Police attitudes

[Trollheart]

Personally I've had few interactions with the police, other than getting forms signed and once reporting how dumb I was to fall for a cryptocurrency scam, but I've seen both documentaries and dramas which tell me that the overall attitude of police departments is generally poor, especially towards women and minorities. In the 70s in Britain it seems to have been particualrly terrible, with corruption and racism and homophobia rampant and often even overt, while in the 1980s it doesn't seem to have got any better. Look at the various re-enactments (or reports) of the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, where women who worked as prostitutes were sneered at, treated almost as a lower form of life, the cops close to annoyed they even had to investigate their deaths, the prevailing attitude seeming to be "they're only hookers" or "what do they expect?" The women in that case didn't, it seems, even get the dignity of being called by their first names, but were referred to by their surnames. I know we've had instances, even here, of corruption and misuse of power in our police force, the Gardai.

So what's been your experience, if you have had any, or if not, how do you generally perceive your police departments? Do they listen to complaints or try to tell you they can't (i.e., won't) do anything? Do they follow up reports, hassle you on the street, solve any crime at all? Exo told a harrowing story on MB a few years back about his 80-year-old grandmother being arrested and treated very roughly by the police, so in some places at least - or perhaps it would be fairer to say, with some cops in some departments - it obviously still goes on. Then we have the Ulvade School incident, a black mark against law enforcement in the United States, not just Texas.

Your comments, and any discussion, welcome.

[jimmy jazz]

Had a mad few years when I was a teenager. Got arrested 5 or 6 times which would normally include a night in the cells. Nothing serious but did end up with a conviction and did community service for six months. I was also out late a lot and would nearly always get stopped by them if they saw me. Police have mostly treated me as I've treated them. I've had police turn a blind eye to cannabis or just not arrest me for it but I've also been assaulted and threatened by them. The latter I did something to trigger it (one was swearing and the other was trying to climb out the police car). Not saying it's right, but that's just how it is.

There is no doubt many will abuse their power just because they can but they also are not as bad as people make out.

I remember one time I was 13 and with a few mates and one of them drop-kicked a piece of chewed up chewing gum at this middle aged guy's house who had hit my mom. He came out, we ran off and I was trapped in an alleyway and he gave me a proper beating and called the police and said I'd fallen over. They took me back to my house and they said there was no evidence of an assault and that if I wanted to press charges I'd have to face charges for the chewing gum. None if it made any sense. Nothing more happened after that. So I think that time they weren't helpful or at least that was my perception of it.

Generally just be polite and cooperate and you should be fine. All my experiences were during the 00s BTW.

[DJChameleon]

Being polite and cooperating doesn't save you when cops are having a bad day and decide to power trip. Also your skin color plays a lot into how you are treated by certain cops.

I tend to have decent interactions only after they find out I'm a veteran. Before that information comes out they treat me so fucked up instead of like a decent person. They just assume I'm up to no good.

I even went to city council to report how fucked up a cop treated me just for asking for directions. I told the whole city council that if that cop is scared to police in this city full of minorities he needs a new job. If you are scared and treat every minority like they are shit don't police in that area.