Confessions of a police officer

[maclean]

While the quote is most closely associated with Vietnam, "Band of Brothers" WWII TV show notwithstanding, it applies to any men who served in actual combat. As I recall, I thanked you for your service in another thread, as well.
Sorry, can't pull up your image on this computer. If it is, as I suspect, a Police memorial to those who died in the line of duty, it will have much more meaning to you than to me. Just as the Wall means much more to me. That being said, we have lost several officers over the past few years here in COS. They died doing their sworn duty, and I respect that and mourn their deaths. They seemed like fine young men. That's one reason I contribute to slain officers' funds. Just like I do to numerous Veterans groups. I don't "hate" cops. I hate those who would trample our rights, and that is most certainly not exclusive to LEOs. Look at the boob in the whitehouse and his pos "Attorney" general for starters.

Sounds like our issue may be communication then, because I think we agree more than not.

I'll seek to clarify first when in doubt.

 

[Tomas]

By the way, thank you for your service.

Thank you.

I was back nearly 30 years before I had that said to me the first time... It was an emotional moment.

Both you, Mac, and those of us who wore or wear other uniforms, recognize our brothers in arms. To us they are different from everyone else, they are our brothers. Good, bad, indifferent, they are our brothers.

You will support and defend your brothers as I will support and defend mine. That is simply the way things are.

In the military we 'take care of our own.' If they die, we grieve, if they do well we are proud, if they do badly, we correct. We don't turn it over to someone else to handle, we don't turn them out, we own them and their actions, we correct and do penance.

It is difficult to admit when one of your own has 'done bad,' and that seems especially difficult for law enforcement for some reason, but that admission, that ownership of the bad acts and the honest efforts to not let it happen again are worth MUCH more than any and all attempts to explain away, hide from, or disown what happened.

IMHO LEOs need to learn that humility, that honest ownership of the bad acts, in order for them to be corrected. Every time I see excuses, rationalizations, cover-ups, overly involved tales of what ifs and if onlys, I cringe. I cringe because I know it means the problem will not be corrected and it will just happen again.

I'm getting too far off topic here, but let's face it, the root is in ethics and morality - and this "confession" of a police officer is anything but.

Take care.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5JkHBC5lDs

 

[OldCurlyWolf]

That isn't a confession. That is a public-relations rebuttal.

A real confession would explain why:

• she doesn't do something effective about the Blue Wall of Silence, or why she didn't do it sooner.
• she didn't slap down hard the rookie who pushed too hard during a consensual encounter.
• she demanded to see ID from a suspect when she had no lawful authority for the demand.
• she stopped someone for a burned out tail light or similar trivial issue, and then went on a fishing expedition, wasting a citizen's time
• drove fast, or made strong starts in a powerful car unnecessarily when taxpayers have to pay upwards of three dollars a gallon for the gas she was wasting.
• etc.

Something like that would be a confession. Not this smaltzy mess that gives justifications. The mere presence of the justifications proves its not a confession.

And your opinion means exactly What?

not much:monkey

The only people who put their lives on the line as often or more often are firefighters and active duty military in a combat zone.

 

[Citizen]

And your opinion means exactly What?

not much:monkey

The only people who put their lives on the line as often or more often are firefighters and active duty military in a combat zone.

Ummmmm. Your near hero-worship support of cops is showing.

The simple fact that she confesses to nothing more than the most inane non-sins shows its not really a confession. Add that she has an excuse for the non-sins, and she is not even really all that contrite about even those. This isn't a confession. Its a public-relations back-patting to puff themselves up. "Oooohhhhh. See all the terrible things we've seen. You don't see them in your daily life, so you should feel grateful. And, it would be especially helpful if your gratitude was so strong you overlook our refusal to police our own ranks, and the fact that we have been the agents behind the deterioration of your 4th and 5th Amendment rights since about 1840."

Police don't even make the top ten of those who put their lives on the line, as I recall. Pilots, electric linesman, and I believe cab drivers are in the top ten. I think even roofers made the top ten. Imagine that. A guy puts his life on the line so I can be dry. Or, so I can have electric heat.

Edited to add: Here is a link to a page that cites Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2009:

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/the-most-dangerous-jobs-in-america/

 

[jhco50]

Thank you.

I was back nearly 30 years before I had that said to me the first time... It was an emotional moment.

Although being in the Air force and not having to go into Vietnam, I did serve in that era. I still haven't been thanked, but that is ok. The vets of that era were not given the same respect they get now. I did have brother-in-laws, an uncle, and friends that went to Vietnam. My uncle came back with white hair, One of my brother-in-laws walks with a limp, and the other one died of pancreatic cancer caused by agent orange. Some of my friends didn't make it.

 

[jhco50]

And your opinion means exactly What?

not much

The only people who put their lives on the line as often or more often are firefighters and active duty military in a combat zone.

I don't know about Oklahoma, but I lived my younger life in Denver. I have seen them sit out front of the house and smoke pot (often, almost daily), beat people up for nothing, and multiple other infractions. It is not that bad in the Springs, but Denver is really bad.

Here in the Springs, my wife was robbed at knife-point. The police took a report and went on, telling my wife the perp would probably never be caught. The residents in the apartment we lived in at the time actually found the car parked down the street. the police were called and went to check it out. No arrests were made because he was from Kansas. What difference that made I don't know. Now, I don't call the police, I really don't trust them.

 

[since9]

Something I think about when pondering potential LEO encounters:

http://policelink.monster.com/training/articles/132466-confessions-of-a-police-officer?page=1

I hate to be crass, but it sounds like this lady needs to choose a different profession before she looses it. This may soften my previous comment up a bit: I couldn't finish reading through her confessions, not because I can't handle it, but because I'd rather not add her nightmares to a few of my own gathered throughout the years.

