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KD5NRH wrote:Problem is, it only takes one to royally screw things up for a lot of people. All too often, the rest close ranks and protect that one when they should be hanging him out to dry. IMO, that makes them at least partly culpable for anything that one does.

This.....

I can see "the one bad apple in the bunch" doing wrong; Police are a subset of the general population, so actions that occur in the public also will occur in the police force.

What I too have a hard time understanding is why officers, who would otherwise exercise impeccable judgement in the allegation of right-vs-wrong, could so easily dispense with that sensibility and side with an officer that, at the least, likely has a preponderance of evidence against him? Maybe I'm looking that at this through a different lens than they are?

NTexCopRetired wrote: Domestics are more dangerous in my opinion. You are in a home where the victim and perpetrator are familiar with the surroundings, know where weapons may be located and know who else is there. You are just "there" and trying to learn quickly about your surroundings, keep combatants separated and watch your and your partners back (if your department is big enough to send backup). In some cases, the victim will turn on you as quickly as the perp. They think either you are taking the bread winner away, the perp will return and do harm to them for turning them in or the perp will forgive them because they are now on the perp's side.

My first training officer told me that every call I go on has a weapon involved. I brought it.

I hear you. As you so clearly state regarding the location of weapons in domestic situations; the folks there know where they are.
Also, a firearm is only 1 kind of weapon....there are lots of other potential weapons in the average house depending on how they're wielded.

Yes you bring a gun to the situation....but like the Brits like to say....It's the bus you don't see that kills you.

NTexCopRetired wrote:Sorry if I kind of highjacked the thread.

No hijack noted here. Thanks for sharing.

LabRat

PhilBob wrote:From what our instructors in my LTC class told us, the most dangerous part of their job is the traffic stop!

I would agree. Traffic stops cause an officer (likely alone) to encounter a completely unknown person, whose intent is also unknown, to determine if a summons will be issued. Those factors make traffic stops highly dangerous in my opinion. No telling who'll you come up against. That said, it takes skill to manage the encounter, not immediately putting on a show of brute force. There are those who do it well and those who don't.

Domestic violence is another situation with highly dangerous implications. In this case, emotions run in over-drive.
When that happens, Katy-bar-the-door, things could go side-ways in a second.
It's a position for specific folks with talents and training to handle, that's for sure.
I don't think being a police officer is a only a job, it better be more of a calling.

Good observation.

LabRat

NTexCopRetired wrote:A cop never gives you a ticket. You have to earn it.

On 99.9% of the cases that's probably true.
You don't have to work too hard but you did earn it.

LOL

LabRat

Hey everyone,

This is not a contact or blooper about the police, but it is police related. The article is just over a year old.
I did a quick search, but did not find this in my scan of the Forum posts.....I just thought it was an interesting and humorous read.
Credit given to the author at the end of the quote:

10 secrets cops know that most people don't:
Sep 3, 2014

It’s become abundantly clear that the press and the public have very little real understanding of police work. And something we’ve learned over the years is that during times of stress and tension, a good chuckle is extremely effective medicine.

So, here are some things most people don’t know but cops do. Add your observations in the comments area below.

1. Most cops understand why tickets are necessary, but don’t particularly like writing them. Well, unless they happen to stop “the guy who pays their wages” and then writing a ticket isn’t so bad.

2. The vast majority cops have never shot anyone, but most cops can recite a detailed list of people who are/were deserving of being shot because they posed a deadly threat. This means that most cops have successfully defused a potentially deadly confrontation using only words and less-lethal weapons.

3. Most cops wonder if they have something better to do until the person asks in that whiny voice, “Don’t you have anything better to do?” It is then — and only then — the cop knows the answer to that question is, “No. This is good as it gets.”

4. Most cops know the driver they just stopped had more that “two beers” and can estimate with reasonable accuracy how many beers a driver did, in fact, have.

5. Most cops like donuts, but so does everybody. They are deliberately made to taste really, really good so people will want to eat them. Please pass me another donut.

6. Most cops wonder why so many members of the community choose to pick up a mobile phone and record them while the officers are rolling in the dirt with an assailant rather than offering to help the officer.

7. Most cops don’t know the color of the people they stop before the traffic stop takes place. This is especially true when those people are driving cars with tinted windows at night.

8. Most cops know that if you fix that muffler / tail light / other mechanical issue for which they’ve stopped you, the cops will stop stopping you.

9. Most cops know it is impossible stop a squad car fast enough when the drunk in the back seat says, “Stop! I think I’ve got to puke.”

10. Most cops know that the national media do not pursue the truth, they pursue a story. Their story and the truth are too often a little like fraternal twins. They are related, but cops can’t explain why they don’t look anything alike.

******About the author
Doug Wyllie is Editor in Chief of PoliceOne, responsible for setting the editorial direction of the website and managing the planned editorial features by our roster of expert writers.