On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 05:26:57 GMT, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 02:32:17 GMT, Gunner
pixelated:

So, other than personal anecdotes, you have no facts to back up your
statement?

The personal experience of two people doesn't cut it with
you, eh, Gunner? Do you truly feel that crime is as low
as it is reported, that the cops (or their supervisors, etc)
are not doing any of this lowballing/cheating/fibbing?

Whatever. (but we know better)

P.S: After sobering up in '85, I actually like the cops now.
I just no longer respect them as much due to their now
political (and uncaring) nature.

Actually it may show some trend in your area, maybe. But no, its not
good enough for me. I was a Deputy for several years in the 70s, and I
can tell you that such report laziness has always been the norm. And
that would have been reflected in the stats for every year. So its
simply part of the normal stats as a common variable. Its worse in
some places than others, even within departments.

I stopped being a Peace Officer, when the drive to force cops into
being Law Enforcement Officers was starting. And Im sure you have run
into both types.
Cops now tend to be rather insular 9-5ers, with a bad attitude they
developed on the job, and its far worse in the young guys, whom are
encouraged by most departments to be Barney Badass, where they demand
respect, rather than earn it. Chuckle..a trend today, coupled with the
fairly rare but highly publisized police corruption, and the
militarization of the police, has given good cause for few people to
respect, trust or even like them, leading further to their alienation
from the public.

Police have always by nature been political. They are hired by
political agencies run by political hacks (in many cases), and paid by
political corporations (cities and country governments tend to be
corporations) and are blown hither and yon by the various political
whims of their higher ups. Hell, in days gone by, the politics was far
far worse in most places.

As to their "caring".. most do. But being cynical and having
developed a bad attitude by dealing with so many scrotes daily, they
tend to reserve their "careing" for only the worst cases. And lets be
honest, we dont pay them to operate on an emotional level, but to
simply enforce the laws. Peace officers tend to care, the other type
dont. Small towns tend to have more Peace officers, assuming the city
council isnt totally revenue oriented..sigh. Big cities tend to have a
hell of a lot of cowboys and Law Enforcement types, as they are often
stretched pretty thin, and simply dont have the time to spend
resolving a situation, or even "caring". "Tag em an Bag em, Hookem and
bookem" and back out on the street.

Always keep in mind, there are two kinds of people in a cops life.
Cops and their families, and The Bad Guys, with a very nebulous layer
in between called the Citizens.

Personally, having been around the law enforcement community for a
very long time, and having a few friends in the business, I can say, I
dont trust the vast majority of them, and have little personal respect
for the majority. The exceptions are notable, and if I wasnt friends
with the various individuals, am not sure Id trust them either.
Shrug..

But ..Its a dirty job and someone has to do it. And as long as the
public will allow their public servants to misbehave...they get the
cops they deserve.

Gunner

"The people who believe that, as a result of industrial development, life is about to become a hell,
or may be one already, are guilty, at least, of sloppy pronouncements.
On page 8 of Earth in the Balance, Al Gore claims that his study of the arms race gave him
"a deeper appreciation for the most horrifying fact in all our lives:
civilization is now capable of destroying itself."

In the first place, the most horrifying fact in many of our lives is that
our ex-spouse has gotten ahold of our ATM card.
And civilization has always been able to destroy itself. The Greeks of ancient Athens,
who had a civilization remarkable for lack of technological progress
during its period of greatest knowledge and power, managed to destroy themselves just fine."
-- P.J. O'Rourke, All the trouble in the world. The lighter side of famine, pestilence, destruction and death.