A friend of mine asked me the other day, “Why are some of these new, young cops so unfriendly?” I have talked about getting along with law enforcement officers in the past… but let’s look at a few things.
The first thing to remember is, don’t try to become over-friendly to a police officer you don’t know or he/ she will run a record check on your buns to find out what you are about. Please understand that MOST of their time is spent dealing with people who are injured, dirty, bloody, stressed out, in trouble, on drugs, drunk or just plain pissed at the world. When you see an officer conducting a traffic stop, [or with a suspect in handcuffs] it is generally not a good idea to approach him/her and ask for directions.
When a police officer enters the room and you do a “spread eagle” against the wall, Cops aren’t impressed. It‘s not original or funny. When a doctor enters the room, do you bend over and hold up a rubber glove and make a comment? The same applies to doughnut jokes, they have heard them all.
NEVER try to strike up a conversation with an officer by talking about an incident that happened to a friend of yours five years ago when they were “picked up” for something they didn’t do, only to find out later it was just a warning about something trivial that no one cares about.
Don’t talk about police work; they know about it, you don’t. What you saw on TV COPS probably didn’t happen on their shift last night. Avoid asking questions like: “Do you think that pervert that was arrested last week did what they say he did?” Cops don’t want to tell you about their case, and they sure as heck don’t want to talk about someone else’s case. Don’t go there. At the end of your day, (Doing what you do for a living) do you want people coming up to you asking questions about YOUR work, or telling you how to do your job better? NOT!
At a social gathering, you normally get introduced to someone by name. (Most of the time). When a police officer gets introduced at a social event, it’s “this is Bill Smith, he’s a cop” SO WHAT! Maybe he or she doesn’t want everyone to know that he or she is a police officer. Maybe they want to “blend in” and just enjoy being talked to as a “person” not a police officer. People stare at cops, watch to see if they drink at a party, they look for bulge signs of a gun, and eyeball them closely to make a determination if it’s good cop, bad cop or has normal-like qualities.
It is understandable why after a few years; many cops can come to believe that most people should have to apply for a permit to reproduce. They can easily believe that 90% of the people are liars because most people they deal with are. (“I only had a couple beers?”) Keep in mind that almost every time they take a call, make an arrest, stop a car or patrol the streets they are under stress and dealing with other people who are under stress. Yes some cops are just jerks, but take heart in the fact that other cops don’t like them either.
No, cops are not normal people, but they like to be treated like they are.
Tom “Road” Blair
Website: www.tomroadblair.com