Cops and Laws and Other Things

[jarandhel]

Someone on my friends list (herself a cop) recently talked about encountering people who hate cops, all cops. Got me thinking about my own stance on cops... which was a little more convoluted and confused than I expected. Please take all of the following as me thinking out loud. Feedback, as usual, is appreciated.


I don't think I hate cops. The fact that I have at least one that I know of on my friends list seems to indicate that's true. I've also known some good cops, including the father of one of my friends in high school. I've let a cop (same father of a friend, actually) search my house without a warrant before when a house across the street from ours was robbed, I'm always polite to police officers if I'm ever stopped on the highway, even been complimented for it before (not that it got me out of the ticket), and in general I would not even hesitate to go up to an officer to ask for directions or help under any circumstances.

So why is it that every time I'm on the road and I see a police car, I tense up, even when I'm not doing anything wrong? Why do I hate hate HATE having a cop directly behind me on the road? They're just doing their job, right? Looking out for the safety of everyone on the road, myself included... right? Maybe, I guess... but that's not how it feels to me. Frankly, it feels like an elaborate game of "gotcha". No seatbelt? Gotcha. Failure to use a turn signal, even if the road behind you was empty and there was no one to singal TO? Gotcha. Speeding, even when the road is EMPTY, there are no pedestrians around, it's a two-lane highway to begin with, and the fucking speed limit is 25 mph? Gotcha! Oh, and that last one might be "reckless driving", too, depending on your local statues. Double gotcha.

Maybe I'm just being cynical, but so MANY of these things involve penalties for things where no one was even harmed, it starts to make me wonder if the purpose of these laws being enforced is really to keep us all safe or if it's to make the locality a few extra bucks through ticketing. I also have to wonder... is there a point at which you start making things offenses in order to give your cops people to arrest? 'cause, let's face it, in our society we're not about to pay cops for standing around doing "nothing" even if the reason for that is that crime in the area is virtually nonexistent. We'll make some new crimes so they can earn their keep.

Maybe it's not cops I have the problem with, thinking on it more... maybe it's the law-makers I have the problem with, and cops just appear to be the problem because they're visibly enforcing the flawed laws made by the legislature. Not sure. That seems to work at first, but then I think back and note that I've had cops use their discretion to let me off tickets before when they didn't think they were warranted, and I've also had other cops who seem to think speeding on a back road in the middle of nowhere on a clear day with no traffic and no pedestrians is an offense worthy of an 80+ dollar ticket. Or who think that turning right on a green light is an offense for which I should be stopped and ticketed simply because I didn't notice the "no turns" sign (some idiot who designed the roads apparently decided all turns onto a particular road should be made through a separate road, rather than on the main road itself. I wasn't familiar with the area, didn't see that effective off-ramp, and didn't have time to read all the signs at the intersection before turning since the light was already green and I wasn't expecting a no turns period sign.) In neither of these cases did my driving in ANY WAY endanger anyone. So why didn't I get let off with a warning in these cases too? *shrugs* I don't know, though I suspect it might have to do with timing... I've noticed that when I do get pulled over and actually ticketed, it seems to disproportionately be within a few days of the end of a month. I've heard from many cops that they don't have quotas for tickets, but I'm sorry that does seem like a strange coincidence to me.

All in all, I'm not really sure where that leaves me with cops. I'm grateful for the work they do in apprehending actual criminals, but I worry that there is a line they flirt with and too often cross over where normal citizens are made into criminals for them to catch. I worry about statistics I've heard where a disproportionate number of people in our prison system are there for drug-related offenses. Frankly, I'd like to see us do away with drug offenses altogether. If someone does violence while on drugs, charge them with violence. If someone has an accident or even drives badly while on drugs, charge them with vehicular manslaughter and/or reckless driving or whatever. Make it about the act, rather than about the drugs one uses on your own body. And for gods sake, do away with possession as a crime. Please. I'm saying this as someone who doesn't even use drugs except a moderate amount of alcohol from time to time. It's not our business what people do to their own bodies. And yeah, I know this is more about the lawmakers than the cops again, but the cops are the ones who enforce it and it does seem to me that if enough of them banded together they could also choose NOT to enforce it and thereby pressure the lawmakers to change the laws.

I guess, by and large, I think cops are probably ok... just like I think, by and large, people are ok (even if large numbers of them are apparently also stupid). But I worry they've been given too much power and that the bad ones among them can and do abuse that without the good ones stopping them. Because what can you do about a coworker who is following the very letter of the law, even while breaking its spirit?

I feel like there's more I want to say, but I'm not sure what. Somehow this overlaps with some hacker-related reading I've been doing lately, as well. I'm finding much of my view of criminal hacking, including cracking and warez, to have been overly simplistic and often outright wrong as a result... adding new data at present that is painting quite a different picture than my first impressions. Many more shades of gray than I first thought. And parts of it do intersect with the criminalization of normal activity. I got pointed to this text as part of the reading I'm doing, and even though it's not specifically about hacking it does interrelate: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html Check it out, and really think about what it's saying. It's very thought provoking. It also leads me to the conclusion that some criminal hackers are, in a sense, warriors in a war for our civil rights that most are not aware is even being fought, and that their actions have only been made criminal due to repressive statues like those mentioned in the article. It also leads me to the conclusion, as bizarre as it may sound, that a constitutional right to possess hacking tools may exist. "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Hacking tools are the first arms for the battlefields of tomorrow.

