Police Officer: Lost And Destroyed - 9/27/2022
I met a cop last night at the bar. Very interesting. Super nice guy with over 2 decades of experience.
He told me so many interesting things. I picked his brain extensively.
The first thing he told me is how "everyone hates us." As i dug more into his mindset on this... It was really interesting.
I asked him "what percentage of the police force here in LA is truly trying to do good things and help good people." He thought about it for a while and he told me "85%." Then i asked him "what percentage of the remaining 15% were good cops, but lost that over many years of being hated by everyone?" His answer was HALF.
He told me how difficult it is and how, over the years you literally lose track over who is the good guy and who is the bad guy.
He told me "no one understands how terrifying it is to pull someone over at night." And he told me about how it is a situation where you don't know if you're coming home each day.
He also told me that the reason why I don't have tons of trouble with the police is because I'm white. I was shocked and i said "i thought that was simply PR attacks that are politically motivated." He assured me no and told me that it is the truth.
I dug heavily into that and asked him why that is. He said he didn't know. He mentioned about being posted in South Central for a long time and how he actually used to create truces with the gang leaders in order to save the children and prevent them from being killed. He said "you would be shocked but the gangsters promised to leave the kids alone and help them, and they made good on that promise. The leaders didn't want the kids to grow up and wind up like them."
I then brought up that event that happened a couple of years ago where those two cops were shot just chillin in their car by the train station. He said "yeah, that was the end of a 4 year long truce."
He told me that "everything we do is perceived wrong by the public but truthfully a majority of us just want to do the right thing and help good people."
I asked how many times he had been in a firefight, he told me 3 times.
2 times were bank robberies. Both times he shot and killed the suspect.
The 3rd time was on a CPS order to go get someone's kids. He said the dad came to the door and said "you aren't taking my kids" then brandished a pistol. This officer said "drop it, drop it, drop it, drop it, drop it, drop it, drop it" a total of 6 times. I inquired what the suspects eyes looked like and he said "blank. He knew he was going to die." Then the officer fired and hit the suspect in the chest, killing the suspect.
I inquired as to why the officer was taking the kids. He said "I don't know, it was a court order." I asked if they were given ANY information. He said "sometimes we are but this time no. I have no idea. We do what the judge tells us to do. There is no option to ask for clarification."
He then stopped and said "why do you think I'm here drinking myself to death like i do every day. I have nightmares about him... his face, his eyes. I can't get over it. It haunts me every day."
I explained that he did try to diffuse the situation by commanding the suspect to drop the weapon several times. He said yes but that didn't matter... that man was just trying to protect his kids.
He then told me "no one has a clue how hard it is. We are just considered the bad guys."
I then got into the subject of Public Relations with him. I said "what you're telling me sounds like a PR problem. It is nothing more than the public perception of what you do." He said yes and confirmed that their PR Dept could use improvement.
He told me "people forget that we're humans, we have feelings just like anyone else." He explained how he thinks very fondly of individual rights and he believes everyone should have a gun and he was very fond of the second amendment.
He just said "i don't even know what to think anymore. I feel lost. I don't even know who the good and bad guys are anymore."
I did have a book on me and he asked about it. I told him very little about what i do.
I'm writing all this and posting this post because it's a powerful conversation. A terrifically powerful conversation that puts into perspective so much that the media destroys.
The hatred and the violence and the negative emotions that are created via the media towards the police actually, by themselves, create equal hostility in the force themselves.
Yes, they are a private security force. Yes they are part of a for-profit private corporation. But they don't know that.
I tried explaining a few things to this guy and he said "I'm no lawyer man. If i arrested you and you went in and knew the law, they would just release you. That's not my job, that's the judge and the courts."
The idea that the police are this evil force is entirely illusion and is manufactured for a specific reason. It is a Public Relations campaign aimed at dividing and conquering us. And i do not agree with it.
I understand that i do not have a lot of negative police interaction. My point of this post is to say that by understanding their world is important... even if you consider that they are your enemy, Sun Tzu says "know thy enemy."
But the ultimate question is this:
"If you know your enemy well enough, do they cease to be an enemy?"
Something to ponder, my dear friends. Something to ponder.
