“Police officers AREN’T our friends”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Police officers aren't your friends. They especially aren't your friend when you break the law.

Or even suspected of breaking the law and for a petty crime.

Or if you are poor and they are corrupt and can pin a crime on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

Here’s the thing: I will call the police if I have to. I have had relatives, friends, and co-workers who were and are police officers that I’ve trusted with my life and well-being. But, having said all of that, I will never know, when I call 911, if the officers responding will be Officer Friendly or Officer From Hell Willing to Murder Me Nonchalantly While His Colleagues Watch. The key, for me, is that while many can be reasonably sure that a police officer will help them, or at least not deliberately hurt them, I have the deep layer of risk that’s associated with having to find out the hard way.

And I don't doubt or dispute that, at all. But for so many people who have sought and benefitted from police involvement for so many years to suddenly be like "police are not OUR friends" I'm like...funny, that's not what you said when you called the cops because your neighbors were setting off fireworks on July 7 a few years ago.

Do you know that black people have called the police for help, and gotten arrested or shot when THEY were the ones who called? Even as the victim of a crime, i have to weigh this risk. The police are a last laat absolutely last resort. They are not my friends and there's nothing funny about this.

I agree, there's nothing funny about this. I agree, sometimes the very people who have called the cops are the ones that end up getting harmed or killed.

I am not disputing any of this.

What I AM saying is that a whole bunch of people are massive hypocrites for acting like:
1) Police injustice and absue of power is just now happening, because they decided that now was the moment to wake up to it. Never mind Sandra Bland. Never mind Rodney King. I just now decided "enough was enough," so NOW police brutality and abuse of power is a problem.

2) Those talking a big game right now about how police are not their friends would be RACING toward a police station if they noticed someone tailgating them, holding a gun. It's very easy to say one thing behind a keyboard, and to do something else in real life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

Here’s the thing: I will call the police if I have to. I have had relatives, friends, and co-workers who were and are police officers that I’ve trusted with my life and well-being. But, having said all of that, I will never know, when I call 911, if the officers responding will be Officer Friendly or Officer From Hell Willing to Murder Me Nonchalantly While His Colleagues Watch. The key, for me, is that while many can be reasonably sure that a police officer will help them, or at least not deliberately hurt them, I have the deep layer of risk that’s associated with having to find out the hard way.

And I don't doubt or dispute that, at all. But for so many people who have sought and benefitted from police involvement for so many years to suddenly be like "police are not OUR friends" I'm like...funny, that's not what you said when you called the cops because your neighbors were setting off fireworks on July 7 a few years ago.

Do you know that black people have called the police for help, and gotten arrested or shot when THEY were the ones who called? Even as the victim of a crime, i have to weigh this risk. The police are a last laat absolutely last resort. They are not my friends and there's nothing funny about this.

I agree, there's nothing funny about this. I agree, sometimes the very people who have called the cops are the ones that end up getting harmed or killed.

I am not disputing any of this.

What I AM saying is that a whole bunch of people are massive hypocrites for acting like:
1) Police injustice and absue of power is just now happening, because they decided that now was the moment to wake up to it. Never mind Sandra Bland. Never mind Rodney King. I just now decided "enough was enough," so NOW police brutality and abuse of power is a problem.

2) Those talking a big game right now about how police are not their friends would be RACING toward a police station if they noticed someone tailgating them, holding a gun. It's very easy to say one thing behind a keyboard, and to do something else in real life.

Okay. I think it's also fair to point out that the subject of this thread is a teenager who has reach those conclusions.

[Anonymous]

My non-White son knows that. I have told him to be very careful and not put himself into any jeopardy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

Here’s the thing: I will call the police if I have to. I have had relatives, friends, and co-workers who were and are police officers that I’ve trusted with my life and well-being. But, having said all of that, I will never know, when I call 911, if the officers responding will be Officer Friendly or Officer From Hell Willing to Murder Me Nonchalantly While His Colleagues Watch. The key, for me, is that while many can be reasonably sure that a police officer will help them, or at least not deliberately hurt them, I have the deep layer of risk that’s associated with having to find out the hard way.

