5 ms·

Watching police body camera footage has given me much more appreciation for the tough job police have. I can't imagine having people actively try to kill me in

Watching police body camera footage has given me much more appreciation for the tough job police have. I can't imagine having people actively try to kill me in my day-to-day job as a software engineer.

xuhu 3y ago
Many officers take a step back when things heat up beyond "papers please". No one ever got fired for doing that. If an officer escalates, it's because their inner voice says "come at be bro".
- networkchad 3y ago
  [dead]
kkielhofner 3y ago
It's been really interesting to watch the rise of dedicated police body cam YouTube Channels. There are TONS of them and they often have millions of subscribers. They more-or-less paint two pictures: 1) Wow, this job is TERRIBLE. People doing stuff like committing a crime on video, going on a high speed chase, crashing into multiple cars and injuring people, finally crashing the car into a tree, shooting at the police, running on foot, hiding behind a building, and then fighting to the point it takes four-five cops to subdue them but then constantly screaming stuff like "I didn't do anything! Why are you hassling me? You better hope I don't find out where you live because I'm going to [insert the most disgusting, profane, and explicit sex crime stuff you can't even think of] to your wife and daughter". All while claiming they're having an asthma attack even though they just sprinted 1/4 mile. Then it takes the same number of cops 10 minutes just to get them in the police car because they're still fighting, spitting, kicking, who knows what. The really bizarre ones are once they get in the car their primary concern is where their phone ended up... They end up at the jail with a "spit hood" over their head and their entire body strapped to a special wheeled chair where they can't move at all because they're still that dangerous. Most of us here cannot imagine it. It's the wildest stuff you've ever seen - hence the millions of subscribers. 2) Wow, this cop is TERRIBLE. Obvious racial profiling, screaming at people for doing nothing or committing minor infractions, beating/killing people for no reason, inventing charges, etc, etc. People are people and it's a cross-section: terrible people doing terrible things on either side of the law. Obviously the police should be held to a higher standard but more often than not my take away is "I don't know how cops do this job without turning into completely cynical, jaded, paranoid, and aggressive maniacs". I've been on about 24 hours total of ride alongs in some "rough" areas and hit my lifetime quota. It's that disturbing, terrifying, and high-stress. After each "shift" it would take me a while just to start to reconcile what I experienced. I think anyone would have a tough time dealing with someone who (for example) tries to kill you, threatens your family, spits on you, etc while still treating them decently and humanely. In many areas this is over and over, day after day. In the US especially police are basically the "catch all" for all of the other (ample) problems in our society. The people on both sides are often in impossible, no-win situations.
- greedo 3y ago
  You get to see the videos the police want you to see; the videos that reinforce the idea that cops are in a continual state of absolute danger despite all the occupational studies that show it's a relatively safe job. Copaganda...
  - kkielhofner 3y ago
    I was hesitant to write this comment because even though I consider my stance fairly nuanced (with my comment reflecting that) dismissive statements like "copaganda" don't make for any kind of reasonable debate. But I'll try. When I was on a ride along and I watched a guy who just brutally beat his pregnant girlfriend (who was bleeding on the ground in the front yard) charge at us and end up rolling around on the ground with the cop just what they "wanted me to see"? Turns out he was "going hard" because he had a warrant for armed robbery. Same goes for the time the cop pulled over a bunch of gang members (Latin Kings) who threatened to kill us and started making threatening movements in the car (we backed up and he called in some kind of "tactical team" that blocked the street and ordered them out one by one). Or when I watched a guy shove an EMT out of his front door, run in the kitchen, grab a knife, and swipe it at the cop because he beat his partner unconscious who was bleeding from the head on the kitchen floor? I was personally and directly in multiple situations where I witnessed these things and was terrified and probably a little traumatized as a result. There's more but I'm not kidding when I say this stuff was traumatic. This was 10 years ago and it's still fairly difficult for me to talk about but I do occasionally because of viewpoints and responses like yours. This is not "what they wanted me to see". Ride along programs exist to give ordinary citizens a view into a "day in the life". Of course when on a ride along they will be on their best behavior but for what it's worth the officer I was with was an acquaintance of mine so he didn't hold back doing horrible things like "Oh that girl looks hot, she has a taillight out. I want to introduce myself". He pulled her over, talked her out of the car to "look at the light", and spent a while flirting with her. Seriously, that happened too. Disturbing. In the two domestic violence situations I described I was a little uncomfortable at the level of force he used to respond to them, which is so confusing and conflicting because moments before that I thought I was going to get killed or seriously injured. It really messes with you. Was it "reasonable" to order those gang guys out of the car, make them lie face down on the ground, handcuff them, call in gang unit detectives to line them up, take pictures of them, and question them handcuffed while sitting on the curb? To this day I have no idea. I have seen the studies. In terms of death, serious injury, etc law enforcement doesn't even crack the top 10 most dangerous professions. However, in my experience I was in very real fear for my life at least once each time I went out. I either ran away or stood there paralyzed thinking "If this guy wins this fight I'm dead". It's not a good sign when you finally realize "They think I'm a cop. Problem is I have no weapons, no protection, and no training. This is even more dangerous for me." At one point the cop did something like "I'm not supposed to show you this but if things get really bad here's how you unlock the rifle in the car". I would hope that people can recognize what it does to you psychologically to see this side of humanity every day. It's a lot different than being a logger and worrying about a tree falling on you, or being an electric lineman and worrying about slipping and getting electrocuted. Falling off a cell tower, whatever. It's very eye opening, scary, disturbing, and confusing all around. I watch the Youtube body cam footage with either slant and think "Yeah, that's what it's like - good, bad, and ugly".
hotpotamus 3y ago
The fire department has a saying - what do police offices and fire fighters have in common? They both wanted to be fire fighters when they grew up. It's not a job you'd want your children to do, but it's one that someone has to do.

