You know- not all Police Departments are the same.

[Mother Of Four]

I guess my husband and I are lucky, he's been fortunate enough to be on a department that doesn't tolerate brutality. It doesn't tolerate their officers doing illegal activity or a have a "Not caring" attitude. It's a well known fact on the Dept that you better not crap on the badge, because the other officers will report you in a heartbeat. Most of the officers live where they work, so they socialize with people off duty as well as on. It's a small enough town that we've had many people come to our home to talk to my husband, and never thought anything about it.

The Chief is a man who has been active in the community for more than 25 years, and people don't hesitate to call him if they have an issue with an officer. Anyone who's been questionable has been drummed out unceremoniously.

There has been the occasional bad egg but they don't last long. The other officers keep close tabs on them and if they can't get them to tow the line, they are "quitted". Even though this Dept pays alot less than others in the area, they still have people knocking on their door waiting for a job because of what kind of Dept it is.

Reading all of this about these other departments is making me sick at heart. REALLY sick at heart. I'm starting to realize that Dept's like my husbands are a dying breed, and probably ONLY found in the smaller towns like where we are.

My husband has reported on 4 officers in a five year stint...and none of them are with the Dept anymore. He teaches his new guys that arrogance and the "I'm tough don't screw with me." attitude don't work. Patience and compassion do. That violence is a last resort ONLY, and that 99 percent of the time when someone calls 911 they need help so that's the attitude they need to have.

They keep stickers in their cars, pencils etc for kids who want to talk to them. They do the cross walks at both the elementary and middle schools, and hug back if kids come up to them and want one. They talk to the kids, with smiles. I can't remember which post it was, but someone was talking about how their child would approach officers on duty and would be ignored...but if they approached firefighters they would be attentive. That made me just as sick at heart as the posts from the newspapers.

I just wanted to post this, I guess because all of the bad posts are really depressing. I hate the thought of each year that goes by, more of whats left of the good Dept's are changing. I know without a shadow of doubt that if that happened here, he'd have to find a new line of work.


Much love to all of you,
MOF

[akwapez]

1. You don't happen to be in Mayberry do you?

I wish PDs like this were the norm.

[Birthmark]

2. You mean...

...he doesn't refer to the streets as "my streets?" That's refreshing. I applaud your husband and his department then.

[seabeyond]

3. it is all in the higher ups. what they demand. their expectation. clear boundaries

so if the higher ups are doing their job, .... then

these departments need to speak out. they have the power and ability. cops within departments that dont have those clear lines and higher ups to support them have a damn near impossible time to speak up

[Mother Of Four]

12. That's so true-. nt

[EFerrari]

21. I agree. It's about leadership. n/t

[MADem]

4. There are some small towns in New England that are like Mayberry of the North.

I am sure there are in other parts of the country too.

But it's always the naughty children who get the attention, now, isn't it?

[Ignis]

5. That's quite a different experience than the LAPD.

Having been raised to respect LEOs from an early age, I tried my best to give them the benefit of the doubt in every interaction. But hey, after two or three dozen awful encounters with "a few bad apples," the shine wears off, you know?

[EFerrari]

22. They should just shut it down and start over. n/t

[Ignis]

26. Hmm, do you know if that's ever happened?

I can't really argue against your point, though: The various problems seem to have become institutionalized over at least 2 generations, and the various reform initiatives that have been tried seem to have failed for the most part.

But I'm sure there's a wealth of "tribal knowledge" in the department that would be a shame to lose. So how does the city hit the restart button without disrupting service or losing that valuable information?

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

28. Maybe that tribal knowledge is most of the problem.

It would be really difficult to "reform" that culture. :shrug:

[Ignis]

30. Well, I don't mean the tribal prejudices.

There are always little bits of information in any social structure that aren't written down, but rather communicated from person to person by word of mouth--often with more information being passed along as one passes through various stages of initiation/seniority/rank/whatever.

Things like "Mongo the crack dealer is quick to cop a plea," or "Jimmy the snitch is unreliable UNLESS he's talking about the Tough Mothers gang," etc. Those are useful bits of information that won't necessarily be preserved in a total reboot.

I'm still curious if any city has actually done a complete flush of a PD, though. Off to the Googles for research!

[Old Codger]

6. Most of us

Know that there are a large amount of good police officers out there, I have known several, I have also know some that were not so very nice people. As I grew up we had some good ones were I lived and a very few bad ones that in fact did not last long, was a small town, I had the attitude that for the most part they were doing a job that needed to be done and did not go out of their way to cause anyone more grief than they absolutely had to.. But more and more I have encountered officers who were smart ass pushy and seemed to be looking for a reason to come down hard on anyone around them... actually I have really only seen maybe a dozen or so that I have had any contact with at all and mostly it was no to do with me but with others.. but a larger percentage seem to have gone over to that side .. hopefully it is not as wide spread as it seems.
Good that your husband and his co-workers are among the good guys makes me have more hope for us all.