Life is hard enough without the way being made harder by yet more images of the foul side of humanity.

 

[MK]

And your opinion means exactly What?

not much:monkey

The only people who put their lives on the line as often or more often are firefighters and active duty military in a combat zone.

The guy who climbs the pole to restore you electricity after a power outage has a more dangerous job and puts his life on the line for you. The commercial fisherman who helps to put fish in the supermarket as a choice for your dinner is working a more dangerous job and putting his life on the line for a more trivial benefit to the public. They rarely are thought about or given thanks to for their service within their extremely dangerous occupations. Look up a few lists of the most deadly and dangerous occupations and you may be surprised at what you find.

 

[since9]

Look up a few lists of the most deadly and dangerous occupations and you may be surprised at what you find.

Occupation: Annual deaths per 100,000 workers

Commercial Fishing: 129
Timber Industry: 116
Active Duty Military: 86
Structural Iron and Steel: 76
Aircraft Pilots: 72
Farmer/Rancher: 40
Sanitation/Garbage: 37
Roofers: 34
Power Line Installer: 30
Oil/Gas Crew: 24
Merchant Mariner: 23
Truck Drivers/Movers: 22
Taxi Driver/Chauffer: 21
Construction Equipment Operator: 16
Police Officer: 16
Cement Maker: 13
Miller: 12
Security Guard: 8
Fireman: 7
Slaughterhouse: 2

Source

 

[Nevada carrier]

Surprised soldier wasn't on the list, wonder if that one was left out intentionally?

 

[Venator]

Surprised soldier wasn't on the list, wonder if that one was left out intentionally?

Well you can get a rough idea. Take the total number of military personnel dived by the number of deaths.

You can include accidental deaths (vehicle, training,etc.) and KIA or just KIA. I would think that given the large number of personnel and the number of KIA a year it would be low.

 

[Tomas]

Occupation: Annual deaths per 100,000 workers

Commercial Fishing: 129
Timber Industry: 116
Active Military: 86
Structural Iron and Steel: 76
Aircraft Pilots: 72
Farmer/Rancher: 40
Sanitation/Garbage: 37
Roofers: 34
Power Line Installer: 30
Oil/Gas Crew: 24
Merchant Mariner: 23
Truck Drivers/Movers: 22
Taxi Driver/Chauffer: 21
Construction Equipment Operator: 16
Police Officer: 16
Cement Maker: 13
Miller: 12
Security Guard: 8
Fireman: 7
Slaughterhouse: 2

Source

Line in bold added.

Surprised soldier wasn't on the list, wonder if that one was left out intentionally?

"Google is your friend."

I looked up the figures for the same year (2008) for military deaths per 100,000 and got:

Active Military: 86

I put that in the table above...

Source

 

[Fallschirjmäger]

Good work, Thomas.

 

[Gunslinger]

Thanks for adding that. Keeping in mind it was far higher during VN.

 

[Tomas]

Thanks for adding that. Keeping in mind it was far higher during VN.

For the period I was there ('69) the deaths per 100,000 was right around 220 IIRC...

If anyone wants to research that in more depth, they are welcome to.

In Rememberence

 

[Nevada carrier]

I repaired it, sir.

I was a Soldier, in the U.S. Army. In fact you need to go ahead and capitalize all of them. I can't tell you how many times I have seen award requests returned from the the S-1 because some orderly room clerk didn't capitalize the word "Soldier" in the citation.

 

[since9]

I was a Soldier, in the U.S. Army. In fact you need to go ahead and capitalize all of them. I can't tell you how many times I have seen award requests returned from the the S-1 because some orderly room clerk didn't capitalize the word "Soldier" in the citation.

My bad, too. I was in operations, not personnel.

 

[Gunslinger]

My bad, too. I was in operations, not personnel.

And we were Airmen: Aviator, Crew Chief or Cook.

 

[shotcop]

My screen name says it all.

Why the disagreement between vets and cops? Most cops I know are also vets, myself included. I am or at least was (before becoming a shotcop) one so I'm a little confused. I did things right and so did most I knew, the ones who didn't weren't around long. Look outside your window or at the local school, truth is we're not doing a very good job of raising the next gen of good ones. We can only pick from society at large and that's becoming a problem. I will however agree that most have never given more than a cursory look at the Constitution, the dept tells them what's legal and right. Proud to be an exception there!

 

[palerider116]

+1 shotcop

And thank you for both military and law enforcement service.

The posted link was a fascinating read but not a confession. Her experiences are typical of any other LEO. Its just the nature of the beast.

And I'm not in agreement with this article because of its slant to get some atta'boy. Getting home alive at the end of the shift is more than an adequate reward.

You will find bad LEO's. When you select men to do any job, be prepared to find bad ones, inadequate ones, incompetent ones, corrupt ones, et cetera . Law Enforcement is not composed by an angelic host. Unfortunately, this job done poorly will affect someone's rights, life, or freedom.

If someone chooses to hate LEO's, that is their freedom as an American. I ask people to judge me by my conduct and my character, not by someone's misconduct.

Among other missions, this forum seeks to dispel misconceptions about lawful OC of a firearm. Lawful gun owners don't want to be judged by the actions of the maniac of the VT shootings, the Columbine shooters, or the local bank robber. A man deserves to be judged on his merits, his word, his actions, and his faults.

The same standard should apply for any profession or group of individuals.

Thank you veterans of the US Armed Forces and God Bless.



"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." - James Madison, Federalist #51