My family is from the East Coast originally (Tri-State area), who usually ended up joining forces like the NYPD there?
I agree with you to an extent.... the thing is, it takes ATLEAST a few years in my opinion to figure out how to be very good at talking with people when you are a police officer. And I’m not talking about having an average conversation with someone like yourself. I’m talking about someone who is mentally ill, emotionally unstable, or literally just committed a crime and KNOW they are about to be locked up. Because those are the tough jobs that can be pressure cookers because you are not sure what this person is capable of. There are two things I focus on all the time, that I think are absolutely PARAMOUNT in policing in regards to dealing with the public. Verbal judo and tactics. De escalation is key as well. I do agree with you that some officers make it worse, even the majority to be honest don’t have a clue and escalate the situation. But trust me when I say this. It is not easy whatsoever to become good at talking to people in high stress situations as a police officer. Usually when I fail to hit the sweet spot with an emotionally disturbed person, I’ll just take a step back and have the officer next to me give a go at him (calming him/her down). Working as a team is the best way to handle jobs and I can’t stress this enough. A lot of cops these days think they can do it on their own (usually because they have more TIME on the job then other officers, or they simply do no not want to look incompetent in front of co workers). Slightly off topic but what I find fascinating is that every time someone gets lodged into a cell for a crime they committed, do you want to know what they say? “I DIDNT DO ANYTHING WRONG. Happens 99 percent of the time even when you have them dead to rights on surveillance footage and victim/witness statements. And this even applies to people who have a bad night, slip up and get arrested for the first time in thier lives. I always thought people would man up to thier actions and just be like “yeah I screwed up” but nope, quite the contrary. Back to your point though. I do agree that being in shape and physically commanding respect is a huge plus. But using your brain and staying calm under pressure trumps that hands down. Experience helps communicate with people better than any sort of training you can receive.
The way I see it. There’s only some officers that are very good in tense situations. If you only took those officers and got rid of the rest, there would literally be any police officers at all. And even those officers who are good in tense situations are t perfect so it would be inevitable just by the sheer numbers of police/civilian interactions for something to eventually go wrong again and become another Gardner/Floyd video. It’s just a matter of time in my opinion, especially with everyone on the lookout to capture that next video in essence.
Good point. first I think the biggest problem with policing in the US is that there are not enough police, and that they can not attract the kinds of quality people in law enforcement because the pay, and long hours, due to shortage, is too long. So you end up bringing in people that are not well suited to the job then 'hope' they develop into quality officers. Back when I was a kid and saw a squad car or had a situation where the police were involved, you ALWAYS had an older seasoned cop, and a younger officer that was on the job learning... you just do not see that much anymore. Being able to deal with stressful confrontational situations comes with practice and the best way to learn is from an effective quality mentor.
Wow, that’s a pretty messed up situation to be in. And I can completely hear where your coming from. The city that I live in, what you went through was more present from 90’s up until 2010 for sure considering the zero tolerance policing where literally everyone goes to jail for situations like that. It’s this zero tolerance policing that makes a lot of these minority communities especially in my city have a chip on their shoulder about cops. But here’s a huge misconception I have found out about minority neighborhoods in my opinion. The majority of the residents actually want the police there. Almost everyone is friendly when passing by and even chat you up. It’s almost the same people involved in 911 situations day in and day out. It’s always shocking getting a call and not recognizing who we see at these jobs. And those are the people that call 911 and when you show up cause a ruckus and then say “**** off, we don’t need police here”... I just sit there like umm ok you did just call us here (and every other day). Mob mentality is a huge problem in these neighborhoods. Because you can talk to a guy with a rap sheet out the door, man to man, and he’s actually kinda chill. But if his buddy comes by or simply passes us on the street, his attitude simply flips a script. It’s kinda sad to be honest but that’s how most people in these neighborhoods are. I always tell myself in regards to the hate these neighborhoods have towards cops: and I don’t mean to sound corny, but Deep in these peoples hearts, they know what is right and what is wrong and they are deeply blinded by thier pride to there neighborhoods. They are proud to be from the projects and the lifestyle it represents, but deep down and behind closed doors (1v1 convo I just explained), they despise it and want something more for themselves but are trapped. That’s why I sympathize, because there are TONS of people in the hood who do not know there fathers and whose family members are junkies. Like you can’t even have a more ****ed up family life even if you tried. And all the teenage guys at 16,17,18 years old are already fathers to children with different women. It’s mind boggling and puts thier future in stone for constant failure. I do not believe in de funding police(knee jerk reaction by politicians giving into whoever screams and jumps up and down the loudest), But I STRONGLY believe in getting the proper services in these bad neighborhoods to not repeat the cycle. Give these people something they are frightened to lose, like every other hard working person has.
