nyc.general

"Prisoner at War" wrote

It's just my opinion,
that this post of your's (although decidedly tilted)
makes more sense than many of them.

> What's of greater curiosity to me is whether policework
> makes assholes (of them)
> or requires them (to be 'jerks' to get employed)

Certainly some truth in that.

1. To enter the profession, a prospective LEO does
have to show he has enough courage, ability and
forcefullness, to not back down when confronted
with any old challenge.
I am reminded of one of the 'lessons' I used to teach
when I was a FTO. (The origin was a sports columnist
writing about Bobby Knight in San Juan)
"You can get your way in life oftentimes by by being
a jerk, for people will defer to you rather than cause
a scene, , , but woe unto you brother, when you come
upon another jerk, and he's the one with the hammer!"
You want the LEO to be smart, knowlegable, reasonable,
flexible and caring. But at some point in time, he has to
step up and confront and stop the lawbreaker.
(and yes, at times that requires being a bit of a jerk!)

2. Yes, the work does expose them to experiences
that can cause some of them to become 'jaundiced'.

> The more I travel the more I see that cops (and jailers) are
> just assholes, ----you can only stereotype them --
> *all* of them.
> All cops are assholes. They're basically dumb lawyers, let's say.

I suggest to you:
That when you first meet a person, and automaticly think
that they are a 'jerk', that this shows and is seen.
And to some extent, you will get back what you are giving.
You can thus 'project' a bad experience with nearly anyone.

OK, if your point is some of the USA's 675,000 LEOs
are not 'ideal', I'll accept that.