Comments

Well done

[daughterofodhin.livejournal.com]

I think you expressed your thoughts clearly. Yes, it is the lawmakers that write the laws, and the cops are asked to enforce them. I think WE as citizens need to act and have laws replealed by making a HUGE fuss over them.

Cops need to join us, but I fear their job security if they get tooooo involved.

Ohhhhh

[daughterofodhin.livejournal.com]

and if we show by making it that we SAVE money in the long run, and reduce overall CRIME in the long run?

That'll really get their attention.

more rambling

[dancinglights.livejournal.com]

I think the confusion in how most people interact with law enforcement generally arises in considering the uniform instead of the people. Every single one of them is a person, with individual motivations and issues. There are cops out there doing their job because they really do want to help people. There are cops out there just doing their job because it's their job and they've stopped caring why (and for both of these people, even if/when there isn't a quota, it certainly looks good to have been obviously doing something at your job than sitting on the side of the road). And there are cops out there that, no matter the original reason for their career choice, are mentally whacking off to the power trip they get from the authority their shiny badge and gun give them over everyone on the street they perceive as overpriveledged or generally beneath them -- which may be some subset of the populace, or everyone in general. I've known a few of the first kind, and listening to their embittering tales over the years, I can see how they could become the latter in the face of the kind of crap they have to deal with from horrible people. It makes me sad, but I'm always glad they still try.

I'm on the same page as you are on drugs and such victimless crimes, but I doubt anything will ever be substantially changed here in the US. And as for hacking stuff, paying enough attention to various cases over the years leads me to believe most of the legal absurdity comes down to lawmakers and judges ruling on technology they do not understand in a global arena over which no one understands the true limits of their jurisdiction. They do try to bring in technical experts to help clarify things, but I'd like to see more of those not be bought and paid for.

[kitten-goddess.livejournal.com]

I never want to attract the cops' attention. It helps a little that I'm white, so my skin color doesn't flag me as a target. I see them as cogs in the giant wheel of Authority, not people. If I ever was arrested, I'd be real polite and do and say anything they wanted so they wouldn't bash my head in with their nightsticks.

[zaecus.livejournal.com]

I don't hate copse, but I do have a suspicion of them. It's definitely guilt by association, lumping the good people in with the bad, but I've never met what I consider to be an honorable cop, and that's with having some who, while off duty, were my friends and did have honor. Once the uniform goes on, something changes.

Crimes get a special designation when they are perpetrated on an officer, some official and some unofficial. Officers are legitimately allowed to cricumvent certain laws in appropriate circumstances as being necessary for their job.

Unfortunately, I have far too often been witness to officers disregarding the very traffic laws they are there to enforce without reason (after having called the station to see if there was a reason), and there are plenty of news accounts of officers being... found negligent, at least... and receiving a suspension at best. Sure, sometimes they get fired, but that's rare unless the 'crime' they are guilty of is insubordination or costs the department money.

They are, largely, given authority and power, but they are not held to a uniform standard of behavior and responsibility. Some few hold themselves to it, but as I say, I've never met one who did it consistently (while on the job).

[ebonhost.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with most of what you're saying about the traffic laws. The seatbelt thing... well, okay. If someone wants to be a complete idiot and take the chance of turning a bad accident into a fatal one, then I guess that's their life, their prerogative. Except that there is a flaw to this argument, even. You never know when an accident is going to happen. While the person without the seatbelt is the one to pay the ultimate price, what if the accident involves another car, and even if the fault is not that other person's, they have to live with the fact that they were in a car accident where someone died for the rest of their life? Especially when it could have been prevented?

The reason these laws are enforced are as deterrents. If you choose not to follow the law when -you- feel there is no risk (How -do- you know some child is not going to suddenly run out into the street after a ball from behind a hedge or something on that apparently empty street?), why should the police officers believe that you follow it every other time? Traffic laws are not optional. They are not suggestions. If you choose to disobey them, willfully, then I'm sorry, but a ticket is deserved if you're caught. (Yes, I would apply this to myself as well, and I have a bit of a speeding tendency.)

In the sole case of honestly not seeing the 'no turns' sign, then that is different. A warning or a ticket could be the result, and in this case, I think it really depends on the attitude of the cop involved. Another thing to keep in mind is that, especially regarding traffic violations, people lie to cops all the time. It's always an accident, or the first time, and they won't do it again, they promise. After you hear so many of those, it is a wonder any cop can believe that anyone has any integrity these days. Also, they are still people. They have good days, and they have bad days, like everyone else. No, it should not affect their job performance, any more than a bad day should be allowed to affect someone doing insurance claim payouts or someone flipping burgers at McDonald's. They are not robots, though, and cannot be honestly expected to perform as one.

The drugs, I'm not sure where I stand. I think marijuana should be legalized, and taxed to hell the same as is done with alcohol and cigarettes. I also believe, absolutely, that no one should be reporting to their job under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and that such should get one fired. However, I cannot believe that legalizing drugs such as crystal meth, cocaine, or LSD is any kind of a good idea. They destroy a person's ability to function as a contributing member of society, and are highly addictive. I don't believe in paying welfare or disability to someone who has a condoned habit that is making him or her unable to work.

The hackers, I know nothing about, and am not going to touch with a ten-foot pole. *grins*

(Of course, you might want to take this all with a grain of salt. I'm used to dealing with Canadian, and not American, cops. I have had plenty of personal experiences with them that make me still believe that I could go up to a man, or woman, in uniform when I am in trouble and that they will help me. I also, at one point, was ready to sign up for police academy.)