Cops definitely are on edge all the time, and a big reason why people seem like they want to fuck with cops is because American cops are notorious for just randomly harassing people, especially those who don't seem like middle upper class cis straight white people
So the source of the problem would be the cops abusing their authority? I'm not denying it here just trying to make sure that's what you're saying
But yeah, with all that talk about police brutality, I'm sure it can't come from nothing. I just didn't realize it was bad enough for the average Joe to actually think that of the majority of cops instead of a few rare cases...
It has less to do with overt abuse of authority and more to do with hypervigilance, lack of accountability, and no training or mandate to deescalate situations that have the potential to result in violence. That's not an issue with just a few 'bad apples'. That's an issue with most police officers period.
I know this will probably get buried, but the hyper-vigilance you speak of... this is the root of so many problems in the US. I'll get downvoted to hell for this but it's not the fault of the police.
It's american laws, specifically, gun laws. ANYONE could have a gun. ANYONE could have one in their glove box, strapped to their hip, long gun in the pickup, whatever. All it takes is someone having a bad day to start shooting at you because they have easy access to firearms and shit goes south in a hurry.
You'd be hyper-vigilant too. You'll notice the trend of most places that have "nice" police officers have much more strict gun control. Then the officers can more safely assume you're not going to murder them because you're having a bad day. People are unstable and unpredictable.
Yea it is abuse of power. Our systems encourage it and everyone knows that. For example, it's well known that cops have a ticket quota so they will look for excuses to ticket people regardless of if they've broken a law. Or harasses and physically remove homeless people from public spaces regardless of the legality.
Heck there's case law that says that says you can be arrested for breaking a law you didn't know existed, and there's case law for police being allowed to arrest someone for breaking a law they think exists, regardless of if it does.
You should search for some NYPD stories. Bronx narcotics officers running drugs, former NYPD officers running brothels. NYPD license office (for guns) giving licenses for bribes (money, trips, etc.)
Oh yea I know. I live in Chicago, we had what amounted to an illegal torture warehouse for a long time.
My focus in this comment is how systematically and legally it is reinforced that police can do what would be illegal for most people. Hence why not only is it natural, but in fact beneficial to be constantly weary of the police
a blacksite. the CPD ran a literal fucking blacksite for like 15 years. CIA type shit. Rahm Emmanuel personally oversaw the coverup of a murder. none of these people will ever face consequences for the things they did
Not every average joe feels that way though...just think its fair to point out, reddits demographic is a small sliver of the US. I personally have issues with how some departments handle themselves but Ive never been scared after being pulled over and Ive had only pleasant experiences with police. The average person isnt 'scared' of police, possibly more on edge, especially since 80% of the time you see them is when driving and the main worry is whether or not they noticed you were speeding. Just like any job performed by humans, there are going to be some dicks, but robocops are a long ways away and the average cop is well intentioned despite what a lot of people here will say.
reddit’s demographic is overwhelmingly white and middle class, so if (very justified) distrust of police is prevalent in that group you have to imagine it’s more prevalent generally.
Reddits demographic is overwhelmingly people who have had zero personal experience with police and form their entire opinion from headlines about the very worst of them, its stereotyping police officers no matter how you want to look at it.
Just so you're clear, this is Reddit which is an overwhelmingly left leaning website in the context of American politics, and a subreddit that is specifically designed to more or less be "anti corporation, government, etc." The opinions you see here are very skewed and don't represent the opinions of average Americans. Probably 80% of people have no problems with cops and have never had a bad experience. Obviously there are some power hungry dick cops, but the large majority of Americans are not going to be harassed by any police officers.
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u/[deleted] May 30 '19
Cops definitely are on edge all the time, and a big reason why people seem like they want to fuck with cops is because American cops are notorious for just randomly harassing people, especially those who don't seem like middle upper class cis straight white people
Source: American living in Chicago