I don't take for granted everything police officers are willing to sacrifice for my safety and the safety of my community. I am more than happy to support the recent "Blue Lives Matter" campaign. But, like any occupation, it only takes a few bad seeds to ruin an overall reputation. Ever disliked doctors as a child because one time a doctor gave you a shot? Ever disliked teachers because one gave you a bad grade? How about disliking cops because one gave you a ticket?
Recently I had a run in with a cop who I would consider a "bad seed" of the group. He approached my car hesitantly, hand on his gun, and his arm stretched far out saying, "do not move." Although I was confused I did not think anything besides "must be part of protocol." Before approaching me he looked into every single window of my car. When he finally reached me I rolled down my window and handed him my information. As a nervous 18-year-old, I greeted him with a "good afternoon" and a smile on my face, he looked at me and walked away expressionless.
After running my license and finding nothing he came back and said: "can I please search your car." I told him no, simply because I did not have the time and he did not have a reason. After handing me back my license and registration he gave me the slip of paper no one looks forward to receiving. I knew I was in the wrong, I was nicknamed lead foot for a reason. But what I didn't know was that he was going to lie about how fast I was going. I myself have eyes and a speedometer.
I have had countless interactions with the cops on my school grounds, and I do have to say, they are awesome. I feel protected and in the right hands when it comes to my safety. Unfortunately, I have had incidents with cops where I felt like they didn't care -- they had too much power but used it for the wrong reasons. When I locked my keys inside my car at a Moes, I asked a cop sitting inside eating if he could help me in any way. He said, "What do I look like, a charity case." If it wasn't that incident that gave me this opinion, then maybe it was when someone busted in three windows of my car in a parking lot which was lined with cameras and the only response I could get from a cop was, "You shouldn't have parked your car here."
Before someone becomes mad and brainstorms a way to degrade this article over social media, let us not forget how thankful I am for cops. I respect what they do and what they are willing to sacrifice. I have friends whose mothers and fathers are police officers. I never said all cops were created equal, but there are too many out there abusing their powers. There are too many, not willing to help in a time of need. My mother once told me of a time she saw a man abusing his wife in a parking lot and she could not get the cops to do a single thing about it. This experience has taught me that unfortunately, there is nothing I can do. My ticket is hefty due to the speed markup. When discussing my argument for the case I was told, "You will never win because he is a cop, and they always win." Something about that just doesn't settle right with my stomach, and it never will.