Very much agree with you on that. I actually noticed that exactly to a tee that some people we ALWAYS deal with only feel comfortable talking to certain cops about what’s going on in the neighborhood. It’s the cops these people talk to on a first name basis. The thing with that style though it’s kind of like a double edged sword. Your talking to these people... some are normal (which is cool), but others are straight up drug dealers with robberies and even a murder or two under there belt. I have had these convos with drug dealers on the corner. (was extremely hesitant at first but a senior cop told me to stop sitting in the car and interact with them rather than babysitting them from committing a crime). I got outta the car and straight up just shot the **** with a bunch of them, talking about basketball, the neighborhood crackheads and what not lol and actually enjoyed the convo and they know who I am and help me keep the corner clean which I couldn’t believe. Was actually blown away by it. The teenagers are the disrespectful ones (in regards to hot corners). Ya gotta chat up the 20 something year olds because they kinda get it, in a sense. What I mean by double edged sword, is that I’m chatting these people up and building a bit of trust and some sort of relationship. But I know that if they had the opportunity, they would rob me straight outta my shorts if I wasn’t a cop and the opportunity arose. And to top it off, they’re selling drugs and everything under the sun. So in reality, it’s kinda like having a fake convo in a sense because while we are talking about this and that, he knows I know he’s a drug dealer and commits robberies on the reg. But the bottom line, like you said, is getting to know them and vice versa. Every time I roll up to them just to see how things are (generally speaking) the young guys on the corner don’t grill me or have some wise ass comment, or even drink straight up in front of you lol, because they respect the guy I’m usually cool with and he “looks” out for me in regard to which cops they **** with. I’m telling ya, people like that on the corner can legit SMELL fear underneath that uniform, you can feel it and sense it. They know who to mess with. And they push your buttons by smoking joints, drinking beers and even starting fights in front of you. All for the sole purpose to show thier boys and people passing by (neighborhood gossip) that they don’t give a ****. Stuff like this makes me tell the new guys I train to NEVER be afraid to talk to anyone on the street, a passerby, or even a dam librarian. It helps ya stay sharp.
By having these convos with people in the neighborhood as well, I always think that if something god forbid happened to me, and I was in trouble, they would think back to us chatting it up and would help me out or call for help. That’s always etched in my mind as well when I talk to people in the neighborhood. Because **** does go haywire all the time, sometimes there’s backup, other times, not so much. And with everything going on, ya always gotta be on the lookout for that one in a million mentally ill dude who just wants to take out a cop and be a “martyr” in his own head. Because that’s what happens during times like these. Emotions are high for everyone right now
If you currently have too many women chasing you, calling you, harassing you, knocking on your door at 2 o'clock in the morning... then I have the simple solution for you.
Just read my free ebook 22 Rules for Massive Success With Women and do the opposite of what I recommend.
This will quickly drive all women away from you.
And you will be able to relax and to live your life in peace and quiet.
I'm pretty sure you are right.
Back in the 70’s and 80’s, who knows. Defintely more of a Wild West back then in regards to stuff like that.
Even the 90’s as well
True to a point. It is also the opposite. Guys who were the "Alphas" or Top Dogs in high school and college and want to keep it that way.
If you currently have too many women chasing you, calling you, harassing you, knocking on your door at 2 o'clock in the morning... then I have the simple solution for you.
Just read my free ebook 22 Rules for Massive Success With Women and do the opposite of what I recommend.
This will quickly drive all women away from you.
And you will be able to relax and to live your life in peace and quiet.
When a man has been to war and spilled ENOUGH BLOOD, he knows that violence only begets more violence.
I mean half the reason why these people aren't afraid of doing things is because they know all they have to do is run and those fat cops are not going to be able to run after them...
As a police officer we are trained to take quite a bit of verbal abuse in a situation like that. Where we can take action is if the verbal abuse is interfering with an investigation we are trying to actively work, or, if people touch us at all. If someone so much as puts the tip of their pinkie on my arm in an insulting and provoking manor I am allowed to remove it by any means necessary and if they touch it a second time I will arrest them. If the touch my firearm i will arrest after the first time. But if it’s just verbal then they can call me anything they want and I’m expected to take it. I’ve never been verbally attacked by anybody who wasn’t under arrest. I have arrested people for obstructing my investigation but they were never directly attacking me. Just upset in general. And once they’re in handcuffs every noise they make you consider no different than a barking dog or nagging wife that you tune out LOL
I gotta ask an honest question: in that particular situation, what could have that short police officer have done besides walk away?
