Ya Know... I Don't Want To Go Back To The Days Where We Called Cops "Pigs"... I Really Don't ...

[WillyT]

I lived through it the last time around, as a maybe 13/15 year old... and although I was well aware of what was meant, and why it was said, and the anger that generated it...

I'd love not to go back there... But...

Truth be told... I already have... several times...

It comes with the frustration and lack of power to stop the abuse of power...

And the anger that comes with the feature of unbridled, un-corked... anger.

BUT... it may be the most sharply defined example of our current situation...

The cops are definitely part of the 99%, yet they feel they have to follow orders in order to keep their jobs.. and benefits... and pensions.

Many of us feel we must do things in order to keep the shitty job we have.

:shrug:

[Balbus]

1. When did those days end?

[RKP5637]

2. Some of the cops faces sometimes look like they're thinking why the F am I doing this ... n/t

[PoliticAverse]

9. Remember that most people that are doing any particular job are doing it for the paycheck...

and would much rather be doing something else.

[Modern_Matthew]

3. I prefer CLASS TRAITORS. nt

[Zorra]

4. Nuremberg Principle IV

"defense of superior orders" is not a defense for war crimes, although it might influence a sentencing authority to lessen the penalty.

Nuremberg Principle IV states:

"The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him."

[Gregorian]

5. Only they can change that.

I also don't want it. But if the shoe fits, they might have to wear it.

[pnwmom]

13. We have a part, too. For one thing, by making sure that OWS demonstrations

are meant to be peaceful. As soon as someone throws the first molotov cocktail, we're in trouble.

[ZombieHorde]

6. When I worked in healthcare, I was ordered to force a woman to take her pills.

I was very poor, I had a wife and child, I really needed this job, but I still said "no." I told my boss I would not force anyone to take their medicine, no matter how sick they were.

I sure as hell wouldn't beat the shit out of someone if I was ordered to, and I am not a brave person, I am just not a monster.

[brewens]

7. I'd want a cop that is on our side to keep his job for sure. Better

having him on the inside than seeing him quit and joining the protests. We may see a lot of them able to testify against cops that are violating peoples rights. Not if they get themselves fired for supporting us though.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. Swine?

Most of them are cool. But not every single one.

[mwrguy]

10. then they should stop acting like pigs

easy enough

[Selatius]

11. For those who grew up in poor neighborhoods in the city, the term "pig" never really left.

Just talk to the people who grew up in Oakland or Detroit. The police officers can defend themselves. The next time Republicans come for their pensions and benefits, there's a large part of me that says that I'd rather cut them loose and rather defend firemen and teachers instead.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

12. I don't 'hate' cops. I think many of them are probably with OWS, but can't say it

I think lots of them would have no job if they refused to do what they're told. I'm just GLAD that everyone is photographing them, videorecording what they're doing, and posting it all over the net for the world to see.

[quinnox]

14. I don't call them that

I have always had a respect for police officers, which puts me at odds with many on the left. *shrug* Does that mean I excuse police using excessive force, of course not. They should always do their best to show restraint.

[msongs]

15. they are much more heavily armed and dangerous than those old days nt

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. The 1% are attempting shock and awe to scare us back into compliance.

Bullying through overwhelming numbers.

None of them has to comply with those orders. Those who will not refuse those illegal orders, are pigs. I call them a gang, because they act just like any street gang. Teaming up for revenge, profiling, territorial, abrogation of rights...they get called a gang until they start acting like something else.

[lost-in-nj]

17. really???? maybe some of the big city cops

and I really believe it's not all of them, might be enjoying the job they have dispersing the OWS protesters but really.... I might be wearing rose colored glasses but I believe that most cops are human and decent...
I have seen the humane side of many a cop....

even in my youth (and I was a teen in the 70's) I never called a cop a pig

I admit some of the cops out there should not be cops and maybe deserve this name. but I will still go to one if I need help.

yanno broad brush and all

lost

[lbrtbell]

18. I prefer "thugs"

Why compare them to animals that are, for the most part, not all that violent? :shrug:

[randome]

19. Calling anyone a 'pig'...

...shows a lack of class, IMO. If people can't get their ideas across without resorting to insults, they probably don't have anything interesting to say.

