When you are out and about and see police, are made more or less comfortable?

Uneasy. Even if im doing absolutely nothing wrong. I dont like cops.

Less comfortable. Cops can be incredible assholes, and they have authority to fuck with whomever they wish.

More easy. I’ve never had any reason to feel otherwise. They’re out doing their jobs. Yes, some are jerks. But there’s jerks in EVERY job on this planet. I’m glad to know they’re there.

@jbfletcherfan : But there’s jerks in EVERY job on this planet.

The jerks in every job on this planet are not given authority to shoot you if they don’t like you.

Less comfortable. In my own interactions with police, I’ve never had a police officer treat me in a respectful way. The worst time was once when I was walking home with my best friend. A guy followed us and verbally harassed us for several blocks. The first well-lit place with other people we came across was a (true story) 24 hour dunkin donuts, and there was actually a police car parked outside. We walked in there and ran into the officer, and asked if he could say something to the creepy guy. The officer made a few sarcastic comments and said he was off duty. Ugh.

It depends – I give a once-over and usually can tell if they’re an asshole – then I sneer in their direction…generally speaking I do not consider them to be holier than thou

Remember, not all police officers fit this category. in uniform, you have to be on the defensive every minute. you can never let your guard down. i only wish some of you guys could ride just 30 days in a police car and maybe it might change your attitude about the police. most people do not like or respect the police and that okay, we are use to it. it just puzzles me that the first time you need help, you dial 911. police officers are human just like everyone else. please try to remember that the police are there for your safety and to enforce the laws. we take an oath for this and most officers are very proud of their uniform and being able to serve and protect thier communities.

Honestly less. Cops can take more information of your personal life more than they should be. Plus the interrogating things,but it all depends on the fact why you must meet them.

@john65pennington I agree. It makes me think that these people have a reason to feel uneasy. Hmmm

Depends. If I’m with my friends and they have weed, less comfortable. If I’m at a party or going to a party or from a party, less comfortable. If I’m walking with my boyfriend past the Tenderloin to get the Orpheum, more comfortable.

I have yet to have a bad experience with a cop, however, so I have not become hostile toward them in general like many people have.

I never have a problem when I see the police. I actually get along with them fairly well. There were a couple waiting outside my workplace one Saturday, I guess there was an alarm on one of the other floors. When I came out, one of them looked at me and said “How long have you been in there?” without missing a beat, I said “How long have you been waiting for me?”
Once I accidentally set off the alarm at my church. I called 911 and when the police came, he didn’t even get out of his car. I told him what had happened, and he said ok,and started to drive off. I asked him “Don’t you want my ID or anything?” He said “Nah, you don’t look like a criminal.” I had one walk away after doing an illegal U turn. He pulled me over and asked for my tags, it was on the dashboard. As he was walking away, I asked why he pulled me over, and he said “Your tags.” when I asked “What about that illegal U turn I made at the bottom of that hill?” he said “Ah, that’s Russell” which is a county. We were in Boyd, but the turn was in Russell. I swear, I can’t GET a ticket in this town.
I think it’s all in the way you speak to them. If you act like they’re just another person, I think they appreciate it.

More comfortable. When I see a police officer while I’m driving, I always fret over whether I’m driving perfectly, but in general I feel more at ease when I see them.

OK, I feel uneasy around cops, and also around stupid people who aren’t cops.

Way more comfortable. I work with these guys and gals on searches for lost and missing persons and know quite a number of them. Cops always make me feel more comfortable.

More comfortable. I feel people aren’t likely to misbehave when cops are around. And Trillian is right, “if you act like they’re just another person, I think they appreciate it.”

I am always more happy when police are around. After a traumatic period during my life, I love police. I am so thankful for police.
It makes me so mad when people talk bad about police. Who are you going to call when your house is robbed or your car is stolen? The police!

They make me uneasy and I watch them in my mirrors just to make sure they don’t turn around or something. I’ve never gotten a ticket though, so I don’t know why I’m so nervous.

Generally when I see a lot of police about it makes me think that there is reason to feel unsafe otherwise a large police presence wouldn’t be required.

From my personal experience with police in Australia about half of the police I have encountered have been polite/nice to me and the other half have been extremely rude to me. I always treat them politely and such, but I think some persons in the police are just on a power trip…

Normally no, but they are scary when in riot gear or carrying assault rifles.

Uneasy. I live in a “nice” area. There’s no violence here.
In the rare occasion in which I see a cop car in the area just sitting waiting, it says to me they’re looking for some absurd offense to ticket somebody for.

More comfortable. I live somewhere where it’s common to get mugged or harassed, and I feel like if I can see a cop car from where I’m standing, that chance is much slimmer. And I don’t like being mugged or harassed. I have had experiences with cops who are assholes, but I’ve also had experiences with nice cops. Maybe cops have more power to abuse than asshole grocery store clerks do, but I like the security they afford enough that I’m willing to put up with it. If I had a bad enough experience with a cop, I would report them.

Sarcasm,,,,,,,,,,not necessarily. there is no such location as a nice area. there may have just been an armed robbery up the street and the officer is hoping to catch the criminal on the run or in a car. or, he could just be finsihing up an accident report. please never judge unless you know the facts.

