, etc while the real crime goes unsolved. Maybe it's a resource/area allocation issue? Maybe it's the issue I noted above.

I don't disrepect Police; their role is understandably difficult (at times). Either way, I personally would not rely on Police in any situation. Every time I've needed them, they have been completely ineffective.

 

[soop]

I'll say most of them are arse holes.
while on my red P's I got pulled over 2days out of every week for "RBT's" . There was nothing outstanding/illegal about the car I drove either, other than a red P plate.
The way I was spoken to by just about every police officer left a bad taste in my mouth I can tell you.
They expect to be shown respect but treat motorists like sh*t.
I've no doubt that there is good officers around, but the majority ruin it for the good ones.
My opinion anyway.

 

[danja]

I don't mind the police - all my encounters with them have been quite reasonable.

Obviously there are times when they're on your side because you're the victim (my house got broken into once) and they are your best friend, then there are times when you're the bad guy (speeding tickets etc) and they play a bit of bad cop, simply because of the old adage "give an inch, and they take a mile" - which is fair cop in my book, that's the attitude you have to take if you want to survive in that profession really.

All in all I've been quite happy with them and it is a difficult role to perform, but in NSW at least I think they do as well as anywhere else. It's really when you've been done by them that you'd be bothered to speak out and cause a fuss, which is probably why you hear bad things about them more than good.

 

[tommo82]

The way I was spoken to by just about every police officer left a bad taste in my mouth I can tell you.
They expect to be shown respect but treat motorists like sh*t.

This is common. There is a tendancy by those (not just police) in lowl-level type roles to have 'power trips' and treat others poorly. I find it's inversely proportional to their rank in an organisation.

Ticket inspectors are often a good example. Act like law enforcement.

 

[danja]

This is common. There is a tendancy by those (not just police) in lowl-level type roles to have 'power trips' and treat others poorly. I find it's inversely proportional to their rank in an organisation.

Ticket inspectors are often a good example. Act like law enforcement.

I still say it's the "give an inch, take a mile" mentality that drives that attitude, and rightly so I think. I suspect it's a part of the police training (not that I've ever done it) which imparts that mentality on recruits, and perhaps the higher you rise in the ranks, the more you learn to refine it's application in day-to-day situations.

 

[Troy711]

All police I have ever dealt with have treated me in a respectful manner and I have always done the same in return. Not once have I had a problem with them and still to this day I don't understand why some people feel the need to mouth off at them when they are only doing their job. I mean, if you worked in retail you wouldn't want customers slagging you off just because they don't like you for some pathetic reason. Same goesfor police... they are doing their job and don't need idiots making it more difficult.

 

[Tatiana]

My brother got pulled over constantly when he was on his P's for pedantic reasons, but was never fined or defected.

When he came off his P's, he was never pulled over again, but drove the same car for another year.

Explain that!

 

[danja]

My brother got pulled over constantly when he was on his P's for pedantic reasons, but was never fined or defected.

When he came off his P's, he was never pulled over again, but drove the same car for another year.

Explain that!

Police don't just pull you over for fun, if they were pulling him over consistently either his vehicle and/or driving behavior must have fit a particular profile known to break the law. Without knowing him it's impossible to say, but my bet is he either drove like a clown or he drove a clown's car.