Now ye're talking - to a US police officer

Sexual Chocolate

Sexual Chocolate wrote: »

Did you notice a change in everyday policing after 9/11 ?

Does your agency require you to have a heavy trigger pull weight on your Glock like the NYPD, who I believe have one of the highest ? (I'm not a gun nut but did read recently about this and how officers struggle to adapt to this, likewise with DAO sidearms)

And assuming you drove them, do you miss the Crown Vics ?

Think my questions got caught up in the the pissing and moaning last night

I'm a US police officer, AMA

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.

There was always red tape and BS, don’t let the old sweats fool you. We work in law enforcement, therefore we deal with the law, therefore we do a lot of writing, form filling because laws revolve around structure and process. If you want to be a cop, give it a go.

Did you notice a change in everyday policing after 9/11?

Yes, everyone went mad with the whole “terrorism” thing, it put a lot (and still does) of unfair blame on some immigrant & Muslim communities. Seems like everyone had to have a terrorism task force, loads of tactical kit. The good was it forced some needed structural changes and cooperation between agencies, especially at the federal level. We have a regional analysis center now with reps from most local, state & federal agencies and we are actually sharing information.

Does your agency require you to have a heavy trigger pull weight on your Glock like the NYPD, who I believe have one of the highest? (I'm not a gun nut but did read recently about this and how officers struggle to adapt to this, likewise with DAO sidearms)

No, ours are factory setting, standard pull, 9mm.

And assuming you drove them, do you miss the Crown Vics?

I liked the Crown Vic (the iconic US police car), Ford stopped making them as there was no money in it despite the huge agency purchases. It took me a while to get used to the Tahoe, but now I like it. Don’t miss the Crown Vic as such, the Tahoe is better IMHO but some of the lads/lasses still go on about it. I’m less keen on the new Ford Explorers, they seem cramped, tinny & underpowered, but the chief didn’t ask me, did she?

Palmy

Rubberchikken wrote: »

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

I work with a lot of retired and have a few friends who are active law enforcement. There are a lot who come from some sort of military background. Although I was told by an old FTO I know that a lot are not passing the psychological test due to PTSD.

Sam Quentin

Hello.. are there certain arrests where you would love to take the assailant behind your patrol car and put a bullet in their head.... I know the answer to this is yes,. So bearing in mind 95% of people are law abiding,.do you think laws and punishment for certain crimes are much to leniant... And the rest of us normal humans should be allowed to live in peace and happiness. Thank You.

micks_address

Apologies I haven't read the complete thread. I wanted to ask re something my US colleagues mentioned to me. Are checkpoints for alcohol limits allowed in the US? In Ireland we have them frequently where drivers will be stoped and checked for alcohol limits via breathalyzer. Colleagues say in the US you can't be pulled over unless you are agressively speeding or driving erratically?

I've been driving in new Hampshire last couple of months. Regularly see police on the highway doing speed checks and cars pulled over.
I might be generalizing but there does seem to be a more accepting attitude to having 2 or 3 drinks and driving. In Ireland it's gotten to the stage where you can't drink at all and drive.. so my colleagues here laugh at me when I won't take any alcohol and drive.. just a rule I've had since I got behind the wheel.

Again apologies if this has already been covered.
Cheers,
Mick

Cerdito

Is drink driving taken as seriously in the US as in Ireland, or in other countries like Australia? I was out with American friends in Dallas about 10 years ago, and everyone drove home from the bar with a skinful, I was pretty shocked.

theguzman

How popular are donuts amongst the US police force? Also what is your favourite police movie

helimachoptor

In terms of inter agency politics, have the feds ever come in to take over and have you/your chief ever said "dont give me that jurismydick-tion crap"

In all seriousness, how often have you worked cross-agency and any interesting stories?

And what NFL team do you support?

Fathom

Community policing has been successful in Ireland, UK, and other places. One aspect of community policing is walking your beat. Do you walk a lot when patrolling your assigned areas, or do you mostly ride in a car or motorcycle?

notobtuse

Now officers in the states have to hesitate and weigh things in their minds to see if doing their job will make the papers and the talk shows and cause public outcry. We seem to be more concerned with the safety of thieves, rapists, murderers and drug dealers than we are for the safety of those hired to protect us. Do you think the rampant unfair public perception today in the US puts officers in more danger than ever before?

