Knock knock, Who is it?? The POLICE!!!

[phatcat 0]

Just curious, what do the skydivers on this board think about the police? Love ‘em, hate ‘em, or don’t really care? Do you see them as people who help the community, or just a bunch of losers who have nothing better to do than screw with you. Like I said, just curious, no harm intended.
Josh
"Well I may be crazy, but YOU'RE boring!"

[Viking 0]

depends on the situation. I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver

[ASIABLU 0]

I think it's a bit of both worlds. On one hand, cops do a lot of good for our community, but on the other.....It really sucks that when a police officer is having a bad day, so is anyone who crosses his/her (to be politically correct:) path. Sometimes it just seems as though there is no sympathy. I've had cops lie straight to my face to give me a ticket and it always seems to be right around that quota time!! I would absolutely appreciate them more if they were a little more cautious with how they decide to use their authority....

[FallingMarc 0]

I agree... however much fun anarchy sounds, it really would suck. But at the same time, is it really necessary to fine me 75 bucks for a rolling stop out in the middle of the boonies at 1:30 a.m. with no traffic for miles? The system could use some tweaking...
I still have to say, though, I have a lot of respect for anyone who puts on a badge and puts themselves in that position, and really takes their job seriously. It's a high risk lifestyle sometimes...
Marc

[Albatross 0]

O.K. I work with alot of cops and think that you all need to cut them a little slack. Sure it sucks when you get a ticket for stupid shit but they can't just inforce the law when they feel like it. They have a no win job these days. Especially in a town like LA. They have like 20 sq miles to cover. They never get to have relationships with the people they protect and they get shit for every thing that people second guess and say that they SHOULD have done. I am sorry! They have bad days and may give you a lame ticket but they most often keep you safe, suck up the shit you give them and do a great job. If we gave them the respect and admiration they deserve they would feel better and be nicer to you when you get pulled over.
God bless us and God Bless America
Albatross

[BenW 0]

Yeah,
They protect us from the kind of shit you don't want but you get bad eggs everywhere - there seems to be a whole "out to get motorcyclists" agenda from the police here in the UK. If they spent their time catching rapists and murderers instead of checking to see if you've got a loud exhaust or not, then people would feel a whole lot better towards them!
I appreciate the job they do, but I don't appreciate assholes with an axe to grind....
B.

[freeflir29 0]

I definately have a love hate relationship with cops. I can sympathize though. They have a shitty job. Everybody seems to hate them until they need them. I can't say I need em for anything. No cop has ever done anything great for me. They have given me a break a time or two but I've also had ones that were complete assholes. Oh well, they are human too. Leave me alone and I'll leave them alone.
"The sky resembles a back lit canopy...with holes punched through it"- Incubus
Clay

[Pammi 0]

I have to agree with Albatross, being that I worked at the police dept for four years, and actually was hired on as an officer later, but ended up turning it down. There are most definately the 'bad eggs' who handle everything improperly, and those that get the 'cop attitude' .. usually the 'rookies', but really, most of them are good people. They *do* take a lot of crap from everyone because they are limited to what they can/can't do under the law, and they also get frustrated by it. They get more frustrated by judges that let off the people with a slap on the hand that they brought in. The list could go on and on about what they have to deal with, which is why so many get burnt out after a while.
So yeah, I guess I like them for the most part :) They are just people doing a tough job. Now, Merrick might disagree with me by the looks of his driving record...hehe.
P
Hemp/skydiving jewelry pics!

[Keith 0]

Well I tell ya, cops are people just like us. When I was young and living in a fairly small town here in CA the cops used to pull me over just for the hell of it. Small town + lots of cops = nothing better to do. Since moving to San Diego I haven't had a problem. I've found that as long as I am honest and don't insult their intelligence they're pretty fair. I once passed a highway patrol going 80 on I-15 when the speed limit was 55. When he pulled me over he asked me if I knew why he pulled me over, I said I was doing 80. He said yep that's it. To make a long story short he gave me a tongue lashing and after running my license he let me go. Another time I ran a red light. I was in a hurry and got stuck at several lights and decided to run the last one. As luck would have it a cop was sitting on the corner. He pulled me over. When he asked me if I knew why he pulled me over I said I ran the red light. To make another long story short, after running my license he . . . you guessed it . . . let me go. The moral of my story is be honest with them and don't give them any crap and they'll return the favor.

