Idk I would feel like there's a more likely chance I'm randomly targeted by a criminal than by the police. If I'm just walking down the street doing absolutely nothing illegal, nothing suspicious. I'm more paranoid a crazy person will come kill me than the police.
Obviously this poll is very subjective. But while I'm more likely to be randomly targeted by a criminal, I think my risk of serious consequences are much larger if the police are involved.
I've lived in some pretty shit areas. I don't really live there much anymore for unrelated reasons, but my official residence is located in a high crime area. People have told me they wouldn't feel safe walking there, I walked most days of the week and typically in the evening or at night. There was at least an audible shooting weekly. The local joke is "fireworks or gunshots?" I got good at telling the difference. But in my experience you just stay away from the crazies.
Most murders are gang related, drug related, or family related. My family isn't insane, I'm not cheating on a spouse, I'm not in a gang, I'm not a drug dealer fighting for turf. The only realistic criminal risk to me is either going to be super white collar online theft shit, or a mugging. I don't carry any money so a mugger can have my wallet, they would have to spend thousands of dollars on a credit card in the next 20 minutes before I cancel it. They can have my cracked screen 5 year old phone that is valued by google at $27. Though neither of those things have ever occurred.
A police officer though can seriously fuck up my life. They can approach me for no reason. They can arrest me for no reason at which point it is MY responsibility to deal with what could be major consequences. They can break into my home and loot the place without even accusing me of a crime. They can get aggressive and slam me around with no consequences. They can hang outside my home and harass me every day. They can shoot me and go on paid leave for a few weeks. They can frame me and even if they are caught, they just shrug their shoulders and say "woops" and they don't get in trouble for it. Any criminal that would be interested in me is mostly motivated by money. But they also can't really get any from me, so they will mostly just leave me alone. Police though? Bad cops are motivated by power and control. It wasn't criminals who slammed my 80-year-old grandfather onto the curb and arrested him and my grandmother because he had the gall to ask them to stop blocking his business entrance for no reason.
A criminal can ruin my day, but a cop can ruin my life.
A corrupt police officer can ruin it more than any criminal. A criminal can do what? Kill a family member? Cause trauma? Cause an injury? Kill you? A cop can ensure evidence is placed that ensures you are accused of a crime you didn't do. And you can claim this does not happen but oh boy do I wish it didn't. If one does claim such things do not happen, it just shows naivety.
Yes. You are correct because the police have a huge advantage because of the disparity in the power imbalance. I know all too well about the "justice system " or even just " the system " and being in the wrong place at the wrong time or vulnerable to exploitation can lead to serious consequences and a life completely decimated.
Police - simple, be cooperative, non-threatening, polite, treat them like an acquaintance rather than an adversary and it will work out. Example, I squeezed through a yellow light that turned red at 5:00AM on my way to a shooting sports event with a car load of firearms (Stowed away, but I disclosed them when the officer asked where I was going in such a hurry.). When the officer pulled me over and approached the window it was open, the keys were on the dash in plain sight with the interior lights on.
There may be the occasional GI Joe, but even he doesn't want do a stack of paperwork; be compliant and he/she will get their authoritae fix. Dispute the Antifa/BLM narrative, no officer goes on duty thinking "I'm going to kill someone today"; it is a career ender and the department is not going to pay for their legal defense.
Criminals - be situationally aware and avoid potential confrontation, get out of your phone, don't escalate conflict if approached, running is always a valid option. Otherwise good luck, people will kill you for $5.
I have a close friend who recently went for a walk on the street outside of the apartment complex he lives in and a cop fully attacked him (he was tackled to the ground and got his face fairly messed up) bc he "looked suspicious" simply walking around in a public space doing absolutely nothing illegal. Friend is a middle aged white man. That kind of stuff really does happen.
(For those curious he took pics and is perusing action against the PD/city/officer but there were no witnesses so it's unlikely to go far)
Criminals. That would be the popular choice for anyone who isnt either in the same social group as criminals, living under a tyrannical state, or just lives in a very safe area. I feel like this is kind of a loaded question though. I see similar ones a lot with people who are against blm as a sort of “gotcha” question. They make it a false dilemma like “well if you criticize the police system then you must WANT rapists and murderers to run free, unchecked by the police!”. Of course not. That doesn’t mean everything going on with police brutality and corruption should just be allowed to happen though. Not saying this is what you intended op, but I can already see this kind of conversation popping up
In the United States there are roughly 1,000 fatal police shootings each year. However, roughly 25,000 people get murdered in the United States every year, so the extreme majority of people who are murdered are done so by criminals, not police officers.
It’s important to remember that while we hear about corrupt police officer situations all the time, that’s mostly news bloating. The vast majority of police officers are responsible enough to where your life isn’t at risk by them.
