re: We've seen cops steal money, plant drugs on people, beat up elderly, get DUIs, overdose.

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What weight should we place on your word?

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The same that you’d put into a cops word according to OP

When I see this kind of crap I’m always reminded of one unarguable fact: I’ve always done exactly what the cops asked me to do during the 3 or 4 traffic stops I’ve had in my 52 years, and mysteriously, I’ve never had any problems. Are their bad apples out there? Sure, but for the most part, if you aren’t breaking the law, and if you follow their instructions you will be shocked at how little trouble you get from those mean ol’ cops.

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A cop is a lot like a doctor

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How do you function IRL?

It is hard to fire employees in a union.

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The difference is in other professions the good apples will report the bad apples to stop them

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If only this were true.

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When I see this kind of crap I’m always reminded of one unarguable fact: I’ve always done exactly what the cops asked me to do during the 3 or 4 traffic stops I’ve had in my 52 years, and mysteriously, I’ve never had any problems. Are their bad apples out there? Sure, but for the most part, if you aren’t breaking the law, and if you follow their instructions you will be shocked at how little trouble you get from those mean ol’ cops.

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If your only encounter with police are traffic stops you are probably spot on. When you encounter them in other circumstances they can be tyrants by any measure.

I had a crew of 10 people working on a traffic signal in Athens years ago when a local cop rolled up and told them they had to shut it down. I arrived about 5 minutes after he did and he had 10 of my employees standing and sitting on the curb interrogating them about what they were doing and who authorized them to do it. We had a barricade set up by a national barricade company for half a mile in each direction. Traffic was flowing as fine as it could given we had 4 lanes down to 2, as the permit we had required. He was adamant we had to remove the barricade (it wasn't ours, it belonged to the barricade company) and shut down. It made no difference that the road department supervisor signed the permit about 2 hours before he showed up...it had to be authorized every day. It made no difference when a deputy sheriff showed up with the road department manager on the phone telling him we were authorized to be in the intersection. It almost did not make any difference when HIS supervisor showed up and told him to stand down....he initially refused. He was completely out of line and cost me a couple of hundred dollars but would have been more had we shut down because we had a liquid dated damage clause in our contract.

The next day the cop's supervisor showed up again. He apologized, then told me to avoid similar problems we could hire an off-duty cop who could use a county vehicle to stand by at the intersection to "ensure our safety". And there it was. The whole interaction between the two of them the day before was a charade....the point was that we were going to put an off duty cop on the payroll or we weren't going to be working in Athens. I agreed to do this because all I had to do was bill the county and they were accustomed to it.....but the taxpayers were the ones paying for the un-needed expense. The requirement is either a certified barricade, which we had, or a smaller footprint barricade with a cop and car present. When it is the latter the county provides and officer and car free of charge because they are county employees doing frick all anyway. I continued in this business for almost 8 years in Athens, Metro Atlanta, North Georgia and in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama....and was strong armed in similar fashion by every police department in question. Always hired a barricade company because they assume the risk, was never required by any DOT standard anywhere to have a cop present....almost always had to pay one to be present. Thats not high level corruption but it is wide spread and well known. Its an abuse of power that is encouraged. It speaks volumes about the mindset of police.

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I’m curious to know the ages of the anti —police faction?

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45 here

If you have the stomach to do so watch the disgusting plethora of "first amendment audits" on youtube and you will see a never ending string of cops who immediately escalate a situation for no reason other than they apparently enjoy wrestling with hogs. I know someone will say they never show the encounters that aren't escalated and that is as true as true gets....but the supply of police who do IMMEDIATELY escalate is never ending....and that is a problem, not for the public necessarily because most of us will simply comply but it is a problem for the cop because it makes their job, already one that few people could do successfully, infinitely more difficult. Why they are not ridiculed by their fellow officers for making their job more difficult is also a problem....it insinuates that their actions are more of the norm than not. The practice of baiting cops into reacting is reprehensible....the fact that so many of them fall for it over and over and over again is more troubling....it speaks to the mindset of not only the individual but the majority of police departments around the country.


There is a guy in South Florida who does this and has been doing it for a long time. He knows just about every cop in Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding areas by name....and they know him and know full well what he is doing....and he is able to post a couple of videos a day of cops showing up because he has a camera in a public place and they inevitably escalate the situation immediately...over and over again, many times the same cop. Its been going on for YEARS. Why they do not ignore him is anyone's guess but it seems like they simply can not help themselves. Its pathetic on both sides. There are hundreds of similar people doing the same bullshite and cops everywhere going out of their way to escalate the situation over and over and over again. One has to ask why.

This is simply not true. If an officer is found to have given false testimony, this fact must be disclosed during discovery in all future court matters. It can have a crippling effect on the officer and the agency. Usually is a reason for terminating the officer.