connieb
Senator
I generally agree. There's no nice way to put this, so I'm going to state it outright. Most folks who have run ins with law enforcement are losers. Not all, certainly - but most.
Like children, most who run afoul of the law look to externalize blame. They reflexively assume "bad cop" for two reasons. First, it helps them excuse themselves. And secondly - especially in the case of a few of this board's hippie burnouts - they languish in an addled state of idiotic adolescence...smoking weed as senior citizens, blaming "the man" for everything, and slowly disintegrating into bitter little husks.
It's very predictable where these folks will come down on any issue. They are walking, breathing stereotypes. The best part is that they think they are brilliant and worldly.
I wrote about it on this forum before but when I was a teenager I witnessed an act of police brutality first hand, and it certainly colored my impression of law enforcement since then. Of course, the law enforcement officers I ended up knowing as friends or relatives as I grew up didn't change that impression all that much. There is a certain machismo when one wants to be a cop. You want to put on a gun, order people around, etc... sure, maybe you really want to ultimately be a detective and the beat cop step is mandatory on your way up the ladder.. but for those who spend a career as a beat cop... I am pretty sure they are egomanic control freaks who enjoy throwing their weight around.
In short, I don't believe they are either there to help or to serve.
But, of my acquaintances who have had multiple interactions with the police, I can say the one thing that does unite them is their ne'er do well, looserdom as you said. They are the type to get into a drunken argument with their SO - LOSER!. They are the type who uses recreational drugs - LOSER. They are the type who doesn't pay their bills - LOSER, they are the type who has multiple children with multiple partners - LOSER.
Avoiding negative interactions with the police, is much like the "secret" to success in life in general...... obtain steady employment, keep your pants up, stay off drugs, avoid excessive alcohol consumption - and beware the company you keep.
I will say the last lesson, is what I learned watching the incident of police brutality. Here we were, a bunch of teens, with nothing to do, cruising a parking lot - which was "loitering" so we were breaking the law... and essentially waiting for some kind of trouble to happen because we had nothing better do to. And, after the incident I realized how easily that could have been me and my friends and if we wanted to avoid that kind of trouble, I had to avoid the kind of people who had nothing better to do with their time than hang out in some empty parking lot.
connie