I'm not a police officer, but as an allied emergency services worker I've had the opportunity to work together with police. I can't even begin to imagine many of the things they deal with that I've never (fortunately) seen. What you describe, without a doubt in my mind, is an extremely simplistic view of their world. Clearly you have little knowledge of their job, and from your post it seems that you don't really understand people in general.

You make it sound as though police officers should all come to work, be perfectly level headed, courteous and never show any untoward emotion while performing their duties. Yes, in a perfect world. Welcome to society. We aren't perfect. What about the officer who just came from another call where a child has been beaten day in and day out for months? What about the officer who has a pending divorce, death in the familiy or other personal crisis? If you honestly believe there are people who can shove all this aside, never letting outside stressors affect their performance then you have a completely unrealistic view of the world.

I don't know what sort of job you had where you had to swallow your pride/dignity and put on a smiling face, but I'll put my next paycheque on the fact that you weren't dealing with the same crap that police officers do.

I have seen many officers cut people slack that I probably wouldn't have had the choice been mine. Maybe next time you have dealings with the police you can do the same, especially since you likely have no idea what sort of call they may have just come from. Perhaps once you get a little life experience under your belt, your views will change.

Just so we're clear on this, I'm not condoning any sort of inappropriate behaviour from the police. This just isn't as simple as you make it sound. We don't have enough as it is. How many would we have left if your suggestion was taken and everyone who had any sort of difficulty all quit for a less stressful occupation?

Cops are needed and most are cool, Fireman risk their lives evey day too but seem to be much nicer people. IMO.

The sad thing is the world we live in has changed. When I was a kid, the cops were super cool. The neighborhood patrols knew who you were and who your kids were.(City of Chicago) But come the late 70'* early 80'* things changed. There was a lot more "Crack heads" out there, more guns, more gang bangers(Chicago and other bigger cities have very violent, organized gangs), and with this the Police became much stricter and less personable.

When I was younger the police would pull you over if you had been drinking and drive you home if they knew you,(they still took drunk drivers to jail but you know what I mean here, some people got breaks) today your just going to jail whether they know you or not. Society has evolved and become more dangerous to cops, so IMO they are on the defense as a protection for themselves. Can't really blame them. Especially with the level of violence on our city streets.

They got a tough job, I remove asbestos and hazardous waste including radioactive materials. That is dangerous, but I get paid $$$. Cops wear a bullet proof vest and a gun and you couldn't pay me enough to put up with the crap they deal with.

I can understand the pressure cops are under and whatnot, but some do go a little to far. When I got pulled over in town with two of my friends in the car, he was basically telling me that he thought I had heroin in my car and if I did I was going to jail. There was absolutely no reason for that cop to have thought I had anything in my car, him searching me, my two friends, and my car was, in my thoughts, a waste of time.

Me and one of the same friends of mine were walking from school to his grandmother'* house when one stopped us (while we were walking), searched both of us, and tried to blame us for throwing someone'* trash cans in the road and peeing on them. We told him straight out we didn't do it because we didn't, and he said if he caught us walking around that part of town again, and heard of any trouble, basically that we were going to jail.

I understand that cops are a very important part of our society, and our society could not function properly without them. I understand that some cops take pride in their job and are here solely to "protect and serve", but there are the cops out there that do let their jobs go to their heads, and in the case of the Elberton cops, tend to target the teenagers. Elberton cops targeting the teenagers is also not just a matter of my opinion, you can ask anyone in Elbert or surrounding counties, including grown people.

/endrant

It'* my experience that those who display a disregard for law enforcement do so because they have issues with authority in general. Opinionated topics like this always turn nasty. Use good judgement when expressing your views or don't express them.

Actually...I don't even see a positive purpose for discussing this.

I was speaking ideologically, obviously, but it'* not that far fetched. I understand that cops deal with terrible stuff, but when you go through the long and grueling process of becoming a cop (and I do know a LOT of cops (my best friend'* dad was a cop, he'* practically my 2nd dad), although I don't deal with them in my job as you do), you know what you're getting into. I don't think it'* justified to treat someone like EWC88 like junk because some other guy beat his wife. EWC88 is paying for the crimes of someone else. And if the cops are dealing with personal issues, well, would you sue a doctor that disabled you because he came into work after being in an argument with his wife whom he'* getting a divorce, and then botched your surgery because he wasn't focusing? Well, the same principle applies to cops. I'm not saying cops need to put on a smiling face for us, that'* not their job. Their job is to make sure the law is being followed as intended, and to cite people as necessary. Their job is not to sniff every car they stop with intimidating phrases. There are a lot of good cops out there, so obviously what I'm saying isn't impossible. Some people should not be cops because it is a very stressful job (I tried to make that clear in my first post).

I did simplify my view in order to make it more palatable to read, but I can make a few things clearer.
1) Cops have an incredibly stressful job to do.
2) Some take that stress with them to various places and it effects their life.
3) They are not paid well enough for the work they do (I know people that do a lot less and get the same pay/benefits).
4) This doesn't excuse the abuses they make. They're still guilty for any of their wrongdoings, and subject to the same scrutiny.
5) If they can't handle the job and it effects their personal live negatively. Quit. They didn't get drafted into the police force. While they may be helping people, someone else could have that job and be doing more good than they are.

As a side note, I do not get paid nearly as much as a cop does at my job, so I sure as hell wouldn't deal with the same stress level. Frankly, I think working as a police officer is a rip off (kind of like joining the armed forces). They're doing a huge task that is absolutely necessary, and the government just slaps them around with this tiny paycheck for all that work, and gives them no respect. No wonder there are problems like this.
My friends and I got pulled over once for doing donuts in my Bonneville. Now, I'm not even sure that car could do a donut, but all I did was make a simple U turn (180 degrees) at low speeds. He pulled me over in a private parking lot (where I had made the turn) and asked me why I had been doing donuts. Well, I politely told him I was making a U-turn to get to the exit without cutting through the parking spots. He called backup (3 more cars) so they could interrogate us all. There were 4 of us in total, all of us young, bright kids that had done absolutely nothing wrong and were headed to a movie. Why we needed to be surrounded by 4 cop cars on a friday night is beyond me, and I found it incredibly wasteful. Luckily, they got a code and tore out of the place (throwing my keys at my car out of his car window, too).

And to your last point, in my area it is actually very hard to become an officer. There isn't a shortage of officers (I know a lot of people that have tried and failed time after time because they can't find an opening). The problem is the pay. Raise the pay, and we can raise the bar. Obviously that'* harder than it sounds, but it is a source of the problem.