[jfields 0]

Most of the time, I like the cops. But sometimes they do things that infuriate me.
One night about 6 months ago, an on-duty cop in a cruiser rear-ended my wife. In about 5 minutes, there were like 4 more squad cars there. One of the "impartial" officers wrote the ticket... to my wife. It didn't matter that the cop had been speeding and possibly running without his lights on. They wouldn't give her any insurance information, and sent her on her way without a copy of the accident report.
They botched everything from the get-go, and really soured my wife and I on the police for awhile. Luckily, the insurance company was pretty understanding. They seemed to recognize that the cop was doing a "cover your ass" by giving my wife the ticket. If they hadn't, then it would have been considered their fault (which it was), and gone on their record.
And as annoying and pure bull as it was, she just paid the ticket. Trying to go to court against a cop with 4 more as "witnesses" would have been hopeless, no matter how justified. So chalk one up for the bad cops this time. They screwed us and there wasn't much of anything we could do.
Justin
My Homepage

[freeflir29 0]

You know who the cop is right? You always have a choice.....
The law is a funny thing. It can work vastly differen't depending on who you are. I say when the government fails to play by the rules it created. All bets are off. Fuck em! Do what ya gotta do to win.
"The sky resembles a back lit canopy...with holes punched through it"- Incubus
Clay

[jfields 0]

Clay,
You're right. There is a choice. But not a sensible one. The cost of proving our case would have been way higher than the cost of the ticket. I checked with a lawyer friend. And there are plenty of things I could do to "get back" at the cop. But why? The satisfaction I might get wouldn't be worth the risk of getting busted for a bigger offense. And it really just isn't worth the time.
Justin
My Homepage

[freeflir29 0]

"And it really just isn't worth the time."
In that case you're very lucky. The ticket wasn't that big of a deal and the insurance paid up. That's one you can let go cause it isn't worth the time or money to fight it. Let's just hope you never have anything happen that is worth fighting. I can tell you....it's a pain in the ass.
"The sky resembles a back lit canopy...with holes punched through it"- Incubus
Clay

[allieram 0]

Cops are to enforce the law. Laws don't say they are to be enforced only between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Laws are to be enforced 24/7. If you think a law is stupid, then work on changing it. How many of ya'll know that in some states there is a law that states it is legal to beat your wife with a stick no bigger than the size of your thumb on the courthouse steps at noon on some particular day? Or, in one town there is a law in the books that statesd it is illegal to whitsle or make cat calls at women. Those laws are not enforced. (Good thing, too.)
You may think that there is no need to stop at a stop sign or a red light at 1:30 in the morning. Like, who's really out?!? Well, if you get use to doing a rolling stop at that time, you may begin to do it more often...then one day who knows what will happen.
When I get pulled over, I try to give the cop nothing but respect. In my younger years, I thought immaturely. My brother is a highway patrolman in Texas. He'll let people off more if they show a little respect and honesty/integrity. If someone starts to give him a hard time, like cocking an attitude, you're darn right he's going to give them a ticket. If you're speeding, you deserve a ticket. Don't get cocky - what will it prove...that you're an idiot?
Cops that I can't stand are the huge blubber, donut eating ones. Initially, they had to be in shape to get the job, but then they just turn to shit. In college I majored in Criminal Justice. (Don't ask me why, I personally don't beleive in much justice for criminals.) Anyway, one of my instructors was a former cop and knew where every donut shop was in town. I'm in the Marine Corps, and I was in the Marines while in college, so I can say I'm in pretty good shape - better than a lot of cops. I know that I could outrun almost any cop, because his/her big, fat ass couldn't get over a two foot fence or make it 50 yards down an alley.
How many sheriffs do you see that are the fattest things around. It seems that sheriffs are fatter than police officers. It almost seems that it's a prerequisite to be a lard ass to fill a position like that.
So, I guess in response to the question...
I respect cops until they cross the line. We should hold them accountable, or at least be able to.
That brings up another story...in high school while working at Burger King in the drive-thru window, I remember one of our local cops driving thru and being drunker than a skunk, off-duty. (No, I've never seen a drunk skunk.) Now, what does that say when a police officer is drinking and driving and pulls people over for DUI/DWI when on duty.
Sorry for the lengthy reply. I can't stand reading lengthy replies and here I go writing one.

[FallingMarc 0]

In defense of myself... I wasn't completely disagreeing with the cop's decision to pull me over, of course I realize I broke a law, he was simply doing his job. On one level I'm disagreeing with that specific law... I don't run lights or stop signs when there's traffic... I slowed down enough to see that there was no traffic... but I digress.
And I was absolutely respectful to the officer, answering all of his questions honestly. No, I did not know why he pulled me over. I wasn't speeding, and I slowed down quite a bit for the sign, just not a complete stop. Yes, I did see the stop sign. No, I did not come to a full and complete stop. Yes, I did brake. He didn't believe me. "I at least like to see the brake lights come on..." Guess you had your eyes shut then, huh. But I just thought that part. But now I'm just bitching... sorry.

