Ask a Cop whatever.....

[nt tbl]

Just like the title says.

Obviously public/police relations aren't the best right now and its been like that for a while. I get it. I understand. I've seen the same videos that you all have seen and then some. I could justify/argue some while others were flat out wrong.

I'm not naive enough to think there are no bad cops or that cops are always right and never wrong. Within the department there are cops that don't want to work with other cops because of policing styles, personalities, whatever. So if your own partners don't want to interact with you then your interactions with the public probably won't be any better. That goes the same for any profession though really. Ideally all cops, firefighters, doctors, teachers, priests etc. will never break any rules or do any wrong but let's be real.

My take on the job? It's tough. It's dynamic. A LOT to think about at all times. At the end of the day we all just want to go home to our families. It's not easy. I do it because I've always enjoyed helping people and really don't like people who break the law. Yeah I get it. There are career criminals who just have no care in the world and to those people, honestly, screw them. There are some people who just hit a rough patch and got into a bad lifestyle but you can tell they need help. Those people I enjoy helping. And there are plenty other groups of people out there but I can't touch on them all right now. I recommend going on a ride along to see what it is like. Though you really won't know how tough it is obviously until you actually do it. Look up those videos on youtube where they put the public in police situations and how they handle it. To be honest I'm sure that's how I looked when I was in the academy.

I'm also not naive enough to think the thread will go smoothly without any trolling or uneccessary replies but I figure I'd give it a shot. Just trying to help. Ask away and I'll make an honest attempt to answer it as best I can. That being said, I can only answer for my department really as different agencies/departments have different policies/procedures.

ABOUT ME (so you have an idea)

I'm in my early 30's

I work for a police department in Southern California

I'm Asian

Been a cop for 5 years

Been on NT since about 2001 (Yes I have another account on NT)

UPDATE:

I'm answering questions in the exact order they were asked/posted. Done through page 3. I'll get through more of them later.

 

[clouds]

whats the most dangerous situation you have been involved in during duty?

whats your schedule like?

also can you sign for my tints ? 

 

  (saw the cop in traffic i knew he was going to pull me over cause he did the whole tailgating thing and followed me bumper to bumper for a mile trying to run my  plates and his lame excuse for finally pulling me over was because of my tints)

and what department in socal?

 

[Nouss]

Why ya´ll hate brothers man?

JK, in all seriousness, Stop and Frisk... should it be implemented nationwide?

 

[jthagreat]

I do not hate police, actually a supporter of them in the sense that I'm not illogical and don't hold them a standard of never making mistakes. I also believe "they need to go home at the end of the day..."

With the above said, why are you against accountability? How come egregious acts, ones that are so blatant and wrong, can't get an "understanding" from your group, that that negative an unlawful act deserves to be punished an doesn't deserve your unabashed support? It makes people like me (look at the first part of this post) despise and want to hate you.

You may be a good cop, an a majority are possibly are good cops in their day to day duties, but you are marked evil and should pay when you don't speak out against your fellow police officers when they do wrong.

 

[nt tbl]

 
whats the most dangerous situation you have been involved in during duty?

whats your schedule like?

also can you sign for my tints ? 

 

  (saw the cop in traffic i knew he was going to pull me over cause he did the whole tailgating thing and followed me bumper to bumper for a mile trying to run my  plates and his lame excuse for finally pulling me over was because of my tints)

and what department in socal?

Most dangerous I've been in have been physical fights. One time a kid called in on his dad because he was scared of him saying his dad was acting crazy and may be using drugs. His dad came out of his bedroom naked and when I asked "whats going on" he swung and tried to take my flashlight and I got knocked into a bedroom. Im 5'10" 185lbs and he was like 6'2" 250lbs. Luckily my partner was there (because we always go to radio calls with two people). Long story short the guy got tased, gets up, runs out of the house, then when they find him outside he rushed the other officers and everybody just piled on him. I've been to calls with weapons but luckily the person either gave up or we used a beanbag or a dog.

Schedules for my department are 4 consecutive 10 hour days and you work one of three shifts. Either 6am-4pm, 2pm-midnight, or 9pm-7am.

I personally don't like writing traffic tickets but if its really bad then I have no problem doing it. Most of the time I give warnings though. I've never pulled anybody over just for tint because I have tint on my personal car and I don't want to be a hypocrite.  

 

[nt tbl]

Why ya´ll hate brothers man?

JK, in all seriousness, Stop and Frisk... should it be implemented nationwide?

You mean like a pat down? We do them all the time when we contact people. A pat down though, per policy, can only be done with the person's consent. If I feel I need to I'll ask the person. If they let me then cool. If not, not a huge deal but of course I'm on my toes a bit more.

 

[nt tbl]

I do not hate police, actually a supporter of them in the sense that I'm not illogical and don't hold them a standard of never making mistakes. I also believe "they need to go home at the end of the day..."

