Whats your opinion of the Police in your country?

[ace_of_something]

(england) i have a pretty high opinion of the police, the police where i live are especially good and friendly

i can never take them seriously because one of them is called p.c gooche

hehehe gooche

Two names on my department that always amuse me. We have a Sudanese officer (he moved to the states when he was like 12) Who's name is Kaok Gunia pronounced Kuh-Ock Goonie. Don't get me wrong he's a great guy a good officer to have your back but sometimes when you say to someone 'Corporal Goonie will help you gather your things ma'am' they always give you a weird look.
Another we have is a guy who hyphenated his surname after he got married. Everyone gave him shit when he announced he was doing that since police officers (even the females) are big fans of locker room humor. That was until we saw the hyphenated name now his name is 'Andre Black-Steele' Then we thought "If one had the opportunity to become Black-Steele, especially as a Black guy, you'd be crazy to not do it"

 

[Sanat]

They're fine here, bar being NO FUN ALLOWED like most cops always are.
Except when it comes to traffic laws. They're just money laundering ticket whores, and most of their job is driving patrol duty. It's just stupid when they pull someone over and give them three defects and a ticket for having an air freshener on their mirror, a baldish tyre and a scratched windscreen. Add to that the punishments being gratuitous, and it becomes an unfair situation.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Considering my cousin is a Police Office, I guess I would say pretty good, all things considered.

 

[deathzero021]

I think police are people, and therefore many of them will have the same faults as any other humans. they also have the same range of personalities that normal people have.

i've always hated hearing hatred towards police, it's uncalled for. these people have very difficult jobs and when YOUR in need of help, who the hell are you gonna call? that's right, the police. And you'll be grateful as hell when they arrive.

the idea of police and it's function in society is great. however the individual policeman is the same as the individual person, so chances are you aren't going to like them on a personal level. they might be an asshole, they might overly judge you but that's okay. as long as they're doing they're job and protecting the citizens, i could care less if some police officers are annoying. (and trust me, i've had some rough experiences with the police for no good reasons at all but i'd rather have them search me and check my ID than have no protection at all)

 

[Muspelheim]

Another person who've had experiences with the Swedish police calling in here. Mostly in Stockholm (our capital) and in Gothenburg (our Osaka/Manchester/orleans And so forth) on completely personal basis of having a pretty rowdy youth i'd say that i've never been hassled when there wasn't a cause to. I've been questioned once or twice, but in all fairness i was at the scene of a crime. And when we've called on account of "stuff" gettin out of hand, they've always been courteous until there was a need not to be.

That being said, i've had a lot of friends who've been cuffed for little to no reason, i've had friends who've suffered from botched "after crime proof collection and processing" and just recently an acquaintance of mine got grabbed and driven twentytwo kilometers away from where he was going,to make sure that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

In my own opininon it all fits into my societal theory that ten public servants doing a competent and good job is not news worthy, one person, acting like a complete and utter TWAT, will garner a lot of attention, wreck a lot of peoples confidence in public instances, and be pretty difficult to stop.

Indeed, it's important to remember that most of them are just trying to their job, which isn't exactly the easiest job you can have, to say the least. It really is a shame that the twats tend to overshadow the honest effort of everyone else. But my theory is that the twats are evenly distributed in the ranks, so whenever a non-twat at the top calls for a change, a top-twat will step in to help out his twat buddies on the field.

But things can get better. The Gothenburg police has become far, far better in dealing with riots since the disaster in 2001. Basically, the reason it escalated out of control like it did was because the responsible commander of the police pretended he was Aragorn or something, and kicked the thing off by ordering a march he particularly didn't like to be charged by mounted police. They hadn't done anything yet, it seems he just wanted to make an example of some sort.
Really, his policy of "Beat, detain and kekekekeke ponyrush everyone that looks lefty until they go home" only served to escalate the whole thing into a riot, ending with vandalism, tear gas, shots fired into crowds and other things that never had to happen.

