Do you respect Police / Armed Forces, purely based on their jobs?

[ShawnD1]

Please do not lump the fine men and women that serve in the US Armed Forces with cops. Not the same thing, category, standards, etc.

You'd be surprised how well trained police are. They learn psychology, negotiation, shooting, hand to hand fighting, record keeping, and various other things. Even their asshole aggressive stance (of dominance) is done for a reason. A lot of thugz assume cops don't know anything about fighting, then they get thrown to the ground in two seconds flat because they didn't realize the police are as well trained in hand to hand fighting as any marine (but some get less effective over the years as they get fatter and weaker and slower).

My lack of respect for police is mostly based on how they lie all the time. A cop will tell you how he is going to get the dog team down here and they're going to sniff your car for bombs and they're going to rip the seats apart, but you can stop all of this right now if you just confess that you have drugs/guns/explosives. How is that any different from pressure salesmen at Best Buy? Your sound system is going to sound terrible if you get regular HDMI cables and you'll rip the whole thing apart and spend millions trying to figure out why it's so shitty, but you can avoid all that right now if you buy this Monster HDMI cable.

Cops put their life on the line everyday. I get it. So do construction workers.

This is true. People shouldn't get respect just because their job is dangerous. The most dangerous jobs in the US are commercial fishing and logging. Even farming has a higher death rate than law enforcement. A lot of it is related to sticking your hand in the machine without turning it off first....

 

[Dr. Detroit]

NWA said it best!

 

[Triumph]

:thumbsup:

To me, police start at negative respect and they need to work their way up. I say that because most encounters I've had were very negative, and it had nothing to do with me being right or wrong. Example: I almost died in a chem lab when pesticide got into the vents. Firefighters broke down the door to get me out, they took all my clothes off (because they didn't know why I was shaking uncontrollably), they rinsed me using the shower that chem labs are required to have, and they put me in the ambulance. Paramedics put a blanket on me and did some tests to see if I was ok. Some retarded cop gets into the back of the ambulance and says they're going to charge me with endangering the public. Really? I wasn't aware that dying was against the law.

We get to the hospital, I get stabilized. More police come to talk to me and ask a bunch of retarded questions about the lab. "Is there HCl in the lab?" Obviously yes since it's a chem lab. Then they ask a bunch of random questions like "when is the last time you tried meth" and "how much did it cost?" Dude, wtf is your problem? I almost die and you want to know about drugs? Are you high right now?

100% of the paramedics and firefighters did their job perfect. 100% of the police were fucking retarded beyond belief.

Military people are neutral. Some of them are good people, some are retarded. It's not much different than any other job.

That would've been a perfect opportunity to give back some of the hard ass bullshit they were feeding you. "Excuse me officer, but if you're going to sit here and ask me idiotic questions, I'm going to have to ask for a lawyer be present. He helps to interpret retards for me." Usually you can't mouth off to a cop because they've got you on their turf. But I don't think most cops are going to start smacking you around while you're laying in a hospital bed. Under no circumstances are you required to answer a cop without a lawyer present. Why should you have to lay there and let them demean you while you're in a compromised state?

 

[Rocksinhead]

I would say I recognize the inherent difficulty in their respective jobs but respect is only given to those who can handle that difficulty and do their job well. If you suck at your job or don't care to do it well then you get no respect from me. Intentional or unintentional negligence overpowers the idea of automatic respect for their career choice.

 

[Insomniator]

I certainly do not automatically respect them more than an average person. Just about all the kids I knew in HS that became cops or joined the military did so because they clearly couldn't do anything else with their life.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Having worked in and around the military for the last 10 years, I can honestly say that I do not automatically respect people in the military.

Police, hell no. Given the power that they wield, my first reaction is to treat them with distrust, not respect. Too many good 'ol boys, former high school jocks, and former military join the police force thinking that it's a chance for them to legally exert authority over lesser humans. That is the last type of person you want being a cop.

Fire and EMT, definitely deserve respect.

