The TV show "Cops"

[Monkeyleg]

Last night I watched the TV show "COPS" for the first time in many years. A couple of incidents really struck me.

One officer in a patrol car said it was a slow night, which gave him a chance to do other kinds of law enforcement. He almost immediately hit the lights for a car with a burned out license plate lamp. He approached, asked the young guy driving for license and registration, then asked if he'd been drinking, or if there were any weapons or drugs. The guy answered no, no and no. The cop asked if he could look in the car. The guy said no, and gave his reasons. The cop asked again. Then he said the guy looked like he was stoned, and told him to get out of the car. He then questioned him and in very short order the guy was in cuffs on the curb and the officer was searching the car. Funny how that works.

In another incident, deputies went to a guy's house. They knocked on the door and called his name. He didn't come to the door. A neighbor woman came over to get her child. When the kid came to the door, the cops saw an adult in the house and walked in. They didn't ask permission. One of the guys in the house went to light up a cigarette, and the cop told him not to light it. Huh? It's the guy's house.

In both cases they got the guys on legitimate charges, but the way they went about it leaves a bad odor. It's really reached a point where I don't like cops.

[Ben]

"Cops" is probably the worst PR ever for cops. I still remember watching it when it first came on. The "focus" cop or whatever was some detective in Portland, OR if I remember right. I remember he was a total jerk, and looking back now, wonder why he and his whole crew weren't arrested for abusing their power in all the ways they did if the show portrayed any real life scenarios at all. I recall he went on to star in several other "reality" cop shows.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

Yep. Cops are not your friends. Never will be.

[Cliffh]

Used to watch part of an episode every now and again, whenever SWMBO had it on.  Had to stop watching it, it really wasn't good for my blood pressure.

The more I interact with LE, the less I think of them - them as in all of LE.  Bad cops can't/don't operate in a vacuum.  Others know.  And do nothing.

[Perd Hapley]

Cops do what the public pays them to do, and what our democratically-elected local governments tell them. They enforce the laws our reps enact (though not always fairly or wisely).

Like every other problem in this country, cops won't be better until the populace is better.

[Northwoods]

Got pulled over tonight on the way home from class.  Apparently I have burned out headlight.  I honestly didn't know about it.  Cop was very professional, courteous, and let me go with a verbal warning to get it fixed.  Don't really want to spend the time to swap the bulb out, as I have so little to spare, but I will do that tomorrow.

[MechAg94]

Got pulled over tonight on the way home from class.  Apparently I have burned out headlight.  I honestly didn't know about it.  Cop was very professional, courteous, and let me go with a verbal warning to get it fixed.  Don't really want to spend the time to swap the bulb out, as I have so little to spare, but I will do that tomorrow.

I have had that happen before also.  I think it all depends on the cops assumptions about you when he walks up.  It is not right, but that is why it pays to dress decent and act respectable. 

[brimic]

"Cops" is very much like watching reruns of Soviet Russia, Communist China, East Germany, or Nazi Germany, except without the summary execution at the end of each scene.

[AmbulanceDriver]

Remember, COPS is also a TV show, and is designed to generate ratings.  Quite a bit of the more mundane stuff might be edited out....  Such as the cop running the driver's name and getting a hit that he's got wants/warrants.  Important stuff, but stuff that might get edited out.

Dunno about the segment at the house, but again, less "interesting" stuff might have been edited out.  Granted, telling the dude not to light up is just stupidity on the part of the cop, but still.

[HankB]

Got pulled over tonight on the way home from class.  Apparently I have burned out headlight.  I honestly didn't know about it.  Cop was very professional, courteous, and let me go with a verbal warning to get it fixed.  Don't really want to spend the time to swap the bulb out, as I have so little to spare, but I will do that tomorrow.

That's only because you didn't have a coffee can in the back seat. 

The few times I've seen Cops I've thought "How often can guys who look THAT scruffy - undercover cops - force their way into a house without presenting a warrant before they get shot?" Then I realized it wasn't as "real" as the show purports to be, sort of like the show Moonshiners.