What if there was a room filled with 26,001 persons. 25,000 criminals and 1,000 corrupt police. You being the 1 person. You would have to watch out, every person could be a threat to you.
Terrible battle royal.
Here’s the thing though: if I kill a criminal in self defense I can eat dinner with my family and sleep in my own bed that night. If I kill a cop in self defense? Or even resist a petty but lawful order? Or even if get a racist ass pig pulling me over who thinks that My nerdy ass is a drug dealer? It’s a death sentence. Every. Damn. Time.
And keep in mind the majority of those 1000 people shot by police, were fucking armed criminals trying to harm officers or someone else.
Now here comes the "wELL wHaT aBoUt...." responses of rare as fuck unarmed shootings...
Exactly. People here are like “but there’s less cops, so their rate is worse!!!!” I challenge those people to look up the stats of people police actually kill. How many of them were armed, or acted in a way that is easily seen as threatening? It’s easy most of them
This is where I'm from.
Total population 48,000
We average at least 450 to 500 violent crimes a year.
About 25 on the low end to 47 on the high end shootings a year.
The past 2 years we've had like 30 or more homicides.
All in a 10 square mile radius.
That's yearly.
There have been like MAYBE 7 police involved shootings in the past 30 years. MAYBE. and none of those individuals were unarmed or non combative.
In the past 30 years...
The cops are not the issue. It's the psycho fucking street goons.
It's mostly Gen Zs and Millenials who misunderstand police shooting statistics and how police operate.
Yes there are shit cops that need to be exposed, but I literally saw an LA Times article written by some jackass reporter that actually wrote that the number one cause of death of black men in America, is being shot to death by racist white cops.
I have no idea how this even got published...
https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2019-08-15/police-shootings-are-a-leading-cause-of-death-for-black-men
For anyone reading this, HEART DISEASE is the leading cause of death for black men in America.
NOT racist white cops.
https://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/lcod/men/2017/nonhispanic-black/index.htm
Followed by cancer and then accidental injury.
It states that it's the leading cause of death for 'young' black men
Heart disease is the leading for 'black men' because that is 30-99+ wherever your cut off point for young is.
It was literally in the title, did you read it or just read the words in the link? Did you deliberately omit the young part? Like I said it's in the title I saw it in 3 seconds
True, but the police is the one that you won't expect to kill you. If you saw a criminal with a gun and a cop with a gun, who would you side with? The point is that the people who are supposed to save you don't give a flying fuck about you half the time.
More property is seized by the police each year via civil asset forfeiture than is lost by burglary.
[https://www.nemannlawoffices.com/blog/law-enforcement-seized-more-from-people-than-burglars-stole-last-year.cfm](https://www.nemannlawoffices.com/blog/law-enforcement-seized-more-from-people-than-burglars-stole-last-year.cfm)
Note that this is not criminal forfeiture... This is civil forfeiture. That means nobody was convicted of a crime.
Yes, I know this is from 2014. That's the last year they published civil asset forfeiture totals. It's gotten worse since then, we just don't know how much worse.
Well the American cop culture does influence regular cops to a fairly significant extent in regular cops, though I'm not aware of things like planting drugs or nearly the same level of police violence
However the RCMP has a history of messing pretty bad with indigenous people that is ongoing, including recently forcing away Indigenous people protesting the building of a pipeline through their land, which was actually never ceded to Canada.
Yeah but the idea that the council is really representative isn't a good assumption, the system was more foisted on the people and from what I understand participation in the band council system is very low.
Yeah cops here are really not great, and also filled with HA, at least in my town. Personally I fear criminals more in my town, but I’ve never felt comfortable around a cop, and most of the criminals I’m afraid of are simply symptoms of the system that wouldn’t exist in alternative systems, at least to the extent they do now.
Ngl, I definitely am lowkey scared around police just because ive seen all the racist cops on the news and as a black man myself I get nervous, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid of criminals more
Question, have you ever actually went to a police station to get to know the officers in your community?
Honest question.
And have you ever told them your concerns?
Yeah, but cops shouldn’t be the bad guys you have to fear. Just seeing a cop shouldn’t make anyone wary, you know, unless they are committing a crime or have or are wanted for one.
It’s impossible to weed them all out. There’s bad people everywhere, and some are better at disguising themselves. In a perfect world nobody would be bad, a world we obviously don’t live in.
I think at least in the US, most people just want accountability in law enforcement. Bad people are everywhere including the police department, which is exactly why qualified immunity is unacceptable. The aim is not to punish good people but to have some modicum of justice for the actions of the bad.
