you won't be saying that if you ever really need one to be around. y'know. if you're being mugged or raped or anything like that. hope it never does happen to you, but just saying. you'd habe much different feeling under those circumstances

(I think this is more appropriate here...) Ok, people are stupid. I hate when the argument against others who vocally express their hatred for cops is, 'what would a world without cops be like, blah blah blah'. Well it would suck but that's not what people want. Not everything is black and white, just because people hate cops, doesn't mean they don't want them to exist, they just want them to stop being petty, power abusing douche bags. I hate cops as well, do I want a world without them? No. What I want is for them to solve/prevent murders, catch buglers and rapists, stop harassing people that are not wearing seat belts and leave people that go 2 miles over the speed limit alone. Police are supposed to protect PUBLIC safety, if someone doesn't feel the need to wear a seat belt to go down the block, they shouldn't have to be punished like a child for using their own judgment. Are you hurting anyone else? No. People should be able to do whatever they want to themselves as long as they aren't hurting others in the process. It's all a scheme to make money, do you really think the cop gives two ***** about your safely? People hate cops because a great majority of them are power hungry/abusing assholes. I have tons of story's as to why and all my friends do too but here is the most recent one for your approval. I got arrested and was kept in central booking for three days/nights just because I put out my cigarette TWO steps into a subway entrance which technically was still outside but according to the officer, it was on MTA property. I wasn't even in doors yet. There were no signs or anything to signify what I was doing was wrong. I was also extremely respectful and followed everything I was told to do and didn't argue while being apologetic, I explained that I just got a new job after I've been looking for two years and really couldn't afford to lose it. I still got cuffed and thrown in a cell for three days to wait to see a judge who laughed, didn't understand why I was even arrested and let me go. Because of that, I got in trouble at work because I got arrested during a work day and thrown in jail for three days, I also got fired because since I wasn't convicted of anything, they didn't give me any papers stating why I was arrested and what the outcome was nor would they give it to me so my boss thought I was lying and didn't want him to know why I was in jail, my parents had a heart attack since I was missing for three days and had to use my one phone call to tell my boss I was in jail, and tons of other crap just because cops feel the need to abuse the power they have and mess up peoples lives because they used to get beat up in school and made fun of and now they can get back at everyone. I hate cops with a passion, they have never helped me out in any way, all my experiences have been a nightmare with them and the best part is everyone has a similar story of how a police officer, who is supposed to serve and protect us, screwed us over in some way. Everyone does. Why do you think that is?

"if someone doesn't feel the need to wear a seat belt to go down the block, they shouldn't have to be punished like a child for using their own judgment. Are you hurting anyone else? No. People should be able to do whatever they want to themselves as long as they aren't hurting others in the process. " So let's say you're SPEEDING along and hit a patch of water, start hydroplaning, hid a median, get ejected from the car for NOT WEARING YOUR SEATBELT, and land in the middle of the road causing an even larger accident because they need to swerve around you/slam on their breaks/or run right over you. Yes, I realize that this is an extreme situation, but it could still happen. As a driver you're endangering others on the road just by being there. That is why cops are present to regulate speeding, going slower than the minimum, make sure seatbelts are worn, etc. If they paid no attention to the speeds of drivers, there would be hell on wheels out there. "People hate cops because a great majority of them are power hungry/abusing assholes." How can you say a great majority? Have you met a great majority of officers? I could say a great majority of officers are very nice and pleasant to be around because based on my experience, they have been. Have I got ticketed for speeding? Yes. Where they assholes about it? No. Did I deserve it? Yes, I was going TEN over the speed limit. And yes, I've had other run ins with cops. Not once did I feel that they were abusing their power. Not once did I feel that they were being too particular. I deserved every run in I have had and not once have I lost the respect that I have for their profession. Their presence is necessary. They need to enforce the laws in front of them. If they didn't, people would just keep pushing the boundaries. Like I said earlier, "Give them an inch, they take a mile."

'We pay you to STOP thefts, not commit them.' this is true. awesome

Have you ever raised this concern at your local town hall or city council meeting? How about sending letters to your state legislature? Joining an activist group to change the way cops work in the country? OP was doing his JOB. It doesn't matter if the law is right or wrong; that's for the legislature and the judicial to decide. It is his job to enforce that law. Don't direct your anger at him for doing his job. You're the type of person to get angry at your waiter when the food takes too long to get out, when it's pretty clearly the fault of the kitchen staff.