The Gothenburg police are much less aggressive these days, they tend to remain in the background and hold a dialogue, and only forming up in riot gear once it's really needed. It does work, and I'd gladly mail the biggest fruit basket I can find to the lads and lassies who managed to railroad that policy change past the testosterone-trolls.

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

The Gardai in Ireland are generally ok. Of course a profession where you have power over your fellow man will attract dicks but they tend to be nice people. Unfortunately their job involves catching criminals which as you can imagine doesn't make them popular with said criminals and leads to ingenius phrases such as "oink" "pig" and my personnel favourite "I'm going to slice myself off a side of bacon". These phrases were then adapted by wannabe hard men, who mutter it well out of the earshot of the police.

 

[Harkonnen64]

I've seen the police a few times; once when I was speeding and once when I hydroplaned into another car. They acted pretty professional both times. The only real problem I'd say I've had with the police is getting parking tickets, though I blame that more on my college having really shitty parking.

Actually, just yesterday I had to remove a piece of the plastic undercarriage of my car that cracked and was grinding on one of my tires. A state trooper actually stopped to help, so overall I'd say I have a positive opinion of them; they're just doing their jobs.

In my personal experience, if you aren't an asshole to them or otherwise act like they're inconveniencing you, they'll be professional. I saw one of my friends get mouthy with one once, he ended up getting an even higher fine that everyone else who was there [we got caught drinking while we were underage (rather, my friends were; I wasn't and didn't get ticketed)]

 

[Shock and Awe]

From what I've gathered they are mostly pretty good guys, though it does vary depending on the department. For example the department of my town is pretty good. They don't hassle people for little things and do a good job of dealing with important stuff. However the town right next to ours has a PD full of ass holes. They never fail to issue as many citations as possible, but they can't deal with their own problems. Thats why they call on my towns SWAT team or the Sheriff's SWAT team any time shit goes down.

 

[Polarni]

Greetings from Croatia.
Our police is generally corrupt, but I've got to give them a few points for trying to clean up over the last few years. Most of the ones whom I met were ordinary people like you and me, but there were a couple of bullys among them.
On the other hand, you can see a slogan painted on almost every bus stop, building, etc. : "ACAB" which stands for "All Cops Are Bastards". That shows you how much the public appreciates them.

On the side note - here, the policeman are being hired as delivery boys for supenas (court orders). That means that half of the patrol cars aren't actually patroling (stopping crimes and all that), but are actually going from door to door delivering supenas. That shows you how much the justice sistem is screwed around here :/

 

[chadachada123]

USA here.

A good chunk of officers here are power-abusing pricks that wouldn't think twice before assaulting someone and murdering their dog if they thought they would get away with it (and they DO well over 90% of the time).

Then there are the 'good' cops that are just as bad because they'll still try to defend the power-hungry assholes.

Then there are the very few number of actually good cops that will report bad cops. It sucks, though, that they'll end up most-likely getting let go by commissioners that can't stand the fact that these good cops actually try and eliminate police brutality.

 

[orangeban]

In the UK, I've had experience with the police, and I'll note that if they are accused of misconduct, they tend to close ranks and cover each other's asses. Which makes it bloody difficult to hold them to account for their actions.

Also, while some nice people join the police, you also just get bullies and thugs joining, who are shit, useless and abuse their power.

My opinion of the police is pretty poor to be honest, but I think most people are fine with them.

 

[Mournful Crow]

The American Policeman: A large, fairly rotund individual with a unique taste for doughnuts and coffee... No seriously, if they ain't sittin' in their cars with the speedometer leaning on their sizable guts, they're arresting people for riding an electronic bicycle through town on a sidewalk... It's a very boring job, to me...

 

[Treblaine]

So I started thinking about this stuff after I went out walking with my dog - I was smoking a ciggerette (pre-rolled with the distinct orange bit on it) and this cop-car slowed down beside me for few seconds and he stopped to case me out a bit..he ended up checking my i.d even though smoking in the street isnt a crime and even if I wasn't 18 its still not a crime and checking that my dog was registered, anyway he eventually left me alone..I have a suspicion he was keeping and eye on me to see what I did with the butt after aswell..even though there are butts scattered all over the road-side anyway..I gave it a good squeeze and put it in my pocket.