[SpeedRacer 1]

We've had a fair number of cops stop by the DZ at night while we were partying and drinking around the campfire. No, it's not what you're thinking, they were cool & they stopped by to hang out & talk with us! ONe of them wound up doing a tandem during the Halloween boogie last year.
Now that I think of it, we have at least two skydivers I've seen at our DZ who are cops. Not too surprising if you figure that anyone who'd become a cop probably has more cojones than the average person.
Speed Racer
Firewalk with me!

[indyz 1]

Just had to share this link:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20011005_1305.html

[flyhi 24]

At 3:30 in the morning, a guy heads toward a stop sign and slows down. After checking both ways, he rolls on through. As luck would have it, a cop is sitting around the corner. He hits the lights and sirens and pulls the errant driver over. When he asks the driver what he did wrong, the driver said, "I didn't stop at the stop sign, but I slowed down."
The cop pulled out his billy club and starts hitting the guy about the head and shoulders. "Ooww, what are you doing?" screams the driver.
"Well", he said, "do you want me to stop, or do you want me to slow down?"
flyhi

[freeflir29 0]

That story is hilarious. Not that I ever did anything like that in my 10 yrs in the military....."The sky resembles a back lit canopy...with holes punched through it"- Incubus
Clay

[SniperCJ 0]

As a cop I'm never very optimistic about treads like this. And I'm really trying to resist the impulse to jump right on in here.
I will say that everyone is shaped by their life experiences. I dont think the majority of non-cops would want or could handle my job on a daily basis. How about:
- seeing some guy's brains laying on the sidewalk because he decided to flee from me rather than stop.
- those ever popular SIDS deaths with both parents hysterical.
- Standing not more than 3 feet from a guy while he pulls out a 357 and sticks it in his mouth.
And then 10 minutes after I leave one of these calls, I encounter YOU running the stop sign, speeding, whatever and you decide to give me attitude rather than just admit you did something wrong and take the ticket.
So how about just cutting us some slack and realizing you dont know where we just might have been and there might be a good reason we're a little edgy. We're not all power mongers. If you want to understand better, strap it on and come play in MY world for a while.
While I'm at it, I'm not a cop 24/7, so its ok to invite me on your skydives, bring me a beer at the end of the day, and treat me like a human bring and friend...
Blues!
CJ
D-24468

[freeflir29 0]

"While I'm at it, I'm not a cop 24/7"
See.....They're trying to infiltrate already!
Just kiddin! They couldn't pay me enough money to be a patrol cop. No thanks. Federal? I might could handle that but not a beat cop. No Way. You can have it!
"The sky resembles a back lit canopy...with holes punched through it"- Incubus
Clay

[chopchop 0]

I think most cops are pretty good people - extraordinary actually if their motivation is to serve and protect. Unfortunately, some of the circumstances they end up facing messes some of them up. Look at those beauties we had this year in Quincy. They, not us, were looking for any excuse to cause trouble. What put them in that frame of mind? I had some neighbors (husband and wife) here in SF that became very prejudice against black people basically because of the beat he worked. Frankly, if I had to face the same things SniperCJ refers to, I probably would be a wreck. Kudos to you CJ for managing to keep your head on straight doing that job.
chopchop
PD makes canopies all day long, you only have one life, when in doubt, cut away...

[AtWork 0]

So there I was driving home from the Drop Zone @ about 11:30 one night. I guess driving about 80 in a 70. And then I see the red and blue in my rear view mirror. I decide why not have some fun so I speed up to around 85 or so but the cop only drives faster. After a few miles I make up my mind to pull over. The cop comes up to my window and after the normal cop speach he says; It has been a long day, and I really don't want to deal with you tonight. If you can give me a good excuse why you were speeding away from me than I will consider letting you go.
I say: well, about a week ago my Wife left me for a cop.
Cop says; So why did you not pull over?
I say; I thought you were trying to give her back!
Cop says; on your way

[phatcat 0]

I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised at these replies. I was kind of expecting a cop bashing or something. Being that skydivers have bigger balls than the average person and tend to be more daring, I thought that maybe many would resent the police for not allowing them to, well, have more fun the you’re “legally” supposed to. The reason I asked the original question is because I’ve been looking into a law enforcement career and wondered if I would get shit on by other jumpers for it, but I probably don’t have anything to worry about.
SniperCJ – I wasn’t expecting a cop to reply, but I’m glad you did. I hope you didn’t think my question sounded negative.
Josh
"Well I may be crazy, but YOU'RE boring!"

[Keith 0]

flyhi said:
"Well", he said, "do you want me to stop, or do you want me to slow down?"
Keith Lauged:
ROFLMAO!!!