Now ye're talking - to a US police officer

I'm a US police officer, AMA

mikemac2 wrote: »

Ever get the "do you know who I am? " rant from someone important? Maybe the daughter of the state governor or some spoilt rich kid. And these people indeed may have the power to get you fired. Ever see a colleague get sacked for stopping the car of someone important and entitled?


Whats the story with field sobriety tests? If you asked the sober Methodist pastor in town to say the alphabet backwards or stand on one leg and touch their nose they would probably fail. We all would. Seems very subjective

Yeah, we got the "I'm a good friend of XXX you know" from time to time. Doesn't matter to me personally, but odds are you'll get a ticket. I don't want to be accused of letting someone off the hook due to connections. Take it to court and deal with it, the judge can make that call. In a very small agency, yeah, I've heard of officers getting flack over ticketing a connected person, fired, don't know personally, but won't say it doesn't happen. Even if you did get fired, any half way decent attorney would have a field day in a civil case, especially if the encounter is recorded. Civil cases here are jury trials, "look at my poor officer client who lost his job because of the mayor/senator/etc and all he/she was doing was their job". At this point the agency better open the chequebook…..

Field sobriety tests are developed through ongoing research & testing. They are designed to prove a high degree of impairment, which gives me the probable cause to arrest you. Then you will be breathalyzed and blood drawn, the breath test (at the station) and the blood test are the proof of intoxication. Field test is a proven indicator which allows me to continue my investigation.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

You mention above that there is little difference between being a cop in America and elsewhere.

As an outsider the risk of weapons being involved in every crime would have a major influence on being a cop in America.

How much do you think about the elephant in the room. In an average arrest (burglary, drugs, traffic) do you think 'will this guy pull a weapon on me'.

You mention above the number of small. Law enforcement agency's (7 cops for a small town as its own agency. Would an average policeman in one of those agencies spend his career in that agency or would he move for career advancement. How easy is it to transfer between police forces.

We work knowing there are a lot of guns out there, so every call you go in with a high degree of awareness of the circumstances, location, time of day, what the call is. It becomes second nature but yes, I'm more on guard on a burglary in progress than maybe a noisy neighbour call, but you keep your head on a swivel every day.

Most small agencies are not career agencies, they pay crap and have little to no benefits, pension, can be poorly equipped and have no career progression. Here you generally see new officers starting out who just want a foot in the door, or the old sweat who retired from a larger agency who wants a cushy number to pad out his/her pension. You may find someone who, for whatever reason (family, location, etc) can stick it out, but those are rare.
Transferring is common enough, agencies have different policies, age limits, etc. Most places though, regardless of your past, you start at the bottom in your new job. Worked with a guy who was a FBI agent for 10 years including their SWAT team, he started as a Day 1 rookie with us...

I'm a US police officer, AMA

bob50 wrote: »

Hi Officer

Do you have a simalar situation in America you arrest somebody bring them to the station and then they are brought to court And the judge binds them over to keep the peace? And same day, they are out causing the same aggro Knowing they will get away it . And you are arresting the same people over and over? Its demoralisng for Garda in city centre here

Yep, same here, gets old, especially for the downtown guys, every once in a while you ask yourself "why bother", but its the nature of the job. Our paramedics have a similar issue, see the same people all the time...its out of our hands, up to the legislature and the courts to fix it.

legrand

"How would you compare your duties and risks associated to somewhere like here 
Where beat officers only carry a telescopic baton/

Policing is policing, the context is just different for an unarmed police force. With little to no risk of an armed encounter, the baton seems appropriate enough. Having said that, I can't imagine an armed encounter with only a baton. Without a deadly force option, it does require a different skill set (de-escalation, etc.)"

I find this interesting.  Police forces in Europe (who are mostly armed) work to de-escalate by default. Whereas in the US it appears that direct force is the first and it seems the only option.  Its not the the EU forces don't face crazies in their line of work, they do, but we rarely see reports of police killings.  What are your thoughts on that?

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Seeing as there is an overwhelming interest about the use of deadly force, I’m going to try and answer some of your questions on one post. I use “deadly force” as it is the legal definition in the US, and deadly force doesn’t always mean a gun (although it’s by far the most common).

Have I ever shot someone?

No and I hope I never do. I have seen first-hand the long term effects of a colleague who was involved in a textbook legitimate use of deadly force. It’s horrible and he still asks the question, “What else could I have done”. (Armed subject had already shot another victim in front of officer as he walked up and turned to point weapon at the officer. Call came out as “family disturbance” on a quiet Sunday afternoon).