Bloody hell..he clearly had nothing better to do..I think most cops are probably alright but many come across as thinking theyre local superheroes or something..its just the egocentric ones that ruin their public image.

Whats your opinion of the police in your country and do you have any stories?

Probably thought it was weed, a "philly" which is a pre-rolled cigarette with the tobacco pulled out and roll of weed put in, then he wanted to get you for something when he could smell it wasn't wondered if you were underage. And yeah, he probably didn't have anythign better to do. You should be GRATEFUL you live in a neighbourhood where there aren't constant robberies and rapes that the police can't enforce to simplest laws.

And you shouldn't litter, even if a load of other people do. Smoking isn't a very good habit, there is no other thing you can do where you can't simply hold the waste on your person till you are done. In Japan there are these smoking cases, a sealed box that you can discard used cigarettes into. Might want to consider getting one, it featured in the game MGS4.

I approve of the police in my country because they give the attention they gave you.

But that is for general enforcement of petty and low violence crime. Our police are very poor at dealing with extreme violent crime, they vascilate hugely between under-reaction and over-reaction. The armed police have a far to high a proportion of getting itchy trigger fingers and accidentally shooting people they are trying to arrest, especially bad when it turns out they aren't armed. Then when there is a shooting spree like in Cumbria they are too slow and too timid to respond.

I think this comes from a lack of gun culture with UK police. They don't follow the golden rules of firearms handling like finger off trigger till you have decided to actually fire. And when there is actual guns used against them they get paranoid.

US cops I have found are very good at dealing with extreme violence. I think US and UK cops combined would make the ideal police.

But a problem I have with UK cops is not with the cops themselves but the law. In the UK there is no "bill of rights" there is just a very long list of laws and the most recent one superseded the last. As a result UK police can get away with far more invasive policing and get away with much more, nothing even as basic as the 5th Amendment, police can prosecute you for refusing to defend yourself against spurious accusations.

 

[Shadow flame master]

From Mississippi, America. I don't really know. I see the police a a nesscessary force to help stop crime. Other than that, I don't like it when they use their powers in ways that they shouldn't. And then there was my favorite thing I heard about a few months ago, there was a rapist cop in New York, so that put them in a bad light to me.

I also believe that they take too much shit for their job, especially from some of the black community(read:anyone who raps/do drugs/acts like a gangster) in my area.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

What police? I rarely ever see any...

[sub]UK by the way[/sub]

 

[Cabisco]

UK here.

My dealings with them have always been fine, I've been on the wrong side of police once or twice (underage drinking) and in retrospect they where doing what was right and the fact they were dealing with some kid instead of a more important crime must of annoyed them. Always been nice and fair people really but if you act a prick they will too, which I think is a good thing.

Part of me wishes they had more power, I know some teenagers near me who seem to get in repeated trouble but their never are ramifications for all the shit they do, I'd really like the police to come down on their asses, perhaps thats just me starting to get old and bitter though.

 

[Andy Beaumont]

I understand that many UK officers are nice people, my sister in law is one! My dealings with them have all been bad though... teenager in a town full of rich people. Walking home one night down a road of £2 million + houses... just walking down the street, shorts and a t-shirt, it was still light! Police pull up, stop me, ask me what I am doing, I say walking home, they then proceed to press me up against the car and search me. (which I have now found out was illegal as they did not follow protocol) They found some cigarettes and a lighter, I'm 18 so perfectly fine and everything, they proceed to hold me and say they think i am "a potential burglar". I spout out some legal rights and they let me go.

Another time, going to a friend's 18th, I was 17 at the time, bringing a bottle of vodka as a present, get stopped and they ask for I.D. I explain that it is a present and even show them the card i have for my friend, they still took it off me and threatened a criminal record, I KNOW i am completely within my legal rights to carry alcohol sealed at any age in the UK.

They are generally ok, but not in my town....

 

[BOOM headshot65]

American reporting.

I think our police are VERY good, if alittle held back in areas like California and New York. But the rest of the country (namely Midwest and South) are fine.

