5 Positive Reps for LEO Bashing

[Agent 007]

Thought I'd share a little something with my fellow INGO'ers regarding LEO bashing and the general sentiment of the board. It all stared with this post in the "It is the few bad LEOs that give them all a bad name" thread:

http://ingunowners.com/forums/politi..._bad_name.html

Originally Posted by longbarrel

Cops are cops and that is it. I know several, am friends with a couple, and have heard countless horror stories from others. They do what they do because they can. Who is going to stop them?? Why would anyone?? They are revenue generators period. They can cite, arrest, detain you for any reason they want to. It will only end up costing you. I say stay away from me and I will stay away from you. You are supposed to serve and protect. How is pulling someone over on a country road at 2:00a.m. serving or protecting? How is choking a kid out in a bar serving or protecting? There are people who need them though. They do have there purposes. Knowing how they operate really leaves a bad feeling in my stomach.

Being a scumbag LEO myself, I sort of took offense to this sweeping generalization of those in my profession. So I "negative repped" longbarrel, as I felt that his post was ignorant and unfairly stereotypes an entire profession of men and women, the vast majority who serve honorably. He PM'd me, and this was his reply:

Originally Posted by longbarrel

Thank you for the negative rep. I am truely sorry that it offended you that much. I always seemed to get a long with you, but I guess it will just counter-act the 5 positive reps that I received for the same post. Again thanks.

This got me to thinking. Five reps for his LEO bashing post? I'm kinda wondering if I, or any other LEO, really belongs on INGO. Here was my reply to him:

Originally Posted by Agent 007

I don't know of a man alive that like to see his life's work maligned by being lumped together with the bad apples. In my 20+ years of work in public safety, including military police, corrections and civilian law enforcement, I like to think I've done some good for people.

Due to the efforts of me and my fellow officers, drunk drivers have been taken off of the street and not killed someone, domestic abusers have been jailed, burglars, bank robbers and murderers have been hunted down and sent to prison. I have personally investigated several child abusers and molesters, with my investigations leading to their arrest, conviction and 30+ year sentences.

I have seen my fellow officers cut down by the gunfire of lifelong criminals and lunatics. And still, I believe in the right of the honest American citizen to keep and bear arms. Forgive me if I get a bit pissed off when a supposed "good citizen" on INGO lumps all cops together as bad guys.

Perhaps it is time for me to leave INGO. The fact that you got 5 "reps" for your childish and immature stereotyping, and only 1 negative rep, says volumes about this forum and a lot of its members.

If you were "truly sorry," you wouldn't have thrown your "5 positive reps" in my face. Congratulations on being just as petty and small minded in your PM as you are in the forum. If you ever wonder why some cops take an "us vs. them" attitude after a number of years on the job, just look in the mirror.

It seems to me that every week, and sometimes more often, there is some kind of thread on INGO where the LEO bashers come out to play. In the most recent festivities, NateIU10, who I have observed to normally be a reasonable and thoughtful poster, starts his thread out "This is not an anti-LEO thread....." I've got news for you. If you've got to preface the discussion with that disclaimer, then that's EXACTLY what it is.

Why would a supposedly thoughtful and intelligent person post a rant about a situation that happened to him, when it's clear that the guys wearing "police" sweatshirts have not even been positively identified as police? How about getting all of the facts together and THEN tell your story, instead of going on a rant that you KNOW is inevitably going to turn into another typcial INGO LEO bash-fest. I think that only the presence of Bill of Rights in the thread has kept it from devolving into the typical IBTL situation.

I don't see anything wrong with discussing LE issues, and even wrong-doing by LEOs when it happens. That's all part of the discussion when talking about gun rights. I come here to read and talk about guns, and to share some insight from an LEO perspective when I can, just like the other LEOs on this board. But when every other thread is "criminal with a badge," I've got to wonder if this is the right place for any LEO. The vast majority of LEOs support the right to keep and bear arms for law-abiding citizens. The ones on this board certainly do, or they wouldn't be here. It would seem to me that gun owners would not want to alienate one of the few blocks of support that they have in government.

Maybe I should put this in perspective. I have access to hundreds of reports involving stupid or criminal actions taken by LTCH'ers. If I posted 2 stories a day about idiots with LTCH's and start each story with "A few bad apple LTCH'ers ruin it for all of them," how would that play on INGO? Does that bring sharp focus to the issue of bashing and sterotyping on this board, or not?

There are some very good people on this board, no doubt. I've learned a lot, and engaged in some spirited discussion on various topics. I don't agree with everyone on every topic, and I'm quite certain that people don't agree with me on everything. But there is a difference between disagreeing on a subject based on specific points, and the "cops are cops" type of generalizations that show up all too often on this board.

Are my fellow LEOs and I simply revenue generating rights abusers? Hit this poll!