(04-14-2021, 07:18 PM)mikesez Wrote:

(04-14-2021, 05:43 PM)jagibelieve Wrote: You are correct with your first comment.  I would guess that 99% of police officers out there are ethical and will do the right thing.

Regarding the second part of your comment, I would suggest that part of the problem is not "training" for police officers, rather it's "coping skills" and mental health.  Speaking as a former law enforcement officer myself, I can tell you that the job is extremely stressful and these officers see way more awful things than what is often reported.  It's not so much the "dating underage girls" thing it's more the "abuse their spouse" and "abuse of the law" that I'm talking about.

I have a couple of personal friends that I met when I served that ended up taking their own life because they couldn't cope with what they had to see and deal with daily.  I know of one other that was arrested and served time for his "abuse of power" because he "went over the top".

Cops are human.  The incidents "reported" by the media are merely a small sliver of the day (or night) of the police officer.  The media doesn't report on the fact that an officer had to assist with extracting the human remains of a person in a car crash that burned (I had to do that).  The media doesn't report on the officer that has to inform a mother that her high school aged (just graduated) son was killed in a car crash (I had to do that).  I could go on and on.  I left law enforcement because it became too stressful for me.

People, aided by the media are focused too much on the "bad" things that police officers sometimes do.  Everything from the stupid "knee jerk" reactions by some on the far left call for "banning" or "defunding" the police and ignore the real problem.  The real problem is over-worked police officers and the lack of mental health/coping help.

I couldn't agree more.  Thank you for posting this.  Like many people, cops could use better support systems. 
At the same time, cops who cross the line have to be held accountable. That's part of the support system. The intervention doesn't have to be negative, unless an innocent person dies of course.  
In light of all that, though, do you oppose involving social workers in more emergency calls?

Social workers are completely understaffed, underpaid and overworked. Adding something else to their plate is ridiculous! We see so many child abuse cases and child murders, because social workers have such a large case load that they can't get to regular welfare checks on the kids they already have and now people want to get them involved in an entirely different set of calls? It's just "stealing from Peter, to pay Paul."

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