To be honest I wouldn't have told the police anything. I would keep the bat and go on my merry way.
But my CC class instructor does recommend that you do report anytime you draw your gun on someone encase the bad guy reports you first.
You probably shouldn't say anything on the forum.
Grandpa's Sheriff Badge, Littleton 1920's
I wish this thread would go away ASAP to protect the originator. If it was discovered later, the authorities know the magical mods could retrieve it but it would be one less worry.
I know the LEO's here are complaining about the cop bashing but these attitudes have been a long time coming. I grew up in a small town and the small police force all knew who my Dad & Grandfather were. One of the worst threats was to tell my Dad or even worse - drive me home in a police car. These guys were members of the community and everybody knew them.
I think the war on drugs killed this. As powers were expanded to seizing property and no-knock raids it caused a lot of changes. The rank and file might not have been thrilled but power hungry DA's and others pushed this. Once all the money came down for those ninja outfits it was over. I can see why many minority communities see the police as a military occupying force.
My last experience with a police officer was a speeding ticket near my home. He was an arrogant jerk who didn't even know the speed signs and threatened to arrest me after I pointed it out once. I went to court and won and the jerk left the court muttering threats. I fail to see how someone like that is a credit to any police force worth respect.
MODS - Please delete this whole thread!
Steve
Whether you think cops are civilians or not, really isn't the issue. After being a cop for a period of time, it does change your perspective and how people treat you to the point that the belief system changes as well. I remember while I was in the academy so long ago, one of the instructors told us we would lose all our non-cop friends over the course of the next few years and I didn't believe it. Coming off of active duty, I had close, tight friends who I thought I would be close to for the rest of my life. No so. They do tend to drift away, as your experiences and their experiences do not match and the common ground disappears. After 20 years, I don't have any close non-law enforcement friends.
I can't tell you how many times when I was younger and my wife and I were invited to a social gathering (party) and some wise ass has to announce the cops are here or the bacon is here or some other smart ass comment and then the platitudes similar to what is being said here, of we support the cops, blah, blah, blah. Then, there is the eventual conversation when someone has enough alcohol in their system to develop courage to ask about marijuana and how unfair it is they can't spark up whenever they want, the latest DUI they got, how the cops didn't treat them fairly at the last traffic contact, etc, etc, etc. This causes a disconnect. We don't go to those gatherings anymore; our friends are all related to law enforcement now.
We are not on the same team. Law enforcement is mandated to investigate, to gather information, and to present information, in the simplist of terms. We enforce laws. We don't make the laws. I once was called to a robbery in progress at a King Soopers and I arrived on scene while the suspect was still in the building. There was a guy standing outside who demanded my backup gun so he could help me. Sorry. Ain't gonna need your help. I've also had to wrestle with a bad guy a time or two and I've had people jump on and help me subdue the guy. Thanks! I needed that help. The sooner he's subdued, the less chance of injury to me or to him. Less chance of a lawsuit.
As for the military model, you mis-understand. All law enforcement is based on the military model of rank structure, component structure and discipline. Discipline less nowadays, but way back in the day, there used to be formations and inspections in formation, very similar to what the military still does. Uniformity, appearance standards, etc. That is what is meant by the military model.
However, I will say that there is trend that I'm not comfortable with that is emerging with the young officers and that is how they are becoming more and more in appearance like their military bretheren. I blame that on the companies that cater to law enforcement's goods and needs. They have been successful in selling equipment to the "new" military, the "new" civilian market (all that new high speed gear you all like to buy) and it naturally trickles down to law enforcement. When I go to these small towns and counties I deal with and see the officers all tacticaled up, I wonder if it is because of "big city" law enforcement envy, the publications showing/talking about all the new equipment and their thinking they need that stuff, or the desire to "look cool" with all the equipment the military uses that is now being presented to law enforcement as law enforcement tools.
I would get into a large discussion on the Constitution, since it seems everyone likes to throw that around implying that we enjoy trampling on it or are violating it on a regular basis. The Constitution establishes three branches of government. The Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial. It authorizes all three to perform their separate, distinctly different tasks. Your issue is with how those people in all three branches have gone about their jobs and the end result. What cops do and how we perform our jobs are based upon the results of what has come down from primarily the Legislative and the Judicial branches. Your argument, I believe, is that the people in those branches aren't following the letter or the spirit or both of the Constitution as originally intended or alleged as written. Unless any one of us was there at the time, we don't know exactly what the founding fathers intended. There is no written documentation to the discussions that went on during the drafting; only their individual writings, diaries or letters to others after the fact. I'm currently reading the biography of John Adams, which gives some interesting insight to the man, and the process of the Continental Congress.
Sorry for the large rant. I'm happy to discuss issues with people with a civil tongue.
“Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it.” Andrew Jackson
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.
“Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it.” Andrew Jackson
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.
There is no need to delete it. If we take what Idmaster has stated and twisted it so much to believe Spyder did something wrong, there is still the need to provide probable cause that Spyder was in the wrong. That isn't going to happen, based upon his statements or the statements he has made here.
Once again, there are platitudes to law enforcement, but the first thing you run to, is to hide as though you've done something wrong. If you've done nothing wrong, why hide? I believe Spyder did the right thing, but what do I know? After all, I'm one of those bad guys you all are hiding from.
“Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it.” Andrew Jackson
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.
OneGuy67, you're in the unenviable position of being a cop on a gun forum.
Chances are the fact that you post here means you're probably one of the "good ones" so you just need to realize that you don't have to defend the "bad ones" on the force ... of course the over arching debate is "Are there more good cops than bad ones today and is the number of bad ones going up or down?"
I've known a lot of cops over the years. My parents (who live in Wichita Kansas) have had a cop living next door for the last 20 or so years and he's one of the good ones (although his firearm handling and maintenance skills are somewhat lacking ... I'm glad he's been riding a desk the last few years for his own safety).
I was raised to trust and respect the police so I have to believe there was a time when they were better than they are today. More good cops need to rise in the ranks and keep the young ones in line and stand up to the political leadership (unfortunately police departments are political in nature, like any other large organization so the best tend not to rise to the top, just the better connected and those that will play the political games).
Because more and more "right and wrong" have nothing to do with "legal and illegal".If you've done nothing wrong, why hide?
Modern liberalism is based on the idea that reality is obligated to conform to one's beliefs because; "I have the right to believe whatever I want".
"Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
"Every time something really bad happens, people cry out for safety, and the government answers by taking rights away from good people."
-Penn Jillette
A World Without Guns <- Great Read!