4068ac1elhodqr

Fathom wrote: »

Community policing has been successful in Ireland, UK, and other places. One aspect of community policing is walking your beat. Do you walk a lot when patrolling your assigned areas, or do you mostly ride in a car or motorcycle?

Can only imagine in Tx, the 2nd biggest state, a car is the only way to get about.
(Guesstimate also), would be 'walking the beat' has dimished drastically across Ire & UK, funding reduction mixed with personal safety or practicality.

Seen a couple of lads on mountian bikes (cycles) doing traffic management and very low risk community stuff, that looks ideal (in fair weather).
In Ldn, the Met spent a fortune on big fancy BMWGS600 type motor-bike units, but you never hear of them being used, on moped gangs, or anything other./

Q. Do you avail of Minority Report-esq pre-crime software? (Not the soon to arrive 5G-FRS), but stats or ai-algorithms. E.g. Many emergency services can allow for +5% workflow demand simply due to a weekend's 'full moon' occuring.

punisher5112

Adriana Disgusting Herb wrote: »

Can only imagine in Tx, the 2nd biggest state, a car is the only way to get about.
(Guesstimate also), would be 'walking the beat' has dimished drastically across Ire & UK, funding reduction mixed with personal safety or practicality.

Seen a couple of lads on mountian bikes (cycles) doing traffic management and very low risk community stuff, that looks ideal (in fair weather).
In Ldn, the Met spent a fortune on big fancy BMWGS600 type motor-bike units, but you never hear of them being used, on moped gangs, or anything other./

Q. Do you avail of Minority Report-esq pre-crime software? (Not the soon to arrive 5G-FRS), but stats or ai-algorithms. E.g. Many emergency services can allow for +5% workflow demand simply due to a weekend's 'full moon' occuring.

London has started cracking down though, they are ramming the bikes and are using a wide range of motorbike style to do this too.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Gang, it's just easier for me to do this as opposed to answering individual posts, so apologies as such, it's time management.

I work with a lot of retired and have a few friends who are active law enforcement. There are a lot who come from some sort of military background. Although I was told by an old FTO I know that a lot are not passing the psychological test due to PTSD.

There are a lot of ex-military in law enforcement, I think about 40% of us have served or continue to serve in the reserves. I was in the Army before this and still serve in the Army Reserve. I think they compliment each other and to a point attract the same sort of person. Discipline, structure, chain of command, attractive polyester uniforms and the desire to serve. A diagnosis of PTSD in of itself is not a bar to joining, it’s more how it affects you and the extent of the diagnosis. A fair number of cops have been diagnosed with job related PTSD and we don’t just fire them.

Hello. are there certain arrests where you would love to take the assailant behind your patrol car and put a bullet in their head...? I know the answer to this is yes, so bearing in mind 95% of people are law abiding, do you think laws and punishment for certain crimes are much to lenient... And the rest of us normal humans should be allowed to live in peace and happiness. Thank You.

Well we get frustrated but I’ve never felt the desire to take the law into my own hands despite the frustrating sentencing, etc. I won’t say it’s never happened, especially in times past. Baltimore PD in the Freddie Grey case is an example. That case, and the fiasco of the subsequent trials, (and others like it) do more to make our lives hard than anything else. But then Baltimore PD is a case study in dysfunctional policing. Remember, the screenplay for the The Wire was written by a retired BPD officer based on his life….

Are laws & punishment too lenient?

In some cases, yes, others no. I think the US justice system is too focused on the punishment side of things as opposed to rehab and re-integration.

Apologies I haven't read the complete thread.

You should, the guy answering the questions is amazing, insightful & charming (at least in his own mind

I wanted to ask re something my US colleagues mentioned to me. Are checkpoints for alcohol limits allowed in the US? In Ireland we have them frequently where drivers will be stopped and checked for alcohol limits via breathalyzer. Colleagues say in the US you can't be pulled over unless you are aggressively speeding or driving erratically?