IMO.

[happyslug]

20. I once knew a Police Officer who perferred to be call a PIG over being called a COP

On the net various cites have come up with various ways the term "Cop" came to be a name for a Police Officers. All of these have to deal with the fact it is documented the the term "Cop" is a shorter version of the older term "Copper".

1. That the term Copper was for the Copper Buttons officers worn when Police were first introduced into the English Speaking World (Both England the and the US) in the early to mid 1800s (Yes, they were NOT police at the time of the American Revolution, Police were looked down as a French invention whose sole purpose was to suppress the poor, but it was for that same reason Police were introduced into Urban Areas of the US and Britain starting in the early 1800s, what we call "State Police" were not invented till 1903).

The problem with this theory, i.e. that Police were called "Coppers" because they wore Copper buttons on their Uniform is that that Police Uniforms in the 1800s when the term was first used, use buttons made up of BONE, a much cheaper material and one preferred by 1800 Police Officers for they had to buy their own uniforms and buttons for that uniform.

2. Named after the older term "To Cop a Plead" i.e. to plead guilty of a lesser crime rather then go to trial on the greater crime. The problem with this theory is that Police Officers were NOT people Prosecutors nor Judges, they never had the authority to plead bargain with a Defendant. May have had some affect, but given the nature of the Police in the 1800s not a likely source for the term "Coppers".

3. The most likely reason and the one that is the most hated is that the term "Coppers" was for the fact you could hear them walking their beats from all the Copper Pennies in their Pockets from all the penny brides they took from people on their beats (Prostitutes, Bar owners, Gamblers, store owners etc, even when the activity was legal many of the people on his beat would put out a couple of pennies so the Officer would NOT enter their place and arrest people for whatever activities were incurring inside that building).

To put some prospective of this in some what modern terms, the price of Gold in the 1800s was $20 to an ounce of gold. Today it is over $1500 to an ounce of gold. $1500 per ounce represents a 75 times increase in gold from the 1800s. Thus in today's value of gold, the Cent in 1857 was worth 75 cents. If an officer collected just 20 one cent pieces in 1857 that would represent $15 today. Yes, it is still a cheap bribe but one of the perks of the job of being a Police Officers in the 1800s.

This why the term "Cop" is the most hated of names for Police Officers, and as the Officer told me, not only did the term "Cop" meant he could be bought, but bought cheaply. Thus he preferred to be called "PIG" for at least no one is calling him someone who can be bribed cheaply.

[Dover]

21. Non-violence is a state of being and while it's difficult, anger is energy that can be

harnassed and used as fuel for constructive things. Think of the martial arts.
It does absolutely nothing to call people names although it goes on all the time here at DU. It diminishes the real issues and continues the whole cycle of violence rather than transforms it.

It's a lot to ask if people have not arrived at this inner peace in their lives, but I think it's something
we all need to aspire to. If you think about some of our most powerful leaders whose lives and work transcend their times and particular issues I believe you'll discover they were able to do so because of their inner condition of peace, self awareness, disciplined focus, strength and a commitment to the big picture.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

22. I think you owe actual pigs an apology. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. We thanked them today for doing their fracking job

the Lt. looked confused...

[emilyg]

24. I have never called them that.

[JVS]

25. Maybe the pigs are going to have to behave better.

[starroute]

26. A cousin of my father's was a New York cop

He joined up in the late 30's because the police force was one of the few ways a smart Jewish kid could get ahead on merit in those days. And he went pretty far, but he had a reputation as a bad-ass that kept him from going even further.

I don't know what he's really like, personally. He and my father were never close, and these days, he's in his 90's and lives in Florida and I've had only the most minimal contact with him. He seems like a perfectly decent guy, but I suspect that if he was in the force today, he'd be one of those white shirts who are determined to shut the occupations down in any way possible.

I suspect that even most of the "bad" cops -- the ones that aren't outright bullies or sadists -- are pretty much like him. They see themselves as maintaining law and order and pride themselves on their toughness. But if you met them off the job, you'd find them reasonably human.

[No Joe]

27. Then don't

My brother is a cop. A good one. And yes, he'll be the first to tell you he's known assholes with a badge. But let's not throw that gallon of paint, okay?