LEO or Policeman ?

[xJOHNx]

When did this change?
When did a policeman stopped being a policeman and started being a law enforcement officer?

Do policeman really have to enforce the law onto civilians?

I've been wondering about this for quite some time. After seeing a documentary on police violence (most of it the united states) and from my own experience.
I study in one of the major cities of my country and I notice that policemen are quite rude and often short tempered. They act like you should be humble to them and fear them for what they can do within the boundaries of the law. I can't shake the feeling that they feel superior and I'm not comfortable having them around me, because they come across with a very agressive stance.

When I compare this to the town where I grew up, it's a huge difference. Policemen here are often friendly and more respectfull. They don't come across as persons who have extra privileges (if I can put it like that) and are more concerned with helping you. My hometown is not a major city, but still faces drugproblems and everything else bigger cities have.

I'm not trying to be super anarchistic, or going the acab road. I'm searching for some truth in this matter. I know that there are some policemen on here, so maybe they help to make this a constructive topic (I hope).
I have no intention of starting a flamefest.

Thanks

 

[Nolerama]

Isn't that what policemen are? Law Enforcement Officers?
Isn't that what Law Enforcement Officers are? Policemen?

Watching a documentary on police violence is good if you want to examine isolated incidents; but generally speaking, the metro police officers I've come across in both work and play are very understanding of the public they work for.

Many (or most) understand that escalation of force starts with their mere presence. Coming off as a violent, insecure, aggressive person isn't in their best interest since that would probably make their job more difficult.

What cities are you comparing?

 

[xJOHNx]

I feel there is a distinct difference between policing and enforcing. As a non native speaker.

I'm very well aware that most officers are gentlemen who try to do their work as good as they can. They have been a great help in the recent years when we started doing animal rights protests, so I'm not anti-police nor basing my opinion on the documentary I saw.

I don't know if they have that mindset, but when I see them on the streets walking around in the party district, they stand at the corners with one hand on their holsters sometimes. Also quick to throw words as in: "we have some night reservations if you want". Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but I can see it when someone tenses up when they are standing at the corner.

The towns are not important as I am from Belgium After touring the states, it would be like comparing LA (the more sloppy parts) as to the major city.

Not trying to create a fuzz, but I can't stop thinking how easy power corrupts men. With everything that follows from it.

 

[Nolerama]

Again, I think you're experiencing American police officers/ LEO's/ whatever in an isolated instance, in a specific scenario.

Cops in a party district are probably more alert than, say, the neighborhood beat cop.

Both do their jobs; which is to enforce the law, but assuming the different crowds they probably act different.

"Police Officer" and "LEO" are the same thing in the US. However, LEO can range not from a municipal policeman, but can also include larger agencies whereas Police Officer usually implies local-only.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

"Police Officer" and "LEO" are the same thing in the US. However, LEO can range not from a municipal policeman, but can also include larger agencies whereas Police Officer usually implies local-only.

I think that a police officer is a LEO, but a LEO is not necessarily a police officer.

Sheriff's deputies are not police officers, and neither are state patrolmen or state troopers; but they are LEOs.

Then you have detention officers, parole and probation officers, various types of investigators at the local, county, state and federal level - all 'sworn officers' which means they have sworn to uphold the laws, etc, but technically not police officers.

Officers of the court, agents of various enforcement agencies like the Post Office, Air Marshals, Secret Service, Federal Marshals, Defense Department, and Military Police.

So to me, the term LEO covers a lot of ground - basically anyone with a badge and a gun and the authority to make arrests in their purview or jurisdiction. A police officer is what I think of when I think of a municipal officer of a local police department.

 

[jks9199]

I feel there is a distinct difference between policing and enforcing. As a non native speaker.

I'm very well aware that most officers are gentlemen who try to do their work as good as they can. They have been a great help in the recent years when we started doing animal rights protests, so I'm not anti-police nor basing my opinion on the documentary I saw.

I don't know if they have that mindset, but when I see them on the streets walking around in the party district, they stand at the corners with one hand on their holsters sometimes. Also quick to throw words as in: "we have some night reservations if you want". Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but I can see it when someone tenses up when they are standing at the corner.

The towns are not important as I am from Belgium After touring the states, it would be like comparing LA (the more sloppy parts) as to the major city.

Not trying to create a fuzz, but I can't stop thinking how easy power corrupts men. With everything that follows from it.

Perhaps there's a language issue.

All police officers are law enforcement officers, but not all law enforcement officers are police officers. (Other LEOs that aren't police include special agents, investigators, The job of a police officer is to enforce the laws; just about any agency's General Orders and/or mission statement will say this.

There are lots of ways to do this, ranging from simply being visible in an area to deter criminal activity or bad driving or whatever through giving warnings or other informal handling (I and a partner once stood watch for about 30 minutes while some idiot kids cleaned up the park we caught them in... rather than charging them with trespass and littering, for example.) all the way to custodial arrest. In a bar district, a strong presence can often stop things from happening without more direct or forceful action. A word to a person before they do something, while still in the contemplation stage might save them a night in the pokey...

That doesn't justify an air of arrogance or superiority... but at the same time, a cop's job isn't the same as a waiter or someone else whose job is to make you happy.

 

[Gordon Nore]

I think that a police officer is a LEO, but a LEO is not necessarily a police officer.

That's my sense of it. I know parole officers here who would definitely qualify as law enforcement, but they are certainly not police. My city has bylaw enforcement officers. We also have in certain agencies a category of law enforcement known as "special constables" -- they work in housing, hydro, transit, etc. Like a licensed police officer in Ontario, they have police powers of arrest, but they aren't police officers.

 

[xJOHNx]

Thanks! It was a language issue.
Didn't understand what leo was all about, now I do, so thank you

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Thanks! It was a language issue.
Didn't understand what leo was all about, now I do, so thank you

Just FYI, the acronym / term "LEO" is not in common use by non-law enforcement types. Most 'civilians' have not heard it and don't know what it means. Most cops have, but even then, I've run across some who do not use the term or haven't heard of it.

A reasonable catch-all used in the US is 'cop', although many citizens commonly call everyone with a badge, gun, and arrest authority 'police'.

There are, of course, other less friendly terms in use by some.

 

[zDom]

Just FYI, the acronym / term "LEO" is not in common use by non-law enforcement types. Most 'civilians' have not heard it and don't know what it means. Most cops have, but even then, I've run across some who do not use the term or haven't heard of it.

A reasonable catch-all used in the US is 'cop', although many citizens commonly call everyone with a badge, gun, and arrest authority 'police'.

There are, of course, other less friendly terms in use by some.

The acronym is probably not used and recognized as much, but the term "law enforcement officer" is often used in news articles.