And I don't doubt or dispute that, at all. But for so many people who have sought and benefitted from police involvement for so many years to suddenly be like "police are not OUR friends" I'm like...funny, that's not what you said when you called the cops because your neighbors were setting off fireworks on July 7 a few years ago.

Do you know that black people have called the police for help, and gotten arrested or shot when THEY were the ones who called? Even as the victim of a crime, i have to weigh this risk. The police are a last laat absolutely last resort. They are not my friends and there's nothing funny about this.

I agree, there's nothing funny about this. I agree, sometimes the very people who have called the cops are the ones that end up getting harmed or killed.

I am not disputing any of this.

What I AM saying is that a whole bunch of people are massive hypocrites for acting like:
1) Police injustice and absue of power is just now happening, because they decided that now was the moment to wake up to it. Never mind Sandra Bland. Never mind Rodney King. I just now decided "enough was enough," so NOW police brutality and abuse of power is a problem.

2) Those talking a big game right now about how police are not their friends would be RACING toward a police station if they noticed someone tailgating them, holding a gun. It's very easy to say one thing behind a keyboard, and to do something else in real life.

Okay. I think it's also fair to point out that the subject of this thread is a teenager who has reach those conclusions.

No, what we know is that a teenager reached the conclusion that police aren't our friends with a 5-year-old, and instead of using the moment for context and conversation with his or her children, OK came racing to DCUM to crow about how enlightened he/she is.

I wonder if OP will regret that if her 5yo gets lost at the county fair and doesn't go to a police officer for help. Betcha OP would go racing toward a police officer to ask for help finding her kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

My neighbors were fighting in the street, he had shoved her and she fell down and hurt herself and was crying. It seemed pretty obvious they were both addicts. He wasn't being aggressive with me around. She didn't want police, she just wanted the guy to be nice to her. I asked her if she had someplace safe to go, she told her dad's address, I called her an uber and waited with her in the car. Was it a great solution, no. Would calling the cops have helped anything for either of them, I wish, but no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

My neighbors were fighting in the street, he had shoved her and she fell down and hurt herself and was crying. It seemed pretty obvious they were both addicts. He wasn't being aggressive with me around. She didn't want police, she just wanted the guy to be nice to her. I asked her if she had someplace safe to go, she told her dad's address, I called her an uber and waited with her in the car. Was it a great solution, no. Would calling the cops have helped anything for either of them, I wish, but no.

Thank you for this anecdata. It really helps to know that this one time, you did this one thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid sounds like the disrespectful upper class kid I saw mouth off to a police officer in a park recently except at least that parent corrected the kid. Are you feeling like you really did something morally superior and impactful now OP?

Police officers put their lives on the line constantly in ways you coddled DCUMers cannot imagine. Sure, they are human and so a minority of them are not good people. This constant insulting and demonizing of police is idiotic and against the self interests of society.

And you sound like someone who has led a very sheltered life. It really is neither insulting nor demonizing to discuss the many instances of police brutality in our communities— especially if we are members of communities that have histories of bearing the brunt of this type of brutality.
Since you seem to be setting yourself apart from the “coddled DCUMers”, I’m surprised that you don’t seem to know this already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

My neighbors were fighting in the street, he had shoved her and she fell down and hurt herself and was crying. It seemed pretty obvious they were both addicts. He wasn't being aggressive with me around. She didn't want police, she just wanted the guy to be nice to her. I asked her if she had someplace safe to go, she told her dad's address, I called her an uber and waited with her in the car. Was it a great solution, no. Would calling the cops have helped anything for either of them, I wish, but no.

Thank you for this anecdata. It really helps to know that this one time, you did this one thing.

NP and yeah, it DOES help to hear about options other than "do nothing" and "call cops."