No, sobriety checkpoints don’t pass constitutional scrutiny here in the US. It was tried 10 years or so ago, courts threw it out right away. The officer has to have probable cause (PC) to pull you over. The initial stop gives you the PC (speeding, tail lights out, crossing the line, etc.), then you can figure out of there is alcohol involved and start the whole DD testing process. Drunk driving here is a huge problem despite the even increasing penalties. Your assessment is correct, Americans seem to have a lax attitude about it. You are smart, just don’t drink & drive, it’s 100% preventable. I won’t drive even with a glass of wine over dinner, too much to lose. A DD arrest is an automatic termination offense in my agency.

I've been driving in New Hampshire last couple of months. Regularly see police on the highway doing speed checks and cars pulled over. I might be generalizing but there does seem to be a more accepting attitude to having 2 or 3 drinks and driving. In Ireland it's gotten to the stage where you can't drink at all and drive. so, my colleagues here laugh at me when I won't take any alcohol and drive. just a rule I've had since I got behind the wheel.

See above

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

See above and many agencies give preferential hiring points to ex-military, almost the other way around. Exers are generally disciplined, fit, and a bit more life experienced.

In terms of inter-agency politics, have the feds ever come in to take over and have you/your chief ever said "don’t give me that jurisdiction crap".

More movie hype BS. If the crime is a federal offense, then the feds automatically have jurisdiction, the chief can’t tell the feds to fcuk off when he/she has not jurisdiction. Only the feds can work federal cases, and conversely, they can’t work state cases. For the most part it’s mutual cooperation, they might be working a case, especially drugs and for whatever reason, have a weak federal case, but it could be a stronger state case, so they’ll turn it over to a state or local agency for prosecution. In large, complex cases, there is more of an element of competition between bigger agencies and the feds (think LAPD, NYPD vs. FBI/DEA sort of thing). The movie “The Departed” spoke to this and was fairly accurate about the tension between a large PD (Boston), the Feds and the Mass. State Police. The feds I’ve worked with have been fine, we have a few officers seconded to the local DEA task force and it’s mutually cooperative.

In all seriousness, how often have you worked cross-agency and any interesting stories?

When I was on SWAT, we used to serve warrants for the DEA commonly. It was always amusing to watch a hard case be all tough guy, mouthing off to us, telling his family “call the lawyer, I’ll be back for dinner” sort of thing. Then it’s “Hello, I’m Special Agent Bloggs from the DEA and we have a federal warrant for you”. Now it’s all Mr. Nice Guy as he figures it’s the feds and a lot of federal statues have harsh minimum sentencing guidelines. I’ve literally watched a “hard case” become a cooperating witness in front of a DEA agent on scene. And yes, they do wear the blue DEA/FBI jackets on a mission like that. It’s is very important to be instantly recognizable as a cop when you carry a gun are around a raid/warrant service environment, you don’t want to get shot for been mistaken for a bad guy.

And what NFL team do you support?

Don’t follow American football, I enjoy the premier league & watching the rugby & a bit of GAA.

Community policing has been successful in Ireland, UK, and other places. One aspect of community policing is walking your beat. Do you walk a lot when patrolling your assigned areas, or do you mostly ride in a car or motorcycle?

I’m in a car are as 90% of us, our districts are big, walking would be ineffective. Downtown there is a walking beat and they use the Mtn. bikes and even horses. Motorbikes are for roads policing almost exclusively. I’m a fan of community policing, America lost that in the 1980’s recessions. Using a car an agency can cover more ground with fewer officers, and I don’t see us going back to much foot patrolling. There is a renewed push for community-oriented policing, (COP) kind of ironic really considering most urban policing was essentially COP until we got stretched thin, city grew, budgets got smaller.

Now officers in the states have to hesitate and weigh things in their minds to see if doing their job will make the papers and the talk shows and cause public outcry. We seem to be more concerned with the safety of thieves, rapists, murderers and drug dealers than we are for the safety of those hired to protect us. Do you think the rampant unfair public perception today in the US puts officers in more danger than ever before?