Here is generally how it plays out in an officer involved use of deadly force. Once the event is over, scene is secured, officer’s weapon is seized (it’s evidence) and he/she is escorted to the station for questioning. A few parallel things start. Internal agency investigation to determine did officer comply with agency polices, rules, training, etc. Officer has no right to silence in this enquiry, but the proceeds of this investigation cannot be used in court as it is a term of employment (see Garrity vs. New Jersey). Any evidence can be used in this investigation, witnesses, CCTV, dashcam, body cam, etc.). Outcome of this can determine your job.

Parallel to this is the criminal investigation into the shooting, agency depending, this will be conducted by another team or an outside state agency. In our case, to maintain objectivity, we use our State Police. This is like any other criminal investigation, albeit, officer has same rights as any other citizen, lawyer, right to silence, etc. This case file is usually turned over to a grand jury or the district/state attorney to determine if this was a lawful use of deadly force and if it should go to trial. Outcome of this can determine if you are prosecuted or not. A successful prosecution will inevitably result in losing your job needless to say, fine or jail time.

A third rail as it were, is the possibility of a federal investigation if the feds suspect a possible violation of the federal civil rights statutes. As above, you have the same rights, but it’s a separate investigation by a separate agency. Even if the state decides not to prosecute, the feds can as federal statues can differ from the state laws.

Behind door number four is a civil lawsuit possibility. Victims or their families commonly file a damages lawsuit against the agency and in some cases personally against the officer. This can require a fourth round of hearings, depositions and a possible civil trial related, but not directly connected to the other three investigations.

Each of the above will require interviews, statements, questioning and use & review of all available evidence. This process can drag on for months on end.
While the justice wheels turn, the officers’ actions are relentlessly “tried in the court of public opinion” in the news & social media. Your personnel file is a matter of public record in the US, so your whole employment history is available and subject to all sorts of comments in the media. “We see Officer Bloggs was reprimanded 10 years ago, is this the sort of officer we want in our community?” asks the breathless news anchor. Rebuttal is usually not possible as we can’t talk until it’s all over as it’s an ongoing case.

What’s not usually reported is the officer receiving hate mail, threatening phone calls, protestors showing up at their house, flooding of social media with taunts & threats. Harassment of their spouse at their job and kids at school being teased with “your mummy is a killer” taunts. They are dealing personally with the fact they have taken a human life, multiple investigations and keeping the family ship on an even keel. Officers are usually placed on administrative leave during the investigation and are usually not allowed carry a weapon or even perform any desk duty. Outside of a counsellor and lawyers, one can’t talk about it with friends & colleagues, as it’s an ongoing case, so you end up being a sort of administrative pariah by virtue of it all. It’s not a paid holiday either, as the above will consume a large amount of your time and you are generally not allowed leave the area regardless of how much you spent on the Disney trip tickets, you are under investigation.

Counselling, peer support and follow up is offered by the better agencies, to include for the families.

So, it’s not as simple as the movies & TV would like you to think. Assuming the officer did all the right things and it was a good use of force, they’ll continue in their career, but it never goes away. A high percentage of officers who use deadly force end up with marital problems and substance abuse issues from the stress.

Having said all that, there is the other side. The victims family right, wrong or indifferent lost a loved one. That is not easy either, they too have questions, rights, and are suffering a huge loss and they too will carry it. We know that too, as despite what people think, we're human. I have personal experience of being on the victims side of the equation, but I'm not going into it here.

I assume you do regular target shooting practice with the guns, right? Shooting at those silhouettes with the different scores for different areas of the body and all that.

I notice that the target figure on those is invariably black. And I also recall that they are rarely if ever depicted as being armed! Is it intentional or by chance that shooting practice is done using unarmed black figures?

We qualify twice a year on our assigned weapons, day & night and with the Taser. Pepper spray & Asp re-qualification is every two years. I don’t know you noticed the targets being “invariably black”, but then I can only vouch for the agencies I work with. In my tenure, the targets have gone from old-school bullseye rings, to a solid black vaguely human shape to what we’ve been using for the past ten years use which is are life sized photographs of armed, various race both male & female. Research reveals displaying an unarmed target plants a subconscious thought of engaging an unarmed subject. Armed life sized targets are the best way we can replicate real world scenario’s within the constraints of a training environment. It would be incredibly insensitive to use targets of only one race at best, and at worse, simply racist.

Gatling

Are currently working shifts while putting up with and answering boardsies questions

BorneTobyWilde

I'm a US police officer, AMA wrote: »

How come a police officer can't admit they're wrong, is it a training issue where you have to be right no matter what.
You see so many incidents on youtube where a cop is so so wrong, but will NEVER let it go. Why is that.

