All The Answers From Gawker Readers' Q&A With an Anonymous Cop
What do police officers do when they witness their colleagues abusing citizens or otherwise behaving badly? To what degree is modern law enforcement driven by a focus on generating statistics? Why didn't the cops beat me up when I threw rocks at them as a teen? Do you consider yourself a hero?
This morning, one anonymous police officer—a five-year veteran of the NYPD who now works as a reserve officer in a different city—spent about an hour chatting with Gawker readers, candidly answering the above questions and many more. If you'd rather not scroll through all the comments on the original post, you can read all of our anonymous cop's answers and attendant questions below.
First up, Myrna Minkoff asked about how cops address colleagues who are "becoming dirty" or "being needlessly abusive to citizens."
I understand why cops like to maintain an air of unity and brotherhood and don't talk shit about the bad things some cops do. But out of the public eye, when good cops see one of their coworkers is being needlessly abusive to citizens, becoming dirty, or otherwise just being an asshole, do you ever address it directly?
And if so, how is it usually done? Is it a one-to-one conversation, a chat with the supervisor that he has someone he needs to rein in, an anonymous tip to the brass that someone needs counseling stat?
Right, so there were guys I worked with that always seemed to brawl with people. A situation I could have handled 9 times out of ten by talking, this guy would start rolling. The way you normally handle that is by telling your Sergeant that you don't want to work with that guy anymore. And you would tell new guys, "Stay away from Smith, he's a little handsy."
That's really how you handle that stuff. Illegal shit there's other ways. [Internal Affairs] has all sorts of ways to tell them things.
After several follow-up questions from RawBean and others—"Do you think that is a sufficient means of deterring future behavior? Are you essentially trying to shame the offending officer by avoiding him or her?"—our Anonymous Cop continued:
Here's the issue. Guy on the street who struck his girlfriend in the face. She has redness and swelling, which means he's getting locked up.
My approach: Talk to both of them. Talk to guy. Explain what's happening. He knows the drill. Tell him that we'll process him quick and he should be able to see the judge in the morning. He says okay, allows me to give his possessions to the girlfriend and he goes to jail.
Other dude's approach: Sees injury to girlfriend. Yells at dude to put his hands behind his back. Guy asks why. Officer grabs dude and attempts to put handcuffs on. They struggle. Dude gets maced or whatever. Dude goes to jail.
So my issue is that there's no policy that forces the officer to talk to people normally. It's a human condition. So what am I supposed to do besides not work with that guy. That's on the Sgt to talk to him or to bring those concerns to a Lieutenant.
The problem is that after probation ends they have more job security, so once they have a certain number of complaints they go on monitoring and get a desk assignment. There could be a lot more counseling, but currently the stigma of seeing someone is that they'll take your gun and if they do that, then you're not a cop anymore.
When NoButWait asked about cops who don't speak out against "the abhorrent behavior" of police officers "that gets popularized in the media," our Anonymous cop addressed the NYPD's much-publicized funeral back-turning.
(He attended at least one of the funerals, but didn't turn his back).
So the issue of speaking out is a good one. However, most cops speak out against corruption or theft or drug sales, crimes that all agree tarnish the badge. In recent situations, we see officers using force or handling situations with less diplomacy than maybe they could have, but those are choices. Cops won't usually stand up to bad choices, because they know that spotlight could be on them soon for a bad choice. Also, most cops aren't allowed to talk to the media. They'll lose their jobs.
And I was at the funeral. I didn't turn my back, but that was my choice and I didn't get hazed. I think most guys wouldn't have done it, if there hadn't been a wave that came down the street. Dumb reason, but that display didn't really reflect the actual cop's thoughts.
CatDogWhisperer asked: Why didn't the cops who arrested me punch me in the stomach? Was it because I'm white?
I was arrested when I was 17 for throwing rocks at police officers that were taking our keg (I missed, they were like 40 yards away). I got away for about an hour before they found me, and they didn't beat me up or harm me in any way aside from tight cuffs. Do you think that this is because I'm white, I was a minor, the fact that they had an hour to calm down, or all of the above. I feel like I honestly deserved at least a punch in the stomach. I was such a little shit.
I think that if you live in a town where the cops confiscate kegs of beer, then you're probably not going to have any problems, because your parents will get that cop fired if you don't get released right away or if you have to share a cell with an actual criminal.
If you want the stomach punch, message me off-line.
What were your thoughts when the officer involved in the death of Eric Garner was not indicted?