There has been some talk of that in the professional journals, I think it was Ottawa, Canada where an anonymous study of officers revealed an increased reluctance to engage as it’s just not worth the hassle. I know officers who won’t give a minority a traffic ticket (they get a written warning only) because they just don’t want to deal with it. This “slow rolling” is sad and a detriment to our profession. Having said that, it only seems to apply to low level offenses (traffic, etc.). No one is going to just sit in the car and say “I’m not going to that sexual assault call”, you’d be fired FFS. The Oklahoma City bomber was caught as a result of an OK State Trooper pulling McVeigh over for a “minor traffic violation” (expired number plate), amazing what you can find out with “minor traffic violations”, it’s called good policing. I don’t think we’re in more danger as such, we’re probably more accountable which is a good thing. The flip side to that is the proliferation of edited, curated YouTube & Facebook videos showing parts of a scene/call which can be easy to take out of context. (see my response to the two videos).

Can only imagine in Tx, the 2nd biggest state, a car is the only way to get about. (Guesstimate also), would be 'walking the beat' has diminished drastically across Ire & UK, funding reduction mixed with personal safety or practicality.

Seen a couple of lads on mountain bikes (cycles) doing traffic management and very low risk community stuff, that looks ideal (in fair weather). In Ldn, the Met spent a fortune on big fancy BMWGS600 type motor-bike units, but you never hear of them being used, on moped gangs, or anything other.

See above, don’t know about the Met. and their BMW’s, we use our motors for traffic enforcement mostly.

Do you avail of Minority Report-esq pre-crime software? (Not the soon to arrive 5G-FRS), but stats or ai-algorithms. E.g. Many emergency services can allow for +5% workflow demand simply due to a weekend's 'full moon' occurring.

We, like a lot of other agencies use CompStat a programme developed by or with NYPD, can’t remember. It’s a statistical analysis of crime statistics, by time, place, population density, etc. We use it focus our efforts on a particular area or crime. For example, there was a spike in car thefts in a certain area. Using CompStat, the analysis guys were able to narrow it down to two large apartment complexes. So, for a three-week period we added extra patrols working with the auto-theft task force detectives and the COP team. Talked to the residents, got some good intel, made some good arrests, discovered a chop-shop operation, recovered a few stolen high-end cars. It’s not predictive, more an analysis tool really, but we’ll use it surge assets to focus on a particular crime/area. History tells us large events, matches, bank holidays will need more cops, we always plus up for those.

Your Face

Hi there.
I recently listened to a podcast about alleged paranormal experiences as told by police officers.

Do you have any weird stories?:pac:

diusmr8a504cvk

Have you ever shot your gun up in the air and gone "Ah!"?

punisher5112

Sylvie Tart Jaw wrote: »

Have you ever shot your gun up in the air and gone "Ah!"?

Only Keanu can make that feel right...

supermouse

What colour jiu jitsu belt are you?

BaronVon

Very interesting, thanks for doing this.

• From the outside looking in, Community type policing does not seem to be a feature of US policing. Do you, or any of your colleagues, live in your work area? If not, why not? Is it to separate work life from home life? And,
  
• Would you be known by people on your beat? As the Irish Cop or whatever?
  
• Do you have ticket/arrest quotas?
  

sa.curran

What's the worst case you have ever taken on or experienced? Have you ever been injured while on duty?

IAMAMORON

Have you ever squatted TJ Hooker style and pointed your fireman at an assailant, double handed and shouted ,

" FREEZE POLICE , DONT MOVE A MUSCLE, PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD "

DeVore

This thread has been most instructive, thank you for doing it!

Mostly its been instructive of the depth of misconception Irish people have about what US cops do from day to day but still >.<

sdanseo

My question landed right before a page break so I'm shamelessly bumping it, hope that's OK and not too ungrateful!

Thanks again for the AMA. Have been thoroughly enjoying the read.

sdanseo wrote: »

A more mundane question from me, among the very many I could ask.

Do you still have an Irish accent, is it strong or just noticeable if so, and does it affect the way you are interpreted, understood or treated at all, both by cops and the public?

diusmr8a504cvk

Is it true that there is a place in a man's head that, if you shoot it, it will blow up?

myshirt

First of all, I do want to say I absolutely respect the decent honest men and women of law enforcement that serve their communities. It is noble and it is honourable. I have every admiration for you all.

I equally want to say, you do have a race problem within the organizational culture of your force. It's not you and it's not your colleagues, but it is systemic, and it is utterly abhorrent. What do you think is your role in giving young black kids a fair shake and how do you think the force can build trust with some of the most marginalised and impoverished communities?