I don't really understand your question about being wrong. YouTube is not what I would describe as a balanced forum. It's not that cops aren't wrong, its more a case of people don't really understand the law. Most people think they know what they are saying because the read it online or saw it on TV, or moan on about their rights. Yes, they have rights, and we follow those rules & laws like we are supposed to, we're not making it up, I promise you. The side of the road is not the time to argue the finer points of Terry vs. Ohio (classic case law), you can have your day in court and let the judge make the call. Think about it, if I'm wrong and make a false arrest, I'll lose my job and face the possibility of jail time for false imprisonment. No thanks. Do cops make bad calls, sure, and they deserve what they get.

If it's on YouTube, odds are it has an agenda. I don't see a lot of YouTube videos where Joe Bloggs wants to show the world he is wrong and is getting a ticket or arrested for it. Makes for poor click bait.

typical cop answer.

Feisar

Gatling wrote: »

Glock Vs 1911

Silly question:D

You mean 9 vs 45!!!!

Zaph

What rank are you, and how easy or difficult is it to get promoted?

I'm guessing from your answers that you're a "regular" cop, for want of a better word. Have you ever been tempted to apply to become a detective, join the SWAT Team, etc., or do you feel that your current role suits you better and/or allows you to utilise your talents more effectively?

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Some thoughts on the two videos posted for a counterpoint. Note: I’m not taking a side necessarily, just offering an officers perspective.

Snowball video:
Unable to determine from the video what got the officer there in the first place. He is later identified as a detective and appears to be somehow associated with the purple Hummer truck. I can’t tell for sure but he may be wearing an earbud too. This opens two possibilities:

1. It’s an iPod/whatever earbud and he’s off duty driving his personal Hummer and for reasons unclear in the video, he’s out of his car which is stopped in the lane of traffic. In the off duty scenario, most of us could’nt care less about a snowball fight, so it seems odd he would stop, even if his car was pelted. Contrary to what the movies would have us think (that movie thing again), most agencies have pretty strict off duty rules of engagement. Generally it’s along the lines of “intervene in order to save a life or prevent a significant felony” (usually not clearly defined). Off duty involvement is no joke, ALL the liability falls on you as, despite being sworn, you are not on duty and can’t avail of the agency protections. Most of us will just call it in, be a good witness and get on with our day.

2. He’s a detective working some sort of undercover detail in the Hummer and the subject he was tailing or otherwise involved with eluded him there, escaped, ditched the dope or maybe the piece of junk Hummer just broke down at the worst possible time. I notied the detective seemed to be looking for something in the snow, dope, evidence, who knows, again not clear. The fact he has his weapon out makes me wonder what threat he was reacting to. In a car I can say this from personal experience), a stone/rock (or maybe in his case a hard snowball) striking the car can sound a lot like a bullet striking your car. The earbud tends to make me think he’s doing some sort of undercover job (assuming it’s not a Bluetooth headset).

If we knew more, we’d get a better context for how this kicked off. Yes, he’s angry, maybe he got clobbered by a snowball, lost the guys he’s been tailing, got snow in his shoes, car broke down, we don't know. I would agree, he’s not happy. We see him calling something in, again, we don’t know what he’s saying, probably reasonable to assume he’s talking to the dispatch center.

The first uniformed officer arrives, pistol at his side. He’s either reacting to what he heard on the radio or saw the detective with his weapon drawn. We’re trained to do this, notice he didn’t point it at anyone, kept it close, just like he is trained to. You do this as a reflex as you can’t see what the other officer see’s/saw, but it’s better to come to a higher degree of readiness just in case. Once he (patrol guy) figures it out, he holsters as we are trained to do. Given the speed the other uniforms arrived, it looks like this came out as a high priority call, perhaps “officer needs assistance” or “detective encounters wanted felon” or such.

At this point, I submit the detective should have just left the uniforms to handle whatever needs to be handled. He’s obviously angry and for reasons not clear in the video, he detains one person. He was pretty rude to his subject IMHO, could have handled that better. The uniforms were more professional, pretty direct, but then you also have a large crowd chanting and milling about, so they had to exert a degree of police presence and attempt to gain control. When it’s you and five others vs. a crowd of 15 or so getting aggressive, that is frightening FWIW.

So, would I bring a gun to a snowball fight? It depends on the totality of the circumstances.

Homer

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

typical cop answer.

You should really learn some manners and stop thread spoiling.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Deleted User wrote: »

This is a viral video of an innocent black person being profiled by a white cop in recent times- there's a number of examples out there but this one is really frightening. I'd say you've probably seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Q1qqMp5_o

I've watched other videos, all by reputable posters or indeed news agency documentaries around racial profiling by American cops. I can provide any number of links. And also, when these people go to complain to the police head quarters, i've some gob-smacking links to provide also around testing cop head quarters on how they handle complaints against police officers- it's actually quite frightening.

In Ireland, why our police complaints procedure isn't perfect by any means, I'd have a lot more faith in it than in America.

