Best Job in Vegas

Quote: EvenBob

I've never met any. Most cops are middle of the road,
intelligence wise, and not motivated to solve crimes.
Columbo they ain't..

The couple of cops I've known personally were either:

A) bullies in high school who sought the backing of a gun and badge to continue their bullying ways, or

B) were beat up a lot in high school, hit the gym to bulk up and now seek vengeance on the bullies of the world with the backing of their new blue-blood family

It takes a special person to make a living running towards danger. The people with honest nobility become firemen or EMS; some cops are made from emotionally damaged goods. Not that there's anything wrong with that in certain situations. When I seek a streetcop and say "that guy just snatched my wife's purse", I'm looking for a spiteful bully who wants to crush the criminal and make him pay, not a cat-rescuing do-gooder or a chubby 50-yr-old approaching retirement.

Quote: zippyboy

The couple of cops I've known personally were either:A) bullies in high school who sought the backing of a gun and badge to continue their bullying way.

Thats funny. The one cop I knew from HS was the
son of a doctor and a huge pretty boy bully. He
spent 30 years on the force, 20 of them as a Lt
in vice. He was a real jerk, like a lot of cops. He
was in it because he enjoyed pushing people
around. Three divorces and a bankruptcy, the
American dream.

Usually its the lower middle class bullies who go on the cops, those with a bit of a better example and better education become lawyers and judges but its the same personality.
The unluckier types become criminals but there is not much difference in personality, just finances, education and luck.

Cops can get lucky once and someone can wind up in jail, but aside from luck most crime goes unsolved except for such programs as crimestopers that gives bribes to snitches who are usually family members, friends, etc.

The burglary report where the cop never even got out of the car was solved... when some guy who got caught confessed to a zillion burglaries to clear the books.

Anytime cops set up a fencing operation as a sting they usually have to "seed" the business with their informers to get the ball going. Its rarely difficult. Any burglar will tell you the worst crooks are the fences.

Cops love sting operations because they catch crooks
in the act, which is about the only way they can catch
anybody. Trap them into a crime. All the no brainer
arrests look good on their records, thats the only reason
they do it. Radar speed traps, sending a woman cop
to solicit for prostitution while her cop buddies watch,
setting out bait cars for urban poor people to steal, this
is the 'good police work' that gets them promotions. A
real crime is a mystery to them, why even get out of
the car..