I'm trying to teach my white 5 year old about this stuff in an age appropriate way after he learned about police being "community helpers" in school. It's hard to always say the right thing but i don't think saying nothing helps either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

My neighbors were fighting in the street, he had shoved her and she fell down and hurt herself and was crying. It seemed pretty obvious they were both addicts. He wasn't being aggressive with me around. She didn't want police, she just wanted the guy to be nice to her. I asked her if she had someplace safe to go, she told her dad's address, I called her an uber and waited with her in the car. Was it a great solution, no. Would calling the cops have helped anything for either of them, I wish, but no.

Thank you for this anecdata. It really helps to know that this one time, you did this one thing.

Just responding to the prompt with something specific. You're welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

My neighbors were fighting in the street, he had shoved her and she fell down and hurt herself and was crying. It seemed pretty obvious they were both addicts. He wasn't being aggressive with me around. She didn't want police, she just wanted the guy to be nice to her. I asked her if she had someplace safe to go, she told her dad's address, I called her an uber and waited with her in the car. Was it a great solution, no. Would calling the cops have helped anything for either of them, I wish, but no.

Thank you for this anecdata. It really helps to know that this one time, you did this one thing.

Just responding to the prompt with something specific. You're welcome.

All instances of domestic violence are exactly calibrated to this level, and are addressed this easily. There are never head-bashings and life-threatenings going on! Nuh-uh. It's always, always handle-able with an Uber call and a rueful shaking of the head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

My neighbors were fighting in the street, he had shoved her and she fell down and hurt herself and was crying. It seemed pretty obvious they were both addicts. He wasn't being aggressive with me around. She didn't want police, she just wanted the guy to be nice to her. I asked her if she had someplace safe to go, she told her dad's address, I called her an uber and waited with her in the car. Was it a great solution, no. Would calling the cops have helped anything for either of them, I wish, but no.

Thank you for this anecdata. It really helps to know that this one time, you did this one thing.

Just responding to the prompt with something specific. You're welcome.

All instances of domestic violence are exactly calibrated to this level, and are addressed this easily. There are never head-bashings and life-threatenings going on! Nuh-uh. It's always, always handle-able with an Uber call and a rueful shaking of the head.

I dont think PP said any of that. Why do you need to be a jerk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am white, and growing up my dad always told me to be respectful, tell them your name if asked and do f say anything else. They are not your friends.

Something similar growing up. They were never friends but provided a service of law and order. The problem now is not only are they are not your friends many have demonstrated they cannot be trusted and use bad judgment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with your son. Mr. Rogers and his advice to seek out the “helpers” no longer applies.

OK, so you won't be calling the police if someone breaks into your home? You won't be calling the police if you see or hear a neighbor beating his wife? You won't be calling the police if you drive by your elementary school, and the windows are smashed in?

I demand justice for George Floyd. But I'm also not such a hypocrite as to say that all police = bad when I know damn well who I would call if I were robbed at gunpoint again, as I was four years ago.

Sadly we can't choose which cop show's up when we need them; a "good cop" or a Chauvin. If a person black person made the call, and your robbery was in progress, it's a coin toss as to who would be arrested or shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your kid sounds like the disrespectful upper class kid I saw mouth off to a police officer in a park recently except at least that parent corrected the kid. Are you feeling like you really did something morally superior and impactful now OP?

Police officers put their lives on the line constantly in ways you coddled DCUMers cannot imagine. Sure, they are human and so a minority of them are not good people. This constant insulting and demonizing of police is idiotic and against the self interests of society.

If we weren't a nation awash in guns (as the stat goes, we have more goes than people in the US), police officers wouldn't have to put their lives on the line to the degree that they do. They certainly don't in other countries where guns are not permitted. Many cops in the US support the 2nd amendment and citizens' rights to carry weapons. I don't get it. Their jobs would be easier if they didn't live in fear of being shot at any moment by a citizen.