Where did the perception of US Cops being "the bad guy" come from?

In a perfect world, yes. This isn’t a perfect world, though, and some people are prone to abusing their power. Also, I think the general perception is that one bad apple spoils the entire barrel.

It depends upon where you live, what race you are and what class you are. When I was a teenager (an emancipated teenager) I lived in the Ramparts District of Los Angeles. There is no question that the cops there were the enemy. They were terrifying, corrupt, drug-fueled and out of control. It’s just an historical fact (you can look it up.)

In New York City, I have always felt protected by the police, and I have always thought that the police there were reasonable, professional and decent, but I was a middle-aged, middle-class white man. How different would my perception have been if I had been a working-class Black teenager?

I grew up in the 60’s, and my early memories of policemen were them beating peace protesters.
Before that, they were corrupt, of course, but it was that which formed my early opinion.

The scariest thing I ever heard from a cop was on another forum I belong to.

“If you’ve done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear from us.”

They watch us. All of us.

@IchtheosaurusRex , I don’t understand why that is a scary thing to hear.. it makes sense to me

My cop friend asked us recently why firefighters are so revered in the community when the police have just as hard a job. The difference is that you don’t really hear about firefighters planting evidence of arson to frame someone, or using excessive force on fire victims, or intimidating you out of your rights as an American citizen.

The first police brutality case I remember is the Rodney King ordeal. I was young, but up until that point I thought the police had the public it their best interest. Then came the L.A. riots where people were brutally beaten… granted, some of those people were being aggressive and dangerous, but many were not. Now it seems you can’t read the news without seeing some story about police corruption. If it’s not a blatant police beating, it’s corruption within a department. Money scandals, drugs, etc. With the internet now, it’s easy to see this corruption caught on tape. It’s disturbing to actually see it with your own eyes. Cops beating up a teenage girl for getting into a fender bender with his son. Cops planting drugs on a guy upon another cop’s hand signal. There’s the famous, “Don’t tase me, bro!”

It’s not just in the US, either. I’ve seen videos in other countries- one where the cops invaded a casino and just started beating the crap out of some people… no explanation whatsoever. Or how about in England not that long ago where the protester died after a cop beat him in the head and left him bleeding to death in the middle of the street?

We know deep down that most cops are good and want to help the public. That’s why most people become cops to begin with. They feel an urgency to do good for their fellow man. BUT, it’s become so commonplace to read about the corruption that when we encounter an officer in real life, we are constantly worried about our own rights and safety. We wonder, is this a good one or a bad one? This is wrong. They are supposed to be public servants, not “The Punisher.” So when we get that traffic ticket and they give you no courtesy or start acting cocky or rude, your opinion is solidified. That’s your confirmation that cops are arrogant power-trippers who are only out for their own best interest. You know they only pulled you over to meet their month-end quota.

I’ve had a problem with authority figures my whole life. I know this is my problem that I judge. But, when I get confirmation of my fears that this authority really is my enemy, it’s hard to change my mind back from that.

Quick story:
I was driving out of Baltimore after being downtown for the fireworks on New Year’s and the traffic was horrendous, naturally. We sat at this traffic light for a half an hour. The traffic cop who was directing us was letting all the other lanes go but ours. I don’t know if he just didn’t realize it or what… but at some point I threw my hands up in the air and started getting mouthy… not AT the cop but just complaining to my friends. Well the cop saw my frustration, stopped all traffic to come over to my car. I rolled my window down and asked me if I had something to say to him. I told him that we had been waiting a long time and that we were starting to get annoyed. He told me that he’d get to me when he got to me and if he saw me complaining again that he’d arrest me for trying to run him over. I kid you not. It was the most bizarre and sleazy thing…

I fucking hate cops as a general rule. I’ve so had few good experiences with them. At least the on-duty ones.

@christine215 , think long and hard about it. How many of us truly have nothing to hide? I didn’t say they watch over us. I said they watch us.

because not everyone can handle greater responsibility. Cops are often just like you and I, some of them are great, moral, just, and responsible, but others think it’s all a game, those are the one’s that get the attention.
you don’t see the cop who saved a woman from being raped at a park on the news, you see the one who got caught stealing coke from the evidence room.

