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The police officer that lives on my street has become a good buddy of mine and is a good person based on my experience. I can't necessarily say for sure he's a

The police officer that lives on my street has become a good buddy of mine and is a good person based on my experience. I can't necessarily say for sure he's a good cop because I've never seen him work, but I would bet money he's a good cop as well. He's never shown me anything that would indicate a violent side, even when we've gone out to bars together and I've seen him drunk. He is very kind and caring to his kids, and seems to have a happy marriage with his wife of many years. He has talked about the homeless population before and seems to talk about them with a degree of compassion. He initially started as a police officer about a decade ago and then left to become an insurance adjuster. Apparently that insurance job did not bring in enough income and ended with false promises, so he ended up back as a police officer after a couple of years. I get the feeling he doesn't enjoy the job; they make him work crazy overtime hours and he has to work night-shift, which makes maintaining a family very difficult. Point being, not everyone joins the force to unleash their abusive side without repercussions, or whatever the current stereotype is. This man is doing it simply to support his family. I hope that helps answer your question some. Human beings are complex and painting all of them with a wide brush is a lazy way to justify hating someone that may not deserve it.

jghn 3y ago
I mean I know a number of people who are cops who are good people. But when I push them on the existence of bad cops they always hand wave it away as either being a) rare or b) not their place to fight against. On a, what I've found is their definition of "bad cop" has a much higher bound than mine. They always mean the stereotypical psychopath cop. They'll rationalize the egregious behavior and not include more run of the mill rule bending as even being meaningful. On b, this was my main point. It's easy to excuse it all as long as one is willing to push the responsibility to others. Or worse, they push back on me asking if I'd report or speak out against someone breaking rules at my work. Well yes, actually. And I'd expect that of others. So my point was that in order to be considered a "good cop" I expect them to at a minimum a) adhere to laws themselves and b) actively work against other cops who do not follow a.
- y-c-o-m-b 3y ago
  Thanks for clarifying. I'll have to push him on those questions next time and see how he responds. He was one of the police officers during the George Floyd protest riots in Portland, so I've got to hear some of it from his perspective and nothing he said struck me as a "red flag" of any sort. Then again I'm not one to "take sides" on any matter either. I don't care what the court of public opinion wants, because it often lacks empathy or putting oneself in the other person's shoes. This tends to make me an outlier in most controversial topics, so maybe my opinion of what makes a "bad cop" will not necessarily match yours or others.
- soco 3y ago
  By this logic, we'd also have a bad time trying to find good doctors, at least in the countries I know a bit (no idea about the US). Malpraxis is definitely not a thing around here.

jghn 3y ago

I mean I know a number of people who are cops who are good people. But when I push them on the existence of bad cops they always hand wave it away as either being a) rare or b) not their place to fight against. On a, what I've found is their definition of "bad cop" has a much higher bound than mine. They always mean the stereotypical psychopath cop. They'll rationalize the egregious behavior and not include more run of the mill rule bending as even being meaningful. On b, this was my main point. It's easy to excuse it all as long as one is willing to push the responsibility to others. Or worse, they push back on me asking if I'd report or speak out against someone breaking rules at my work. Well yes, actually. And I'd expect that of others. So my point was that in order to be considered a "good cop" I expect them to at a minimum a) adhere to laws themselves and b) actively work against other cops who do not follow a.

y-c-o-m-b 3y ago
Thanks for clarifying. I'll have to push him on those questions next time and see how he responds. He was one of the police officers during the George Floyd protest riots in Portland, so I've got to hear some of it from his perspective and nothing he said struck me as a "red flag" of any sort. Then again I'm not one to "take sides" on any matter either. I don't care what the court of public opinion wants, because it often lacks empathy or putting oneself in the other person's shoes. This tends to make me an outlier in most controversial topics, so maybe my opinion of what makes a "bad cop" will not necessarily match yours or others.
soco 3y ago
By this logic, we'd also have a bad time trying to find good doctors, at least in the countries I know a bit (no idea about the US). Malpraxis is definitely not a thing around here.