Anyone else notice that Legacy is obviously trying to run his post count up? Must be a battle between he & MP. I particularly like the anti-lawyer posts L38. Kepp em coming. We all know that ol' Billy was right.
I think most folks understand that a majority of LEOs are good folks. The very fact that it makes news is a testament to that. I've had LEOs at my house more times than I'd like to admit, and only met a couple of them that I felt were unsavory types. I think some folks seem anti-LEO because they like to point to bad LEOs as a way to say, "Hey, you trust these guys with guns, but you don't trust Joe Average. This ain't right, LEOs are imperfect just like us."
I knew exactly what legacy was attempting to show and I think he is right to do so. Sometimes this board seems to become almost anti-LEO. In my 40 years on this earth I have come into contact with LEOs many many times and by far the majority of those contacts have been either a LEO performing his professional duty (hey, I do have a lead foot) or I have even formed a good relationship with the officer (for example, in the course of performing my job as a manager). Like most people, I have also encountered that rude, condescending, or even inept officer as well. They are far and away the minority of my contacts though. When you post an article about the bad encounters you have with a LEO, or an article about a LEO abusing their authority in some way, keep in mind the vast majority of LEOs are people attempting to do a hard job for little pay that the majority of us wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole (I know I wouldn't ... I couldn't deal with that element of society on a regular basis). Also, at least in my personal experience, the majority of the police who interact with the public on a daily basis are pro-second amendment and want people to accept responsibility for their own protection. They are just as aware as we are that the civilian is the one responsible for his or her own protection in a violent encounter with a criminal. It is rare for me to meet an officer who thinks civilians should be disarmed. Not trying to preach here, but if we want LEOs to be on our side as an organization, I think we need to recognize that while there are bad LEOs, just like there are bad teachers, lawyers, doctors, etc, the majority of them are good people, and could be encouraged to be on our side in the battle to regain the rights we have been legislated out of. Just my two cents. YMMV.
It's going to be impossible for anyone to catch the Berry Bonds of posts. I think MP is juicing, that's the only way to have that kind of posting strength. It may be time for some unannounced testing.
I understand the reasons behind the posts too. I think that we have to be careful to not fall into the mind-set that is used against us by stating that one bad incident is indicative of the rest of the members of that "group".
Exactly. I've arrested firefighters on felony charges, but if my house is on fire I'm going to call the fire department (I just may search them before they leave ). Lawyers get bad raps, but if I was in a bad legal situation, I'd probably hire a lawyer.
If someone is breaking into my house, of course I'll call the police - but I won't rely solely on that either.
But I have to admit that I think there is something far worse about law enforcers committing crimes. This does not originate from any anti-LEO attitude. In fact, I think my belief stems from a very, very pro-LEO attitude.
I agree. When found guilty of a crime, I think someone in law enforcement, be they local, state, federal, or a judge or attorney should have an automatic multiplier added to their sentence. The public puts a lot of trust in someone who is in law enforcement and when that trust is violated it should come with additional penalties.
In my opinion, the charge of violation of oath of office is not used nearly enough, and that applies to all government officials.