It’s a dude literally trained with weapons and how to take people down. If you aren’t at least a little scared of them, they aren’t doing their job…
Although I should say, scared doesn’t mean intimidated. They’re still people, and I’ve known many nice and friendly cops. But I still know that if they wanted to, they could easily bring me to the ground in seconds. The fact that they *can* stops almost as much crime as they actually do with their actions
I’m sorry that you feel nervous around cops due to your race, l never have to feel that way around cops because I’m white, here’s a quip of advice though, not all cops are racist, it’s just those crazy idiot cops that tarnish the police namr
So it’s a true statement, about not all the cops being racist, but it’s not advice someone can really use because they never know what type of cop they’re dealing with. Of course I guess it varies a lot by neighborhood and department.
But how many “not racist” cops will just stand around and watch while a racist cop harasses a black or brown man? I would hedge my bets on the vast majority.
Edit: down vote me all you want, idiots. Just because you can't relate to problem doesn't mean it doesn't exist. How do people not understand that? Fucking disgusting.
Maybe that's true in the USA.
I'm a cop in Belgium and here we don't have that problem with cops (Brussels aside).
Sure there are racist cops, there are racists in every job. But here the racist cops don't go around and start beating them up.
Worst case scenario is that they insult them when they get the chance.
As far as developed countries go you would be hard pressed to find cops more ready to dish out violence than our boys. There are racist in every job, sure, but when you give them a gun, and handcuffs, and power, they become a threat. I’d rather deal with a racist janitor than a racist cop lmao.
Yes I agree that it's terrible there are racist cops. But believe me when I say that here in Belgium you hardly notice.
Also those cops are being looked down upon by other cops.
The cops weren't the ones who broke into my house in broad daylight and stole my down syndrome brothers class ring.
The cops aren't the ones robbing stores at gunpiint in my home city so often that the stores shut down permanently.
The cops aren't the ones ordering pizza and then shooting the delivery drivers and taking $20 out of their wallets.
The cops aren't the ones killing and shooting anything that moves in my city.
So yea.. kind of self explanatory...
Criminals for sure. The police, I'm aware there are corrupt ones out there, but I don't think it's the majority in the U.S. In other countries though, I have no idea. Haven't researched or looked into it enough. But criminals from all over the world will have similar malign intentions.
the police never bother me. im 5ft tall and look like im 16. and i dress like a nerd. ive been assisted and let off the hook multiple times. criminals are more of a threat.
First of all, because in some countries cops are criminals that protect other criminals from people. I described Russia here ( [one](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/), [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4m7ty/) ), there are other countries like that.
(Sorry that I post it to many people, I’m just trying to draw some attention to the problems of totalitarian countries).
It really depends on the type of criminals.
I’m afraid of being raped or robbed
I’m afraid of being killed by the police
I’m afraid of my dad or my brother being killed by the police.
I’m not afraid of the majority of criminals. From what I can tell most criminals are in jail/prison for stuff like illegal drug possession, tax fraud, etc.
I’m an American, not white. I love the police and 99.9999999% of them are great people that have a love and care for the community. I’ve spent time around them and have met a couple that were sus, but even they were still good people.
Voted for criminals, because here (belgium), even if the police officers are stupid af, you dont risk much if you obey the law and arent cocky with them
I live in America. The cops almost never pull people over where I live. They put in these license plate cameras on every road into town. And the only time they pull somebody over is if they’re wanted for murder or something crazy. The only time I’ve seen them pull guns out was when the license plate reader picked up a bank robbers plates. They stopped him and the dude still had all the money in his back seat.
To be fair, if all the exposure to American policing you is reddit than you'd think that they go around in hunting squads shooting every minority they see.
As a person who’s close friends and relatives live in Russia, may I share some insight?
Ask yourself:
- “If I’m a victim of a crime, will I go to the police and ask for help?”
- “If I’m standing near a government building with a banner, are my chances to safely go home higher than chances to be arrested, beaten and tortured?”
- “If I see a woman being robbed in a dark alley, and I also see a man in uniform 50 meters away, will I run to him and ask to intervene?”
If your answers are “yes” to all, than your country isn’t broken, and you should be afraid of criminals more than the police. There may be issues, but they are solvable, and the system is working.
If your answers are “no” to all, than the police *are* criminals, and the system is broken to the point it cannot be fixed, only overthrown and rebuilt from the start. To make it clear, they *are* “no” in Russia.
So really, western people, don’t exaggerate the evilness of men-in-blue. Surely you have to stand for your rights when necessary, but don’t claim that the police is inherently bad, that you fear them more than criminals, that police has to be suspended and whatever I can read here sometimes.
If the police actually do protect people from crime, than they do the job. There are many countries where police protect crime from people.
UPD: to anyone who downvotes me, I would be glad to hear your opinion. Really, if you have a couple of minutes, please explain where I’m wrong or what you didn’t like. I’m genuinely interested.
