Police officers

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My experiences with civic police haven't actually been all that bad. My main problem is with Customs officers. I travel a lot, and tend to get identified as "suspicious". I've been body searched, had my car searched twice, and get my luggage searched at airports quite often. Twice I've been delayed at the border for 2 hours or more: the first time it was the USA checking Interpol to see if I was wanted, and the second time was Canada hassling me over stuff I bought in the USA *and reported*. If I was going to smuggle I don't think I'd be telling them I bought stuff and showing them the box, but on that trip they were convinced I bought more than I was admitting and were making all kinds of verbal threats to try and get me to admit it. Eventually the Customs officer said "I'm convinced you're smuggling but can't prove it, so I'm going to pass your name on to our enforcement branch." Nothing happened after that, so I think he was bluffing.

Poem from the wash room at Preston trucking

Her I sit,
on the pooper.
Giving birth to
an Ohio State Trooper.

The staties here can be rabid loose cannons.

But when they have a chance to put on a show for the public (i.e. at demonstrations) sherrif's deputies can
be the worst (Sherrif being an elected office in the U.S.).
And West Virgina is pretty bad too.

Whereabouts in Ohio? I lived in Columbus a number of years and did NOT like the place much at all.

Iae,

If you lived in Columbus then you should know about a place called New Rome. They officials and police were so corrupt that the state actually had to shut the village down because it was giving the rest of the state a black eye.

Ah yes, I know of it. And I lived right off the worst section of Cleveland Avenue. I was if fact born in Columbus but have lived all over. I liked Sandusky Ohio a bit.

Male officers, especially in my P plate driving days. Fortunealy however the worst brush with the law I have had so far is a couple of speeding fines.

Paul

You missed the option: "I've dealt with police, and they treated me fine." I find that so long as you give them a bit of respect, there's no issues. It also helps to have worked with them, to remove the anxiety that is often present when dealing with authority figures.

I don't like cops, male or female, and generally refuse to deal with them, unless I am being physically threatened. When I say refuse to deal with them, I don't mean that I refuse if they pull me over for something ... but, rather, I would refuse to call them or get involved with anything that may involve the police.

The reason I don't like cops is not so much because of the cops themselves, but rather the institution in general. To begin with, it's an unfairly racist and classist institution. Most of the people that cops harrass are generally the people whom are underprivileged. They tend not to harrass upper-class citizens, including the snotty brats of rich folks, so if you are poor and look odd, they'll harrass you for things that aren't even wrong.

What's worse, there is now a culture of paranoia spreading across the country. It's not just because of September 11, either, because there were signs before that. I have been approached by police because I looked suspicious in a few circumstances, and they never have just one cop, but they get like two or three, and it's embarrassing to onlookers, because people tend to think, when they see three or four cops around me, that I'm a criminal. I tend to hang around in areas that are uncrowded, because I don't even like to be looked at by people, so I tend to stay behind buildings all alone. I did this once in a train station, and the cop seemed to think that I may have been like trying to sabotage the controls, because the control box was in the area.

Now, with all the cameras and crap that place everyone under surveillance, society has since become extremely paranoid. People should mind their own business. There is more of a chance that you'll die of a work-related injury than you are to die from a terrorist act.

- Ray M -

Police have stopped someone from injuring me with a broken glass bottle once. I was very grateful!
They have also helped me when I was in a disturbed mental state and they took me back to hospital.
I find that if you are polite to police and treat them with a little respect, they will help you and/or leave you alone.

You also forgot the option: "They are all bastards."

I think they blatantly are there for repression and oppression, with some minor other functions dealing with the public, as a cover up. I also usually refuse to deal with them, which for me means that i don't talk to them, and if they rough me up, i stop moving also. It's quite hard sometimes, but it makes sure they have no excuse to beat you up if you are completely passive, and they can't do nothing with you exept for getting a sore back (from dragging you around) and a bore, until they have to release you. No statement, no recording of your voice, no trouble afterwards...

To all those people that have been treated nicely by the cops, don't underestimate the difference of being white or not as towards treatment...

That's also my vote, and I have friends who are either current or former police officers. In the rare occasions I've dealt with the police, I've found that if you treat them with respect, they treat you the same way.