What's your view?

Again, my perspective as an officer not taking a side, just thoughts on the video.

As with the snowball, what the video doesn't show is what happened before this part of the encounter. IE, whey were the police there in the first place, that would help put the encounter in context. There was some language about a dog & ownership but it's not clear as to what exactly this means in the overall context of the call and we don't see a dog in the video.

Assuming (for this discussion) the officer was there on some sort of call for service and he engaged with the subject on this dog issue. The subject does mention something about "papers for a dog", maybe the officer was asking him to prove he either owned the dog or it was registered. (required by law in TX) Throughout the encounter the officer remained calm despite being by himself for a while with a large man, clearly bigger than him and at least one other person (the individual with the camera). The subject is acting aggressively, continues to move around, will not comply with reasonable requests to be still, he repeatedly moves his hand away from the officer and at one point clearly says words to the effect of "lets go right here, you will not cuff me". Those are classic indicators of a "pre-fight condition". The officer, IMHO, did well just to keep things from kicking off until his back up arrived. The subtitles at one point say "you are not required to ID to the police" (paraphrase), this is not accurate. A detained person is required, in Texas (Texas Penal Code Sec. 38.02 (b) Failure to Identify) and the subject clearly meets the legal definition of "detained".

NOTE: Detained is a legal term in TX, where you are not under arrest but you are lawfully not free to leave either. Under arrest in TX is a change in your legal status (as opposed to detention), where you are arrested and will be charged with an offense. Detention allows an officer to investigate an offense or preserve evidence or determine if an offense actually occurred at all.

Its also unclear where the conversation about warrants from Louisiana comes from nor is it clear where the other names came in (Reg & Quentin). Did the subject give them or did the officer make it up? We don't know, so its hard to form an opinion either way. To get a warrant, you need a name & DOB at a minimum, and an out of state warrant usually requires more fidelity (address, physical description). This looks like Harris County, TX, the county around Houston but I'm only getting glimpses of the uniforms. You can't do a warrant check with just a physical description or a picture, you need more.

Back to the video. Around the time of the second officer arrival, it skips, don't know if it's been edited, skipped, or just a random victim of the net & YouTube.
Now we are at a point where the subject seems to have shown a wallet or something to confirm his ID, and the officers stand down. Its unclear what the picture on the phone is, we never see it. The subtitles claim its a "50yo male with locs", but we really don't know. The officers, towards the end again ask for information so they can write their report, presumably to document the encounter. I also notice they are wearing body cams, so that will reman part of the encounter history also.

Overall, the cops were professional, remained calm and appear to have resolved the situation, especially that of the subjects identification. No one got hurt, went to jail. Were people upset & angry, yes. I submit (again, we don't see the start of the encounter for context), if the subject had simply remained calm & said, when asked for ID "here ya go officer, here's my ID", quick ID check, "OK, thanks Mr. Jones, you are clearly not in trouble, have a good day", all would have been right with the world.

Some general thoughts related to the above: If a call comes in as "reported stolen dog, caller reports African-American male with dreads stole dog", it is perfectly reasonable for a cop to stop someone matching that description walking a dog in the area of the reported offense. Why would you not, it's basic police work. You stop them, ask for ID, a few questions about the dog. If their ID is clear & the dog is registered, then you go on.

When it comes to videos like these, my standing comment is "does it show everything form start to finish?". Context, totality of the circumstances, nature of the circumstances, etc, will allow a more informed opinion.

NOTE: we have no access to the video footage, it's stored on a hard drive on the camera and downloaded to a secure server. Only administrators can review it and usually requires senior administration approval to delete video.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Deleted User wrote: »

There was a big clean up of New York Streets in the 1990's- I believe "zero tolerance" of "anything" was a prime reason why this was a success- is this something you subscribe to?

However, after a city is "cleaned up", and certainly NY did need a good cleaning of crime, what do you recommend is the ongoing approach to keep streets safe?

There is a powerful argument about the NYPD "broken window theory" was just a flash in the pan and the lower crime rate was an intersection of a rising economy, population shift, a generational shift and some other social & economic interactions. Other cites (LA for example) tried it with mixed to no impact on crime. If you have time, I think its the book "Freakanomics" (great podcast btw too) who picks it apart, thought provoking.

Hire more teachers, social workers, addiction counsellors, use a "whole of community approach" to knotty problems like homelessness, unemployment, poverty etc.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Dublinandy2 wrote: »

When you start off your career, after you’ve had your training and start to actually police do you get career guidance? So the ones who want to stay a beat cop can, those who want to be a detective can or move upwards in uniform or are your skills spotted and moved to areas that the bosses think would suit you?

It's a mixture, some places it's competitive promotion, some are selected for a skill, agency dependent. As a rule you can stay on the beat or promote as best suits your desires & circumstances.