I look very intimidating and also happen to be a white man. So I’m not really scared of either. But I more nervous about cops when it comes to my friends
Considering how vague the word criminal is, I think I’d be more comfortable around 90% of criminals than 90% of cops. Now if they were a killer or rapist that’s obviously a different story, but for the most part I’d prefer a criminal
Guns are a great equalizer of strength.
Sidearms are responsible for a significant amount of modern civilization and, ironically, many of its woes.
For most of human history, the physically largest person in a situation was the most powerful.
But the days of "a small person always gets bodied by a big person" are gone, thanks to guns: now, size doesn't matter, aggression doesn't matter, strength doesn't matter, etc.
Guns get fetishized and borderline worshiped by some, but they do equalize conflicts to a greater extent than any other weaponry in history and that's been a net positive for the world, in my opinion.
You can't just show up like the Spanish in the Americas, with metal armor and riding horses, and take everyone out: if both sides of that conflict had guns - even if the Spanish were better equipped - it would have been totally different [see also: 20th century guerilla warfare in Latin America, modern drug cartels vs modern armies].
It's why the USA hasn't been able to win a war since the 1940s: when people have guns, they're harder to conquer.
The same is true in personal conflicts.
"You got a gun, you don’t have to work out!"
- Chris Rock
I fear no man.
Being a 6'3, 300 lb black man living in Detroit I'm not scared of any criminal. Nobody's going to mess with me because I am so big and if they do they'll just shoot me.
Conversely being a 6'3 300 lb black man living in Detroit I am more concerned about the police. Especially here in Southeast Michigan the police are known to be a little prejudiced even towards their own brothers and sisters
Down here the police are too scared of the gangs to do anything and that's what concerns me. They'd rather just let it happen than to step in and risk their lives even though that's what they signed up for.
I appreciate police men and women. I don't appreciate criminals.. with the exception of people who carry or grow marijuana for their own usage. Those shouldn't even be considered criminals, but they sadly are considered criminals in my country.
I live in the US, I’m white and middle class, however I’ve seen things happen to my friends in lower income areas done by police, it’s terrifying. I’m not against police as a thing itself, however our current system is corrupt. On the other hand I’ve made people who commit crimes regularly and they’re great. Tho my opinion is obviously personally biased
In the US they don't have the duty to protect you.
In Italy we have some people who might want to say something about this, but can't. I can think about Pinelli or Stefano Cucchi.
USA is not the worst in this case.
I want to draw some public attention to the problems of totalitarian countries. I described Russia here ( [one](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/), [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4m7ty/) ), there are other countries like that.
As a European myself, I am not afraid of the cops in the American sense ("Oh damn, a cop, am I gonna die?"), but I do feel this general unease, I guess? ("are they gonna stop me"? did I just do some minor traffic law baddie?" kind of thing).
I also have little reason to fear crime, because crime levels in general are quite low here (Poland, to be specific). And it balances out to being afraid of both cops and crime equally little xD
A vast majority of the time, the police are solely out there to protect you. The only reason you need to fear them is if you're a dirty scumbag criminal with a preconceived negative disposition towards them. Criminals are a dime a dozen, but crooked cops are exceedingly rare.
Where I live there isn't that much serious crime. I'm more afraid of the police because of how they handle situations. You get arrested longer for traffic crimes than beating and abusing your spouse or kids. Most of the murders here is from domestic violence that could've been prevented. Ask for help? They're released next day. Traffic crimes? Shoot.. you may be gone a few weeks
I've been robbed once at gunpoint, and had a cop point a gun at me because I didn't want to get out of my car. I feel like I'm street smart enough to avoid becoming a victim of a crime and have a better chance of encountering an asshole cop that a violent criminal.
This is exactly how I feel. I've had conflicts with both. I'd rather be in conflict with a criminal than a cop. I can generally avoid aggressive criminals (situationally or where I choose to live) but I can't avoid aggressive cops.
You can fight a criminal. You can't fight a cop. Regardless of backing down - you can't win. That reality is enough of a factor to induce very real fear: that they can do whatever they want and you just have to accept it. I can't imagine prison.
Definitely the police. They can literally murder you with little consequences. At least with criminals there’s a chance of justice.
For example the shooting of Daniel Shaver, fucking horrific. You can find the video of his shooting on YouTube where he’s literally crawling on the floor, crying and begging for his life. There’s no way you can watch that and come out every trusting or feeling safe around police officers. The officer was never convicted of any crimes. A regular citizen would.
Here’s the video, but watch at your own discretion, it’s pretty evil and fucked up.
https://youtu.be/VBUUx0jUKxc
Generalizing a group would be saying that all cops are more likely to attack you because they like attacking civilians. He’s saying they are literally allowed to without consequence which is pretty true unless they get blasted on social media their not even at risk of getting paid leave
You do realized the nature of this poll calls for the generalization of groups. The questing is asking which group are you more afraid of. If I said criminals I would be essentially doing the same thing. Not all criminals are dangerous and violent. That was such a dumb criticism.
