why do people hate cops?

[fultonCoShooter]

Washington State Trooper pulling down 30-foot banner on overpass during student demonstration
On February 24th, a small group of University of Washington students gathered on the 45th street overpass above Interstate 5, carrying a 30-foot banner, which read “Education not incarceration.”

After an hour of perfectly legal protesting—you’re allowed to assemble on overpasses, as long as you don’t hang signs from the freeway and aren’t blocking traffic—the students were getting ready to head home when a Washington State Patrol Officer arrived on scene.

“We heard the woop woop [of the siren],” says UW student Jamie Brown, 27. According to Brown, State Trooper Douglas Power told the group to take their sign down and move on. “He wouldn’t or couldn’t tell us what law we were breaking,” Brown says.“He was saying it was a safety issue, that we were threatening people on the freeway.”

Next, Brown says the Trooper grabbed one of the students and pulled the sign down on top of the group. The entire incident was caught on tape.

The State Patrol is pretty candid about the Trooper’s conduct. “When the trooper got there, he thought there was a hazard of the sign possibly blowing into the lanes of I-5,” says State Patrol Spokesman Bill Gardiner. “He probably overreacted.”

According to Gardiner, the demonstration “should have been ok” since nothing was affixed to the overpass, and he blames Power’s behavior on a lack of experience. “[He] may not have developed that skill of defusing things,” Gardiner says. Because of the incident, Power will receive additional training and a record of the incident will be added to his personnel file.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=87c_1204156273

[RocketFoot]

Two words...Power Trip! Some cops (not all of them) let the power of the job position go to their heads and sometimes causes them to do ridiculous stuff! Then to make things worse...it is almost impossible to get a bad cop in trouble because they all stick together (brotherhood of the shield)

[jerkin]

Two words...Power Trip! Some cops (not all of them) let the power of the job position go to their heads and sometimes causes them to do ridiculous stuff! Then to make things worse...it is almost impossible to get a bad cop in trouble because they all stick together (brotherhood of the shield)

I think that is the biggest problem right there. Even when bad cops break the law nothing happens, they are not held to the same standard as regular citizens. This is what breeds contempt.

[SteveXD]

I am on the cops side on this one. I wouldn't want to have that sign above me as I drive under it at 65 MPH. It looked like it was a fence with metals poles. I think the officers was wrong about a few things (state property...) and was a bit of a prick.. , but overall I thought it was a saftey issue..

[625]

Another big problem is that too many police forces have lowered their standards for hiring. Too many are forced to "hire within the community". When that community is a crime-ridden city, you get piles of bad cops. Look at Baltimore and DC. They arrest lots of their own.

edit: Still looking for verification of previous claim I made in this post.

[mauser]

The cop was the one creating a disturbance and causing an unsafe situation.

[Sebastian]

Did a little quick research here, and it would appear that they were actually in violation of Washington State's "Scenic Vistas Act", which regulates signage placed over, on or near highways.

That's not to say the state trooper acted properly, though. He was legally empowered to ask them to remove the sign, and cite/arrest them if they refused. He wasn't justified in asking them to move on, as they were peaceably assembling in a public place. Definitely not justified in pulling the sign down onto the protesters.

[625]

Did a little quick research here, and it would appear that they were actually in violation of Washington State's "Scenic Vistas Act", which regulates signage placed over, on or near highways.

I'd be willing to bet my paycheck that this cop didn't even know that law existed at that time. He was just being a dick IMO. There was no wind blowing.

[Sebastian]

I'd be willing to bet my paycheck that this cop didn't even know that law existed at that time. He was just being a dick IMO. There was no wind blowing.

I don't think he did. He probably had an idea that it was illegal, but I don't think he really knew the law in this case.

[sjl127]

If he, the officer, were truly to "protect and serve," he would have let them go and said nothing...