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Comment by rdtsc | Hacker News Reader

> I have personally come to know a couple that have eased my deep hatred somewhat.

I have quite the opposite experience if you wish. I was never personally abused or treated unfairly by the cops during a stop. But, I still distrust cops. If anything because of the ones I met in an informal settings. In my extended family and network of acquaintances there are 3 cops. And 2 of them physically abuse their wives and kids, are very brutal and scary. In fact if I didn't know they are cops they could just as well fit the profile of street thugs.

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Just to throw another anecdotal counterpoint your way: I also know several cops (detectives and a Sergeant, actually), and they are the definition of good people. the conversations I have with them generally either revolve around the stuff they're doing with their kids (and me trying to get them to some of the youth programs I help with), and them dealing with the frustration of not being able to do enough.

not all cops are good, maybe most of them aren't good. But they definitely aren't all bad, and the good ones hate the bad ones at least as bad as you and I do.

The good ones might hate the bad ones but theres nothing they can do, or nothing theyll do. Look at that stop and frisk video from new york, they interview a "good" cop, he admits theres lots of wrong things but hey, thats how things are, thats what makes the "good" cops as bad as the other. In the end theyre just dogs for the states and are trained to follow orders.

They're people who have been trained to be afraid of normal citizens and feel an obligation to protect those who understand their stresses and burdens from those who don't.

You want sympathy from a cop? You want to get the good cops to push out the bad ones? Show them that you understand what they go through. Show them that you're not exceptional in that respect. Show them that they have nothing to fear from you and yours. Show them that you'll back them up if they do the right thing.

It's like hackers. They're all spoiled white neckbeards living in their parents' basements slobbily eating pizza, right? Just like all the cops are donut-munching bullies cruising around in their cars banging on doors because it's funny, right?

I don't understand how LEOs have been trained to be afraid of normal citizens? Do you perhaps mean criminals when you say citizens? I'm struggling to think of any reason a LEO would be afraid of a normal citizen, or any instance in recent memory of a normal citizen's complaint compromising a LEOs position/lively hood.

Your comment might make sense, and the attitude you suggest might be appropriate, if police ever took the initiative to take care of the abuses within their own departments. Unfortunately time and time again its been shown not to happen. When it takes people like Frank Cerpico to get anything done (at great risk to themselves) the sort of attitude you propose doesn't really cut the mustard.

Show them these things before they tase you, bro.

It's a bit different. For one thing we know that in many countries other than the US, the performance of police is at a much higher standard. It's plausible the US has a systemic failure and a unique culture problem. Society does not owe more than to demand better for what they now pay.

For another thing, the stakes are a bit lower if your problem is brogrammers and neckbeards.

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