I don’t think all cops are bad, nor do I think most others here think that. People who support good government appreciate the basic roles the police as first responders and their stated function in society. Everyone knows it’s a dangerous and stressful job, and most are glad someone else has chosen to do it.
That said, I am wary of all cops because they’re accorded a lot of power and you never know when you’ll get a bad one; this despite the fact that I’m a ridiculously privileged guy whose appearance and demeanour seems to communicate “possible lawyer” (which I am not). For cops I’m one of the “good” taxpaying people they do believe it is their job to “serve and protect” rather than “police.” For them to look at me is to know they “work for me,” so chances are they wouldn’t mess with me if I behaved like this woman (which I might, depending on circumstances). With all that I still find it’s useful to start from the position of polite wariness.
Why? Well, years ago in NYC I dated a woman who had a lot of cop friends, and so ended up at a few cop parties. Nice folks, for the most part, like your neighbours; not all lily white, and on the job in the country’s most ethnically diverse city. I heard a lot of interesting stories that made me sympathetic toward their difficult jobs.
But here’s the thing: I’m one of those quiet types who can end up blending into the scenery to the point where those around me forget I’m there and begin to talk amongst themselves … candidly, in an in-group kind of way despite the presence of an outsider. So I also heard opinions about methods (i.e. shortcuts, ruses, workarounds to the law) and about racial and ethnic and class groups of civilians that were quite disturbing to me but were met only with agreement by their colleagues. Again, these were not members of an exurban police force or a rural county sheriff’s dept, but New York’s Finest.
So after that, and after too many news stories like this (and worse) I can’t blame members of those racial and ethnic and class groups for being wary of anyone in a LEO’s uniform, and a lot more wary than I am. Being aware of one’s own privilege means being aware of the lack of privilege others enjoy, and that applies to civilians’ relationships to the police. Ultimately I believe that’s what the majority of people are expressing here, and if you can look at in that way you might take this thread as an opportunity for discussion rather than as an occasion for angry confrontation.
That’s the reason people are suggesting that you chill/take 5/relax, and give some thought to those who don’t feel they have the option not to incriminate themselves (the reason for her silence), who don’t have friends on the force, and who aren’t privileged enough for police to automatically consider themselves their “servants.”
