My dear friend Pam wrote a great blog post about a dinner party, and a friend of hers who thought if Cops were nicer their jobs would be easier. I loved how Pam was open with how she jumped into defense mode.
But I think Cops should be nicer! Or at least that is a thought I have when I see MR. Jerk cop walking around like he is all great. And we all have seen that cop. I think there is at least two on every shift, one is the rookie who may not be a total jerk but still thinks every law ever written is a reason to write a ticket. The other is the total jerk, who will mess around with people for no other reason than he has no reason not to.
Now it is true cops are just people and like other people some are nice, and some are mean. BUT, I do sit here and think we spend so much time and money on physical training of the officers, training to keep their bodies safe, but we don’t spend near enough training on the mental health of the officers. I mean sure they are all told there is someone to talk to if they really need it. But it comes down to a lot of BS. If an officer takes the mental health provided by the department they are quickly labeled. If an officer says something silly or dumb that can be taken the wrong way they can be out of work for a long time.
Oh yes I can see it now, some touchy-feely- man retreat for the guys to get in touch with their feelings. Okay so that is not going to happen! But something to really let the guys know they don’t have to take out their bad day on the punk going too fast. Letting the guys know it is okay that some of the stuff you see affects you, get help, and make it right. But I don’t know it is easy for me as the wife to sit back here and yell at people who say cops are mean. . . Then I yell at T-rex for giving out too many tickets.
But go check Pam out at : http://pamlandy.blogspot.com/2011/02/cops-should-be-nicer.html
1 comment:
I love that you posted about this, because you brought a whole new perspective that really made me think.
I think I reacted the way I did at dinner in part because JB 1) is actually a nice guy, but more importantly, 2) he isn't a traffic cop. He doesn't even know where his ticket book IS. All his stops are pretense stops, and if the person has no priors or warrants or blown-out pupils or is a soccer mom, he bids them good day. So most of the people he does deal with for longer than that are on meth or heroin or something, and that's why I was confused in re the niceness. Why be nice if the guy is tweaking and flaily?
But your post reminded me that traffic cops can get more of the brunt of "good" people's bad attitudes, and can develop a nasty case of The Bitters as a result. (Not all! Just some.)
I do think it would be helpful for cops and the community if there were more instances in which they interacted with one another under non-lawbreaking circumstances. But I feel like the people who would participate would be those who would do so anyway, instead of the people who would benefit most from it.
Bah. Longest Comment In The World! Sorry! But thanks for making me think! :)
Post a Comment