stella40
Posts: 417
Joined: 1/11/2006
From: London, UK
Status: offline
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I have a few points and a few questions here.
I don't work in law enforcement - I couldn't. Firstly because I recognise that it's a difficult job and secondly because I don't have a suitable character to be a cop.
However I do voluntary work with the homeless in London, which brings me into contact with many people affected by homelessness and destitution, including mentally ill people, alcohol and substance misusers, criminals, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, prostitutes, and other people rejected by mainstream society.
Sometimes I am part of a CAT team which goes out on the streets of London in the early hours of the morning to register people officially homeless and thus at times work alongside the police.
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
I find that my job has really altered the way I view the world and the way I view human nature in general. I definately feel the job has changed the very core of my world view. I don't trust people. I'm cynical. I have "gallows humour" etc.
I feel here you either need to change your profession or your attitude to your profession.
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
4yrs: Everyone except those who work for my department are assholes.
That's about the way of it...I'm at 4.5 years right now, and yeah, right on track lol...
Is this really a desirable attitude for a cop?
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
Have the other LE people experienced similiar problems in their concept of the world? I just have reached a point, at age 24, where I genuinely believe the world is a bad place and most people in it are untrustworthy assholes OR psychos.
How come you've spent so long in law enforcement, and given your background, you are writing people off on the basis of their behaviour and judging the sinner on the basis of their sins?
There are only good people in this world....
...good people who have the wrong attitude towards life and others.
... good people who make mistakes in life.
..good people who do really bad, evil, terrible things.
..good people who are experiencing a bad time.
...good people who need protection from themselves and others.
..good people who feel that their only real future one of crime.
I guarantee that all the non-LE people you come across fit neatly into the six categories above.
And no, the majority of police I have come across in London (and my best friend has just become a cop) don't think like you do.
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
Actually I love my job...that's the thing....I don't really think about this stuff at all until other people bring it up.
And this to you is the most important thing?
I love singing, but that doesn't make me a professional singer.
How about being about to do your job professionally? Doesn't this mean anything to you?
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
and they'll say "yes, but just about everyone you've ever known is law enforcement. You have a skewed perspective."
How right are these people? This is hardly a desirable quality for a cop, especially if they work with people, is it?
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
So the only worthwhile ambitions are career oriented? I have many ambitions. Most of them revolve around my hobbies of raising horses and doing animal rescue work. Not all people are career oriented.
I was valedictorian of my senior class and could have done anything I wanted with my life. I chose this because it gave me the resources and time to do what is really important to me...raise and show champion horses.
Okay, I accept this to a point. I subscribe very much to being bleeding heart and tree-hugging. I'm not a career type.
I write and direct plays, and while I also do other forms of work I have made the sacrifices to go out and do what it is I enjoy and I'm really good at. This is why I couldn't be a cop, I couldn't be a nurse, I couldn't work in such occupations because they require dedication, they are vocations.
I feel you really have to sit down and ask yourself - am I really cut out to be a cop?
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
I understand the point you're making...We all commit crimes to an extent. EVERYONE does. But honestly, other than having someone run criminal background checks, I don't do ANYTHING illegal (other than anal sex...that's illegal in TX too.)
I don't drive over the speed limit. I have never tried drugs. I didn't drink underage. I didn't smoke underage. I am genuinely as close to a law abiding citizen as I think a person can be.I don't steal. I just don't do illegal things other than the two things I have mentioned. Most people have a list of crimes much longer than two things. I think I'm doing pretty well actually.
I also stay within the law, I don't have a criminal record. But do you know what? I don't see how me being completely above the law makes me any better than someone with a criminal record. People are human, we all make mistakes.
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
And I never,ever lie at my job. I sometimes violate policy and procedure but I am ALWAYS honest about it. One thing I've learned is that my department will fire you in a heart beat for lying...most anything else, they'll just give you some time off without pay.
Having read this, all I can say is thank God there are courts, juries, judges and lawyers.
I'm honest too. However, I've been a teacher, a journalist, years ago a nurse, but no matter what I did I NEVER EVER violated policy or procedure, but did my best to be professional, as competent as possible in my work and to deliver the best possible service.
Yes, I've made mistakes, I've f**ked up but if you cannot stick to the policies and procedures in your job then maybe you need to think about doing something else.