Dublinandy2 wrote: »

Would you let someone with a criminal record be a police officer?

A conviction for anything other than a minor traffic violation is a bar to employment in respectable agencies. No, I already work with a criminal element, we don't need to hire them.

Dublinandy2 wrote: »

Are there any types of criminal that you think are beyond rehabilitation?

Yes, the calculating ones, the psychopaths who need to be institutionalized, violent offenders but then those are personal opinions and I'm not a psychologist.

Arghus

Has the chief ever called you a loose cannon and told you he wanted your gun and your badge?

Woke Hogan

Before you were a policeman how would you have reacted if you had heard of an American police officer saying it's alright to wave a gun around at a snowball fight or arresting a black man for no reason "depending on the context?"

As far as I am aware, there is no video footage for this case, do you think you need to watch that and learn the full context before passing judgement?

If a mother tried to prevent you from sending her husband to an ICE concentration camp, would you arrest her as well? Before you use the "if she broke the law, yes" line bear in mind the people protecting Anne Frank were also breaking the law at the time.

I'm sure a few people reading this will consider criticising me for being too negative but to them you should consider if you want this to be a discussion forum or a tool for pro-paramilitary propaganda.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Deleted User wrote: »

You mentioned earlier that, whilst you have access to the big guns and tactical gear, you find it unnecessary to wear this kinda stuff in day to day policing, as it creates an 'us vs them' feeling with the public.

As a person who lives in Ireland, and as a result, see my Police Service rock around the beat in a pair of slacks, shirt and tie, looking like their first day of school, I adore the idea of 'proper' police outfits. Personally, I find that a police officer with his holster, tactical vest full of all the nonsense equipment he'll probably never use etc. gives a more dominant image, which though I appreciate your 'us VS them' comment, I feel also demands more respect.

So my question is, in everyday actual real life (ie' not statistics or surveys, but your own personal experience) do people actually treat you any different, according to what you're wearing on a given day?



(We have Armed Gardai in Ireland, albeit they're few and far between, but I often see them pop into the local McDonalds with the tac vest, and holster with gun, and no one really passes any remarks or, to my view, looks uncomfortable with it).

Not really, it's more the messaging part of it. A cop with full tactical kit, M-4, bloused trousers & helmet looks like they are ready to patrol Fallujah, not Anytown USA. The kit has it's place, just not for day to day policing.

Also, slightly more serious question, are you familiar with the whole Maurice McCabe Whistle-Blower thing that happened in Ireland recently? How do you find the police officers in your area act? Do you feel you'd ever need to be a 'whistleblower' yourself, or do you reckon the majority of the people there are doing a decent job and not acting the bollocks too much? (I appreciate everyone's human, and people will make jokes, show up late, have slow days, etc. but im talking more about casual abuse of the position of being a police officer).

Know about McCabe based on the news, I think he's brave and should be commended. Thankfully I've not been put in that position, I'd like to think I'd do the right thing though. From what I see most cops are just trying to do the job & get on with it. Sure, we have arseholes in my agency and I'm willing to bet we have a few who abuse their position to some degree or other, (law of numbers), I hope they get caught personally.

Has a very attractive woman ever tried to do 'anything' to get out of a speeding ticket? (even if this never happened, can you just lie and say it happens all the time! )

Well attractive is subjective and it has happened to me, fluttering of eyes, adjusting of bra/shirt sort of thing. My technique is to say (remember it's on video/audio) "For the video, the driver of this vehicle is attempting to expose her breasts to this officer". That usually mortifies them and it's on the tape in the event the subject attempts to file a complaint that I solicited something.

Last question, do you ever have a big argument at work, and go home and play GTA and run a load of police cars off the road out of anger?

No, I don't play video games.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Overheal wrote: »

What's some of your favorite types of beat/duty/enforcement activity? Eg. a really fun hiding spot/tactic to catch speeders, doing downtown foot patrol, cruising neighborhoods, rounds, jailkeeping, unmarked car patrol, narcotics, etc.

I enjoy my patrol duties, I'm in a district car. Calls are varied, little of everything, I do some traffic too, especially at the schools in my patch.

Overheal wrote: »

Aside from DUI, what's some of the traffic offenses people do that just really grind your gears.

Kids not in car seat/seatbelt.

Gatling

Feisar wrote: »

Silly question:D

You mean 9 vs 45!!!!

Nah Glocks come in 9mm ,10mm ,380,,40s&w ,357 ,.45 and 45 Glock

MrTrebus

what a brilliant AMA, and fair play to the officer for answering the decent questions and ignoring the idiots clearing posting to start an argument !!
stay safe in your job man , not many of the keyboard warriors on here would have the bottle to do it !!
Enjoy a long and happy retirement when it comes !!