With the above said, why are you against accountability? How come egregious acts, ones that are so blatant and wrong, can't get an "understanding" from your group, that that negative an unlawful act deserves to be punished an doesn't deserve your unabashed support? It makes people like me (look at the first part of this post) despise and want to hate you.

You may be a good cop, an a majority are possibly are good cops in their day to day duties, but you are marked evil and should pay when you don't speak out against your fellow police officers when they do wrong.

I'm not against accountability at all. I'm all for it. I'm not sure what part of my first post you were referencing specifically. And do you have a specific example of an "egregious act" or even a hypothetical situation you want me to speak on? If you're talking about the part where I essentially said I know there are bad cops out there, I was kind of generalizing that statement. I've seen videos where I can't justify or defend a cops actions. I've seen videos where I can easily. The ones who did wrong absolutely deserve to be punished. I don't make those decisions though and luckily, I haven't been put in a situation where I've had a moral dilemma about whether I should speak out against somebody or not. I was kind of jut saying I know shady stuff happens in the world of law enforcement but I haven't come across it luckily.

 

[clouds]

 
Most dangerous I've been in have been physical fights. One time a kid called in on his dad because he was scared of him saying his dad was acting crazy and may be using drugs. His dad came out of his bedroom naked and when I asked "whats going on" he swung and tried to take my flashlight and I got knocked into a bedroom. Im 5'10" 185lbs and he was like 6'2" 250lbs. Luckily my partner was there (because we always go to radio calls with two people). Long story short the guy got tased, gets up, runs out of the house, then when they find him outside he rushed the other officers and everybody just piled on him. I've been to calls with weapons but luckily the person either gave up or we used a beanbag or a dog.

Schedules for my department are 4 consecutive 10 hour days and you work one of three shifts. Either 6am-4pm, 2pm-midnight, or 9pm-7am.

I personally don't like writing traffic tickets but if its really bad then I have no problem doing it. Most of the time I give warnings though. I've never pulled anybody over just for tint because I have tint on my personal car and I don't want to be a hypocrite.  

do you work overtime a lot?

is work stressful or is it pretty easy and the time flies by?

what was your hiring process like?

is corruption rampant in a lot of departments? (esp with the whole lee baca thing)

and whats a typical day like do you just post in your car all day

also do you work in the hood or a good neighborhood

 

[jthagreat]

I do not hate police, actually a supporter of them in the sense that I'm not illogical and don't hold them a standard of never making mistakes. I also believe "they need to go home at the end of the day..."


With the above said, why are you against accountability? How come egregious acts, ones that are so blatant and wrong, can't get an "understanding" from your group, that that negative an unlawful act deserves to be punished an doesn't deserve your unabashed support? It makes people like me (look at the first part of this post) despise and want to hate you.


You may be a good cop, an a majority are possibly are good cops in their day to day duties, but you are marked evil and should pay when you don't speak out against your fellow police officers when they do wrong.

I'm not against accountability at all. I'm all for it. I'm not sure what part of my first post you were referencing specifically. And do you have a specific example of an "egregious act" or even a hypothetical situation you want me to speak on? If you're talking about the part where I essentially said I know there are bad cops out there, I was kind of generalizing that statement. I've seen videos where I can't justify or defend a cops actions. I've seen videos where I can easily. The ones who did wrong absolutely deserve to be punished. I don't make those decisions though and luckily, I haven't been put in a situation where I've had a moral dilemma about whether I should speak out against somebody or not. I was kind of jut saying I know shady stuff happens in the world of law enforcement but I haven't come across it luckily.

Didn't read the op. Lol
I asked a cop whatever

Having now read your post, how come those folks you don't want to work with (sounds like their style will lead to an issue) don't get called out before hand? Y'all need snitches to help in doing your job, y'all want the "stop snitching " campaign to end cause it doesn't aid in safe streets, doing your job, etc., but y'all have your own stop snitching code y'all call the "blue wall," why?

 

[nt tbl]

 
do you work overtime a lot?

is work stressful or is it pretty easy and the time flies by?

what was your hiring process like?

is corruption rampant in a lot of departments? (esp with the whole lee baca thing)

and whats a typical day like do you just post in your car all day

also do you work in the hood or a good neighborhood

Overtime is available pretty regularly and whether you want to work it is up to the individual of course. Me personally, I usually will If I want to go on a vacation or buy something expensive.

It can be stressful and be pretty easy. I'd say AT LEAST 90% of the calls we go on results in a short talk with the people involved and then everybody is on their way. The other 10% will either end up with a crime report or an actual arrest. Some people don't like to be proactive but it definitely makes the time go by faster.

Hiring process was (and should be similar for all agencies) a written test, physical test, background check, polygraph/voice stress test, and then interviews. Then the academy, then phase training in the field with a senior officer (worst part of your career probably), then you're good to go.

