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Comment by JoeAltmaier | Hacker News Reader

Oh for pity's sake, follow a cop around some Saturday night downtown, before lecturing us on what a soft life a cop's job is. Deal with the belligerent drunks, entitled rich boys, teenagers with too much car and no sense. Enter a store that gave off a silent alarm, in the dark, all by yourself and tell me what a walk in the park it is.

"Stand up against them"? See how lovely a world it is without them - what comes next is very much worse than what you're complaining about.

Cops deserve respect and deference, if only because they stand for public order and that deserves it.

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> Cops deserve respect and deference, if only because they stand for public order and that deserves it.

I'm a firefighter/paramedic, and am very familiar with many of the scenarios you described. Many of my drinking buddies are cops, and I'm very grateful that they have my back night after night.

That being said, I disagree completely with your statement that cops deserve respect simply because they 'stand for public order'. There have been more than enough examples in recent history where cops have very clearly _not_ been acting in the public's interest, and I think it's prudent for average citizens to be wary of cops. It's an unfortunate reality, but it's the culture that law enforcement has chosen to create.

Having had a handful of interactions with LEOs while 'off the clock', it really amazes me how different their attitude is from when I'm in uniform.

Can you elaborate on how their attitude is different?

It's a very clear transition from being part of the 'in crowd' to being an outsider.

In uniform it's a lot of in-jokes, knowing glances, etc...

Out of uniform, it's very often condescension, or at least a very obvious distrust of anything I say.

Pizza delivery guys have a far more dangerous job than police. Drive to a location chosen by a stranger who knows you will show up with cash, food, and a car which you will willingly exit. And all in 30 minutes or less. And they deal with the same types of obnoxious people as police, who you think deserve automatic respect for it.

Policing doesn't crack the top 10 BLS list of most dangerous jobs. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/08/22/americ...

Pizza? Give me a break. The police have to show up, every time, when there is a call for help. There's a risk there every time, not a statistical risk, not a worry that someday somebody will rob you. There's a robber or an abuser or a drunk at the address Every Single Time if you're a cop.

> 3. Aircraft pilot and flight engineers This was very much unexpected.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/opinion/The-Dangers-of-Pri...

An op-ed I randomly came across today regarding the topic.

Question a cop who's wrong about the law... Stand in front of your house in any major city as a minority... Walk down the street in any major city as a minority...

The bad perceptions of the police have very real reasons behind them.

Respect is EARNED, not given. Cops CHOSE to be cops, they are being compensated to be cops, the onus is on them, to take then danger. Not on the citizen.

servi publici and all that comes with that...

Cops are not the only people who have to deal with other people, they're just the only people allowed to use a stick, an electric shock device, and a gun at their discretion in order to do it. It's a less dangerous job that housepainting, driving a cab, or working in a convenience store.

Ridiculous. You don't expect an abuser or a drunk at every single house you paint; every customer in your cab's back seat isn't belligerent. Again, ride along with a cop some day, it will change your view forever.

> Deal with the belligerent drunks, entitled rich boys, teenagers with too much car and no sense.

Sounds more like an unpleasant job than a dangerous one. I'm not refuting your claim that it maybe dangerous but the parent has a valid point. It may not be any more dangerous than the other jobs mentioned.

Something may feel more dangerous than it is. That's the point the parent was making, I believe.

For this purposes of this discussion seeming is being. If cops feel in danger, that is what affects their mentality.

Cops don't deserve respect automatically--they don't stand for shit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia

If they help and are decent and promote the peace, then we should honor them. By default, though, they collect a paycheck, same as anyone else.

"Cops deserve respect and deference, if only because they stand for public order and that deserves it." Whatever good they do happen to do is rendered moot by the fact that they are complicit in the bad things that their colleagues do without them speaking up about it.

By no means is that true. Some are complicit; some are bad.

Watching/knowing and doing nothing about it makes them complicit. On top of that, that is the prime thing that they swear to do! To protect those that can't help themselves, and what do they go and do? That's right, they don't out the bad cops that prey on the helpless.

And it will never change so long as people like you absolve the shameful individuals that stand by and do nothing as innocents are harmed.

Don't be silly; you made all that up. Some cops are aware of bad behavior and don't 'out' it. Some do. Like the rest of us. The rest are on the street doing good day after day. One doesn't 'cancel' the other in any way.

You're right, there are a few cops out there who out bad behavior. They are punished, demoted, fired, and even confined to insane asylums by the cops they "betrayed". http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/nyregion/officer-adrian-sc...

These cops are the true heroes. Unfortunately the reason we rarely hear about them is that there are incredibly few. Much more comfortable to stick with the herd, follow orders and take your check.

"Don't be silly;" It takes a special kind of evil to dismiss such injustice because it's mentally inconvenient. Shame on you.

Only injustice I'm 'dismissing' is the stereotyping in that comment.

Being a lumberjack, fisherman or roofer is not easy either.

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