Eh…i don’t know. I guess I feel a little uneasy around them because they’re…you know..police

Unsafe

please never judge unless you know the facts

The cops who are caught on camera shooting and tasering harmless people? Did they know the facts?

I make sure I’m driving properly and that’s about it.

@Sarcasm I live in an area that many would call “nice” and the very few times I’ve seen police about the area have been when there has been a car accident, a house robbery, and the rest have been when the road authority set up a new “no right turn” sign, after that, there were police sitting just out of sight of the sign waiting to ticket people most mornings for the first 5–6 months. So I feel pretty much exactly the same way as you when I see a police car just waiting around…

If you say “there is no such location as a nice area” I think you’re the one who should make sure he knows the facts, @john65pennington.
Yes, there are still problems. But not problems that a cop doing a driveby is going to catch. At least, not until cops have x-ray vision and can see issues within a home.
But it’s not like we have gang violence in the street. We don’t have people busting front doors into homes. We don’t have drug dealers on the corner. We don’t have prostitutes. THOSE are problems that a cop doing a driveby can deal with.

@Sarcasm You don’t HAVE to have problems in your area to have a squad car come through. We live in a rural area in a little town of just 400+. We have no city police. But the sheriff’s dept. comes out & patrols every day. I love to see the squad car go by. For one, that’s what they’re paid to do. Two, they’re checking us out for any problems. And I’m sure John knows the score much more than you do. After all, which one of you is in that profession?

@frdelrosario so you hate all police, even the ones you don’t know?

@Violet Where did I say hate police?
This question is about whether seeing cop cars in the area make you feel uneasy, or make you feel more comfortable.
They make me feel uneasy. Because there aren’t huge crimes to be busted in the area. So they’re in here doing unimportant ticketing.
@jbfletcherfan Tell me. Random drivebys by cops in your town of ~400. How astronomically low are the chances of a cop sheriff ACTUALLY seeing a crime in progress?

Sarcasm,,,,,,,,,i sincerely hope that your neighborhood does remain a nice place to live. no ones neighborhood is 100% safe. i arrested this burglar that had broken into over 300 houses. during his confessions, i asked him “what makes a neighborhood safe? an area you would not consider burglarizing?” “No place, he said. if the house was well-kept and the cars in the driveway were nice, i would immediately pull over to the curb and attempt to make an entry. also, a house with bright colors would attract my attention. if the outside of the house looked good, there was good stuff inside”. his thoughts and beliefs were true. he stole an $8,000.00 dollar coin collection from one house and sold it for $200.00 in cocaine. no house or neighborhood is invincible to crime.

@Sarcasm oh my bad, I don’t why I threw your name in there (I edited my comment. Sorry about that)

Cops quite often abuse power. Even when you’re doing nothing wrong, you never know when someone who is in a shitty mood or who is power drunk is going to decide that they’re bored and want to harass you. I’ve had to call a supervisor one time on one who decided that, being a cop, he could sexually harass me and I would do nothing about it. Oh, but I did.

There was also the time when I had to call the police about something and that officer was insisting on putting words into my mouth to try and minimize a situation that was actually a pretty big deal because he didn’t want to do paperwork.

I grew up in the barrios of L.A. where there was always a heavy police presence. However, my neighborhood only got worse as the years went on. I have never been able to understand how more police make an area safer. That is definitely not my experience.

These same police harassed decent kids as suspected gang members. I can’t tell you how may times I had friends pulled over for DWB. I don’t have a lot of trust in officers of the law. To me they are mostly just on a power trip. Protecting people isn’t usually their main goal.

I live in the midwest, and to me a bored cop is a bad cop – one who pulls you over for going 2 mph over the speed limit. Otherwise most are nice-ish. In my limited experience, anyway.

@uberbatman 2 police officers saved my life about 3 years ago.
You hate those cops too?

I suppose whether one feels positive or negative about policemen (I think “cops” is unnecessarily derogatory”) has a lot to do with what his/her experience has been. Speaking for myself, I’ve never had a problem with them and generally feel better when I see them.

@Sarcasm We may be a little po-dunk town, but in the past several months, there’s been a rash of vandalism & thefts going on here & in our neighboring town. Granted, the chances of the sheriff’s dept. actually seeing them go down is slim, but they got caught.

@tinyfaery the ones by me, only want to protect. On 2 separate vacations to LA, police officers helps me out. They were super nice.

You had 2 experiences. Those same cops might have roughed-up a criminal or two during their careers. Maybe not, but maybe.

@Violet Just because you have had good experiences does not invalidate other people’s bad experiences. Like this guy’s experience with police.

Uneasy to the point of trying to leave. I’ve never had a pleasant experience with a cop, be it when I’m minding my own business, the two times I’ve been pulled over (one I deserved, one was a shakedown), and when I’ve reported crimes. The pulling over I can understand, being harassed in a department store and having a cop demand I submit to searches when trying to reports I can’t.

I don’t know if maybe I’m threatening in some kind of stick-figure way, or the goatee elicits some kind of evil twin response, but I find it’s best just to give cops a wide berth.

