This is why cops have a bad name!

[mikea46996]

Didn't somebody start a LEO bashing thread once???

I have said it time and time again There are good and bad people in every profession. I must be lucky because at a young age when things could have gone very wrong I found a good one and he sort of took me under his wing, great guy and a great cop. If any of you LEO know Dave Huckabee tell him Mike says hi, I have'nt seen him in years.

And there are bad ones. I also have that experience but it is not worth bitching about.

 

[Archbishop]

Alright all you Leos and others in the know help the mass public out. When something like this happens again in the future what should the average Joe do about it?
I think we all agree we, being the mass public, want to respect all the fine officers around us, but find our respect tainted by the one or two bad apples out there. The problem is, speaking for myself, I don't know what the proper action would be in the same type of situation and I'll bet I'm not the only one. I read several comment here where people made different references as what to do. What I want to see listed is a step by step on how to respond while on scene, what info to get, what steps to take etc.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Ruiner]

Didn't know we had anyone who worked on there on here..


I was there in supporting a friends 21st the other week ( not drinking ) with my XD on.

 

[cce1302]

I just don't go into bars or drink...keeps me away from the drunks. Nothing like a drunk ahole finding out that your a LEO and either try to start a fight, talk crap, or tell you EVERY bad cop story they can think of. Yeah...FUN.

Yeah, so instead you come here sober, and people try to pick a fight with you online, talk crap, and tell you every bad cop story they can think of.

Rep for putting up with crap. I know you've only got 1*, so thanks for risking it.

 

[tedbower]

When every encounter a person has with LEO is negative , I have an old saying, **** happens to people once in a while but **** doesnt happen to people all the time. The just might be the problem themselves.

 

[danielocean03]

Yeah, so instead you come here sober, and people try to pick a fight with you online, talk crap, and tell you every bad cop story they can think of.

Rep for putting up with crap. I know you've only got 1*, so thanks for risking it.

Rep'd.

I wanted to just observe this thread, but I have to go and get involved.

No **** people, there are people who just plain SUCK out there in every imaginable position. But just because there are jerk-offs here and there among some of the finest damn Americans that ever lived serving as LEO's doesn't mean that they have a bad name. It has been my experience that your personal opinion of any group, whether it be political, religious, age, ethnicity, or profession will be largely influenced by your most recent direct encounter with a representation of whatever that group may be.

For instance, if you were recently pulled over and were written a ticket you felt you didn't deserve, you're going to have a more negative opinion of LEO's in general. Now I know you're thinking that it would be a more cumulative thing where if you've had just negative on top of negative encounters with law enforcement your whole life but the most recent was positive that you'd still think they suck. Maybe you will still think they suck, but I'd be willing to bet that you'll have a more positive opinion of them. Also, people who don't like cops typically don't know a single one personally and just have a negative connotation toward them thanks to mass media, liberals, etc.

 

[JByer323]

I currently bartend in Indy, bartended in Bloomington, and never had any issues at all with LEOs or excise, even when they could have caused us some grief.

I think the OP just might have a chip on his shoulder. I'd rep all of you that are LEO, but I'm out for the night.

 

[bwframe]

There is nothing wrong with the OP's voicing of the problem he had with the (supposed?) LEO. It's a shame he then foolishly turned it into an inconsiderate rant, bashing the "majority" of LEOs.

We have a fairly large handful of LEOs in our membership. They are here voluntarily because they have genuine interests in the same things we do. Frequently they grace us with inside info that could be found no where else.

To the LEOs on the board; thank you for your presence and hat's off to you!

To the OP; hopefully you'll learn something from this judgment error you have made.

 

[Donnelly]

To the original OP, he wasn't wearing a uniform, he wasn't driving a squad car; you can't really be certain the a-hole was a cop. I would have had to call 911 for some uniformed officers to show up, especially if a non-uniformed man with a gun claiming to be a LEO is trying to intimidate others.

Hindsight is always 20/20 though, isn't it?

 

[agentl074]

First of all, do you have proof that this guy was a police officer? And if so, why didn't you take down his name and badge number? If he really was a cop, he should be reported. He wasn't acting on behalf of all LEO's after all.

Anyone can get a "shield" ask for department issue identification - which you are supposed to carry with you I learned my lesson - when I didn't have my ID but the officer didn't ask - but said he wanted a full time on my force to vouch for me Well that cost me my position when I was with the Sheriff Reserves.

 

[agentl074]

Name, please give me a name and agency. Let him be WLPD please, please, please.

You can e-mail me at kfreeman@nlci.com.

Thank you very much,

Kirk

When a bozo with a shield who may or may not be LE disrespects the force that way - and gets the attention of a Indiana Attorney - that said bozo is in trouble

 

[jeremy]

Name, please give me a name and agency. Let him be WLPD please, please, please.

You can e-mail me at kfreeman@nlci.com.

Thank you very much,

Kirk

When a bozo with a shield who may or may not be LE disrespects the force that way - and gets the attention of a Indiana Attorney - that said bozo is in trouble

The sad thing is this is not that unusual of an event around PUPD/WLPD...

 

[chasekerion4]

It has just been in my experience, that there are very few officers willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt about being a decent individual.

This quote jumped out at me.

I used to think this way, and to be perfectly honest, sometimes I still do.

Several years ago, I deserved the attitude of "not giving the benefit of the doubt"... Not criminally, but via traffic. I was ALWAYS getting stopped; but I deserved it every time and didn't realize it until I got a little older.

Having said that, there are still times when I'll pull off on a side street, gas station, etc. when a LEO pulls up behind me. Not because I'm doing anything wrong, but because I just get that "****** feeling" in my stomach that I'm about to get it; for something (maybe just a simple check 'em out).

