real life law enforcement

[threeplusfire]

I have to admit I watch Cops. It comes on at 4am, and it's this weird thing. It's stranger than watching talk shows or dating shows. It's the creepiest of reality television, because I think we are all always wondering when we are going to see someone we know on there.

There was an episode on tonight that was all incidents where shots were fired. It was exceptionally scary. The most disturbing by far was the guy with the knife who had run from the police and ended up on the freeway outside of Boston on foot. He's walking, waving the knife, and a dozen cops are on foot following him. They kept telling him to just drop the knife, and he kept yelling. He wound up pinned to the guard rail by a cruiser, took a swing at an officer, and the car's driver pegged him in the stomach. The camera did a close up shot of the bullet wound, and it was strange looking. The whole thing was so senseless. That guy could have stopped, maybe gotten whacked with a nightstick. But instead, he gets a bullet and a guy has to shoot him.

There are a lot of scary police officers, and I've seen some real jerks. But there are a lot of really good police officers too, and I've seen them. What's strange and sad to me is that so much of the madness I've seen on this show could be avoided if people were not so damned stupid.

Comments

Heh heh, from Canuckistan

[ekatarina.livejournal.com]

I *loved* watching "To Serve and Protect", the Canadian COPS, on duty with the RCMP.

I watched a group serve a warrant on an apartment. Someone was moving so the guys kept passing people with mattresses, a plant, and boxes. A girl with a ficus said "Hey, it's To 'Serve and Protect!' Hi, guy!" and the cop said "Hi." and continued rushing.

Another episode had cruisers outside a teen party checking IDs and intoxication levels as people left. Nothing exciting.

Another one had teens smoking pot in a park and the cops getting them to surrender the drugs and get their asses home cause it was too late to be up on a school night. "Is this yours? Say 'no'." "Uh, no?" "Good. Go home. And don't let me catch you out here again."

Ah, nice boring days for Canadian cops. Oh sure, there were the drug dealer take-downs on the Lower East Side as well as lots of drunks and DUI's pulled over on snowy roads, but overall, it was nice and tame.

I *did* get a kick out of the cop putting a young man in a cruiser and the jerk is screaming for his rights and his phone call. The cop talks to the camera and remarks how much he loves guys who watch too much American tv. You see, you are not guaranteed a phone call the way you are in the US. You don't get "Miranda-ized" - it's called something else but the script is nearly the same. Oh, and you can't "plea the fifth" since we don't *have* a fifth amendment. (It's covered in section 11c of our Charter.)

Cheers, and if I haven't said so, best of luck with the wedding and all.

Katja

Re: Heh heh, from Canuckistan

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Hahah, what was up with that guy screaming for his phone call? Did he think he was in America? What a goober.

Thank you muchly. If the bloody post will ever start delivering when I'm home, this wedding will be much easier. :)

Good cop

[snaxxx.livejournal.com]

My uncle Bob passed away in April, and one of the things I miss are his funny stories in the field as a Harris County deputy sheriff.
Apparently one time he was pulled over on the side of the road, and had been talking to my aunt on the cell phone. He placed the phone on the dashboard, while he worked on some paperwork. A call came in, and he had to take off, sirens blaring.
Too bad he forgot to move the phone, and left his window open. You got it - phone flew out the window, he saw it in his rearview mirror, smash to pieces. He kept going...

He was the proverbial 'cop at the donut shop'. He could always be found there before and after a shift, working on the duty roster and taking care of business, with a cup of coffee in hand.

Re: Good cop

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I have nearly lost so many things I left on the dashboard over the years. I can see the cell phone sailing out to freedom. :)

I've always thought that is why no one ever tries to hold up the donught place in the middle of the night. Safest place to be working.

[todfox.livejournal.com]

I would have a lot less trouble with cops if drug laws were different. I recognize they serve a necessary function and most of them just want to keep people safe -- it is just too bad they have to keep people safe from themselves, too.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I think many people confuse their dislike of certain laws with a disllike for the people enforcing the laws. Hate the law, love the cop I say and thereby corrupt an annoying phrase I hear too often. ;)