Hmmmm.....
270winchester:
Your post deserves a response. I hope the moderators see this as simply an informed reply and not a flame, insult, or instigation for an argument. I feel that I have some standing in this area so here goes:
I cannot know what your experience with LEO's has been in the past. I'll assume from your reply you've had your fair share of interactions with LEO's and based upon that collective experience, you have come to form your biased conclusions. That is unfortunate, but it hardly places you in a position to speak for the "law enforcement world." If you have other special credentials, or access to information or data to support your positions I'd like to hear it. I speak from a position of professional interaction from duty, training, and socializing with LEO's for a little over 10 years.
I suspect that my law enforcement experience in general, is probably a bit more expansive and varried than that of an average 21-year old (not to insinuate that you are average), but I would still not presume to speak for the entire "law enforcement world." I can speak of those officers and agents with which I've had this discussion and I'll stand by my initial assesment.
TroyTK put up some interesting numbers and by my guesstimate, he's probably pretty close to what I have found, give or take a few percentage point here and there.
As far as your assessment of the "LEO world," "LEO glory," and educational requirements for the job... well... I think people will see those non-points for what they are. Maybe you have an excellent education and you feel that a "GED" shouldn't be able to give you a traffic ticket. That is something you will simply have to come to grips with as you grow older. I have a bachelor's degree from a highly reputable private university, but most of my superiors only finished high school or came out of the military. That doesn't make them less intelligent than me, it simply means they took a different route to the same destination. Obviously, your assesment will fit a minority of officers and supervisors here and there, but I've found that to successfully absorb and sucessfully put into practice all the necessary training, skills, and command of legal issues, we must have at least a modicum of intelligence, common sense, and good judgement. The news is often filled with stories of LEO's acting inappropriately. It rarely shows us at our best because that wouldn't sell papers or get TV ratings. Be careful how you view the media. Listening to their stories as if they were gospel would give you a very stilted and biased view of the real world. That however, is a topic for another time.
Be weary when you hear about particular unions, associations, or other groups of LEO's who take a stand on one particular side of the argument. Often that position does not accurately reflect the feelings of the whole body, rather it reflects the feelings of those participants who decided to show up at the meeting and vote. Or worse, it reflects the opinions of the leaders of that body who pressure subordinates to "see things their way." I believe that this is not just characteristic to law enforcement, but to many types of organizations throughout society.
I have never been to California. Maybe you really have the pulse of law enforcement on the West Coast. I'd love to hear from a California LEO on this matter. I will say this; my sister-in-law works for Los Angeles (area?) Animal Control and she is an occasional recreational shooter. She also has many good frineds in the LAPD. Often she goes out into the desert, shooting with frineds. Some are LEO's, some aren't. I have never gotten the feeling from her that all her cop buddies are anti-gun. That however, is a small sampling from CA.
What I have found to be generally accepted by LEO's is that scum-bags should not have guns... period. I don't mean misdomeanant traffic violators, or kids who got caught with a joint when they were 18; I mean serious convicted violent felons, drug dealers, and organized crime. It would be hard to argue that lawfully arming these people is a good idea. Unfortunately many of these idiots illegally arm themselves anyway.
Finally, I must regretably agree that some LEO's have lost their passion for the job, and it directly affects their performance. I see it every day and it never stops bothering me. Why does this happen? Certainly the media's constant bombardment doesn't help. Also, chronic underfunding in some areas of the country makes a tough job even tougher... and more dangerous. That can't do much for morale either. Finally, constant exposure to the lowest dregs of society, grief, tragedy, death, and victimiation takes it toll on the psyche. This is a voluntary job and all of us are free to quit whenever we like. Unfortunately, economic issues keep many disenchanted LEO's chained to the "regular paycheck" so instead of leaving they stay on and allow their morale and performance to slowly slip away. It is sad, but it happens. While those LEO's exist, there is a vast multitude of LEO's out there singly interested in making this a better, safer, responsible society and are willing to do our level best, within the bounds of the law, to achieve that goal.
I'll end my rant on that positive note.
Chuck S:
Thank you for noticing. Yes, many LEO's will commonly use the terms "civilian" or "citizen" in casual discussion when refering to non-LEO's. I count myself guilty in the past. They are misnomers to be sure, but I think it comes from the para-military nature of the profession. I strictly avoided those terms here for obvious reasons. If you hear an LEO make this mistake please do not automatically assume that you are dealing with an elitist. It is simply (and unfortunately) a part of the professional jargon we cops love to use.
We are all citizens and civilians and equally restrained and empowered by the same body of laws.
Train hard and be safe.