[Monkeyleg]

Granted, telling the dude not to light up is just stupidity on the part of the cop, but still.

 

I had that happen in 1997 in Sacramento. Cop had pulled me over for an extremely flimsy excuse, held me for 45 minutes, had me on the hood a couple of times, and just generally acted like the Gestapo. The first time I reached into my vest for license and motorcycle registration, he put his hand on his gun and put me on the hood. Twenty minutes later he did the same. I said I was reaching for a cigarette. He said he didn't like the smell and put me on the hood again.

Several weeks back I had my defensive driving class to get my speeding ticket dismissed. The sheriff's deputy teaching the class made a big point of letting us know he was on the SWAT team. His cruiser was a black Charger with blacked-out windows and fancy wheels. Reminded me of Keanu Reeve's car in "Street Kings". He was joking a lot with the class, but I could tell he was another ahole cop with an attitude.

I've rarely encountered nice cops, but it seems like the level of obnoxious superiority has increased. Must be all the kevlar and MRAP's.

[brimic]

but it seems like the level of obnoxious superiority has increased.

That 'superiority' is as thin as the piece of paper the laws to protect him are written on.
Take away civility, or insert a societal breakdown, cops like that are the first to bug out and run for the hills- blue on the outside, yellow in the middle.

[lee n. field]

 


I've rarely encountered nice cops, but it seems like the level of obnoxious superiority has increased. Must be all the kevlar and MRAP's.

I guess I'm lucky our local sheriff's dept wants to spend money on computers instead of a tank.

[fifth_column]

Last night I watched the TV show "COPS" for the first time in many years. A couple of incidents really struck me.

One officer in a patrol car said it was a slow night, which gave him a chance to do other kinds of law enforcement. He almost immediately hit the lights for a car with a burned out license plate lamp. He approached, asked the young guy driving for license and registration, then asked if he'd been drinking, or if there were any weapons or drugs. The guy answered no, no and no. The cop asked if he could look in the car. The guy said no, and gave his reasons. The cop asked again. Then he said the guy looked like he was stoned, and told him to get out of the car. He then questioned him and in very short order the guy was in cuffs on the curb and the officer was searching the car. Funny how that works.

In another incident, deputies went to a guy's house. They knocked on the door and called his name. He didn't come to the door. A neighbor woman came over to get her child. When the kid came to the door, the cops saw an adult in the house and walked in. They didn't ask permission. One of the guys in the house went to light up a cigarette, and the cop told him not to light it. Huh? It's the guy's house.

In both cases they got the guys on legitimate charges, but the way they went about it leaves a bad odor. It's really reached a point where I don't like cops.

And this is how they behave when they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're being filmed.  Imagine their behavior when they know they're not . . . .

[TommyGunn]

Last night I watched the TV show "COPS" for the first time in many years. A couple of incidents really struck me.

One officer in a patrol car said it was a slow night, which gave him a chance to do other kinds of law enforcement. He almost immediately hit the lights for a car with a burned out license plate lamp. He approached, asked the young guy driving for license and registration, then asked if he'd been drinking, or if there were any weapons or drugs. The guy answered no, no and no. The cop asked if he could look in the car. The guy said no, and gave his reasons. The cop asked again. Then he said the guy looked like he was stoned, and told him to get out of the car. He then questioned him and in very short order the guy was in cuffs on the curb and the officer was searching the car. Funny how that works.

I've seen a lot of scenes on "COPS" like this.  Police are usually trained to cue in on things that many people would generally never notice  and certainly not on a TV program.  Sometimes it's related to how dilated the pupils of a guy's eyes are.  A minor slur in speech may be another tell.  Without seeing the particular episode you saw I don't know what the officer saw if anything.

In another incident, deputies went to a guy's house. They knocked on the door and called his name. He didn't come to the door. A neighbor woman came over to get her child. When the kid came to the door, the cops saw an adult in the house and walked in. They didn't ask permission. One of the guys in the house went to light up a cigarette, and the cop told him not to light it. Huh? It's the guy's house.