Then again, I know about 70% of the local sheriff forces and the Sheriff himself in my county, so I may be biased.

 

[DigitalSushi]

I'm from France, and we have several police departments.

Gendarme's, they are Military that become police officers, if you back chat them they will arrest you and they will never cause a situation to escalate, they are like psychoanalysts with assault rifles. Very calm but if they are on your case, it means you've done something bad, so you deserve it.

La Police, standard Police force, a bit like most Police forces in the world were you get some bad egg's that spoil the bunch but in general they are pretty good, I was witness at 1.00am in the underground of them opening up the Metro gates for plastic gangsters with no money to get home because otherwise those kids would have been out on the street's if they couldn't get home, and that act of compassion probably helped their PR when you think about it.

Police Municipal, these guys are the ones that failed all the test's for joining the Military, Police, Gendarmes and are generally Bouncers, Meat Heads and ex Plastic Gangsters trying to make an honest living, unfortunately they have a tendency to have an aggressive manner of speaking to people but are good foot soldiers for Police presence.

CRS, they are Riot Control, you find them in hotspots such as St Lazare Paris, got a bad rep, but are really good, they carry FAMAS'.

In Paris you often find 3 guys in Red Camo, one point man, two either side several metres back, they carry FAMAS', don't look at them in the eye, don't talk to them.
For they are Foreign Legion

IN general I like my countries Police, since I live in England I can act the tourist and get help from them when back in France.

UK police seems pretty decent, not that I've had much experience with them, but they generally do their job well and without being armed to the teeth like many other countries police are either. A guy I used to know became a policeman and he was pretty cool so yeah...

UK Police are brilliant, its just the poor sods are really really overworked, you guys need more police departments to handle different situations since SO19 are emergency only and the DPG are never used unless its for Diplomats, foreign dignitaries or Ministers, basically anyone like you and me that need help on the streets.

Yeah the legion is scary. There's actually a height requirement to join. My dad when he worked in Côte d'Ivoire saw them roll in. Scary guys. Effective, yes, but scary. I wonder why they are only sent to Africa though? Maybe they're valuable to be sent to Afghanistan.

I don't know about police, but do the Pompier, the fireman count? In the ranking order of jobs I like the fireman the most, since it's their job to save people. The police are underneath, since they go from those who do their job to uphold the law to brutes. At the bottom (no offense to those who have relatives or who have been in the military) is the military. (I'm not talking about the reservists) In France you only join the military if you failed to join police or fireman or you want to kill someone as I remember. Then again it's my own part. Where are you from?

Have you heard about Plogoff? There was a protest some time ago on the building of a reactor. It's a good example about the different branches of the forces.

My father was there as well when he was a teenager and he recalls that things went relatively well with the riot police. Then some idiot in the government thought it was a good idea to send in parachutists. As a bit of context, the riot police are specialized in not killing people. They have to, imagine if someone died every time there was a protest? In that respect they are even better than their British counterparts. The parachutists aren't trained for that, so they were a bit like the NYP in their treatment of protesters. Probably worse, since some people were badly hurt. Some Breton said that next time the parachutist came, they're bringing their own guns. Of course, someone higher up called off the troops, which was good. I'm surprised there's not more media coverage on this, since it's a prime example how to and not to treat a populace.

Legion only talk to other Legion, its what makes them so scary, only their "family" or "brothers" matter, no one else... never heard of the height requirement though. Legion were sent into Iraq, I know that.

Le Pompier is the same, you get Military and Civilian, if the civilian pompier run a red light and hurt people then they are held accountable, Military is considered they wont hurt others... hence are not held accountable, because they don't need to be.

The parachutist your father speaks of are probably Gendarme's if they had the training, but he's right, in Paris we had some major fuck ups which lead to some nasty rioting, hence the Legion and CRS becoming a common site in Paris.

 

[Leadfinger]

Japanese police are stuck in a timewarp of policing methods from the bad old days. They are so used to coercing confessions from suspects, I don't think they even know how to properly investigate a case.