I was surprised. Not shocked. He used a chokehold, which means he broke department policy but not NYS penal law. There's a huge difference there. I can use a chainsaw to stop someone from hurting me and be legally fine. I'll be fired in a heartbeat, but I'd be criminally safe.
If that's the case, do you think that a cop's relative carte blanche for use of deadly force in these situations is a legal issue that needs addressing, in NYC or elsewhere?
Right. This is where it gets grey. I know some people reading this will think that the officer wanted to kill Garner, but I'm sure that's not the case. So if I was fighting for my life and I needed to use a chokehold, I would. Schoolyard rules. I'd bite and poke, etc. I get nervous for creating rules that are absolutes.
I think if the dept said that he used a chokehold, he should have been fired and then the family could have taken all of his stuff, since the city isn't going to defend him anymore.
AughtyNaughts just popped in to say "I hope you die."
Just popped in to say that I don't care at all about anything you have to say and I sincerely hope the politicians you serve cut all your benefits soon or that one of your fellow employees with a TBI from "serving" in Iraq gets super drunk and hits you with a car, killing you or maiming you. You are nothing. You do nothing of worth.
Thanks. Tell Mom I'll be home late and to leave dinner in the oven.
Gawker and its commenterait tell me you and your kind provide no public benefit. Is this true?
I would respectfully disagree, clearly. I think people don't often see what we do, or when they do, it's on video showing violence.
Did you find your views on the black community changing over time for the worse? I've seen this happen to a friend of mine in the NYPD. Frustration over dealing with the worst of society over 10 years, and the antagonistic relationship between black leaders and the police department, have changed him into a legitimate racist.
This is a great question. So you start to see the entire community as made up of the 5-10% of the people you interact with, which its not. Somewhere in my brain, I know that the vast majority of people take their kids to school, go to work, come home and watch the Knicks lose, just like me. But I never meet those people. I only get to meet the same 5-10% and that does affect you. I imagine it would be the same if I was in a latino neighborhood or a rich white one.
What is the most egregious thing you have seen a fellow officer do while on duty?
Probably pull a convertible filled with ladies over and ask for the driver's phone number. She seemed excited about it. Like they were screaming like he was a fake cop at a bachelor party. But again, that was the last time I worked with that guy.
Dave asked: Do you see yourself as a soldier or a servant?
I was a military then civilian cop in the late 80's through the early 2000's. One of the problems I saw was the increasing "militarization" of the police department, long before armored vehicles and machine guns. Even my military law enforcement training taught us that we first and foremost servants with an oath to protect lives and enforce the law, we WORKED for the people we protected. Somewhere around the mid 90's this changed, and the prevailing attitude was one of "warriors" and the enemy was the public. I guess my question is where do you see yourself and your peers on the spectrum of soldiers versus servants?
Well, I think the people I serve have stronger firepower than I do, so I don't feel like I'm a soldier, but again the departments I've worked with are large departments. We didn't carry long guns or shotguns. It was two guys in a car and you figured it out. I think it's a dangerous job, but we always were taught that every call you went on involved someone with a gun, because you were bringing one.
In New York, I think a lot of us tend to view the NYPD as a monolithic entity instead of a collection of individuals. How often did you find yourself—or did your colleagues find themselves—in disagreement with the "official" positions put forth by police brass or union leadership? How did you personally square with those disagreements?
Anonymous cop answered, touching on unofficial stop-and-frisk quotas:
Oh God. We were always at odds with the brass. The whole stop, question and frisk thing was a fiasco when it went from actual police work (stop that guy because he looks suspicious) to a Sgt telling us that we had to have 5 stops a night because they became numbers and stats to feed the Compstat beast.
And the Union is another issue. The union was good about protecting you when the job wanted to screw you. Some guy once said I stole $100 from him, which I didn't. And when you're being recorded by IAB about that, its nice to have someone with you. Because you are a number to the department and they would happily cut you loose if you endanger them.
AJ Archer-Kane followed up about "the Compstat beast":
About "stats." How much is police work really driven by stats? And how much of it is about "collecting" stats like you said ("stats to feed the Compstat beast")?
Do you think the focus on generating statistics is a negative or a positive in police work?
It is by the the worst trend in policing in the last 50 years. It's terrific when you have an out of control crime rate and you need to move resources and hold people accountable. But as the murder rate plummets and crime bottoms out in a city of 8.5 million people, it's like squeezing blood from a stone. There will always be crime. Until Minority Report becomes real or something. And continuing to push stats is ruining departments.
Have you ever stopped and frisked a dude with a boner, 'cuz awkward.
You know that when you're frisking men they will often start yelling "Hey, stop grabbing my cock. This dude is gay!" and the like. It's a tactic because they keep guns in their drawers and think you're going to be embarrassed and stop your frisk.