I haven't come across corruption in my department personally, but I know its out there. I mean everybody has their internal affairs department but they don't catch everything of course.

A typical day is what you make of it. Other than answering radio calls (which the amount varies greatly by what area you work in), you basically decide if you want to sit and do nothing (nobody likes that guy) or go out there, do traffic stops, talk to people etc. Personally if I'm not on a radio call I like to look for people with warrants. Some like to look for drugs. I can't lie though, there are those lazy days where you just sit there and don't want to do anything.

For my 4 day work week, I work 2 days in "the hood" and 2 days in a good neighborhood. All depends on what your squad is assigned to.

 

[SC kid]

What made you decide to become a cop?

 

[Mr.Guy]

What's with the punisher blue line logo? Why do cops act like their jobs are more dangerous than it is? How often do you pull your gun out on people?

 

[jjs07]

What's with the punisher blue line logo? Why do cops act like their jobs are more dangerous than it is? How often do you pull your gun out on people?

It's a take on the Blue Lives Matter flag.

 

[handullz]

Do y'all think y'all deserve the incessant praise y'all get for simply picking a career?

How often are police reports falsified to fit a narrative?

 

[MalcolmNewton]

How do you guys plan on identifying, exposing, and getting these race soldiers up out of these police forces? They are out here doing whatever they want to harm people and "normal" cops are like 

 

[nuclear90]

I just want to personally say thank you for your service to your community and family.

The job you have chosen is not an easy one. You are repeatedly put in stressful situations and gray areas, and still are expected to "turn it off" when not on duty.

I have a cousin who is a police officer, and I know the job has been stressful at times for him and we live in a lowkey area.

So again, thank you for your service and be safe out there. All police officers deserve the chance to go home at the end of their shift, just like anyone else with a job does.

 

[jjs07]

I just want to personally say thank you for your service to your community and family.

The job you have chosen is not an easy one. You are repeatedly put in stressful situations and gray areas, and still are expected to "turn it off" when not on duty.

I have a cousin who is a police officer, and I know the job has been stressful at times for him and we live in a lowkey area.

So again, thank you for your service and be safe out there. All police officers deserve the chance to go home at the end of their shift, just like anyone else with a job does.

Well said.

 

[beh235]

First of all, I appreciate you making this thread, and although you speak for your department, your perspective is important. I have family in law enforcement as well and I know it's not an easy job.

I’ve had encounters where my situation was fairly routine and the way the officers spoke with me agitated me from their tone of voice alone.  One situation, I had to go to the precinct to pick up a copy of an accident report for official city business for my job and I was given contradictory information on who to speak with, and when I asked questions to get the right person, they spoke to me in a way that really started to upset me. In fact, it agitated me. I was cut off when I spoke. I wasn’t given a chance to fully explain the situation. And when I was done, I was completely upset with the officers I spoke with. Although I got the report, I didn’t feel like I was helped at all, despite serving the same city they do.

I was stopped this past Saturday night by officers because my headlight was out (I didn’t notice, it had just went out when I went on a short errand that night). He asked for my license, and I didn’t realize I left my wallet at home until he asked me.  He then asked if the car was mine (which I interpreted as an assumption that I stole the car, which bugged me), then he asked for my registration and DOB. I gave it to him and he ran a check.  Nothing,  I’m clean. For some reason the encounter, although routine, bugged me. I was literally circling my block to find a parking spot and right before I turned the corner of my block. They stop me.

I have a question. Are officers trained to speak to civilians in a certain way? I know there are standard procedures, but is there room for judgement calls? You can tell when a person is aggressive and respond accordingly, but when a person is calm and cooperative, is it necessary to continually speak aggressively  even when their tone remains calm and cooperative?  I’m Black and I’ve noticed this behavior towards me and others when I was around another Black person and a police officer.

 

[deuce king]

Just remember guys.....all cops are different. There is no set script per say on how cops talk to or treat individuals for different situations. Some cops are cool and understanding given a particular situation and some are not. Body cameras are very helpful to cops but more importantly the general public in helping to try to make cops and departments more accountable.

 

[sonoftony]

have you ever had to put a colleague in check because they went out of line during something routine?

 

[mr kuter]

If a fellow officer is doing something foul would you risk your job to expose it? What do you think your coworkers would do in that same position?
Protect the blue or do whats "morally" right?

 

[drew]

Do you guys really have a ticket quota each shift?



-Drew

 

[fapmasterjr]

do you ever think of "sprinkle some crack" on peeps? ha...i kid!  RESPECT ...be safe out there!

 

[jape]

how many of your fellow cops do you suspect are racist?

 

[sonoftony]

One more question, Cops are so heavily militarized but cannot follow rules of engagement. why is that?