Zaph

Woke Hogan wrote: »

I'm sure a few people reading this will consider criticising me for being too negative but to them you should consider if you want this to be a discussion forum or a tool for pro-paramilitary propaganda.

No, we want this to be a thread where the officer can share his experiences of being a cop in the States. Nothing more sinister than that, and the only people who are introducing the paramilitary crap is you and a few others like you. This guy isn't responsible for all the ills that currently afflict the USA, and shouldn't be held accountable as if he was. And he most certainly shouldn't be compared to Nazis, so if you don't like his answers then p*ss off somewhere else and let the rest of us enjoy the thread.

Danzy

Woke Hogan wrote: »

If a mother tried to prevent you from sending her husband to an ICE concentration camp, would you arrest her as well? .

🀣🀣

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Gang,

A consolidated reply, again, bear with me, I'm alone and unafraid and want to answer the questions, but only have so much time.

Have you ever arrested someone who has gone on to receive the death penalty or life without parole (or any other long sentence) and how did it make you feel when you heard the ruling?

Not that I recall, that level of offense is usually handled by the detectives or SWAT. I’m not a proponent of the death penalty FWIW.

Being based in TX means you see your fair share of severe weather i.e. super-cells. As such, what type of relationship do you have with storm chasers? When you see a convoy going full tilt towards a storm producing a deadly tornado, do you flag them down and give them a ticket or acknowledge that the work they so provides valuable insight into better understanding these storms and plays a large role in saving multiple lives annually... or is it a case of "man there's an F3 or 4 barreling down on me, I'm not dealing with this sh*t now"?

We don’t see many storm chasers where I am, that's more in very north TX. Just because they are chasing a storm doesn’t give them the right to imperil other members of the public by speeding or otherwise ignoring the laws. Yes, we are VERY busy during storms too.

You mentioned an obscure law about selling cars at the weekend. Have you ever heard of anyone enforcing this or any other bizarre law and what was the result?

Not really, these laws are artifacts or have some sort of historical or political baggage in their origin. We’re mostly involved with the penal code, traffic code, family code sort of thing.

You’ve been doing this job for about a quarter of a century now so I’m presuming you have a good bit of foresight about how things may go. What is the one particular day or event where you know you’re going to be busy e.g. Fourth of July, big game or particular weather pattern?

Just like in Ireland, bank holidays, big matches, festivals, pretty much any large gatherings of humans & alcohol have a fairly predictable outcome.

What has been the toughest day/ shift you have put down and how did it affect you in the aftermath?

Seeing a friend shot & killed, it was 20 years ago and still dealing with it. It wasn’t fun then and isn’t now either.

Do you watch The First 48? Love that show.

Seen bits & pieces, I sense it has a degree of being hand-picked/curated but it does show some of the day to day stuff.

Have you ever seen Bosch? LAPD programme.
No, never seen it

Have you ever had to deal with an Irish person in a professional capacity? And if so, did they mortify the life out of you?

Met a few, met a gang of lads acting the maggot, but then they were from Leitrim 😊

I have many friends both serving cops and retired cops who work in various industries e.g. security and consulting. Trust when making friends, is something that they have found to be very difficult once retired. Is this something that you personally have found to be the case? Are most of your friends’ cops?

I probably wouldn’t want to be friends with people who don’t like cops, not so much lack of trust, more just awareness of what the human race is like. I’d say about 50% of my friends are cops (or fire/EMS/military), but the rest are just random friends.

When you were in training did ye have politeness classes? It's probably just a stereotype but a lot of cops on TV sound the same when dealing with the public, sir/madam etc.

Not specifically as such, but we are encouraged to always start encounters politely. Being polite & decent gets you a long way in life, not just as a cop.

How fast can you run? Is there a requirement to maintain a basic level of fitness?

I can still clock a 7.30 mile but it’s getting harder (I’m 54), but I’m more of a distance runner. In TX all police agencies are required to have a “fitness assessment” which is not actually defined. We use a run/obstacle course or rowing test. It’s required twice a year.

Have you ever left someone go (for a minor crime) just because they made you laugh?

See above from Leitrim, they were just acting the maggot (or being from Leitrim…😊

Do local forces tend to turn a blind eye (as best they can) to well ran instances of street racing? The kind of thing you'd see on 1320videos YouTube channel. 1/8-mile hits from a standstill in very quiet locations during the night, that sort of thing.
Or is there a blanket zero tolerance policy like there is here in Ireland.

We have a zero tolerance for street racing, its too dangerous & endangers the kids doing it and the general public.