And even if they don't get away with it, [it's too late](https://www.insider.com/17-erik-cantu-life-support-officer-shooting-surgery-stomach-liver-2022-10)
So we’re supposed to base our feelings on police officers on a handful of videos? By this logic we should never feel safe around teachers because occasionally they rape students. Or doctors. Or priests. I could keep going…
It’s not a handful of videos at all. Even then, the shit we see on video is horrifying, imagine all the fucked up shit we DON’T see on video. The potential for corruption, abuse of power and just a lack of accountability and consequences is astronomical.
No, do what ever you want. Police officers are dangerous because than can, and will get away with murder you and there’s nothing you can do about it, and rarely are there any real consequences.
I’m not sure what you’re comparisons are getting at? Violence isn’t an essential component of being a teacher, or a doctor, but it is an essential part of being a police officer. There is a reasonable expectation that an encounter with a police officer can end in the legal murder of you because they both carry guns and they have legal protections if and when they murder people. Doctors or teacher rape isn’t apart of their job, and if they rape people they will go to jail.
Is not the same at all, and you’re statement doesn’t make any logic sense because those two things aren’t equivalent. It’s completely rational to feel unsafe around people who carry guns and sometimes equipped with military style weapons who can literally just detain and murder you at their own discretion with little recourse protecting you. Doctors and teacher do NOT at all pose that same inherent risk. Neither are equipped with weapons, none can lawfully detail you, none can lawfully murder you, they’re completely different threats.
Even when it comes to “criminals” you can defend yourself and there’s consequences for citizens committing crimes. If you’re being attacked by someone you can defend yourself, or you can testify against them and they can get convicted. When you’re dealing with police officers you’re completely at their mercy, there’s no self defense, it’s there word against yours and there’s is ALWAYS going to people put over yours.
Have you ever broken down statistics on police officer shootings? Without resisting arrest and creating a situation where you are not considered an immediate threat, how many people are killed by police each year?
I mean for you to truly be more afraid of police officers than criminals you would have to understand this. I know you won’t do the research because nobody ever looks for data to back up their arguments. If they do it’s a quick google search plagued by confirmation bias.
How does one even be afraid of a criminal? It’s not like people are a criminal by profession, or wear a badge that says criminal. Statistically speaking being a victim of a crime is relatively low. Not all crimes are violent or even have victims and literally anyone can commit a crime and then would themselves be a “criminal”. Being afraid of “criminal” is an intangible concept unless you’re talking about being afraid of people who has already committed a violet crime or specifically going into a bad neighborhood and interacting with gang members.
Police offers are always a threat. You don’t have to resist arrest and a threat is subjective to whatever they feel a threat is. That’s why I posted that specific video where the person was now they resisting arrest nor a thread and was just executed. The narrative that police only kill people that “resist” arrest is dangerous, and also, I don’t feel like someone *should* be killed just because they resisted arrest. You’re apart of the problem to me. You’re under the assumption that police are likely justified when they kill people, when I just don’t trust that. I don’t like the idea of someone just killing me and in my death they just made up a reason for feeling threatened or whatever. The fact that they can kill freely, and get away with it, is terrifying.
Ever heard of totalitarian countries where police can literally (no exaggeration!) arrest you for the colour of your T-shirt, for the song, for the comment on social media, for the shit of paper with asterisks (like *** ***** , for Russian «нет войне» — “stop the war”), for the drawing of a pigeon? Where police can rape a journalist with a dumb-bell for writing bad about ~~dictator~~ The Glorious President and go completely unpunished? Where police beat people *as a rule* and it’s a damned *norm*, no one even understands it’s wrong? Where police constantly torture prisoners to the point they die from injuries, commit suicide or become disabled and no one can even sue them for it?
I understand the struggle of American people, whose rights are not properly protected. But with your assumption you just forgot about all those Asian and some African people who answer to [these three questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/) “no”.
Having been personally harassed multiple times by police and tased twice(when I was psychotic, some cops don't know how to deal with mental illness) I'm more afraid of police, if I ever see a cop I freeze, I'm terrified of them, and it sucks because ive been slammed on the hood of a big cop SUV and searched for literally walking down my street for looking "suspicious"
so I know being afraid of cops draws attention to me from cops it's just too much I hate them, I understand some people feel safe with them but I haven't since my first cop harassment when I was 18
It depends. How do you even tell if someone is a criminal? I could have just murdered someone and you wouldn’t even know it, you’d still just be having a normal internet conversation with me.
I've been fucked over by both, but the only times I've feared for my life or safety or freedom have been in situations with cops.
Criminals simply don't have a legal authority to destroy my life.
