cop abuse or just cop stupid?

[Bill Hollinger]

John, that murder was terrible. There is not getting around that. There is bad in every corner of the world. The problem is that if an agency of 1000 officers has one like Jeffrey Hodge, the bad guy is Jeffrey Hodge, not the other 999 officers.

Who is Melissa Anne Herstrum to you? If she is related somehow, then for that I am very sorry this happened to your family. I didn't do it nor did the other 999 officers.

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[RED]

to "Gain compliance with a lawful order."

You see Bill that is a big part of the problem. What constitutes a lawful order? In reality it is whenever a cop opens his mouth, a "lawful order" ensues. Any and all of your constitutional rights (including life and liberty) are lost right then and there.

I won't bore you with anecdotal incidents that have occurred to me and thousands of others. These incidents happen every hour of every day. Cops and politicians are of a common ilk. They usually start out with good intentions. Then the system grabs them and those good intentions pave the highway to Hell.

When you pin on that badge it automatically exempts you from the law. Cops routinely lie, cheat, and disobey both the laws of man and of God. They can do so, usually without consequences. I fear the police far more than the "bad guys." Bad guys have never harmed me or my family. Cops have... When you talk about 999 good cops and 1 bad one, in my opinion/experience, your numbers are reversed.

[John Kepler]

John, that murder was terrible. There is not getting around that. There is bad in every corner of the world. The problem is that if an agency of 1000 officers has one like Jeffrey Hodge, the bad guy is Jeffrey Hodge, not the other 999 officers.

Who is Melissa Anne Herstrum to you? If she is related somehow, then for that I am very sorry this happened to your family. I didn't do it nor did the other 999 officers.

Not family....just a fellow student of my wife's traveling the same routes in the same buildings at the same times as my wife did! As for the rest....Jeffery Hodge didn't just mug a co-ed on his "day-off"....he used his uniform, his patrol car, his badge, and his department-issued handcuffs and firearm to "force compliance with a 'lawful order'" from his intended victim as he handcuffed her, stripped her naked, forced her to lie face-down on the ground and then pumped 14 shots from his Service Pistol into her back and head. Nothing personal....but in that instance, all the other 999 were right there with Hodge whether they wanted to be or not (and certainly you/they didn't as every LEO I've talked to about it were certainly just as sickened by his actions as the entire Toledo area was...but there's a "downside" to the monolithic "Blue Wall"!).

All I can see is the same thing Melissa did when Jeffery Hodge approached her....a uniform telling me I have to "comply with his lawful order"...look where her "trust" got her. No Bill...trust is like virginity; you only lose it once!

But, the good news is that professionally...we don't have to trust each other. I know the cop approaching my car sure as hell doesn't trust me (that hand on the gun is kind-of a clue!)...and based on my experience I'd be an idiot to trust him! As long as we BOTH play EXACTLY by the rules...no trust is required.