Cops learn to keep cigarettes away from people when they confront jackwagons with cigarettes who attempt to use them as weapons against the police.  Yes it seems overly "controlling" but I'd bet you sometime somewhere some cop overlooked a thug with a lit cigarette, ignored it, and wound up regreting it.  We pay the price when cops learn these things the hard way.

In both cases they got the guys on legitimate charges, but the way they went about it leaves a bad odor. It's really reached a point where I don't like cops.

As others have said it IS a TV show.  It's edited.   I recall one kerfuffle when the TV crew filmed the police doing a dynamic entry on some house -- turned out it was the WRONG house.  The TV producers decided not to use that video and got creamed in public opinion through TV Guide Magazine.  The producers have to get cooperation from the PD to have their cameraman along so it's understandable they'd TKO that particular tape recording .... OTOH it really smacks of censorship when police mistakes are uh, well, "covered up."
So the police can be damned if they do .... damned if they don't.


I will say that while I understand why some things in the TV show may leave people with a "bad taste" or questioning the authority, most of the actual times I've had interactions with police have been pretty decent -- even when I was stopped for an infraction.   I knew what I'd done, and when the officer asked me if I knew why he'd stopped me I simply 'fessed up and was straightforward.  But the officer was always pleasant and respectful.

[Monkeyleg]

I will say that while I understand why some things in the TV show may leave people with a "bad taste" or questioning the authority, most of the actual times I've had interactions with police have been pretty decent -- even when I was stopped for an infraction.   I knew what I'd done, and when the officer asked me if I knew why he'd stopped me I simply 'fessed up and was straightforward.  But the officer was always pleasant and respectful.

Officer behavior when I'm stopped for traffic violations has usually, but not always, been pleasant or at least businesslike.  I've been held for rape, robbery, murder and some things I was never even informed of, and many times right up until my late 40's. My oldest brother was hospitalized for facial reconstructive surgery after three cops worked him over, and another brother was thrown in jail without being allowed to call anyone (after three days he was able to sneak a phone call to my father). So I've had a bit of a prejudiced view of cops, and it's only gotten worse with the militarization and behavior like that in Boston last year.

[TommyGunn]

Officer behavior when I'm stopped for traffic violations has usually, but not always, been pleasant or at least businesslike.  I've been held for rape, robbery, murder and some things I was never even informed of, and many times right up until my late 40's. My oldest brother was hospitalized for facial reconstructive surgery after three cops worked him over, and another brother was thrown in jail without being allowed to call anyone (after three days he was able to sneak a phone call to my father). So I've had a bit of a prejudiced view of cops, and it's only gotten worse with the militarization and behavior like that in Boston last year.

Yikes Monkeyleg, you sure have taken some ugly sh!t from awthoritay!  Sorry to hear all that.

[wmenorr67]

I remember several years ago an officer or two in Kansas City, Kansas were either fired and/or suspended for things that happened on COPS.  The short story was that they were involved in a multi-jurisdiction chase and at least one of them used a PIT maneuver on the bad guy(s) before it was the in thing to do.  Official reports stated that the maneuver was never used.  Then the COPS episode aired and showed them doing the maneuver.  OOPS.

[KD5NRH]

I've been held for rape, robbery, murder and some things I was never even informed of, and many times right up until my late 40's.

You didn't need to be informed because you did them.  The cops never would have bothered you if you hadn't.  Just because you bluffed your way through the courts doesn't change your real guilt.

(How'd I do?  Aw crap, I used capital letters and punctuation.  Completely ruined the impression.)

[Ron]

Confirmation bias.

Nearly all of us only have interactions with the police when they are in the process of potentially collecting revenue from us or investigating a crime. Generally we are the "suspect" in our interactions.

Believe me, my natural inclination follows the cop bashing we usually see here. I work at trying to maintain proper perspective and not be jaded.

