Why Are People Drawn To Be Law Enforcement Officers?

[TLight]

My 'dad' was a cop. I think it has something to do with power and control....I'm sure some people get into it to make the world a better place, but give someone that power, and it changes them.....they like it.

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

When I was a kid I wanted to be a cop. Later on that changed towards wanting to be in the army (I did neither).

For me it was an authority position, but not in a negative way. From the negative perspective authority means bullying and using it for the worst. From a more positive perspective, authority means that you can handle the responsibility given to you. It means that you are in a position to help people. You're like a big brother and can protect those around you. That's what it felt like for me and why it appealed to me.

You shouldn't forget the practical reasons involved either. The pay (although I have no idea if it pays well), outdoorsy nature of the job etc.

 

[darrenS]

i dont see police in the same realm as correctional officers. I have had good and bad experiences with police , having once given information to a corrupt officer who turned out to be part of a drug ring, but otherwise i take the good with the bad, there are good and bad, but one thing i always keep in mind even when im hating on them . is how quick they will turn up if you really need them. Correctional officers i see as entirely different , and not in a very good light..as for heroes etc ....i dont see them as heroes just because their cops and having that attitude torwards them i see as being very dangerous, They are paid public servants and putting them on a hero pedestal only allows for standards to be dropped and puts them beyond question

Tax funding assumes that it is right for some people to take from others with threat of force (basically strong arm or armed robbery)

Please explain what this actually means ?

 

[Karen12]

A friend from high school was an MP in the army and when she got out it was a relatively easy transition to go into civilian policing, so that is one reason. She's a CHP officer. She likes making a difference, even if it's only one person at a time. Every drunk driver she puts in jail means someone doesn't have to answer the door in the middle of the night to find two policemen with their hats in their hands. Criminology fascinates her. She tells some pretty entertaining stories about her job. I've never heard her say it's boring. I don't think she would be happy sitting in a cubicle all day. Her job is different every day and she gets to be out working in her community on a daily basis.

 

[Anarchy]

Please explain what [Tax funding assumes that it is right for some people to take from others with threat of force (basically strong arm or armed robbery)] actually means ?

With a volountary contract, you have at least the opportunity to engage in the contract or not to engage in it. generally speaking, there is ususally competition ammongst contractors, and you get to choose the contractor who's combination of service and price best suits your requirements and your means to pay, for the good or service that you have chosen to buy.

You, as an individual, do not have any right to go demand that another gives you the proceeds of their labour and creativity - regardless of how "good" or "valuable" you claim the purpose.

To do that is robbery, plain and simple. The person who is robbed might not put up a physical fight or even object verbally (I think many of us here can relate to that) - that still doesn't make it right.

If you as an individual do not have a right to coerce the fruits of labour and creativity - what if you and a friend go together to do it?

Sure, there are two of you and one of them - it is therefore the "will of the majority", you and your friend might also have drawn up a piece of paper saying that you'll do it in a certain way, and word it so that you spending the proceeds of the robbery is "for the greater good" or some such BS. would that make it right?

If it is not right for either you alone, or you with a friend to go robbing

would it be possible for you to bestow that right which you don't have, on another person - it isn't alright for you to rob - but if you say another person can - does that make it right for that other person to rob others in your name?

What if you and a friend want to bestow a right which neither of you posess, onto another person - can you do that?

Even if there is a piece of paper?

How about you and two others - none of you has the right to rob - can the three of you bestow that right which none of you posess, onto another?

Even if there is a piece of paper?

I'll let you digest that, before moving on further.

 

[darrenS]

im sorrry but that is undigestable

 

[Anarchy]

in what way is you not having a right to steal from others, indigestable?

 

[Purplemunchkin]

My hubby was a police officer until he was retired on medical grounds (i.e. PTSD) a few months ago.

He has told me some horror stories about corruption and the 'old boys' network, but also about how powerless he/they were in certain situations because the system often works against them.

I have seen him, off-duty, step up to intervene in various situations that could have turned violent/dangerous. He wanted to do the right thing. I have never seen him do it as a power trip. He would only ever state that he was a police officer and take his warrant card as a last resort.

I have also seen the way he was treated after his breakdown. None of his colleagues contacted him, other than his sergeant whose bullying attitude resulted in calls from work becoming a trigger for his PTSD. The force saw him as an embarrassment, not 'man enough' for the job, and treated him like shit to try and get him to quit. His PTSD was caused by events he witnessed/dealt with as a police officer.

I think a lot of officers join for the right reasons, but are worn down by a failing system and a society that thinks the rules don't apply anymore.

 

[Justmehere]

Anarchy - your posts are very difficult for me to understand.

in what way is you not having a right to steal from others, indigestable?

Of course no one has a right to steal. No one is claiming that. Your posts are almost impossible to digest, as you requested, because it is extremely hard to figure out what you are talking about and how it relates to the thread.

It is my understanding that you feel that taxes are theft, and the police are funded by taxes, and thus are a product of us being robbed. It is also my understanding that you would like us to have a volunteer police force instead of a paid professional police force. Your avatar name suggests that you don't want organized government anyhow.

Respectfully, your views on having a paid vs volunteer police force are a bit off topic. It doesn't address why people become paid or volunteer police officers.

Suggesting that we should not pay our police is a whole other topic.

 

[darrenS]

in what way is you not having a right to steal from others, indigestable?

You make no sense whatsoever and are trying to turn a load of codswallop into an intelligent conversation and not succeeeding

 

[darrenS]

I think a lot of officers join for the right reasons, but are worn down by a failing system and a society that thinks the rules don't apply anymore.

i tend to agree with you , i have known some high ranking and decent police who have stated the same - the biggest danger is always the old boys club

 

[Anarchy]

Where have I ever suggested that police not be paid?

With all due respect, do you thing that the question of whether someone goes to work for:

a business, which competes to attract paying customers by providing the most attractive goods/services at the most attractive prices.

or,

a gang of thugs that tries to exclude any competitors from "their" turf, and demands you pay whatever price it decides - or else bad things will happen to you. And it demands that you pay, regardless of whether you want their supposed "service" or not.

tells you something about that person?