I'm the same way about military personell. People will immediately kiss a serviceman's ass without knowing anything about him/her. I know enough former military personell to know that a lot of the people that were/are in the military are there to get free training/free school money. The actual number of people in the military that are truely altruistic and solely wanting to serve their country is actually quite low.
As far as police go, I do go out of my way to praise them or trash talk them. 99.9% of them are just doing a job. there's always that .1% that gives the rest a bad name.
As far as fire and EMT go, they are no different than cops. They're just doing a job.
I have more respoect for people like Bill Gates that turned his vast wealth into a tool to help countless people.

 

[MovingTarget]

Nobody automatically deserves respect. Everybody starts out respect-neutral to me no matter their profession. That means that they deserve common courtesy and some benefit of the doubt.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Some retarded cop gets into the back of the ambulance and says they're going to charge me with endangering the public. Really? I wasn't aware that dying was against the law.

We get to the hospital, I get stabilized. More police come to talk to me and ask a bunch of retarded questions about the lab. "Is there HCl in the lab?" Obviously yes since it's a chem lab. Then they ask a bunch of random questions like "when is the last time you tried meth" and "how much did it cost?" Dude, wtf is your problem? I almost die and you want to know about drugs? Are you high right now?

LOL, wtf? Did they think your name was Walter White?

 

[AreaCode707]

What a good thread! It's a throwback to the old ATOT days, when we had more threads that had thoughtful and polite debate in between the fun neffing.

I try to give all people respect by default, and will add to or subtract from that respect based on circumstances and behavior.

If someone is voluntarily doing a job where they put their life on the line for the good of others, that does raise my respect for them. That applies to both police and military. If I find out that an individual is doing that job solely for the cash reward, that lowers my respect a little but it's still higher than average - regardless of the fiscal motivation, the person is still risking a lot for the good of others.

If I find out that an individual is doing that job so they can power trip and hurt others, that diminishes my respect far below what I would have for an average person on the street.

I think that is probably how most people treat others. The key question then becomes, do you have a preconception about why most law enforcement and/or military joined up? I take it on an individual by individual level and default to giving them the benefit of a doubt that they are doing it for neutral or positive reasons. I don't assume they do it for negative reasons unless I've learned something about the individual person that demonstrates that to me.

 

[Linflas]

In both cases I respect the office and the service. Other than that the individuals themselves are like any other human with respect earned, not simply granted.

 

[Triumph]

I'm the same way about military personell. People will immediately kiss a serviceman's ass without knowing anything about him/her. I know enough former military personell to know that a lot of the people that were/are in the military are there to get free training/free school money. The actual number of people in the military that are truely altruistic and solely wanting to serve their country is actually quite low.
As far as police go, I do go out of my way to praise them or trash talk them. 99.9% of them are just doing a job. there's always that .1% that gives the rest a bad name.
As far as fire and EMT go, they are no different than cops. They're just doing a job.
I have more respoect for people like Bill Gates that turned his vast wealth into a tool to help countless people.

My favorite was a retired Major we had hired as a logistics support contractor. I already knew he was useless before he was elected to go on a trip to Germany to install and train some equipment we had developed. I pretty much knew what I was doing already but somebody (I think him) decided he should go "To represent the program office." I was merely the engineer who designed, built, installed, and trained soldiers on the equipment. Every single day, he shows up an hour or so after the start time we agreed upon the day before, he disappeared for long stretches of time in the morning, reappeared about an hour after lunch, disappeared again by 3:30, and didn't lift a single hand, record a single piece of information, take a single picture, nor did he know a single thing about the equipment. Some representation he made of the program office. Thank you for your years of service, MAJ Horne, I'm sure you really put your life on the line during those 20 years of selfless service you did.

 

[Theb]

I tend to auto-respect police officers in cities with high crime rates because they're dealing with actual crimes and their life might actually be in danger at times.