Why do I feel this way sometimes and decide to avoid the possibility of being stopped? Because I don't want to interact with that one rookie or rogue vet.

On the flipside, on my way home from Indy today I passed a state trooper on I-74. I was going 78 in a 70. He was barely doing the speed limit and I didn't think twice about passing him; I was ready to get home. If he had pulled me over, what could I do? I didn't want to be behind a pace car for 40 miles on the interstate. But I wasn't nervous about being pulled over today; I was just jamming out to the stereo on my way home. Nothing happened.

I don't agree at all that "most" LEO's are the way the OP described, in fact, very few are this way I'm sure.

but in the OP's defense... Personal experiences have EVERYTHING to do with perception of LEO's and as we've all heard, perception is reality.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

If it was a cop he deserves a whack on the pee pee at the minimum.

My on the rest. I don't think the majority of LEO's are power mad jerks. But then again I don't think there are only 1 or 2 per 100 either. I've had a few as friends and family members. And one of them was. But he was administration for the most part. In my younger days I had more than my fair share of run ins with them on a unwanted basis. And while the majority of them were professional at the minimum, there were a couple that were not. And I was always polite with them. Well except once.

And for the poster about small town bored cops. After getting pulled over for anything they could think of in a unnamed small town. coughdelphicough I have no choice but to agree. I lived in Gary for a few years and had one run in with LE and it was on a complaint. In the course of a year driving to work in the unnamed town I was pulled over about 15 times. It got to be a standing joke with my supervisor, anytime I was late he'd ask if it was because I was stopped again and it usually was. Hell I got pulled over because I had snow on my license plate, in the middle of a blizzard. What I don't understand is that every stop was on a fri or sat night and i worked midnights.

 

[aclark]

For the record he ID himself as ISP, not LPD/WLPD/PUPD.

As far as me ranting, yea it was a bit of a rant, it was also a story for others to see. That's fine if you don't like my views of LEO's, but its just that, MY VIEW. I'm sure we have plenty of LEO's on this board that are fair and respectful, that's why they are here sharing their insights with the community, but I can look back and just the posts here in this thread, and see them attacking me. Did I maybe go too far in my OP, maybe (but that's up for debate), but how many of them read the follow up posts (ie the couple between Annie and I), where I said maybe I went too far, but I still get bashed by LEO's, after that, about my opinion.

This wasn't ment to be a LEO bash thread, but to point out a situation I witnessed. I'm sorry it turned into that, but on the other hand it has also become a bash on the OP because he has a view different than yours. If you don't like my view, fine, but time after time I have been proven right, and until a time comes when I am constantly proven wrong, I will have this perception.

 

[Crystalship1]

This wasn't ment to be a LEO bash thread,

finding a good cop is like finding a needle in a haystack".
[/rant]

Hmmmm. I think you've just been misunderstood!!!!

 

[sig-sweet]

Alright all you Leos and others in the know help the mass public out. When something like this happens again in the future what should the average Joe do about it?
I think we all agree we, being the mass public, want to respect all the fine officers around us, but find our respect tainted by the one or two bad apples out there. The problem is, speaking for myself, I don't know what the proper action would be in the same type of situation and I'll bet I'm not the only one. I read several comment here where people made different references as what to do. What I want to see listed is a step by step on how to respond while on scene, what info to get, what steps to take etc.
Thank you in advance.

If you are dealing with the person directly, ask for his Departmental ID. If he gets a attitude then call the local Police and advise the situation. ISP or IMPD or FBI a badge and a handgun are not proper ID.

If you aren't dealing directly with him/her and feel like this situation is just kind of odd, call the PoPo, give them the complaint (what he/she did flashing a badge etc.), give location, and a description of the person. How ever involved you want to be then you can stay on the phone or meet the officer and talk to him when he shows up.

Like it was said earlier, it’s easy to get a badge, anyone can get one. I know of a city that has their council members ID’s are in the form of a badge! Odd….but true there are people out there that just want that persona and they try to bluff and push their way in. So never be bashful about calling in on a situation like this one we’re talking about.

 

[packing_preacher]

I would have to agree with several others of you. Was he really a cop? You should have called his bluff and handed him the phone.
Being a chaplain with the local department, I have close contact (up to 8 hours at a time) with several of the officers. While it isn't Gary or Indianapolis, we do have our share of officers with problems. However, they all tend to prefer keeping their being a cop to themselves when they are off-duty. Most law enforcement departments are very close knit and the officers tend to spend days off either with their fellow officers or their family.
Therefore, based on my limited knowledge and experience, I would suspect that either he is not a cop or that he is a cop who is close to losing his job.

 

[Denny347]

Some guys might like to show their badge way too often. I try to NEVER have identify myself as LEO. I did have to once this year in a movie theater. about 5-8 young kids raising all sorts of hell during the movie. I held my tongue for a long time but I could hear the people around me complaining as well as my wife just kept looking at me. I walked over, showed them my badge/ID and basically told them to shut their traps...not a peep after that. Everyone was happy that I did that. I really do not like pulling the badge out. I guess you could say that I'm pretty shy in that way. Like to stay under the radar.

 

[Denny347]

Alright all you Leos and others in the know help the mass public out. When something like this happens again in the future what should the average Joe do about it?
I think we all agree we, being the mass public, want to respect all the fine officers around us, but find our respect tainted by the one or two bad apples out there. The problem is, speaking for myself, I don't know what the proper action would be in the same type of situation and I'll bet I'm not the only one. I read several comment here where people made different references as what to do. What I want to see listed is a step by step on how to respond while on scene, what info to get, what steps to take etc.
Thank you in advance.

Either call 911 to get on-duty LEO's to respond and handle this or get the guy's information...name, dept, badge number. Or do both and file a complaint with their department.