Whatever Happened to Officer Friendly?
Are cops the new "bad guys?"
I've been reading and seeing a lot of negative things about the police lately. When I was a kid, we were taught in school that if you ever needed help, go to a policeman. Policemen are your friends. But, they don't seem so friendly anymore.
I guess I still had that advice in mind when I first moved to Pittsburgh and got lost for four hours in the city. I was looking for our new apartment, I had never been to Pittsburgh before, and the directions my husband gave me were wrong (from MapQuest, go figure). We had no phone hooked up at the new apartment and neither of us had cell phones at the time. I had driven from Virginia and by the time I got to Pitt, it was morning rush hour, I was tired, frustrated, and disoriented, and very, very lost.
Then, I saw a policeman standing by his car and I stopped and ran over to him. I told him I was so glad to see him and explained my situation. I didn't know where I was or how to get where I needed to go. His response was: "So what do you want me to do about it?" I went mute, because that's not the reply I was expecting. Then, I said that maybe he could give me directions...or something. He said, "Sorry, but I can't help you out." I stood there in front of him and just let loose with the tears (no fake "please don't give me a speeding ticket" tears either-which don't work anyway-these were real). I said, "I'm lost. Please help," and he turned his back on me. Literally and physically.
Officer Friendly is dead to me.
I was watching "Cops" the other night and I'm convinced this program is a bad influence on other cops. A woman called the police on a man who scared her in some way (I don't know for sure, I started watching in the middle of it) and said that he wanted in her pants, but she said no. The cop replied, "Then why are you flaunting it in front of him?" She had on a pair of jeans and tank top. Typical summer-wear for women, including myself. When the cop is finished with the call, he says to the cameraman: "She just didn't want him because he's missing his two front teeth and he's ugly, hahaha." WTF?
On another episode, the cameraman asked a cop why he decided to become a cop. His reply was that it was for the thrill and excitement. He got an adrenaline rush when he was chasing the bad guys.
Wrong answer.
The correct answer would be "I want to protect my fellow citizens from criminals and help them if they ever get lost in Pittsburgh."
Ron recently did a post "Cops With Tasers: Out of Control." Here's the video for it:
Police Brutality: Not just for Black folks anymore!
I have gotten speeding tickets before. Cops will usually explain that signing a ticket is not an admission of guilt, it just means that you understand why you got pulled over. The whole point of a signature means that you have the free will to agree to something or not. I may agree that I received a ticket, but I may choose to plead not-guilty (Tip for PA residents: If you plead not-guilty and go to the magistrate, he won't choose in your favor, but he'll probably cut your fine by 25%, I guess for at least trying to fight it. Also, as soon as the magistrate walks in the room, stand up BEFORE he says "please rise." They like that. It shows respect. -- P.S. I don't make the rules. I just try to get around them).
So you don't HAVE to sign a ticket and you won't go to jail if you don't. This cop, John Gardner, was on a "respect my authorit-ah" power trip and he did overstep on Jared Massey's rights. Especially with the taser and not reading him his rights after telling him he was under arrest. Did Gardner not learn anything at the police academy? He also lies to the other cop who shows up later about everything that happened, even though he had to know it was being videotaped. I don't think Massey was acting in a way that warranted use of a taser. If he posed some sort of threat or ran from the policeman, than I'd understand. But, all he did was slowly walk back to his truck. I think Massey was confused by the whole thing. When I watched the video, I couldn't understand why he was getting arrested either.
Craig Peyer, a California Highway Patrol Trooper, once said, "There are two people you don't piss off in this world: God and a Highway Patrolman -- and not necessarily in that order." Peyer also pulled over a woman, strangled her to death, and threw her body over a bridge. (Good Cop, Bad Cop. Daily Herald. Dec. 5, 2007)
Cops need to be retrained on the use of taser guns. For instance, it's not okay to taser your partner when he refuses to stop to get you a soda. (Police: Officer Used Taser in Fight Over Soda. MSNBC. Dec. 8, 2005.)
It's definitely not okay to taser a pregnant woman while she's holding a one-year old child. The same cop also had a MySpace page on which he posted a photo of himself joyriding in a police car at over 100 mph.
Cop who tasered pregnant woman fired
And last, four men were arrested for peacefully protesting police brutality in a small park. (POP Members Jailed for Protesting Police Brutality. FightBack! Dec, 2007.)
I'm beginning to see a pattern here. I've noticed at times that police will make up laws when it suits them. Unless you know all the laws, it's hard to tell if they're bullshitting you or not. I was threatened with arrest once for swearing in my own apartment. I knew there was no law against that. It's my goddamn Constitutional right to swear. Cops need to take Power Trip Management classes, because some of them don't seem to understand when their abusing their power. All you have to do is type "Police Brutality" under Google News and a whole bunch of stuff comes up. What it comes down to is cops have been out of control for a long time and it has to stop. I thought they would have learned that people are fed up with it after the Rodney King trials, but I guess not.