Edit: To give some of my own background, I am lawyer who done a lot of voluntary work with Irish kids from disadvantaged backgrounds. We had our police force link in with your police force in NYC and met some great guys through it. Honest decent hard working men protecting their families and communities, but also a lot of embittered racists unfortunately, which let down the great humanity found in the other officers. We had one officer have a mugging reported to him, and the guy described as roughly 6'2" and 190 pounds, which was radioed in as "We have a report of a 6'2" black male...". No one said he was black. He wasn't.

DeVore

DeVore wrote: »

This thread has been most instructive, thank you for doing it!

Mostly its been instructive of the depth of misconception Irish people have about what US cops do from day to day but still >.<

I don’t agree

I'm a US police officer, AMA

Do you act like glorified tax collectors like the guards do here by doing nothing only setting up checkpoints to check tax and insurance every day of the week while real crime happens all around you?

Ah yea, the old “haven’t you got anything better to do” routine. A few points: In TX, only $10 of any ticket revenue goes to the agency issuing the citation. Law was passed to stop the “policing for profit” common in smaller agencies (think these little towns with their 10-officer agency). Using the cops (here or Gardai) to collect fines is probably not cost effective if you figure in the cost of a Garda, courts, paperwork etc. However, no one is ever going to accuse the government (anywhere) of being cost effective, are they? For checkpoints, see my previous post about sobriety checkpoints.

I’ll take a shot at this: Driving without tax & insurance is a crime FWIW, albeit on the lower order of offenses to be sure. And, as I mentioned earlier, Timothy McVeigh was apprehended for a minor traffic offense in the wake of the OK City bombing. You’d be surprised what you come across working traffic calls. I have a large school in my patch. The parents complain about people speeding near the school. We run speed traps and start writing tickets. The offenders (who mostly live near the school, often on the way to/from the school to grab the kids), then give us guff about “haven’t we anything better to do?”. You can’t win. From talking to Gardai, I sense (but don’t know this) there can be an element of looking for someone or intel gathering when they set up a checkpoint. Sort of a “we need to see whose coming & going near XXX” Reading the news (from over here), Ireland seems to have a high incident of traffic deaths, uninsured drivers, so there is clearly a demand signal for the Gardai to do something about it, ergo checkpoints I suppose. Could the Gardai be better used doing other duties, maybe, but if traffic violations are a big problem and “something must be done”, there ya have it. FWIW, standing in the middle of a road, even with full high vis kit is effing dangerous. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve nearly been clobbered by stupid motorists when working traffic duty.

Which reminds me: how challenging is it to enforce against motorcycles?
It’s hard, we’ll initiate a pursuit if they won’t stop but we won’t take it very far. Too much risk, not worth it, we’ll catch them the next time.


Thoughts/remarks on 1st Amendment 'enforcers'? Looking for trouble? Important exercise?

The 1st Amendment (Bill of Rights) is almost the defining feature of the US Constitution, a hugely important document. I’m a strong supporter of the 1st, especially if you consider the alternates (try protesting Vladimir Putin or the Chinese leadership and see how that works out). Right to protest, free speech however, doesn’t give you the right to run amok and start a riot. There is an element I think of extremists on both side of this (left & right) who are militant, and yes, looking for a fight. Why would you stage your legally permitted march and be encouraging your members to show up with clubs, ball bats, guns, helmets & shields if you weren’t spoiling for a fight. “Oh, but I have the right to protect myself officer”, Yes, we all have an inherent right to self-defense, but let’s be realistic, you came looking for a fight. This isn’t Fallujah, what do you need an assault rifle for? So, yes, get out there, peacefully protest, we’ll protect you (even when we’d love to see you getting a few slaps) as you have the right to protest, but don’t show up loaded for a bear.

What's your insight on Police forces vs. Sheriff Departments, because of the politics of the Sheriff being elected vs. Chief being appointed? I notice in SC, most major city forces are generally a bit nicer than county, aside from infamous speed traps like Cottageville where it’s all a huge racket. Does the differences in accountability seem in your experience to make them more or less prone to be 'us vs them?'