Never stopped me.
Whenever an officer is involved in a controversy, one often hears it's just a few bad apples.
Is it really a question of a "few bad apples" or is the behaviour we're becoming aware of a general trend amongst cops?
It depends on the trends. Cops who are criminals are a few bad apples. But to put it in perspective, my NYPD academy class was 1200 officers. One Lieutenant said the department was so big, that we had an "orchard" of misfits and criminals. But it's still a small number of the larger whole.
Gary Sebben asked: What the hell do you do all day?
I'd just like to say, as a latino who passed as white, that the police have never done anything useful for me in my life. I've called 911 to report someone threatening me and waited 40 minutes for a cop to arrive after I finally got the guy to leave me alone. I had a detective hang up on me when I asked him to look for my laptop, stolen from my home while I was in it, using the IP Address I found for him. I *have* seen three police cars show up to harass a bunch of black teenagers and annoy them for have a small bag of weed in their car. I *have* seen police vigorously enforcing sit/lie laws on homeless people. Police do nothing but abuse the poor among us and ignore the rest. There really is no point to your job. You can't even catch murders. Actual gang violence, not teenagers with a little pot, goes completely unpunished. What the hell do you do all day?
Anonymous cop answered, tongue presumably in cheek:
I harass people. I steal laptops and surf the net. I stop the scourge of weed. I keep homeless people moving. After all that? I'm exhausted.
Your friendly pediatrician and Anonymous cop had a back-and-forth about lawsuits:
When it comes to civil judgments for things like excessive force, do you know if your city/county/whatever carries liability insurance or whether these claims are paid directly by tax payers?
So the city/county has funds usually set-aside for lawsuits. Most larger communities are self-insured, so it's not like they'll get dropped by Allstate after too many claims. So this does come out of tax dollars.
So if there was a 100 million dollar claim, it sounds like the city would go bust? I guess that's why punitive damages are capped the way they are for excessive force cases (and not in med mal for example).
Yeah, I mean depending on the city. NYC has a budget of around $75 billion dollars, so it would take a lot of large suits to really bring it to its knees. A place like Ferguson though...
is mental health training required of your department and if so, what all does it entail and do you think it's effective?
Anonymous cop answered, possibly misinterpreting the question:
Mental Health training as in how to deal with mentally ill people? So there was a famous case in NYC in the 80's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_B…
As a result of that, Emergency Services, which is like our SWAT unit but they also handle animals and other stuff, respond to calls of emotionally disturbed people because they have more tools. You rarely end up needing them and you can cancel them once you see that the kid just wants to go to the hospital.
LA has an awesome program that pairs social workers with cops. I wish that program was used everywhere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angel…
LordBiznez asked about several things, including rape kits:
1.) What's up with not giving a crap about rapes or rape kit testing? Do cops side more with the abusers because they are guys and in an iffy situation, side more with the perp because you don't think he's a perp and you're not going to wreck his life?
2.) How exactly are cops trained about rape? date rape? Is it like one paragraph in training? Do victims come in? Do cops have continuing education? over pizza, I would buy.
3.) Is being a cop more about Respect than Keeping Situations Calm? Because of the cop-on-citizen issues seems to be entirely about some level of respect you think you should have which seems to be way, way higher than what I saw cops caring about when I was a kid. I think they were more apt to settle things than freak out unless they were John Burge of the Sadistic Chicago Cop Hall of Fame.
Also, all of you seem to need massages, would that make the weird ones chill out more? And make the nice ones happy?
Thanks! Happy St. Paddy's day!
I want a massage.
As for the rape kits, I'm just a cog in the wheel. Unlike TV, I have only been to the police lab once and I had to speak to a guy through one of those bodega bulletproof windows, so I'm not sure how they do shit there.
You're trained on sexual assaults, but really you don't do the questioning. You figure out what you have and then you call...wait for it...Special Victims and they interview them in more detail. This goes double for acquaintance rape where you're probably reporting after it happened.
It's all about respect. Respect can get the biggest dude to call you sir and offer to help put his handcuffs on. Respect has saved my life.
Do you consider yourself a hero or heroic?
How often do people tell you that you're these things?
I'm not a hero. If you can find a cop who is alive who considers himself a hero, then he's a dick and I bet no one likes him. I was there for 9/11, and people LOVED us. It was weird. And it got back to normal a few months later, when you start writing tickets again. But the only heroes that day from our department were the 23 officers that didn't return to roll call.
[Illustration by Jim Cooke]