xuhu 3y ago

Many officers take a step back when things heat up beyond "papers please". No one ever got fired for doing that. If an officer escalates, it's because their inner voice says "come at be bro".

networkchad 3y ago
[dead]

kkielhofner 3y ago

It's been really interesting to watch the rise of dedicated police body cam YouTube Channels. There are TONS of them and they often have millions of subscribers. They more-or-less paint two pictures: 1) Wow, this job is TERRIBLE. People doing stuff like committing a crime on video, going on a high speed chase, crashing into multiple cars and injuring people, finally crashing the car into a tree, shooting at the police, running on foot, hiding behind a building, and then fighting to the point it takes four-five cops to subdue them but then constantly screaming stuff like "I didn't do anything! Why are you hassling me? You better hope I don't find out where you live because I'm going to [insert the most disgusting, profane, and explicit sex crime stuff you can't even think of] to your wife and daughter". All while claiming they're having an asthma attack even though they just sprinted 1/4 mile. Then it takes the same number of cops 10 minutes just to get them in the police car because they're still fighting, spitting, kicking, who knows what. The really bizarre ones are once they get in the car their primary concern is where their phone ended up... They end up at the jail with a "spit hood" over their head and their entire body strapped to a special wheeled chair where they can't move at all because they're still that dangerous. Most of us here cannot imagine it. It's the wildest stuff you've ever seen - hence the millions of subscribers. 2) Wow, this cop is TERRIBLE. Obvious racial profiling, screaming at people for doing nothing or committing minor infractions, beating/killing people for no reason, inventing charges, etc, etc. People are people and it's a cross-section: terrible people doing terrible things on either side of the law. Obviously the police should be held to a higher standard but more often than not my take away is "I don't know how cops do this job without turning into completely cynical, jaded, paranoid, and aggressive maniacs". I've been on about 24 hours total of ride alongs in some "rough" areas and hit my lifetime quota. It's that disturbing, terrifying, and high-stress. After each "shift" it would take me a while just to start to reconcile what I experienced. I think anyone would have a tough time dealing with someone who (for example) tries to kill you, threatens your family, spits on you, etc while still treating them decently and humanely. In many areas this is over and over, day after day. In the US especially police are basically the "catch all" for all of the other (ample) problems in our society. The people on both sides are often in impossible, no-win situations.

greedo 3y ago
You get to see the videos the police want you to see; the videos that reinforce the idea that cops are in a continual state of absolute danger despite all the occupational studies that show it's a relatively safe job. Copaganda...
- kkielhofner 3y ago
  I was hesitant to write this comment because even though I consider my stance fairly nuanced (with my comment reflecting that) dismissive statements like "copaganda" don't make for any kind of reasonable debate. But I'll try. When I was on a ride along and I watched a guy who just brutally beat his pregnant girlfriend (who was bleeding on the ground in the front yard) charge at us and end up rolling around on the ground with the cop just what they "wanted me to see"? Turns out he was "going hard" because he had a warrant for armed robbery. Same goes for the time the cop pulled over a bunch of gang members (Latin Kings) who threatened to kill us and started making threatening movements in the car (we backed up and he called in some kind of "tactical team" that blocked the street and ordered them out one by one). Or when I watched a guy shove an EMT out of his front door, run in the kitchen, grab a knife, and swipe it at the cop because he beat his partner unconscious who was bleeding from the head on the kitchen floor? I was personally and directly in multiple situations where I witnessed these things and was terrified and probably a little traumatized as a result. There's more but I'm not kidding when I say this stuff was traumatic. This was 10 years ago and it's still fairly difficult for me to talk about but I do occasionally because of viewpoints and responses like yours. This is not "what they wanted me to see". Ride along programs exist to give ordinary citizens a view into a "day in the life". Of course when on a ride along they will be on their best behavior but for what it's worth the officer I was with was an acquaintance of mine so he didn't hold back doing horrible things like "Oh that girl looks hot, she has a taillight out. I want to introduce myself". He pulled her over, talked her out of the car to "look at the light", and spent a while flirting with her. Seriously, that happened too. Disturbing. In the two domestic violence situations I described I was a little uncomfortable at the level of force he used to respond to them, which is so confusing and conflicting because moments before that I thought I was going to get killed or seriously injured. It really messes with you. Was it "reasonable" to order those gang guys out of the car, make them lie face down on the ground, handcuff them, call in gang unit detectives to line them up, take pictures of them, and question them handcuffed while sitting on the curb? To this day I have no idea. I have seen the studies. In terms of death, serious injury, etc law enforcement doesn't even crack the top 10 most dangerous professions. However, in my experience I was in very real fear for my life at least once each time I went out. I either ran away or stood there paralyzed thinking "If this guy wins this fight I'm dead". It's not a good sign when you finally realize "They think I'm a cop. Problem is I have no weapons, no protection, and no training. This is even more dangerous for me." At one point the cop did something like "I'm not supposed to show you this but if things get really bad here's how you unlock the rifle in the car". I would hope that people can recognize what it does to you psychologically to see this side of humanity every day. It's a lot different than being a logger and worrying about a tree falling on you, or being an electric lineman and worrying about slipping and getting electrocuted. Falling off a cell tower, whatever. It's very eye opening, scary, disturbing, and confusing all around. I watch the Youtube body cam footage with either slant and think "Yeah, that's what it's like - good, bad, and ugly".

hotpotamus 3y ago

The fire department has a saying - what do police offices and fire fighters have in common? They both wanted to be fire fighters when they grew up. It's not a job you'd want your children to do, but it's one that someone has to do.