I tend to be mistrustful of small town cops though. In my experience they seem to be spoiling for a fight and start much more trouble than they prevent.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I do tend to automatically respect Police officers but not so much with Armed forces personnel, I see police officers dedicating their lives to help their local communities, I see armed forces personnel flying off to far off countries killing people for wars they may not personally believe in.

That doesn't mean to say that I do not respect any armed forces personnel, if they have done something brave to save their colleagues for example, they get my utmost respect. People say that they are brave because they risk their lives, well they aren't being forced to risk their lives, they elected to do a dangerous job. Lots of people do dangerous jobs and I don't necessarily automatically respect them for that...?

I tend to agree with you. I don't automatically respect armed forces personel simply because they are in the armed forces.

 

[lothar]

I respect them if they are doing their job properly and civilly. All these cases that have been happening and the growing issue where US police are abusing their force, not cool. Especially considering they don't even get punished for it. There was a case here recently where a Toronto police killed someone, but he actually got charged for it. So I do respect the Toronto police force as a whole for dealing with that situation appropriately.

I got a ticket once for going through a red light, was zoned out, totally my fault. The cop was civil about it, and not in my face. I respect a cop who will enforce the law without shoving his authority down your throat. I was not expecting a freebie or a chance, all I expect from a cop is to be civil. In the states I probably would have been body slamed on the hood of the car and cuffed for that. Completely unnecessary.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local...after-daughter-draws-picture-of-gun-at-school

 

[RavenSEAL]

Many of the cops I've met tend to be dicks, they think they're above everyone else just because they carry a gun and show off a badge giving them the right to do whatever the fuck they want.

Armed forces personnel on the other hand tend to be more humble, and I respect that.

 

[Dominato3r]

Yeah I respect them because they're in a position of authority. And in general I think they're just people doing a really hard job. I doubt any slob here in AT could with half the shit they do.

 

[Triumph]

Yeah I respect them because they're in a position of authority. And in general I think they're just people doing a really hard job. I doubt any slob here in AT could with half the shit they do.

Who, cops? Guess what, most cops could not do what I do. Does that make me better than them? No.

Military? There is a MOS in the military for anybody. Literally, any job that exists in the real world, there is a military MOS for it. Less so nowadays than 20-30 years ago before they started outsourcing it, but it's still there. Cooks, mechanics, lawyers, doctors, electronics technicians, IT, pilots, construction, supply logistics, nurses... You think everyone in the military is battling Taliban on the front lines in the trenches? Uhhh...no.

 

[Tiamat]

I generally respect both until an individual behaves in a less than honorable fashion.

 

[Skyye]

no, I respect the fact they have jobs, and actually work them...Seems like so many Americans don't work, yet do not try to better themselves by finding/keeping jobs.

 

[Red Squirrel]

http://www.therecord.com/news/local...after-daughter-draws-picture-of-gun-at-school

That's one of few cases. The US has much much much more cop power abuse cases like this. But yes I will admit that case is quite retarded. It sucks that cops can get away with power trips like that.

I respect cops that do their job and get it done, without abusing their power, but the ones that like to abuse their power for fun lose all my respect. Sadly they also make all cops in general look bad.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

I do just out of keeping the peace, and stuff.

Being polite & shit upon being pulled over by an officer will go a long way towards not receiving a ticket, than automatic attitude.

I haven't encountered many military personnel on the streets. But it doesn't really matter, it's all the same.
I had wanted to join the military, but was rejected because of too many major surgeries.

But in the end, they are both just doing their job. Like the rest of us. So fuck it.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I treat them with the same respect as everyone else. I'm polite and courteous as long as they are.

 

[Triumph]

http://www.therecord.com/news/local...after-daughter-draws-picture-of-gun-at-school

Wait wait wait...what country is this in??? Not the US?

 

[Jumpem]

The armed forces, I absolutely respect. Police, on the other hand, are not deserving of any respect. Corrupt, oppressive, power tripping, punks with badges.

 

[Jaskalas]

The whole premise of the original question / poll is wrong.

People who serve should be respected. Their actions should be suspect though, and they too if they allow themselves to be grievously misused.