I feel just fine around cops. If I’ve done nothing wrong, why should I feel guilty? I usually look them in the eye and give them a smile. I appreciate what (most) cops do to protect us. They don’t have the most glamorous jobs in the world. And what you consider to be arrogant might actually just be them putting on a confident front so people don’t assume they’re weak and take advantage of them. Deep
down they’re human just like the rest of us.

I appreciate the work the police do. Despite TV portrayals and urban myths, most try their best to do a difficult job and to build good relations with the majority of local citizens. When things go well, the media fails to take notice. When an arrest goes badly, the police always get blamed whether their conduct was wrong or not. Its a tough job with high risks and little public appreciation. My son aspires to be a police officer. It scares me for his safety but I respect his reasoning.
When I see police on patrol or responding to an incident, I feel good and safer.

@Dr_Lawrence I don’t think the media fails to take notice when policepeople do good things – especially if police are killed, people go bat-shit because, to them, these people deserve better.

@john65pennington I understand that cops are human, but they are given a great amount of power and as such should be held to a much higher standard. Their word is worth much more than a civilians in court, and their position in society means that even a verbal disagreement could be construed as some kind of illegal failure to comply. It’s an intimidating position for one human being to have over another, especially when there are so many who seem more than happy to take advantage of it, especially when the only thing that might put a civilian on level with a cop in court is being taken away.

I also understand that yes, there are good cops out there who are truly out there to serve and protect and do commendable jobs. Unfortunately, like many other jobs, all that seems to garner is a paycheck.

@avvooooooo your comment was unnecessary. I say something nice about cops, so you have to take it, and and make it negative.
@tinyfaery I’ll go with maybe not.

The only time I feel uneasy is if I haven’t renewed my license plate and I’m terrified that I’ll get a ticket. Sometimes we are a bit late due to financial reasons.

We have 3 police officers that live on our street and it makes me feel safe knowing they are close by.

@Violet Pointing out that your experiences aren’t everyone’s is not negatively commenting on yours in any way. It was not unnecessary as you sought to devalue other people’s experiences with your own without the consideration for others that they have a right to their knowledge, experiences, and opinions. People have negative experiences with the police. They don’t need to be told that their experiences don’t count because all yours have been positive.

One of the toughest, most thankless jobs in the world. To every policeperson who has saved a life or given his own, thwarted a rape or burglary, made an elderly person feel safer, helped a kid on drugs or stopped a speeder, I say… THANK YOU !!!.

@Owl. Oh yes, I agree. Lurve.

@avvooooooo You think I “sought to devalue other people’s experiences”? YOU are devalueing MY experiences. “They don’t need to be told that their experiences don’t count because all yours have been positive.” Did I say their experiences didn’t count? You really need to stop putting words in my mouth, and go pick on someone else.

Neither. I have to know the man or woman in the uniform. The badge doesn’t scare me OR make me feel safe.

This better be good @petethepothead, you’ve been crafting quite some time!

@Violet Again, telling you that your way is not the only way is not “devalueing” your experiences. Again, people are allowed to have their own experiences and opinions without being told they’re wrong. No one is telling you that you’re wrong. It is simply being pointed out that you need to respect other people’s right to post without telling them “Well, that wasn’t how it was for me!!!”

I am uncomfortable around cops. Not because I have anything to worry about, I don’t, but because they have the ability to lie in court and their word will be taken truth over mine. Also, because I ‘m not perfect and don’t want the possibility of ending up in jail just because some bipolar police officer is having a bad day or has jumped to incorrect conclusions. I believe that the police already have too much personal and public power as it is. Now, I know that someone is going to say, “Not all cops are that way!” But, the fact remains, cops can and often DO ruin people’s entire lives on a whim. And getting justice often involves gigantic amounts of cash or liquid assets, which few people seem to have anymore.

@avvooooooo I did not talk to tinyfaery like that. I told her about cops I met in LA. I wasn’t rude, or disrespectful. Please, just stop commenting me. Please.

less comortable.
i get paranoid they know something about me haha

Like others have mentioned… there are good cops and bad cops. Unfortunately, a bad cop has more power than is reasonable in some circumstances. Bad experiences can lead to fear or uneasiness which is understandable and happens to people in all areas of their lives.

I personally have had both great and horrible experiences in relation to law enforcement and law enforcement officers.

I work in the courts and therefore have a close relationship with their occupation as they do mine. I also have friends who are in the police force. However, in the wrong place at the wrong time, I have witnessed behaviour by police officers that I personally feel is unfair, unjustified and inappropriate for their level of power.

Not all police are nasty but it can be incredibly intimidating to be on bad side of one even through no fault of your own or your fault but excessive force is used.

I think it is completely reasonable for various people in all walks of life to feel strongly towards police depending on their life experiences. (Negative or positive).

In general, less comfortable. I feel like they’re just looking for something that they can overreact to.

More comfortable. In most countries.

@Violet they were the rare good cops. Im sorry but ive just had WAAAAAAAAY to many negative experiences with cops, ie I’ve watched philly cops beat a man that did nothing and then another who was taping the incident.

Not if I’m driving, since I’m usually speeding, lol!