I've had terrible experiences with cops, but I also know one personally, and he is a really decent guy. IMO, cops are up against an increasingly un-civil society, and almost all of their interaction with the tax-paying law-abiding public, is negative. Cops are lousy at PR, and far too many are pumped up on steroids and Wyatt Earp attitudes. We have a vicious circle--a society becoming rife with scum and perpetually bailed-out criminals, coupled with burned out cops with attitudes.

The original poster and the cop had a bad interaction--a cop with a heart full of adenaline thinking he had possible found a couple of joyriding crackheads enjoying the fruits of a B&E, and a private property owner (who has the gift of candor) who thought he was minding his own business. To be fair, the cop likely blocked the gates trying to prevent a grand theft getaway. Had he had an attitude after a calm and voluntary offering of registration, insurance, ID, and DMV check, then I too, as a private property owner, would have stood my ground.

The fact that cops feel the public needs to treat them with some sort of elevated respect is profoundly wrong--cops are public servants, not some elite brotherhood, and we the public, are in no way out of line in the defense of our civil rights. If a cop is in law enforcement because of a personal need to feel empowered by a gun and a badge, or they become that way, they need to be removed...a cop who embarks on a vendetta of harrassment and selective enforcement is nothing more than a thug with a badge.

On the other hand, if we as a society, refuse to support legislation to get a lot of the lawbreaking scum off the streets, and we demoralize law enforcement by overwhelming them, neither law enforcement, nor civil society will be well served.

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