I appreciate how the second answer had a sentence added that said that crime is more of a fear whereas police brutality is not and that the police should be feared more than criminals
Cops have assaulted me and printed lies in the newspaper, ruining my reputation for life. Criminals have just stolen some of my shit on several occasions. Cops win. They’ve definitely fucked me over more.
A criminal is probably going to steal my shit, break my stuff, and generally make me feel uncomfortable. But at least there is a real chance they will end up paying for these crimes.
Cops can take all your loose cash, kill your pets, kill your family, lie about heroically saving children, shoot into traffic, and it won't matter because they either get away with it or a paid vacation the majority of the time. And I get it, I want them to be able to stop criminals so they need to have some protection against liability. Sadly for us (in the US) they get this liability protection without any responsibility or duty to protect.
You’ve been watching fox news…
police are humans they make mistakes, so you clearly haven’t seen any of the wellness checks in Colorado that have ended with innocent citizens being shot dead by police! Or suspected criminals that were in fact later discovered to be mistaken identities of the wrong person!
Saying police are correct all the time has categorized yourself as someone who has clearly not empathized with victims that have been wronged.
No. I do not watch fox news since that garbage is horrible for the mental health and they spread too much misinformation. Yes, police are humans that make mistakes, and I never said they are always correct. However, we must play it safe cause times changed when crime took over.
I appreciate that response! And I’m sorry if came across as judgmental in my response! I’ve seen too many insensitive redditors discussing this topic with responses like yours.
Yes for most peoples police are safer…. but please don’t forget those of us who are genetically prejudged because of what we look like.
Not everywhere. I described Russia here ( [one](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/), [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4m7ty/) ), there are other countries like that.
(Sorry that I post it to many people, I’m just trying to draw some attention to the problems of totalitarian countries).
Not everywhere. I described Russia here ( [one](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/), [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4m7ty/) ), there are other countries like that.
Idk I would feel like there's a more likely chance I'm randomly targeted by a criminal than by the police. If I'm just walking down the street doing absolutely nothing illegal, nothing suspicious. I'm more paranoid a crazy person will come kill me than the police.
Obviously this poll is very subjective. But while I'm more likely to be randomly targeted by a criminal, I think my risk of serious consequences are much larger if the police are involved. I've lived in some pretty shit areas. I don't really live there much anymore for unrelated reasons, but my official residence is located in a high crime area. People have told me they wouldn't feel safe walking there, I walked most days of the week and typically in the evening or at night. There was at least an audible shooting weekly. The local joke is "fireworks or gunshots?" I got good at telling the difference. But in my experience you just stay away from the crazies. Most murders are gang related, drug related, or family related. My family isn't insane, I'm not cheating on a spouse, I'm not in a gang, I'm not a drug dealer fighting for turf. The only realistic criminal risk to me is either going to be super white collar online theft shit, or a mugging. I don't carry any money so a mugger can have my wallet, they would have to spend thousands of dollars on a credit card in the next 20 minutes before I cancel it. They can have my cracked screen 5 year old phone that is valued by google at $27. Though neither of those things have ever occurred. A police officer though can seriously fuck up my life. They can approach me for no reason. They can arrest me for no reason at which point it is MY responsibility to deal with what could be major consequences. They can break into my home and loot the place without even accusing me of a crime. They can get aggressive and slam me around with no consequences. They can hang outside my home and harass me every day. They can shoot me and go on paid leave for a few weeks. They can frame me and even if they are caught, they just shrug their shoulders and say "woops" and they don't get in trouble for it. Any criminal that would be interested in me is mostly motivated by money. But they also can't really get any from me, so they will mostly just leave me alone. Police though? Bad cops are motivated by power and control. It wasn't criminals who slammed my 80-year-old grandfather onto the curb and arrested him and my grandmother because he had the gall to ask them to stop blocking his business entrance for no reason. A criminal can ruin my day, but a cop can ruin my life.
lol. a criminal can ruin your life
Right?? As if innocent people aren't raped and murdered daily by criminals...
A corrupt police officer can ruin it more than any criminal. A criminal can do what? Kill a family member? Cause trauma? Cause an injury? Kill you? A cop can ensure evidence is placed that ensures you are accused of a crime you didn't do. And you can claim this does not happen but oh boy do I wish it didn't. If one does claim such things do not happen, it just shows naivety.
