Mr Rock!!! said:
Its' quite simple really. If you are sitting at a train station at 11;00pm at night and the police come up to you and ask for ID. You show it to them. They have a look, maybe run a check, and if you've got nothing to hide, it's all good.
And really, does it matter if the cop is a smartass?? Some are, some aren't. Some shopkeepers are smartasses, some aren't. Same with plumbers etc....
Like it or not, the police are an authority and if they ask you for a reasonable request, you comply. My Dad can't stand coppers, but he always taught me to say, 'Yes sir, No Sir", and treat them with respect.
Dont' treat them with respect and they get their back-up and suspicious of you immediately
....It's obvious that some minority cultures in this country teach their children otherwise...... And if that's me in the stereo-typing category, so be it.
Mr Rock!!! could not care less
So many good points in this post. "Yes sir, No sir,..." just like refs actually (and have you noticed how many coppers are refs? It's either a power thing or a justice thing, you be the judge). I've never beaten one of them over the whole game either though I might have had the odd win from time to time.
And aren't the police just a reflection of society? Next we'll have the Victorian coppers having to clear the Academy pool because it's against some Mulim chick's beliefs that men can see her in a swimsuit and she wants to be a copper :shock:
(I mean, what happen when her shirt gets ripped off in a blue? Does she down tools until her dignity is restored?) Sorry, I'm rambling but I just heard that story today from a mate of mine who was there :crazy:
But back to coppers, good and bad, just like any other job. Like footballers for instance, or player managers...
Of course they will get suspicious if you buck. You wanna blame them? Walk a mile in their shoes. My sister is a certified bona-fide doctor of sociology , a tree-hugging lefty, pinko, commy so-and-so (about the only thing she's not is lesbian, though her husband is sensitive enough to be one) and I have this argument with her all the time. "I couldn't do their job but I expect more from them than (
insert the latest media controversy here)." "f**k off, these walls have to be guarded by men with guns...
(continue with Jack Nicholson's speech from A Few Good Men."]
There is a balance to be struck. Obviously, you can't let the coppers do whatever they want or whatever they'd like to (
Another copper told me today of the Mad Max years in Victoria, "They used to say we would shoot first and ask questions later and they were bloody right. We figured it was beter to be tried by 12 than carried by 6") but this is a long way short of that IMO.
Anyway that's my rant. But I'm only on page 36, no doubt I'll take issue with others before I catch up.
bugger
