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I mentioned this on the Renton road rage thread yesterday and said it was best as a separate thread, but for some reason its still bugging me and I wanted to get this off my chest.
Alright, I was in the service many, many years ago. Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, to be more precise. If I were to visit the brig (thankfully, I never got in that much trouble) I was told the largest contingent of its occupants were MP's themselves. I didn't understand why at the time, but years later, in another occupation, I noticed that some people, when put in positions with some pereived positions of authority, changed from normal, upstanding individuals to real a***oles. It began my change in thinking that to this day is turning into a wariness for law enforcement officers.
I know that in order to become a LEO in most places a series of tests are required, most notably a psych exam where the plan (I would think) is to weed out the ones that take their job too personally. Since it's a range of attitudes, there will inevitably be ones that pass through with less than the ideal character. I'm all too familiar with the types that flunked out of the cop exam and settled for security jobs, and the resultant bottom of the barrel type we call mall ninjas. FWIW, I've never applied to be an LEO, never really was that interested in it; yet have been investigated up and down for other job requirements/clearances, each time coming up clean, so I'm not coming from a position where I resent authority.
The news has had stories of bad cops as far back as there was news. Departments that hire officers understandably have a hard time finding qualified individuals, so will be tolerant of some poor behavior because quantity is important, though hopefully a far second to quality.
So, my question to all of you, LEO's specifically, is what is being done (or what is NOT being done) to improve public perception (perception being different than reality) of LE department standards for their police? I have a suspicion it's getting worse, but at the same time I'm losing sympathy for them overall. When I see cops taking a walk or getting a slap on the wrist for some truly atrocious behavior, I almost wonder if the leadership cares that BEFORE they want my sympathy/support for one of their own getting hurt/killed they should work a little harder to clean up their own house. Now seeing that I'm a more reasonable individual (for the most part ) I have no plans other than to talk about it, but I can easily see the less reasonable type taking out their frustrations more directly. It's been done before, and I can see it happening again.
Alright, I was in the service many, many years ago. Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, to be more precise. If I were to visit the brig (thankfully, I never got in that much trouble) I was told the largest contingent of its occupants were MP's themselves. I didn't understand why at the time, but years later, in another occupation, I noticed that some people, when put in positions with some pereived positions of authority, changed from normal, upstanding individuals to real a***oles. It began my change in thinking that to this day is turning into a wariness for law enforcement officers.
I know that in order to become a LEO in most places a series of tests are required, most notably a psych exam where the plan (I would think) is to weed out the ones that take their job too personally. Since it's a range of attitudes, there will inevitably be ones that pass through with less than the ideal character. I'm all too familiar with the types that flunked out of the cop exam and settled for security jobs, and the resultant bottom of the barrel type we call mall ninjas. FWIW, I've never applied to be an LEO, never really was that interested in it; yet have been investigated up and down for other job requirements/clearances, each time coming up clean, so I'm not coming from a position where I resent authority.
The news has had stories of bad cops as far back as there was news. Departments that hire officers understandably have a hard time finding qualified individuals, so will be tolerant of some poor behavior because quantity is important, though hopefully a far second to quality.
So, my question to all of you, LEO's specifically, is what is being done (or what is NOT being done) to improve public perception (perception being different than reality) of LE department standards for their police? I have a suspicion it's getting worse, but at the same time I'm losing sympathy for them overall. When I see cops taking a walk or getting a slap on the wrist for some truly atrocious behavior, I almost wonder if the leadership cares that BEFORE they want my sympathy/support for one of their own getting hurt/killed they should work a little harder to clean up their own house. Now seeing that I'm a more reasonable individual (for the most part ) I have no plans other than to talk about it, but I can easily see the less reasonable type taking out their frustrations more directly. It's been done before, and I can see it happening again.