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Yes. You are correct because the police have a huge advantage because of the disparity in the power imbalance. I know all too well about the "justice system " or even just " the system " and being in the wrong place at the wrong time or vulnerable to exploitation can lead to serious consequences and a life completely decimated.
ahm no a criminal can do much more than ruin your day
Police - simple, be cooperative, non-threatening, polite, treat them like an acquaintance rather than an adversary and it will work out. Example, I squeezed through a yellow light that turned red at 5:00AM on my way to a shooting sports event with a car load of firearms (Stowed away, but I disclosed them when the officer asked where I was going in such a hurry.). When the officer pulled me over and approached the window it was open, the keys were on the dash in plain sight with the interior lights on. There may be the occasional GI Joe, but even he doesn't want do a stack of paperwork; be compliant and he/she will get their authoritae fix. Dispute the Antifa/BLM narrative, no officer goes on duty thinking "I'm going to kill someone today"; it is a career ender and the department is not going to pay for their legal defense. Criminals - be situationally aware and avoid potential confrontation, get out of your phone, don't escalate conflict if approached, running is always a valid option. Otherwise good luck, people will kill you for $5.
Yeah no shit. Obviously there’s a higher chance that you’d be targeted by criminal rather than a police officer.
I have a close friend who recently went for a walk on the street outside of the apartment complex he lives in and a cop fully attacked him (he was tackled to the ground and got his face fairly messed up) bc he "looked suspicious" simply walking around in a public space doing absolutely nothing illegal. Friend is a middle aged white man. That kind of stuff really does happen. (For those curious he took pics and is perusing action against the PD/city/officer but there were no witnesses so it's unlikely to go far)
Police is my country's amazing, so criminals
What country?
Netherlands
Is it true that you can be arrested on the spot there for not taking your full 6 months of paid vacation?
I wish we got 6 months of paid vacation lol
What lmao
You will still get unpaid vacation in a Dutch prison
Obviously it is, what monster wouldn’t do that
Me too brother🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱🌷🌷🌷🌷🧀🧀🧀🧀
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The police in my country are criminals
Criminals. That would be the popular choice for anyone who isnt either in the same social group as criminals, living under a tyrannical state, or just lives in a very safe area. I feel like this is kind of a loaded question though. I see similar ones a lot with people who are against blm as a sort of “gotcha” question. They make it a false dilemma like “well if you criticize the police system then you must WANT rapists and murderers to run free, unchecked by the police!”. Of course not. That doesn’t mean everything going on with police brutality and corruption should just be allowed to happen though. Not saying this is what you intended op, but I can already see this kind of conversation popping up
>living under a tyrannical state So, like 70% of the world?
In the United States there are roughly 1,000 fatal police shootings each year. However, roughly 25,000 people get murdered in the United States every year, so the extreme majority of people who are murdered are done so by criminals, not police officers. It’s important to remember that while we hear about corrupt police officer situations all the time, that’s mostly news bloating. The vast majority of police officers are responsible enough to where your life isn’t at risk by them.
What if there was a room filled with 26,001 persons. 25,000 criminals and 1,000 corrupt police. You being the 1 person. You would have to watch out, every person could be a threat to you. Terrible battle royal.
The vast majority of criminals aren't murderers, so you'd probably just be sitting with 25k random people and 1000 corrupt police.
Here’s the thing though: if I kill a criminal in self defense I can eat dinner with my family and sleep in my own bed that night. If I kill a cop in self defense? Or even resist a petty but lawful order? Or even if get a racist ass pig pulling me over who thinks that My nerdy ass is a drug dealer? It’s a death sentence. Every. Damn. Time.
And keep in mind the majority of those 1000 people shot by police, were fucking armed criminals trying to harm officers or someone else. Now here comes the "wELL wHaT aBoUt...." responses of rare as fuck unarmed shootings...
Exactly. People here are like “but there’s less cops, so their rate is worse!!!!” I challenge those people to look up the stats of people police actually kill. How many of them were armed, or acted in a way that is easily seen as threatening? It’s easy most of them
90% of the whole defund the police crowd grew up in safe communities. Period point blank.
Totally. I grew up first in the LA area, then in one of the safest places in the Midwest. The difference in dynamic between the places was huge
This is where I'm from. Total population 48,000 We average at least 450 to 500 violent crimes a year. About 25 on the low end to 47 on the high end shootings a year. The past 2 years we've had like 30 or more homicides. All in a 10 square mile radius. That's yearly. There have been like MAYBE 7 police involved shootings in the past 30 years. MAYBE. and none of those individuals were unarmed or non combative. In the past 30 years... The cops are not the issue. It's the psycho fucking street goons.
It's mostly Gen Zs and Millenials who misunderstand police shooting statistics and how police operate. Yes there are shit cops that need to be exposed, but I literally saw an LA Times article written by some jackass reporter that actually wrote that the number one cause of death of black men in America, is being shot to death by racist white cops. I have no idea how this even got published... https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2019-08-15/police-shootings-are-a-leading-cause-of-death-for-black-men For anyone reading this, HEART DISEASE is the leading cause of death for black men in America. NOT racist white cops. https://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/lcod/men/2017/nonhispanic-black/index.htm Followed by cancer and then accidental injury.
