A cheer to police officers...

[Kadagar_AV]

With all the (very much understandably so) ill will against police-men/women on this forum part, I wanted to highlight some positive examples.

Don't get me wrong, I am by NO means a police fan boy, quite the other way around. If I saw a Swedish cop shot, I'm far from sure I'd sacrifice my best shirt to still the blood...

With that said, let us bear in mind that there truly ARE good cops out there... Guys and gals who just wish to serve the public. I think THOSE people need all our respect, if for no other reason than the uphill struggle they have going to work with the colleagues they have.

So here is my second best run-in with cops... I will save the best for later.


I was happily strolling away from a cloister in Prague with a girl, making a short cut through the park that led up to the Embassy area of town. It was later in the summer, and I saw these AMAZING apples hanging from the trees...

They were quite high up, but I do have ski instructor legs and I wanted to impress the girl. So I jumped for one... And failed.

My GF then was English. Imagine her and mine horror as a cop with a beret and a assault rifle with a bayonet comes sauntering over. She thought we were heading for interrogation, I looked forward to being yelled out and having my passports blocked.

Anyway, beret slightly astray, he walks up to me: "Need a hand with that?"

He then jumps up a couple of times, pushing through apples with his outstretched bayonet all the time, before serving us a snack. "Apples on a bayonet", I think it should/must be called.

He laughed our concern away with the comment: "We're here to protect the Embassy, not the apples in the park around"- said with the biggest grin and wink ever...

Most DEF not what I had been expecting from an officer of law enforcement...

So that's my SECOND best run in...

Share yours.

And again, yes many/most cops are absolutely rotten... But let's not forget about those who.... aint ;)

[Beskar]

I got a lot of family in the British police and they generally do a very good job as an institution.

[Kadagar_AV]

I was actually impressed with what I have seen of the British police...

I heard London cops were tougher though? But the ones I met out on the countryside were all going out of their way to serve the public :)

[Fragony]

I got a lot of family in the British police and they generally do a very good job as an institution.

Here a lot want to, but are restricted by the management. If I had a say I would double their wages first, and only then demand anything more from them

Oh and in praise of the police, it's that key that finally perfects it http://www.geenstijl.nl/archives/images/politiemeisjehelegrotegun.html

[Hooahguy]

If I saw a Swedish cop shot, I'm far from sure I'd sacrifice my best shirt to still the blood...

Wait, seriously? I would hope that a reasonable human being would be more concerned about saving another human life than saving a shirt.

[Strike For The South]

Wait, seriously? I would hope that a reasonable human being would be more concerned about saving another human life than saving a shirt.

But bro they are cops and they totally trample on human rights

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

I was actually impressed with what I have seen of the British police...

I heard London cops were tougher though? But the ones I met out on the countryside were all going out of their way to serve the public :)

British Cops are, if anything, apathetic rather than corrupt. Met officers are probably a bit less forgiving, but they're much more likely to get shot at, likewise ones in Manchester.

[Kadagar_AV]

Wait, seriously? I would hope that a reasonable human being would be more concerned about saving another human life than saving a shirt.

I'm sure they would return the favor...

Here it's civilians jumping in when someone is about to drown. Cops have rules against such things. They don't however have rules about harassing completely innocent guys on the street, though.

I'm no big fan of the Swedish police, but in their defense I only had to deal with Stockholm police, and I guess big city cops are always the worst.

Really impressed with Austrian and English cops though, even though they are miles apart in attitude... The Austrians have are very helpful but extremely correct about it.

[Fragony]

British Cops are, if anything, apathetic rather than corrupt. Met officers are probably a bit less forgiving, but they're much more likely to get shot at, likewise ones in Manchester.

Same here, they are not corrupt. They are kinda useless though, but that isn't really their own fault but the management

[Ironside]

I'm no big fan of the Swedish police, but in their defense I only had to deal with Stockholm police, and I guess big city cops are always the worst.

Really impressed with Austrian and English cops though, even though they are miles apart in attitude... The Austrians have are very helpful but extremely correct about it.

It does vary from city to city I think. Never really had anything to do with the police myself, but from what I heard from a German exchange student, the Swedish police are much nicer on quieting down a too loud party compared to the German cops.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Here's something in the spirit of the thread;
(http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57518127/no-complaints-about-this-traffic-cop/)


(CBS News) LOS ANGELES - Nobody likes to see a motorcycle cop in the rear-view mirror. But we happened to run into a cop who holds the record for civilian complaints. So where did he find him? "On the Road," of course.

This is L.A. Sheriff's Deputy Elton Simmons, and I bet you don't like him already. Seeing him there, hiding in the shadows.

'Why can't he go catch some real criminals,' you may be thinking. Or, 'No wonder he has a record number of complaints.' Who wouldn't complain about a guy whose sole purpose in life is to ruin your day?

By the very nature of the business, all L.A.County traffic cops can expect to get at least a few complaints every year. A lot of them are petty -- people just mad because they got a ticket. But regardless, they all get documented and placed in the officer's personnel file.

Which is why Capt. Pat Maxwell was stunned when he started looking through Simmons' file. "I just said that's not possible," he said.

Although he did see lots of commendations looking back over the last 20 years -- over the last 25,000 traffic stops, Capt. Maxwell couldn't find one complaint. A record zero.

"I mean, Vegas or M.I.T could not give you the odds of the statistical probability of that," said Maxwell.

Obviously Elton is doing something right. "It's gotta be something," he said and acknowledged he had no idea.

Until the captain told him, Elton didn't even know he had such a record, let alone how he got it. "It's just how I do it every day," he said.

So we trailed him for a day to see if we could figure out how he does it.

The first thing I noticed was that he has this pitch-perfect mix of authority and diplomacy, with none of the attitude that sometimes comes with a cop.

"I'm here with you," said Elton. " I'm not up here" (motions his arm up towards the sky). One thing I hate is to be looked down on -- I can't stand it -- so I'm not going to look down at you."

That's why, in lieu of a lecture, he gives most people the benefit of the doubt instead. Of course they still get the ticket -- just not the guilt trip.

The drivers seem to appreciate that -- so much so that by the end, some are downright smitten.

"You know what it is, it's his smile," said driver Mike Viera, who just got a ticket. "He's got a great smile. He's a nice guy. How could you be mad at that guy?"

Apparently, you can't. Time after time, ticket after ticket, we saw Officer Simmons melt away a polar ice cap of preconceptions.

And his boss said there's a lesson in there for hard-nosed traffic cops everywhere.

"Their excuse is, 'Well, I give tickets all day long, I'm going to get complaints,'" said Maxwell. "Well, that's not true. There is a way to do it. And Elton Simmons is the way."

Certainly no complaints here.


CR