When the officers turned up, I had to come out at gunpoint at first to show I wasn't a threat. Once that was established, one was sound and was asking me about the Irish music I was listening to and where I was from/travelling to etc. while the other was like a pit-bull barking questions at me. Would this have been a tactic taught in training used to throw someone off, like good cop bad cop?? Or just a tired and grumpy cop?? It was all sorted in about 5 minutes.

The good cop/bad cop is more of an interrogation technique, not really taught as a patrol technique. Sounds like he was a grumpy/tired or just rude. I hate when those guys show up on my calls, they pssi everyone off.

over your career do you feel like you have developed or diminished any prejudices? not looking for any specifics or anything but i just would have presumed it would have been the case as no matter how much we all want to be moral citizens we all have our prejudices be they justified or not!

I don’t feel especially prejudiced, I try to be balanced, but then it’s hard to be objective about yourself. Although I do have a friend who is ginger! I’m probably more jaded than anything else, you pretty quickly develop a “most people aren’t that bright” attitude, its very hard not to.

why are American police so aggressive and eager to shoot?
So far this year, other than the range, I have yet to draw my gun and have only drawn my taser once but did not need to use it. Baton hasn’t come out in years. Used pepper spray four years ago on an aggressive dog. Draw your own conclusions.
See post about deadly force.

Considering your life choice, if you had the opportunity to restart and do it all over again, would you go down the same route or choose a different career?

Probably, I have no regrets, I generally don’t look back and say “man I shoulda done xxxx”

Do you feel that this is because of your role (i.e. all incidents where guns are likely to be involved are handled by swat units?), your location or is my expectation for gun crime just too high.

If we get a call of “shots fired” were going, it’s our job, that’s why were armed. Likewise, with any other gun related call. SWAT will get called out for a barricaded subject, hostages, felony warrant service, etc. But most of the time patrol officers are first on scene.

Absolutely hilarious. What were the guys from Leitrim doing?

Palmy

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

What did you do before joining, was the decision to join a career change or sort of always in the plan?

Whats the joining process in the states like, I'm currently going through recruitment for NZ Police and it's a very long drawn out process...

To go into law enforcement in the states you can go to a community college for 6 months and set your states certification exam by yourself. Once you have done that you can apply for agency’s. Florida highway patrol (State troopers) have their own training school you need to get selected and go through. Most agency’s in Florida will hire you and put you trough the academy ( community college) at the moment and will pay you from day one. First year deputy at my local Sheriffs Dept starts at $43500yr + another $1200 night differential. Working 48hrs one week and 36hrs the following week.

Yester

Arghus wrote: »

Has the chief ever called you a loose cannon and told you he wanted your gun and your badge?

This is an important question!

punisher5112

I would say it's very tough to lose someone the way you did....

This shouldn't happen at all but I do believe even in Ireland this is getting worse with the likes of drugs and drug debts etc.

People shooting dead others for only small amounts owed or they were on their patch etc.

Really appreciate all the answers and fair play for being a decent human.



Is there anything you see being done by law enforcement that could be done much better and get better results such as actually chasing proper hard criminals.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

But do you agree that many psychopaths enjoy being a cop because of the chance to inflict violence on a daily basis?

No, I do not agree, most of us aren’t psychopaths and don’t inflict violence every day. Last time I wrestled/fought with a subject was several months ago. And he was a white, male college student who had assaulted his girlfriend.

40% of spouses of American police suffer domestic abuse. I presume your part of the other 60%, how many cases of spousal abuse from your fellow officers have you heard? How would you respond if you heard one of your friends was abusing his wife at home?

Well were are generally reflective of the population, so statistics on domestic violence would apply to us as well. Domestic violence arrest is a termination offence where I work. Our agency has a zero-tolerance policy. Haven’t heard of any domestic abuse, but then the abuser is not likely to say over coffee “while I was giving the wife/hubby/partner a few slaps last night….” Can’t speak for other agencies remember, only where I work. How would I respond, same as any other call and request a supervisor as it involves another officer? Once the call comes in, it logged and it’s not going away.

Many, such as myself, believe that the American police are nothing more than the paramilitary wing for a crypto-fascist totalitarian government. There are many, many examples of American policemen and the American justice system being used to protect private interests over the needs of the public, or using fascistic tactics to suppress dissent.

Your opinion, I would respectfully disagree. Just curious, how would you rate the police in Russia to the US?

So, hypothetically, how would you sleep at night after hearing someone you arrested for stealing a sandwich was sent away for life?

It would piss me off TBH, the three strikes law was a giant leap backwards for mankind and your article makes some strong points that I agree with. Note: I don’t make the laws, the legislature does, I’m legally bound to enforce them. We’re not robots and we have discretion, yes, but to an extent our hands are tied with some of this stuff. In this case, from what I can determine, he was actually arrested for the attempted assault on the security guard, not the theft of the sandwich. It’s perversion of justice IMHO. I don’t know what else to tell you.

