A New Trend In Policing ???

[trooper]

Der Polizeioffizier hat ein U-Boot Maschinenpisole auf dem Motorrad!!

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAA!!! I almost spilled a glass of fine red wine on my desk... thanks. That's hilarious

Back on topic... I second the opinion that behaviour and SOP's are much more important and significant than looks. And for some police work (even outside SWAT and K-9) BDU pants and boots are just much more practical. If my uniform is clean, proper and fits its purpose I see no reason to change because SOME citizens who happen to have a more conservative taste in clothing would like me to wear button-down collars and ties.


Regards,

Trooper

 

[David]

Not to worry, folks.

Here is a photo of a "tender moment" between a New Year's Eve reveler and a "military-look" police officer!



Just my 2 cents...

 

[Hkmp5sd]

I don't care if they walk around with Black BDUs and subguns or pink polka-dot camies and super-soakers, as long as they are all wearing the same uniform that makes them easily identified as LEOs. I actually like seeing AR/M4s and MP5s mounted in patrol cars.

However, the guys wearing jeans and black masks while performing LEO activities are inviting trouble in that it is too easy to mistake them for BGs. It is rather easy to get a Tshirt or Jacket with POLICE stamped across it and the number of fake cops doing robberies is slowly increasing.

 

[Blue Jays]

Good Evening All-

David, that scenario works great when it is a woman hugging a male police officer. He looks like he is having fun with his new friend in the picture, but what if it was a fat, drunken, sweaty Michael Moore look-alike saying, "I love ya' man! Now gimme' a big ole' bearhug!"

Yes, there will ALWAYS be exceptions to the rule...what is being observed here is overall trends that could become very disturbing. Great snapshot, though.

Regards,

~ Blue Jays ~

 

[Matt G]

In my opinion, younger officers need extensive guidance from older, wiser, streetsmart officers. Even if it means bringing some guys out of retirement for ridealongs and general coaching. The older officer should also be slated as the ranking officer to help shape the future of law enforcement.

CAREFUL with the age-ism there. Some of the "old salts" are old burn-outs. Some of the "new kids" are some of the most professional, community-serving men and women you'll ever have the pleasure to meet. Hold EVERYONE to the high standards, and don't cut the old farts any more slack than you would the rookies. You wouldn't believe how many problems that kind of attitude can and does create.

 

[TheeBadOne]

Matt G

Very pertinent post Sir.

 

[Nightcrawler]

As long as the cops understand their role as civil servants, respect citizens' rights, and act in a professional manner, I don't care what their uniforms look like or what weapons they carry (presuming adequate training).

I know policing can be a difficult and dangerous job, and is a thankless one at that. However, your average beat officer, frankly, is NOT protecting us from terrorists. If we had bands of armed fanatics on doing suicide charges on Main Street USA, attempting to kill as many as they can before being killed themselves, it'd be a very different story and being a police officer would be more dangerous still.

However, our special operations and intelligence operators are the "tip of the spear" in the war on terror. Hopefully, it'll stay that way.

 

[Moparmike]

That is why I like my Sheriff's department. Light brown (khaki-ish) shirt, brown pants. Deputies are clearly identifiable, and the local city cops wear blue slacks and a blue shirt w/ handy pockets. They look like cops, not GI JOE.

Local city to the north of mine has black cars, black BDU's, some high-n-tights, and seem to be trying to be Marines in hostile country. They just dont seem as pleasant. Seem really gruff, and full of contempt for the lowly peon's they "serve."

Please note that the above was a description of the impression I get from my local Peace Officers.

 

[bfason]

Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments

"Over the past 20 years Congress has encouraged the U.S. military to supply intelligence, equipment, and training to civilian police. That encouragement has spawned a culture of paramilitarism in American law enforcement."
...
"State and local police departments are increasingly accepting the military as a model for their behavior and outlook. The sharing of training and technology is producing a shared mindset. The problem is that the mindset of the soldier is simply not appropriate for the civilian police officer. Police officers confront not an 'enemy' but individuals who are protected by the Bill of Rights. Confusing the police function with the military function can lead to dangerous and unintended consequences—such as unnecessary shootings and killings."

I don't mind that a police officer wears tactical pants with lots of handy pockets for wallet, pager, cellphone, ammo, cuffs, English-Spanish phrase book, and various other tools. Likewise I do not mind that that he has an AR-15 in his squad car just in case, but when every other little Mayberry R.F.D. is getting its own SWAT force, armored car, and crate of machine guns, it gives me pause. There is a certain accompanying mindset that is unhealthy as the distinction between the military, the police, and the intelligence agencies becomes less important. In a dictatorship, the distinction evaporates, and the military can snatch citizens off the streets. Last year the Bush Administration proposed changes in law to give the Pentagon and CIA subpoena power. This is not a healthy trend.

Before 9-11, the driving force IMHO was the "war on drugs."

 

[LoneWulf]

We had no special deployment. No one in swat gear. We had over 200 officers on that night, but none dressed in that manner.
NYPD does as they want, other agencies do as they want.
Painting us all with one brush is sad on your part.

You guys worry too much.

 

[Jedi_7.62]

Gee, .....I wonder......What would happen iif I decided to walk around New York City or anywheere for that matter with a mask helmet and assault rifle?