The perception comes from the cops that feel powerless in the rest of their life to they abuse the power they have as police officers. It’s not all cops, but enough to create an aura of distrust.
It disgusts me that now that I drive a late model BMW I am not stopped by police near as often as when I was poor and drove clunkers.
They are working at stopping racial profiling, but economic profiling is just as bad.

James Cagney and Edgar G. Robinson.

There is an us vs. them mentality.

Being a police officer is a very difficult job. They have high rates of alcoholism, divorce and suicide (higher than the general population).

They have a macho culture that eschews getting counseling or support.

They have a brotherhood mentality that makes some of them close ranks to protect another policeman operating outside the law.

They spend their days with the dregs of humanity cleaning up stuff most of us like to pretend is not there. It tends to make them skeptical and cyncial about people and their motives.

All of this makes them human.

Because they operate at all times to prevent injury and death, they go through prescribed procedures. You may know you are totally innocent a la Skip Gates, but they have no way of knowing that. They go by the book. That’s why arguing with a police officer never makes sense. Move slowly. Answer their questions. Work to deescalate the situation.

When I was 16, one Saturday afternoon I was walking down the street in a very wealthy suburb on my way to visit a friend. We went to the same high school. I was one of the bussed-in students from the city.

A cop stopped me and asked to see my ID. All I had was my school ID, but that wasn’t good enough. When I asked why he needed to see one anyway, he told me that there had been a spate of break-ins in the neighbourhood and that for all he knew I could be a lookout. “But I’m not a lookout.” He actually put his hand near the cuffs on of his belt and said, “Well, you don’t look like you belong here.” !!!!!????? I was 16, so unless I was gifted with the enlightenment of a Buddha, there was no way that I wasn’t going to take that personally. Of course I did.

Seriously, though? I was wearing Levi’s and a Lacoste polo. Ponytail. Glasses. Chucks. I don’t know if any of you have seen my pic on the Fluther Photobucket, but it’s to laugh that I look like a criminal. It was clear the officer was perturbed that a small, brown girl was walking around in this lily-white rich neighbourhood. I looked him in the eye and calmly told him I went to the village high school, and that his boss Mr C was my criminal law teacher, and what’s your name officer? I’ll tell him I saw you. (Yeah, there were some weird electives at my high school. Like sailing, television production, abnormal psychology and basics of criminal law. Go figure.)

Only then did he back off. But I told Mr C about it that Monday anyway, and he apologised to me. That may be the only truly bad experience I’ve had with a police officer, but it shook me. How was I to know what he was about? I was just a kid walking down the street and he popped up out of nowhere.

People who 100% defend the police have to recognize that there are some bad apples who use their badge and gun as a licence to hurt people and live out their Dirty Harry fantasies. Those are the people who need to be dealt with and the Blue Wall stuff has got to stop before a lot of people will believe that the police care about protecting them.

@aprilsimnel Right. It is very scary. I grew up hearing the whole “The policeman is your friend” piece of crap.

One day, my folks were out of town and my sister wanted to go to the store. Everyone piled in the car. My bother, his best friend (both had long hair), and my youngest sister who was practicing for a debate for school. The issue was gun control, and she had a toy gun as a prop. We all just sat in the car, chatting idly, while my other sister was in the store. My sister came out, and I drove out of the parking lot to head the few blocks home.

Suddenly, a car was in the my lane coming at me the wrong way. I stopped the car and instantly we were surrounded by police cars. Policemen in combat gear with assault rifles were everywhere pointing them at us.

Cops jerked my brother and his friend out of the back seat and began doing pat down searches on them. I got out of the car (a guy in a megaphone shouted at me to). I gave them my driver’s license. I asked what was going on. I started to cry. I asked why they stopped us. They would not answer any questions.

I said, “We went to the store so my sister could pick up something. What is going on?”

The sergeant said, “Well, then what’s that gun?” In what I have come to regard as the single stupidest move I have ever made, I picked the toy gun up off the seat, held it out and said, “It’s a toy. It’s a toy.”

I suppose it is a tribute to the discipline of the King County SWAT team that I was not shot. Finally, they believed us and let us go home. Turns out there had been a string of robberies of Photomat booths in the area. I had been parked in the parking lot near the Photomat booth and someone had seen my sister waving the toy gun and called the police.

