BURN : funny

I did too. I'm only 26 now so I think it's not too late to apply if I made the decision to do so, but I still struggle with that decision for the same reason I never became a cop in the first place.

As I got older I started to realize the police were more often than not the bad guys, and I just can't justify A) aiding a corrupt and oppressive force and B) putting my life on the line just to milk people for parking tickets or smoking pot.

It just seems like less and less these days that cops are good guys at all. I really wish this wasn't the case. I have pretty strong feelings about justice and helping people and I wish I could find a profession in which I could really do this. I hate working in an office doing mundane pointless bullshit (but at least this pointless bullshit doesn't get anyone needlessly hurt).

[–]Nillix 7 points8 points9 points 2 days ago

[–]Saint_of_Catrumbus 1 point2 points3 points 2 days ago

I know there are good cops too, but honestly I've just never met any.

It's not just the Internet that gives me this opinion (although it is frustrating to regularly see cops abusing people and suffering no consequences what-so-ever). All of the cops I've ever met or had to deal with have been apathetic towards people, were abusing their position in some way, were being down-right mean to someone needing their help (friend of mine/roommate once got laughed at and left in the dust when asking for assistance from some police he managed to stumble across while walking across the city covered in blood. They didn't even ask what happened), or just generally were being more of a nuisance/threat to people than the local d-bags and gangs.

It's all put a very bad taste in my mouth and I just can't see myself among their ranks. It feels like the police (at least around here, but the Internet shows that my city is not alone in having bad apples at the very least) are mostly quick-to-anger and armed grown-children/bullies. I've thought about trying to ignore it and just apply anyway, but that would put me in a situation where I'd have to either look the other way or get fired or something as there does not appear to be any way to bring crooked cops in this town to justice. It's rotten straight through here. It often feels like one of those crooked-cop films with how laughable the reality is.

Maybe I'll just move, I don't know.

[–]Nillix 0 points1 point2 points 2 days ago

[–]Rivantus 1 point2 points3 points 2 days ago

[–]lucianog5 1 point2 points3 points 2 days ago

[–]Saint_of_Catrumbus 1 point2 points3 points 2 days ago

[–]GameDrain 1 point2 points3 points 2 days ago

[–]Saint_of_Catrumbus -2 points-1 points0 points 2 days ago

I'd say please refer to my reply to Nilix for the answer to most of your questions, here.

It's not just an assumption, I've had enough dealings with the police here to see how they operate and the things they do to people. Your point of "be one of the good guys" is one I've considered, but one person alone can't take on an army of over-grown and well armed children. There's not really anyone to report them to or get assistance with.

At this point I feel like my only real option is to stick with my soul-crushing office job and try to make enough money to leave society. I can't justify putting my life on the line for a peanut-salary just to needlessly bust kids smoking pot or some other ridiculous "violation" so that I can continue to fund the pockets of our corrupt officials and politicians. I don't mind putting my life on the line to help someone, but I don't feel there is anything sensible about being shot because someone didn't want a parking ticket or some shit.

[–]GameDrain 0 points1 point2 points 2 days ago

why do you assume most police work is pot busting and parking violations? In the city where I work cops don't really even do parking stuff that's handled by a whole different group of people. Just to give you an example of what cops actually do, I went on a ride along in my moderately sized city, and in the three hours I spent with my police officer, we got a call to a shooting. When we got there we searched for bullet casings while other officers combed the neighborhood for the shooter. Then we got a guy with a similar description in the neighborhood. We drove down there and one cop held him at gunpoint while another chased after one of his friends. We took the shooter back to the scene to have the witness ID him. The witness couldn't say for sure that it was him, so we took the shooter back to his parents house where his mom laid into him for running around the neighborhood scaring people. Maybe it didn't make a difference, or maybe it was the wake up call his mother needed to start watching him closer. You'll never know, but its a hell of a way to impact your community so that people don't end up dead. THAT is police work, its what most cops love to do.

Besides the fact that you wouldn't be shot because someone doesn't want a parking ticket, but imagine for a moment if someone did try to shoot at you for that. If you arrest them for that then you just took a dangerous person of the streets. Now they won't lash out at the next person that pisses them off who most likely ISN'T armed.

Your view of policing is just so closed in and soul crushing you miss the point entirely. So maybe you're right, you shouldn't be a cop. But not because being a cop is a bad thing, but because people who need instant gratification or a clear reward for difficult but necessary work are not cut out to be cops.

[–]Saint_of_Catrumbus -2 points-1 points0 points 2 days ago

Your piss poor analysis of me is completely false and incorrect. I don't "assume" anything - I know what I see. In my city people are murdered daily on top of massive amounts of other crimes. Nothing is ever done. I've already explained how the police in my city behave in my posts and there is no need to do so once again (which you obviously ignored). The only murders that are investigated are ones in which cops get killed. Those are solved in less than a day as the city shuts down while they rampage through, and then they shut everything down again to throw their men a parade.

Everyone else who has an issue is shit out of luck. The police won't even respond to a call, no matter what it is. I've ceased bothering. Only way to solve anything or help anyone in this city is to do it yourself.

I don't require some "instant-gratification" or reward for doing the right thing. I do it all the time for fucking free and fuck you for suggesting it. I never even implied that. Wake up and realize that not everyone lives in some magical happy paradise where the cops are the good guys in most situations.

Our police here serve as little more than a local government army and a revenue generator. They don't care about people.

[–]GameDrain 0 points1 point2 points 2 days ago

how silly of me. I'm sure you, being someone who has only had experience outside the walls of a police department know far better than I do that police everywhere are a bastion of evil and corruption. As someone who works with police on a weekly basis, knows many officers personally and who sees exactly what goes into an investigation homicide or otherwise I can tell you that you clearly have no idea how policing works. Maybe you live in a crappy city, that I don't know, but I can tell you that there are plenty of cops out there who know how to do the job right, and you do them a disservice by assuming everyone is as jaded about the job as you are. And yes, you do assume. I have yet to see you suggest that a department elsewhere would be a better option but because of your local interactions with police you are indeed ASSUMING that the majority of police nationwide are bad or corrupt people and that is just simply not backed up by anything credible.