An Appeal to Youth: Please Do Not Join the Police Force If Your Only Intention is to Avail the Paycheck, Perks and Early Retirement

Reports of three damage suits against NY police running to millions within five minutes in a news broadcast is too much.

And most of the time, the age is a factor. Almost all the errant cops are young.

May be the force should create more hierarchical cadres inside the same precinct so that younger cops are put under the direct supervision of senior officers for at least two years.

Sending an unmotivated, poorly trained guy alone out on the street means the only things that give him confidence are his gun and taser.

It was a shocking scene to see a young cop using a taser gun on an older woman as she got out of the car.

If young cops are thinking, the judges will always side with them that is wrong.

USA was never intended to be a police state.

If policemen won't catch the criminals, but are more seen killing their own colleagues and harassing law-abiding citizens, naturally the citizens will start asking why should we pay taxes just to get beaten up both by the criminals and the cops.

And again it is the tax-payer who pays million dollar compensations when the courts decide against the cops. A double whammy.

State of New York will soon go bankrupt paying compensations if this situation worsens.

It is very easy to start a vicious cycle. It is not easy to stop it.

We applauded when blacks were ill-treated by the cops, without knowing that one day that will happen to us too.

Am I discrediting all the cops?

No, in fact, a sheriff, two cops and a fire chief are living in my neighborhood. They are the pride of our community.

But there is a difference. They have many years of service behind them. It is very difficult to picture them doing the
same horrific things we see on the TV.

Three years back I had the misfortune of seeing a young cop, a recent recruit, trying to show off his new shiny cruiser on the road.

It was by the grace of God that I avoided hitting him from behind when he screeched to a halt and made a U-turn in Hollywood style.

So, my appeal to young guys is: please don't join the police force because of the salary, perks and early retirement prospect.
This is a people-oriented job. You can't be a good cop if you think every citizen in your precinct is a criminal unless proved otherwise and that the service revolver and taser gun can be used at will.

And when a cop complains his boss is too bossy, he probably belongs to the trouble maker group.

After all which boss wants to be answerable to the higher-ups for the misdeeds of a junior who won't learn?

But if you are a motivated guy and wants to become a cop, please make it a point to learn the tricks of the trade from senior guys in your precincts, even if you passed out from the Police Academy with higher scores.

Because what those seniors learned from years of experience, especially the people skills, no academy can teach you. Only they can.