hold on. i thought there were 2 kinds of cops, good and bad. and they always work together, cos that's the way to get perps to talk.
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Kevin Burton Smith <kvnsmith@...> wrote:
>
> Dave wrote:
>
> > Kevin,
> >
> > I think you've been reading too many crime novels.
>
> A curious statement from someone who writes crime novels, perhaps. But
> hey, what can I do? I write about and review crime and detective
> novels. It's probably more honest for me to read them first.
>
> Like, did you actually read THE DISASSEMBLED MAN or just give them a
> blurb? Or did they just use your name without telling you? I notice
> they've removed your blurb from the Amazon page.
>
> But I digress...
>
> > The police can't resort to the use of firearms in every (most)
> > situation--there would be riots in the streets if they did.
>
> Read the newspapers. There already ARE riots in the streets over
> police use of firearms. Sometimes the demonstrations, if not the
> resulting riots, may even be warranted.
>
> > Mike's been telling me he's been having to engage in 3-4 physical
> > altercations a week on the job, usually in trying to break up bar
> > room brawls. Why any guy in Matteson, no matter how drunk they might
> > be, would try to take Mike on is beyond me. Anyway, there's a reason
> > why most cops have to be tough to do the job.
>
> Because they're not able to diffuse situations? Not able to judge when
> physical or even deadly force is warranted?
>
> A smart cop tries to calm things down and minimize confrontation and
> violence. Not roll up his sleeves and start swinging, living out some
> failed-jock John Wayne fantasy.
>
> I would suggest one reason there already ARE riots in the street, from
> Montreal to LA and everywhere in between (maybe even in Matteson and
> Madison), is because some cops are, unfortunately, too preoccupied
> with proving how "tough" they are.
>
> I've known a few cops. Some are big alpha male bruiser lunkheads, but
> most aren't. Some are short, some are slight of build, some are out of
> shape. Some are smart, some not so much. Some of them are idealists
> who want to protect and serve, some of them are failed jocks who like
> carrying guns and swinging their dicks. And a few don't give two shits
> about the law they've sworn to uphold.
>
> There's no denying cops have to be tough -- it's a tough job. But
> there are all kinds of tough. A really good cop also has to possess
> tremendous amounts of compassion, empathy, fairness, humility,
> intelligence, diplomacy, courage, mercy and common sense, and the
> toughness of mind to know when to use each. Relying solely on
> schoolboy definitions of toughness is as likely to cause trouble on
> the job as to prevent it.
>
> Kevin
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 08 Jun 2009 EDT