If he's worried about losing an argument with a member of the public, he's already suckered. And just to be clear, cops interact with a lot of people, and they aren't all suspects. Even if they're rude. Being rude isn't a crime.
And the way to not worry about losing an argument is to not get into the argument in the first place. I've been saying that the whole time.
It's not a crime to be rude, but have you ever thought about the possibility that the average person probably commits crimes everyday without even knowing it?
Got a story for you: I was a young teenager at the time, but old enough to have my own vehicle. I was a junior or senior in high school at the time. Anyhow, I was near a busy intersection (not in my vehicle, but walking), where two police cars had someone pulled over.
Another person who saw this shouted "f*** the police" and a bunch of other crap, while they were crossing the street. His mistake? He was jaywalking. This is a violation that is very rarely ever enforced, yet this guy got a ticket for something he otherwise wouldn't have if he had kept his mouth shut.
Thankfully, he wasn't dumb enough to escalate the situation to something where could have gotten charged with more.
100%, and that goes for cops, too. What you're describing is not collaboration. It's unquestioning obedience. It's entirely one sided. Collaboration is inherently cooperative, and requires mutual respect... not just one sided. Do you really not see that?
Are you saying that we should only obey the order if we agree with it?
Let me say it a different way. If you are telling me what to do and if I don't, you will beat me with your baton, that's not collaboration or "working together."
I never presented that scenario. I simply said "helping" the suspect comply. That could be something as simple as ordering them to move three steps to the left, and then physically moving them to that spot if they refuse. Not beating obedience out of them.
Now, it may be that we have different profiles in mind when we say the above statements. So, just for clarity, I'm still back on routine traffic stops, even up to protestors, open carry advocates, etc. We can talk about scenarios where cooperativeness on the part of a cop is inappropriate and could even be dangerous
Remember, we're not talking about obeying orders. We're talking about losing arguments and being made to look foolish. This all started when you said something about not letting someone challenge your authority by making you look foolish, forcing you to slink away with your tail between your legs... something along those lines.
Those two things tie in, right? Is a person who is arguing with the police usually obeying their orders, or vice versa?
Also, should note, there are circumstances where a member of the public is not obligated to obey an order by a cop, as the order is unlawful. Which gets more to the topic of this thread, as when and how to safely disobey an unlawful order is tricky business when you don't have a gun but the cop has one.
Outside of things that a plainly obvious, for example, an officer telling you to eat dog feces that's laying on the ground; you're better off doing what you're told and following up in court.
To be really honest, I'm glad that's not up to you, because I think you and I have very different opinions about who the inmates are in your analogy.
What, how I parent my children isn't up to me? "Inmates running the asylum" is simply a saying that refers a situation where the people who are subject to a particular authority have taken over. You know that.
I think what you perceive says more about you than anyone else. That's true in general. We all react to snapshots by projecting a lot of context that comes from us.
Ah, so you're perfectly fine when people who are in positions of authority remain so, even if they're ineffective at exercising it.
I'm just really glad you're not a cop. Earlier, you readily agreed you lack the temperament for the role. I think we should have just stopped there. I'll just get off the crazy train now, though... a few stops late, but better than not at all.
Maybe, but consider this: I wouldn't be the worst cop. Hell, 99th percentile being the worst, I don't think I'd even be in the 50th.