You mean like the prejudice we have when our parents (when children, sometimes)
Stooped us from doing things that were wrong. But we rebelled, showing disapproval towards their decision?

I’ve only really had positive experiences with cops. Keep in mind I’ve never been arrested or pulled over or anything, but I know plenty of people who have been pulled over. My friends act like cops are the enemy because all my friends do is smoke weed, go way over the speed limit, and drink underage (I’m guilty of the last one there). It doesn’t surprise me at all. Still, none of their experiences have been with corruption. My friend was pulled over for going 50 in a 25 residential area and another friend of mine was pulled over for carpool lane violation and once going 65 in a 30. In those cases, breaking the law is going to get you in trouble. People don’t like being told what to do (especially teenagers) and they act bitter when they’re caught doing something against the law.

My parents called the police once because they heard noises in the backyard like footsteps. Turns out a homeless guy was walking around there. The police were very nice about it and said that was the kind of thing we should call them for.

Unfortunately, being a policeman gives you power that most other people don’t have. You’re enforcing the law so it’s much easier to get away with breaking the law. Like people have been saying, in a perfect world, there wouldn’t be corrupt cops, but there are. My aunt is a cop in Reno, Nevada, and I greatly admire her. She’s the coolest person ever, but she is tough. She would never break the law just because she would get away with it. You don’t hear about good cops in the news. The news focuses on cops who beat people and break the law and this creates the image that most cops are like this, when they are not. The news always focuses on the negative side of everything.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The police are a brotherhood, and they close ranks around each other, to protect themselves when accused of abusing their power. The Internal Review people are despised and generally are not helped in their investigations. So the police are not effectively policed, themselves.

They do have a dangerous job, so they get scared, and people who are scared are more likely to resort to violence. They see their job as pacification, and they tend not to be very sophisticated about how they pacify people, especially when those people give them lip and don’t show respect for the uniform.

Police are generally also seen as not very educated, so people with education don’t respect them as much. People who are under their thumb don’t respect them because they believe the police just don’t understand. Lot’s of bad feelings to go around.

Also, the media like to focus on conflict. Good deeds don’t make a good story. This leaves people with the impression that cops generally do bad things, even though it probably isn’t true.

Well, for me it’s pretty simple: I hear news stories every week about police officers abusing their power in horribly brutal ways. Every time I hear about another person getting tasered for being “noncooperative” all it does is cement my image of cops as being dumb, violent, ego-driven power mongers.

Power corrupts, and this is unfortunately demonstrated every day by police.

@christine215 Why is this way of thinking—“If you’ve done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear”—a scary thing? Because YOU don’t get to decide what’s “wrong”, only the powers that be decide that. The moment you want to make a choice for your life that goes against the mainstream, you are suddenly a criminal.

There are many, many cases throughout history when the RIGHT thing to do was necessarily against the law or against the wishes of the ruling elite. Just look at the civil rights or women’s lib history in this country for countless examples.

I’ve heard this same logic used in the context of NSA spying—I’ve got nothing to hide, so why would I care if the government can listen to every phone call and read every email? Answer: because with such enormous power, the potential for enormous abuse is terrifyingly real.

We’re talking about POLICE OFFICERS not the NSA or CIA… I’ve grown up around cops, my Dad’s cousin is a detective, one of my closest friends from H/S is a cop, dated a couple of cops, I do not mean to defend ALL of them, of course there are ‘bad apples’
But guess what?? There’s “bad apples’ every where you go

There’s doctors that defraud Medicare for millions of dollars a year, and abuse their power by prescribing drugs for cash, that sexually abuse their patients, yet as a society we don’t generally have an adversarial attitude against doctors,

There are school teachers who abuse their position of authority in SO MANY (some just twisted and sick) ways, yet we (collectively) don’t have the same type of animosity towards teachers that I see towards police officers.

…and WTH are you doing that makes you so stinking paranoid?

Live your life within the law and you have nothing to worry about. We have laws for a reason. If you don’t like them, then set about changing them. What is so hard about that?

And for the statement “I hate cops” I pray that you never NEED to have one of those cops that you hate so terribly come to your aid… it would be shame for you to have to be such a hypocrite as to accept help from someone whom you hate so much.

