Are cops over hyped? Have their image benefitted from the events of September 11, 2001? Have their behavior changed much since then? I believe that they have benefitted drastically from the events of 9-11 and do not deserve alot of praise they receive. They are still the same racial profilers we have come to know. They still are the arrogant "use the badge to oppress ordinary citizens" civil servants that we fund through our hard earned taxes. While the racial profiling and other racial indiscretion may tarnish the image of police officers, I want to argue that the system as a whole is flawed. There are many good hard working cops out there, but there are some that are cops for the wrong reasons. Who becomes a cop? When you a younger, some of you may have inspired to have been cops. As you grew up you realized that police officers are paid low and the risk may outweigh the reward. Helping people may be nice but it will not help you live comfortably. So you then dreamt of being a lawyer, doctor, scientist or businessman. But while in college, many might have realized that their is no hope of obtaining high ranking in their field. They might have realized that they do not have connections or the personality or determination to get to the top and achieve status and power. As many social scientiststs point out that two things that drives society are the desire for high status or the need for power. Realizing that you may not be fit for your field, you could always turn to an occupation that gives you power no matter how low on the ladder you are at. That occupation is law enforcement as a police officer. Think about all the power the police have. They have the authority to decide if one's action is deserving of criminal charges. They do not have to make an arrest or even trun a person's name to the prosecutor if they do not feel that the situation warrants more than a mere warning. There decision to book you or arrest you is based on their discretion or evaluation of the situation. They can merely give the person a warning and save themselves hours of paperwork. We see this everyday on the roads. Some cars are ticketed while others aren't. PBA cards technically are not supposed to get you out of a ticket. But they do in most cases. Cops may protect their own buddies from prosecution. Police are given to much discretion when it comes to a crime or what they view as a crime. Because of this discretion they can use this to pressure others into acting in a certain way or to simply feel a rush of power. Think about the times when you have seen a cop and knowing that you did not do anything wrong, you got nervous. That happens to most people everyday. When you pass them on the highway and slow down, EVEN WHEN YOU ARE NOT SPEEDING. They could ticket you even if you are 1 mile over the speed limit and you know this. But its your lucky day and they have met their quota so they are not aggresively ticketing. Ticketing is just a method of paying bills, not enforcing the laws. Most speeders do not get caught. The unlucky bastards who speed that one day all week gets the ticket. But its their discretion on who to ticket. Certain cars do not get ticketed or watched by their radars. Certain color of people do not get harassed because of the car they drive. It is the cop's discretion. Now we all can think of a time when we have benefitted from a cop viewing a situation in our favor, but the truth be told, that was just your lucky day. Law should be enforced equally and not in manner causes people to second guess their legal actions. I am not saying cops are racist or sexist, this is not a movement. I am just saying that no matter what race you are, there has been a time when you have seen a cop's action and you shocked at what occured. Cops protect cops, just like family protects its members. But arent they supposed to protect us?