The greatest security will come from empowering the people not just the police.

 

[natedog]

Klar, nein muß sich sorgen. Lager? Was lagert? Ach lagert, die Umsiedlung. Sie angeht von nein sind.

 

[Quartus]

You guys worry too much.

There it is again....


I keep smelling it around threads like this. It's too strong to miss....



The rotten odor of boiled frogs.

 

[TheeBadOne]

There it is again....


I keep smelling it around threads like this. It's too strong to miss....



The rotten odor of boiled frogs.

I could be just the odor from a lot of tinfoil...

 

[spartacus2002]

You guys worry too much.

The German citizens in the 1930s didn't worry enough.

Now, on to the subject of clothing:

I've met some wonderful police officers (police, sheriffs, and state troopers) who were very nice, professional, and polite, and they got nothing but the same in return.

I've met police officers who definitely believed they were the masters and the non-police are the servants.

There was always a direct correlation between BDUS and the latter attitude.

Remember what Gunny Highway said in Heartbreak Ridge? WTTE of "Once you start looking like Marines, you'll start feeling like Marines, and once you start feeling like Marines, you'll start acting like Marines."

That's good medicine for the Marines, bad medicine for police.

What makes the police different is that they have a legal right to use force against fellow citizens and to inject you into the criminal justice system. That is their primary reason for existence. Yes, they do other things too, so don't feed me the stories about all the times you got a cat out of a tree.

Businesses have gotten away from "casual fridays" because people acted too casual without the business attire. BDUs don't turn a good policeman into a JBT, but they can be an indicator of the attitude of an individual policeman or an entire department.

 

[fix]

Businesses have gotten away from "casual fridays" because people acted too casual without the business attire.

Some businesses. Many have gone to business casual every day, because it's not only comfortable...it's practical.

 

[spartacus2002]

Sorry, couldn't resist posting the following story. And check out the lovely photos at http://www.news-record.com/photo/hege/index.html (especially the part with the paramilitary boots)


Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Story 9/19/03
Poetic justice may be an appropriate term for the travails of this week's corrupt cop, South Carolina's Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege. Hege, a follower of the Sheriff Joe Arpaio school of sanctimonious self-promotion through humiliating prisoners, was indicted this week on 15 felony counts including embezzlement -- he is charged with stealing cash from the department's drug buy fund, among other things -- and obstruction of justice.


The publicity-seeking Hege billed himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," and made a reputation for himself through such stunts as painting his jail pink -- to emasculate prisoners, he proudly sneered -- posing in paramilitary uniforms, and inscribing the motto "No Deals" on patrol cars. The busy, busy sheriff also had his own program on Court TV, "Live from Cell Block F," in which inmates described their crimes and Hege berated them for the amusement of viewers. The program was broadcast from his office, which Hege thoughtfully decorated to look like a military bunker.

Hege also has his own web site, http://www.HegeCountry.com, where he poses standing atop a tank with a double-barreled shotgun. Some of the photos, also for sale as posters, bear such slogans as "This ain't Mayberry and I ain't Andy!" or "Do the crime scumbag, and you'll do the time." (These links were not working as of this morning; we don't know if it is a temporary error or if they have been removed from the site.) On the web site, Hege also brags about his toughness: "His trade mark sunglasses and military style uniforms have put fear into drug dealers and criminals throughout the southeast and are being copied by other sheriff offices. Removing TV's from the cells and putting his inmates to work wearing black and white striped uniforms have brought national attention to this North Carolina Sheriff."

Sheriff of Davidson County since 1994, Hege is accused of stealing $6,200 from an undercover drug buy fund and using part of it to pay for reelection celebrations in 1998 and 2002. He is also accused of blocking an investigation into the disappearance of money seized by his office during a criminal investigation. And he is accused of conspiring with a former county maintenance director to conduct surveillance of law enforcement officers investigating him. Additionally, Davidson County District Attorney Gary Frank, in moving to have Hege removed from office, accuses him of a pattern of intimidation and threats against deputies he believed were cooperating in investigations against him.

Hege was suspended with pay pending a September 29 hearing to remove him from office. And although he was formally arrested, booked, and fingerprinted Monday, Hege did not have the opportunity to spend some time in his pink jail because of a previous arrangement with the State Bureau of Investigation agents who escorted him to court. Curiously, this time Hege avoided the media he usually woos.

Hege faces six to eight years on each of the 15 felony accounts.

 

[TheeBadOne]

Origionally posted by spartacus2002:

Remember what Gunny Highway said in Heartbreak Ridge? WTTE of "Once you start looking like Marines, you'll start feeling like Marines, and once you start feeling like Marines, you'll start acting like Marines."

That's good medicine for the Marines, bad medicine for police.

Remember, that's a fictional movie.

I've met police officers who definitely believed they were the masters and the non-police are the servants.

There was always a direct correlation between BDUS and the latter attitude.

So.....If you have wheat toast for breakfeast that means that everyone has wheat toast for breakfeast?

All the best

TBO

 

[seeker_two]

His trade mark sunglasses and military style uniforms have put fear into drug dealers and criminals throughout the southeast and are being copied by other sheriff offices

Goebbles would be proud...