The elected Sheriff thing is one of those odd artifacts of US history, back to the local control from colonial times. We’re stuck with it and it is what it is, although I prefer the chief to be appointed, not elected to keep politics out of it. Different states have different laws, especially when it comes to the revenue from fines (see above). There is a connection between revenue, poor policing and excessive use of force. In the US DOJ report on the Ferguson, Missouri PD, it hammers the town for have clear policies on using the PD to generate revenue for the town. It’s another dysfunctional, smaller, PD, almost a case study in what not to do. An elected sheriff is someone you are stuck with for four years, so there is less accountability than a chief who can be held accountable by the city council. The current sheriff where I live has no police or management experience to speak of, and she’s running a multi-million-dollar, 2500 officer agency. I don’t know what to say.

Finally, what is your perspective on the nature of the beast when it comes to Police Departments taking the 'fraternity' culture too far: departments that won't tell you your badge number, won't let you get a form to file a complaint against a fellow officer, or like that one cop in Miami some years ago, will go out of their way to ruin 'one of their own' that enforces the law against another LEO, - and WHY does it always seem like cops in the public domain always close ranks and never call a bad cop a bad cop? Personally, I'm frustrated as a citizen that it feels like, in at least a small number of high-profile cases, that bad cops are not adequately called out by bad cops. As you mentioned there are just too many silos, too many departments, too many disparate training regimens, but what are the common threads?

The blue wall of silence, eh? It’s a problem and it won’t be solved soon. As the saying goes, “culture eats policy for breakfast”. Whole books have been written about this, so I’ll give my short answer. Policing is unique, like medicine or priests, it’s a “members only” thing. If you’re not a cop/doctor/whatever, you are an outsider, groups tend to protect their own. Cops were willing to turn a blind eye because the subject “probably deserved it, and sure it’s only a few slaps” or “it’s only a few dollars and a couple of tickets to the match”. A challenge to that from the inside, well, now you are a rat or a traitor and given the cold shoulder. Look at Maurice McCabe and the blue wall of Garda silence. As a profession, we need to evolve and be accountable, we serve the public and should be held to a high standard. FWIW, I work with people who strongly disagree with me on this, old habits.
How did you end up in Texas from Ireland?
Married an American

The different law agencies in each district, can you give us a brief synopsis of what one does and how they are supposed to differ from each other please.

At the local level (again broad strokes here), most towns or government agencies can have their own force of they choose to do so. So, where I live, we have 27 different agencies. It goes something like this: County Sheriff, big city PD, transit police, two school police forces, four university forces and a handful of small forces for the little cities around us. The sheriff & big city are the main ones. The rest are all full cops with full police powers, uniforms, cars, etc. and they work their jurisdiction exclusively. So, they all do basically the same thing in their little pond. They range from fairly decent (the big university PD is pretty professional) to utterly useless (the 10 officer (three of whom are part time)) small town cops. All these towns, agencies like their little empires, its their PD, so they control it as opposed to say the university using the city PD who they don’t have any say in.

At the state/federal, it makes more sense to specialize. The IRS (the tax people for example), have cops, these people are really just accountants with guns, but they are massive specialists in tax evasion, fraud, wire fraud etc., so I get that. Same with the DEA, man those guys know more about drugs than I could hope to remember. Just like there are back doctors, heart doctors…all docs, and we need specialists. If my leg is broken, I want an orthopedist, not a cardiac specialist. The small-town stuff is dumb IMHO.

Well done on doing your PhD. What area are you studying, is it related to your job. If the question is too much of an intrusion, please ignore.

Law & public policy, it interests me.

I understand you're not alone in being unable to predict the future accurately, but, what I'm wondering about this question is, do you think if the judicial practices and strategies of recent/current years continue, it will lead to a society which could be considered safer (while being more just to all) than how people might view the current society?

I really don’t know, I suppose in general life is better than it was 100 years ago, so it’s getting better. Whether that’s the laws & cops or just society evolving I don’t know.

Or will the gap between those think the justice system does not work and those who think it is improving will widen?

I’d like to think we’ll narrow the gap but it’ll take some work.

Has the fact that you are an Irish person made things better/worse/different in terms of carrying out the job you do? Is it something you can use to your benefit, or something you can use? Do the locals ask about you being Irish?

Probably not, my accent has diluted somewhat, it gets noticed but not in any meaningful way.

Do you still have an Irish accent, is it strong or just noticeable if so, and does it affect the way you are interpreted, understood or treated at all, both by cops and the public?