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
One thing that that I find really shocking (and I'm just now discovering this) is that people seem to actively dislike and distrust L.E. I honest-to-gods never know that the average civilian had a such a low opinion of L.E. (but then again, I wasn't raised around average civilians.)
I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm genuinely very shocked that you seem to perceive being a cop as your birth right. It isn't.
Being a cop gives you a special status in society, you are entrusted by the government to uphold the law and you have genuine power and authority over people. However, unfortunately, not every cop can handle this, they abuse this power and authority and this is why people are distrustful and have such a low opinion, not just about cops, but also lawyers, judges and politicians.
The other thing is, many of the people you are dealing with have committed a crime, they have been caught, and they feel defensive and perhaps not too friendly towards the police. Other people you are dealing with are victims of crime, they are stressed, they are suspicious and quite often cynical, and guess what, they too are defensive. It's hardly rocket science.
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
Funny how people bitch about the cops..but when their daughter gets raped or their car gets stolen, guess who they expect to help out? My opinion is that people who bitch about the cops shouldn't have any rights to utilize their services.
I find this POV to be extremely arrogant. What makes you think you are above criticism?
quote:
ORIGINAL: GeekyGirl
Part of what bothers me is that people base their entire opinion on cops based on patrol cops, who actually make up only the smallest number of the force. There are far more cops working in booking, classification, CID, Transportation, Confinement, Release, Judicial Services, Narcotics, Homicide etc....
Now I'll admit that most "asshole" cops I've met were traffic cops...but why judge the whole profession by the people who make up less than 10% of the force???
We have, if I remember correctly, about 50 traffic cops TOTAL. We have over **1200** cops and jailers working in confinement who are not doing ANYTHING to innocent civilians and are in fact just trying to keep the bad guys on the right side of the bars so you can be protected...why are we being lumped in with patrol guys?
I see your point here. People tend to generalise and jump to conclusions. Whenever they hear the word 'police' they associate the word with that image they are most commonly used to - the uniformed cop or patrol car.
Kudos to you Geekygirl for being in law enforcement so long, for being so open and honest with your opinions, thoughts and feelings and with sharing them here.
I read the rest of your postings. You cannot change your background, even if you wanted to, and the views you hold are your views. I also don't believe it's really all that easy working in a prison and working with offenders.
But then again, I also see how often people jump to conclusions and make generalised assumptions whenever they hear that someone is homeless or destitute.
In many cases people become homeless because they give up, or they become overwhelmed by their circumstances. But also quite often they are homeless simply because they have made a mistake and been written off by others as an asshole, a misfit, a bum or a scrounger. Some choose to be homeless, they prefer being homeless and have shunned society. They are the most cynical people you could ever meet.
And yes, while I have been critical of you on the basis of what you have written I do not see you as a bad person Geekygirl, in fact I have a very positive opinion of you. You cannot care for animals and be a bad person, you are open, honest, and caring.
Being a cop, no matter where you work in the police force is a difficult job. I couldn't do it. I couldn't for example be a traffic cop, to have to stop motorists, to have to remind them about highway regulations and driving, to have to book them for some quite stupid offences, to have to listen to their arguments and their excuses, and to do this day in and day out. Temptation would get the better of me, and I would end up strangling someone, probably for a minor parking violation.
Maybe you feel the same way at times, maybe not. Prisons are specific places, they are a society in themselves and quite unlike normal society. You probably see an endless stream of new faces, with the same attitudes, the same way of thinking, and you probably think to yourself 'this is boring' or 'this is stupid'.
But you know, just as you don't like to be judged unfairly because you are a cop these people you work with don't like to be judged unfairly because they have committed a criminal offence. They are just as much human as you are.
I can guarantee you that each and every inmate in that prison is someone to somebody, they are somebody's child, somebody's parent, somebody's partner. They have just done something wrong, something bad, and it is something they are paying for, and in today's society something they are going to be paying for for a very long time.
And how would you feel if people wrote you off because of something you did? Would you accept this? I doubt it.
So why are you writing someone off on the basis of something they've done?
Nobody is an asshole in this world, there are just people who are being assholes, for whatever reason.
And you cannot judge the sinner by the sin alone.
_____________________________
I try to take one day at a time, but several days come and attack me at once. (Jennifer Unlimited)
If you can't be a good example then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
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RE: Law Enforcement and Cynicism - 
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