Do you get on with the military police?

Worked fine with them once, briefly, we don’t have a military base in my patch.

Op, most US police dramas I have watched on television have incorporated some sort of corruption. Back handers from drug gangs, pimps etc.

Most US police dramas also show us to all be good looking, attractive people with outrageously cool apartments that no real cop can afford, and seem to think our life is one never ending car chase & gun fight too…..it’s the movies.

I respect that the cop dramas have advertising and ratings to sell, but how prevalent is police corruption? To what extent does it go on? Honestly please, if you have to say " it happened to a colleague" I am fine with your response, no judgments here, I am just looking for a genuine response.

Previously replied. The one guy I sort of knew solicited a sexual favour from a victim. She (righty reported it) and he got four years.

How do you feel about the militarization of police forces in the US?

Previously answered.

During training are you taught to try and deescalate a situation. Or are you trained to go straight to pulling a weapon?

Yes, we are taught to de-escalate, it’s called the “continuum of force”, goes from verbal, all the way to deadly force. De-escalation training is getting more emphasis lately.

How do you feel about the mixed response to some of your answers here? And about others calling you out for only answering "easy" pro police questions, while ignoring the more critical ones?

People are entitled to their opinions, as I say on the job, “nothing personal, it’s just work”. Some of the questions have intricate answers for complex problems. I’m working on a general answer to the policing/race questions.

Is police life what you expected?

Didn’t expect the sheer volume of paperwork and the more tedious part of the daily grind.

Have you ever had a bad experience with a police officer while off duty? How did it play out, did you just flash your badge and everything was resolved?

Yes, three times in my career. One traffic ticket (and a bollocking from my SGT to go with the note in my file), one guy just sent me on my way, one guy sort of bollocked me but sent me on my way.

Why do you think so many people are critical of US police officers?

Probably the same reasons people are critical of any police force. Society is pretty open here & people are free to criticise.

Are currently working shifts while putting up with and answering boardsies questions.

Yes, wife out of town, so able to do some in the evenings, too busy at work.I work days, 0600 to 1600, four on, three off, work every other weekend.

What rank are you, and how easy or difficult is it to get promoted?

Patrol officer, promotion depends on your test scores, education & skills.

I'm guessing from your answers that you're a "regular" cop, for want of a better word. Have you ever been tempted to apply to become a detective, join the SWAT Team, etc., or do you feel that your current role suits you better and/or allows you to utilize your talents more effectively?

I did five years on SWAT, being a detective, I think would be interesting, but I just like the variety of patrol I suppose.

Has the chief ever called you a loose cannon and told you he wanted your gun and your badge?

No.

Before you were a policeman how would you have reacted if you had heard of an American police officer saying it's alright to wave a gun around at a snowball fight or arresting a black man for no reason "depending on the context?"

It’s “police officer”, my good friend Kathy is not a policeman by any stretch. Before I was a cop, I was fairly unsure of the whole gun thing, especially having grown up in Ireland. I didn’t see the gun “waving around part”, yes, he unholstered it and then re-holstered it. Before I was a cop, I would probably have been put off by that too. I didn’t see an African-American being arrested in the snowball vid, the subject there looked maybe Hispanic, Asian or mixed race. The video ended; we don’t know if he was arrested, yes, he was detained, but we don’t know for what reason.

As far as I am aware, there is no video footage for this case, do you think you need to watch that and learn the full context before passing judgement?

No, the court has passed judgement, he’s a pervert and deserves everything he gets.

If a mother tried to prevent you from sending her husband to an ICE concentration camp, would you arrest her as well?

We can’t enforce federal immigration laws, I’m not a fed, may agency will not cooperate with ICE unless there is a warrant for a felony or violent offender.

Before you use the "if she broke the law, yes" line bear in mind the people protecting Anne Frank were also breaking the law at the time.

I’m not getting drawn into the immigration debate, sorry, I’ll talk cop stuff only. Another multi-layered, complex issue.

Rubberchikken

sorry if its been asked and answered but have you previously served in the military?
are many of your colleagues former military or is that discouraged?

thanks

punisher5112

I was just watching street kings..... Wow I want to be a cop...;-)


Only messing...

I would say having all this Hollywood sh1te doesn't help either with wannabe gang bangers etc....

Isn't it actually terrible to think with all the technology and other great changes that killings are so much more and violence...

I always wanted to be a cop but look at it now and say how could someone be one with all the absolute bull and red tape.

It actually tears me up to see what people do to see off a fallen hero and I do hope you can move on as best you can from what you had to see if course.

There is so much absolute scum out there.


Why is the US so mad into their churches and groups???

Seems bizarre to be honest.