This is why cops are viewed as bad guys

My eyes and ears. I can read about the history of LAPD, and see with my own eyes. LAPD is ripe with scandal and corruption. Why should I trust them?

Out of the hundreds and hundreds of good cops that patrol our streets, the news usually focuses on the very worst ones. Since they all wear the same uniform, many people see them as being all the same person. It is a tragedy that the good news about hero cops is just not as memorable as the bad stuff.

Most cops are good, some cops are bad. Is that any different from any other segment of humanity?

I have dealt with arrogant pricks and genuinely helpful people, some were wearing uniforms, some were wearing shorts and a t shirt.

I can’t understand when things changed from the cop being the friend to being the enemy. It must be this thing where the rights of the criminal have suddenly become more important than the rights of society. At least to most except the victims of the criminals.

maybe it has something to do with the well known violence cops participated in frequently in the past. i don’t think all cops should be tagged with negative labels, but i have to admit that my general idea of cops certainly falls short of positive. from supporting violent racism in the past to stopping peaceful rallies in unnecessarily brutal ways, there are a lot of examples that often give people negative perspectives.

i’m not saying all cops are bad guys – and there are some that certainly help a lot – but to know that there are a lot of police of that power (cops’ word is commonly taken over the accused criminal, weapon possession, etc) who abuse it? not really comforting.

@rooeytoo the difference is that douche bag who keeps fucking up your latte doesn’t carry a shotgun behind the counter.

I just don’t agree with the notion that it’s ok to have a few bad cops, bad cops get people killed.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 – ahhhhh but that is where you could be wrong, that douche bag probably is exercising his 2nd amendment rights and has a sawed off behind the counter, just waiting for someone to make his day!!!

That scares me a lot more than the cops who actually know how to use them and most know when to use them.

lol I don’t know if that was serious or not.

if it was, you don’t realistically fear that whenever you walk into a store do you?

but whenever a black guy gets pulled over in LA, it’s realistic for him to think there’s a good chance the cop just pulled him over is a racist prick.

In LA they are determined to not discriminate in their racism. 2 black cops gave my son a ticket for walking at a cross walk while the timer was still going saying how many seconds he had left. They kept saying , “You don’t go unless whitey is up there!” then proceeded to let a black guy cross with a warning, while they were giving my son a ticket. Racism in LAPD does not discriminate~
I did tell my son that what he experienced was nothing compared to what Black people experience every day. He just got a small taste (and a ticket) for the experience lesson.

@Judi that’s the largest problem I think.

Racism breeds racism, nothing else.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 – my answer was half and half. But I will tell you this story that really happened to me. In Australia they do Random Breath Testing, where the cops pull people at will to see if you are driving under the influence. So about 11 am on a Saturday morning in a dry town with a population of under 1300, I, a 64 year old white woman, driving a jeep with the top off and my 2 dogs in the there with me, got stopped pulling out of the service station to be breath tested. I thought it was funny, and wondered why he chose me, a seemingly unlikely subject?????

If I were a black male it probably would have been considered racist. Or maybe the cop just wanted to pull someone and I was the first he saw?

I would never deny that racism exists, I do think sometimes actions are called racist when they could have a completely different motive.

@rooeytoo He didn’t pull you over because you had your top off?

@filmfann – hehehe, good one, but notice I said “the” top off meaning the one on the jeep, not me!!!

Why? Watch this and play particular attention to the woman who was the victim but was arrested, stripped but both men and women and left naked in a cell, or the young man who fell from an overpass that they tazed because he was too injured to get up. Not to mention the man in a car accident that was clearly injured and in shock, that they provoked to the point he became erratic and the shot and killed him because they did not want to get any blood on them. Then there is the chilling part on how you get harassed if you have the audacity to say one of their own harassed you and you want to file a complaint but do it anonymously. When you think that his is just the stuff that was caught on tape, imagine how much wasn’t? Who watches the Watchmen?

I couldnt even watch that whole thing. I was sick to my stomach of the point of wanting to throw up by 10 min in.

Cops are like any other group of people in the whole wide world, there are some bad apples in the barrel. It would be nice if there weren’t, but this is the real world.

Thankfully most are honest, hard working and dedicated to helping their fellow citizens. Be grateful for them.

From bad guys who want to make it look as though the cops are bad guys.