[KD5NRH]

Nearly all of us only have interactions with the police when they are in the process of potentially collecting revenue from us or investigating a crime. Generally we are the "suspect" in our interactions.

Nearly all of us only have interactions with the mosquitoes, ticks and IRS agents when they're sucking our blood.  Doesn't mean we're biased when our observations are still accurate.

[mtnbkr]

Confirmation bias.

Nearly all of us only have interactions with the police when they are in the process of potentially collecting revenue from us or investigating a crime. Generally we are the "suspect" in our interactions.

Believe me, my natural inclination follows the cop bashing we usually see here. I work at trying to maintain proper perspective and not be jaded.

When our house was broken into a few years ago, the local cops were great.  When they recovered a couple handguns, they didn't hold onto them (in a heavily damaged, but still secure lockbox), but returned them as soon as they had the evidence they needed (photos of the damage, my statements that I owned the box and contents, etc).  They didn't blink an eye at my gun safe, the reloading gear in the basement, or the fact that one of the stolen items (unrecovered) was an automatic knife.

That said, even when I've been pulled over by the same local force, they have been polite and friendly.  I've never been mistreated or harassed by them.

Chris

[Ron]

When our house was broken into a few years ago, the local cops were great.  When they recovered a couple handguns, they didn't hold onto them (in a heavily damaged, but still secure lockbox), but returned them as soon as they had the evidence they needed (photos of the damage, my statements that I owned the box and contents, etc).  They didn't blink an eye at my gun safe, the reloading gear in the basement, or the fact that one of the stolen items (unrecovered) was an automatic knife.

That said, even when I've been pulled over by the same local force, they have been polite and friendly.  I've never been mistreated or harassed by them.

Chris

Thankfully I've had very little interaction with the police over the last couple decades. My previous comments are based more on experiences from my past life  

 

[HankB]

Officer behavior when I'm stopped for traffic violations has usually, but not always, been pleasant or at least businesslike.  I've been held for rape, robbery, murder and some things I was never even informed of, and many times right up until my late 40's . . .

Back in college, another student was stopped, handcuffed, and made to sit by the side of the road (not in a cruiser) while a whole bunch of cops tossed his car - it seemed that a bank robber had apparently made a getaway in a similar car, and the cops thought it was him.

Eventually they let him go . . . the cop who'd cuffed him came to release him, but he was already loose; the guy was some sort of amateur magician and had gotten out of the cuffs himself and tossed them into the drainage ditch alongside the road.

When the cop asked where the Hades his cuffs were, guy answered "They were hurting me, so one of the other officers took them off."

"WHO? WHICH OFFICER? WHAT WAS HIS NAME AND BADGE?" asked the cop.

"I dunno . . . you guys all look alike." 

So Officer Not-So-Friendly lost a set of cuffs, and came to regard other officers with . . . suspicion. 

[Monkeyleg]

Back in college, another student was stopped, handcuffed, and made to sit by the side of the road (not in a cruiser) while a whole bunch of cops tossed his car - it seemed that a bank robber had apparently made a getaway in a similar car, and the cops thought it was him.

I may have told this story before. If so, let me know and I'll delete this post.

A former client of mine was a young Italian guy who could easily be mistaken for Mexican. He and some friends were tooling around one night in his tricked-out BMW. They were stopped at a light in the Mexican part of town when several police cars came from all directions. The officers were behind their opened doors with guns pointed at my client and his friends. The client had the stereo turned up loud and so couldn't hear the commands. He put his hand up to the dash to turn down the stereo and the officers took more aggressive positions. An officer on a PA told them to get out of the vehicle one at a time, hands in plain sight and lie on the ground. They were all cuffed and put into squads.

Then one of the officers noticed something. The car they'd been searching for had been involved in a drive-by shooting, and there had been shots returned. There were no bullet holes in my client's car. The cops got a little nicer, asked a few more questions, and told my client to take the car home and leave it in the garage for the night, as he would otherwise likely have the same thing happen again.