See above

What's the best thing about living in Texas?

Low state taxes.

What’s the worst thing about living in Texas?

I’m tired of the heat and the general conservative, redneck mentality.

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. It’s not 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 think we need to study what the Europeans are doing and why its different. Europeans society/culture/history is too different to make a direct comparison, but even the Canadians have a lower use of deadly force than we do. Personal opinion: it evolved from the founding of a country which had little to no existing structures to being with, so violence became a norm (think of the old west sort of thing) and it grew from there. Again, personal opinion not based on any real research.

Very interesting, thanks for doing this.

No problem, happy to share.

From the outside looking in, Community type policing does not seem to be a feature of US policing.

See another post about community policing

Do you, or any of your colleagues, live in your work area? If not, why not? Is it to separate work life from home life?

Some do some don’t, we’re assigned based on what the department needs, not based on where we live. I couldn’t afford to live in some parts of my district and I wouldn’t want to live with the meth heads in the other parts.

Would you be known by people on your beat? As the Irish Cop or whatever?

Kind of. My patch is so big and we’re so busy we just don’t have time to make local connections. We get to know the staff in the local coffee shops and some of the food joints just from being in & out so much.

Do you have ticket/arrest quotas?

We don’t but our performance is monitored. If I have no call activity in a shift, questions will be asked but I don’t have minimums. It’s management making sure we’re not just sitting in the car doing nothing than quotas. Quotas are a bad idea. It fosters the need to make arrests/write tickets which leads to overly aggressive policing and making poor decisions, profiling etc. A mate who is NYPD has to deal with quotas despite the official NYPD policy of no quotas. He hates it. Eric Garner died as a result of an informal NYPD policy of “getting collars”, the cops were looking for an “easy collar” and it went pear shaped.

What's the worst case you have ever taken on or experienced?

Seen some pretty awful child abuse and sexual violence on women, sad.

Have you ever been injured while on duty?

Knee & back sprains, tore my rotator cuff helping the paramedics lift a patient, that resulted in two surgeries and nine months of light duty filing traffic reports. Been diagnosed with a form of chronic PTSD.

I'm a US police officer, AMA

myshirt wrote: »

First of all, I do want to say I absolutely respect the decent honest men and women of law enforcement that serve their communities. It is noble and it is honourable. I have every admiration for you all.

I equally want to say, you do have a race problem within the organizational culture of your force. It's not you and it's not your colleagues, but it is systemic, and it is utterly abhorrent. What do you think is your role in giving young black kids a fair shake and how do you think the force can build trust with some of the most marginalised and impoverished communities?

Edit: To give some of my own background, I am lawyer who done a lot of voluntary work with Irish kids from disadvantaged backgrounds. We had our police force link in with your police force in NYC and met some great guys through it. Honest decent hard working men protecting their families and communities, but also a lot of embittered racists unfortunately, which let down the great humanity found in the other officers. We had one officer have a mugging reported to him, and the guy described as roughly 6'2" and 190 pounds, which was radioed in as "We have a report of a 6'2" black male...". No one said he was black. He wasn't.

Thanks, I do intend to talk to the police/race issue (it's been mentioned previously) and I want to make an honest effort on my answer, but it'll be a longer post and I'm trying to keep up with the housekeeping as it were. More to follow...glad to hear you do what you do, I wish more people would give of their time, makes for better communities.

punisher5112

Do you really buy into this race card rubbish....
Yes there are times where people are well out of order etc...

But I've had a lot of flack of them myself....

Is the race card played too much in your opinion...

noubliezjamais

Is the U.S. justice system much harsher than most European countries or even the Irish? I get that feeling. You guys have mandatory minimum sentencing for some crimes as well as the three strikes law.

I always think of the Norwegian shooter, Brevik. Had he done his deeds in the States, he'd be looking at 77 consecutive life sentences. He's only getting 21 years.

Do you think your system in America is better than the European system or not?

Also a side question, how serious is prescription forgery? I did it a few times by the Gardai here cautioned me. In America though, I heard it's a felony and can land you jail time, even worse than stealing a bag of Doritos.

Hardacre

What's your opinion on the Mohamed Noor/Justine Damond shooting & subsequent sentencing?