Thank You for writing this.

[orwell]

7. Great post...

...People love to make sweeping generalizations because it is easy. It shortcuts true problem solving.

Thanks for the perspective.

[BlooInBloo]

8. Meanwhile.... back in reality....

[fascisthunter]

9. and that's a really good thing

we know there are good cops BTW... don't think we are all anti-cop.

[underseasurveyor]

10. Thanks for that

Even though I live in Southern California there are some areas that have exemplary police depts. The one where my sister works sounds a lot like the one your husband works for. No bullshit and no attitudes. Everyone is like family and I'm proud to know them and their families and I consider each and everyone of them a part of my family too.

All the best to you and your family.
:grouphug:

[Mother Of Four]

16. I'm glad she has a good Dept to work with-

It makes a big difference.

:hug:

[crickets]

11. Thank you for posting this. -nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. It's a different dynamic -

for decades now we have had a 'war on crime', so those who prosper are the best warriors. Over time the warriors are promoted into positions of power.

Meanwhile, the Peace Officer, the peacekeeper, is passed over. The area of his responsibility is quieter, which means fewer splashy arrests, and fewer rewards in the 'war on crime'.

The longer we continue to militarize the police, the more evident this will be.

[H2O Man]

14. That's true.

There are, of course, significant differences between a small town police department, a county sheriff's department, state police, and an agency such as the FBI. Likewise, there are differences between patrolmen and investigators. And there are similarities, too.

I've known many police officers, both through personal life and employment duties. A few were very good; most were average; and a few were thugs with a badge and gun.

[imdjh]

15. AFAIK, there is only one PD in Pinellas County known for being total dicks across the board.

It's the PD in a small town called Kenneth City. They are notorious for writing speeding tickets for anything over the limit, and they operate a couple of speed traps, one of which is officially a school zone.

[wolfgangmo]

23. If I'm reading your post correctly ...

... you think that they are being "dicks" because they enforce the speeding laws, especially in a, gasp, school zone.

Wow. They are just a step away from killing babies and eating them.

Get real dude.

[imdjh]

24. You didn't read my post correctly.

They write tickets for any amount over the limit, in other words they do not make any allowance for simple variation or error, and this is out of step with most police departments.

In addition, they write A LOT of tickets, so many that they are on the list of department who are deemed to be using tickets as a source of revenue.

The speed trap school zone thing is inconsistent with the state's guidelines for school zones and deliberately designed to generate tickets.

[NYMountaineer]

17. Always good to know

That there are other departments out there which keep officers on a tight leash and promote the role of cops as pillars of the community, rather than the mafia-like behavior we observe all too often.

[redqueen]

18. I'm sure most of us know not all PDs are the same...

thanks for posting this, for those that don't.

[TexasObserver]

19. Exceptions to the rule are good, but still exceptions.

Anywhere the police have to be a part of a local community where they live and work among those they police, it is usually better than otherwise. If they and their families have to interact with those policed by the police, there is a natural inhibitor for excess.

However, those passing through from outside the area may not be so lucky in the same jurisdiction.

[EFerrari]

20. Not even precincts in the same city are the same.

You got that right, MOF. :hi:

[devilgrrl]

25. Just for the record, The Los Angeles Co. Sheriffs Dept. West Hollywood division rulz supreme!

I've never seen them act like assholes EVER. Total professionals!

:patriot:

[Ignis]

27. I have to agree. I'll take them over LAPD any day of the week. (nt)

[EFerrari]

29. Santa Monica PD were very good when we lived there 2000-2004. n/t

[Ignis]

31. True, I had good experiences with them ~15 years earlier.

I think it's the frequent exposure to sun and fresh air that sweetened their disposition. :) But I got several breaks from the SMPD when they could have been real dicks about some minor infraction, so they get a gold star in my book.

[EFerrari]

32. They are the only cops in my 12 year marriage that responded appropriately

to a disturbance call at my home and figured out immediately that it was a mental health call. They weren't dicks to my husband who was in the middle of an episode. All kinds of bad things could have happened. I wanted to buy them flowers or something. :)

[Fumesucker]

33. Thanks for posting..

I know there are a lot of us out here that wish the police everywhere were a lot more like the department your husband belongs to.

[eridani]

34. The culture of particular police departments depends a lot on the tone set by its leadership

Looks like you and your DH are lucky that way. The question is how do you go about changing bad department cultures.

[MrScorpio]

35. Let me give a shout out the Hampton VA PD

A bunch of good guys

[Thothmes]

36. Have to agree with you. The Hampton PD

has a much better reputation the Newport News PD.