How do you feel about the police?

[Morrigu]

[David]

^ Do you think certain groups/cultures can have shared qualities? Obviously there's a wide range of individuals within each culture, but I guess it's all about where the average lies.

[stui magpie]

Maybe also have a think about how you behave when you encounter Police. Think about how you look/behave from their perspective.

[David]

That'd be good advice if I was having negative experiences with them on a regular basis, but that's not really the case � as I said before, I've probably only talked to a police officer about 5 times in my entire life, and I don't remember any of those interactions being negative. So, whatever intuitive reactions I have to the police is probably more about the idea of the police than any actual bad track record with them.

[Tannin]

David, can I offer a small helpful hint? Try covering up your tats, leave the Harley at home, skip the al-Qaeda flag t-shirt, and don't wear the leathers. You may find it makes a difference.

[David]

All good advice, but letting the al-Qaeda flag go is going to be hard. I'll feel naked without it!

[think positive]

[stui magpie]

Chill Jo, I think you're reading meaning where it doesn't exist. You wouldn't be the first and I doubt you'll be the last.

[Morrigu]

[pietillidie]

[think positive]

[David]

^ Do you think I'd have the right to mock people's educational standards if I had a degree? I think the more relevant point is that mocking people's educational standards is wrong whatever your own achievements are.

My 17 year old brother wants to join the army. Every time I catch up with him, I'm impressed by his maturity and willingness to thoughtfully consider other people's opinions and think outside the square. And yet I also know that he's a 17 year old boy and that he happens to love shoot-'em-up video games. Do you seriously think that guns aren't at least one motivating factor in him wanting to join the army? Let's get serious here.

You can respect and admire the work that police officers and soldiers do, but that doesn't mean that you should put them on a pedestal. They're not saints. They're just human beings with a range of motivations like you or me.

The reason I started this thread was actually less about trying to resolve whether police officers are good or bad people ��although we did drift down that track a little � and more how we, ordinary Australian citizens, respond to figures of authority. I'm self-aware enough not to confuse my own discomfort with authority with my views on the question of whether or not authority is wrong. As it happens, I think we do need authority figures in certain contexts and that an important part of functioning in society is learning how to accept that (while also remaining vigilant in case authorities over-step the mark). So there's actually a lot more self-criticism going on here than you might realise.

[The Prototype]

It might be a factor for your brother but not for everyone, my cousin joined the army to serve his country because our grandfather did, and my dad served as well. He went from being in the army to joining the police force as a forensic photographer.

He quit that as he found he didn't have the stomach for that, they told him he had to be apart of the force for that. I am not sure about now. I've not met many people that join the army because of the gun factor, I've known a fair few people that have joined none have said anything about the gun factor.

No doubt there are people that want to join because they want to shoot a gun, but there's so many that don't. Once they get into the training camps I am sure those who just want to play with guns get washed out as they're trained pretty hard.

[Tannin]

TP, you are being needlessly offensive and very unfair.

[Neil Appleby]

I agree with most here who think the great majority of the police force are decent men and women doing a very tough job. There are however, too many dumb arseholes strutting about in uniform who should never have passed the interview stage. How some of these cretins weren't identified in early training is a mystery to me.

As a regular citizen coming into contact with police, I've never had a problem. As a teacher and seeing them work with students and teachers, I've been impressed on many occasions.

I've also seen the other side. I've been abused, mocked, searched and intimidated. Why? Because I'm an easy target and it's so much easier to spend time on soft, easy targets than to do real policing.

I reckon the problem is the lack of thorough profiling in early training. Too many totally unsuitable types make it through. I have family members in the force; they are, in their personal lives, irresponsible and aggressive. I doubt they'd be much chop as coppers and I'm still wondering how they made the cut.