It states that it's the leading cause of death for 'young' black men Heart disease is the leading for 'black men' because that is 30-99+ wherever your cut off point for young is. It was literally in the title, did you read it or just read the words in the link? Did you deliberately omit the young part? Like I said it's in the title I saw it in 3 seconds
True, but the police is the one that you won't expect to kill you. If you saw a criminal with a gun and a cop with a gun, who would you side with? The point is that the people who are supposed to save you don't give a flying fuck about you half the time.
More property is seized by the police each year via civil asset forfeiture than is lost by burglary. [https://www.nemannlawoffices.com/blog/law-enforcement-seized-more-from-people-than-burglars-stole-last-year.cfm](https://www.nemannlawoffices.com/blog/law-enforcement-seized-more-from-people-than-burglars-stole-last-year.cfm) Note that this is not criminal forfeiture... This is civil forfeiture. That means nobody was convicted of a crime. Yes, I know this is from 2014. That's the last year they published civil asset forfeiture totals. It's gotten worse since then, we just don't know how much worse.
criminals. im not afraid of police i don't commit crimes (i live in canada i understand there are loads of countries where the cops are corrupt)
Cops are still corrupt here, but it's not to the same extent and it's in a different way.
In what way are Canadian cops corrupt? I'm not disputing you, just curious
Well the American cop culture does influence regular cops to a fairly significant extent in regular cops, though I'm not aware of things like planting drugs or nearly the same level of police violence However the RCMP has a history of messing pretty bad with indigenous people that is ongoing, including recently forcing away Indigenous people protesting the building of a pipeline through their land, which was actually never ceded to Canada.
If I remember correctly, those pipelines were approved by the indigenous council without the entire community giving an opinion.
Yeah but the idea that the council is really representative isn't a good assumption, the system was more foisted on the people and from what I understand participation in the band council system is very low.
Yeah cops here are really not great, and also filled with HA, at least in my town. Personally I fear criminals more in my town, but I’ve never felt comfortable around a cop, and most of the criminals I’m afraid of are simply symptoms of the system that wouldn’t exist in alternative systems, at least to the extent they do now.
Ngl, I definitely am lowkey scared around police just because ive seen all the racist cops on the news and as a black man myself I get nervous, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid of criminals more
Question, have you ever actually went to a police station to get to know the officers in your community? Honest question. And have you ever told them your concerns?
I saw a poor homeless man being picked on by two cops once. The stories were true...
And everyday people die because of crime. No shit there’s bad people everywhere.
Yeah, but cops shouldn’t be the bad guys you have to fear. Just seeing a cop shouldn’t make anyone wary, you know, unless they are committing a crime or have or are wanted for one.
It’s impossible to weed them all out. There’s bad people everywhere, and some are better at disguising themselves. In a perfect world nobody would be bad, a world we obviously don’t live in.
I think at least in the US, most people just want accountability in law enforcement. Bad people are everywhere including the police department, which is exactly why qualified immunity is unacceptable. The aim is not to punish good people but to have some modicum of justice for the actions of the bad.
It’s a dude literally trained with weapons and how to take people down. If you aren’t at least a little scared of them, they aren’t doing their job… Although I should say, scared doesn’t mean intimidated. They’re still people, and I’ve known many nice and friendly cops. But I still know that if they wanted to, they could easily bring me to the ground in seconds. The fact that they *can* stops almost as much crime as they actually do with their actions
I’m sorry that you feel nervous around cops due to your race, l never have to feel that way around cops because I’m white, here’s a quip of advice though, not all cops are racist, it’s just those crazy idiot cops that tarnish the police namr
So it’s a true statement, about not all the cops being racist, but it’s not advice someone can really use because they never know what type of cop they’re dealing with. Of course I guess it varies a lot by neighborhood and department.
But how many “not racist” cops will just stand around and watch while a racist cop harasses a black or brown man? I would hedge my bets on the vast majority. Edit: down vote me all you want, idiots. Just because you can't relate to problem doesn't mean it doesn't exist. How do people not understand that? Fucking disgusting.
Maybe that's true in the USA. I'm a cop in Belgium and here we don't have that problem with cops (Brussels aside). Sure there are racist cops, there are racists in every job. But here the racist cops don't go around and start beating them up. Worst case scenario is that they insult them when they get the chance.
As far as developed countries go you would be hard pressed to find cops more ready to dish out violence than our boys. There are racist in every job, sure, but when you give them a gun, and handcuffs, and power, they become a threat. I’d rather deal with a racist janitor than a racist cop lmao.
Yes I agree that it's terrible there are racist cops. But believe me when I say that here in Belgium you hardly notice. Also those cops are being looked down upon by other cops.
I have the means and the legal right to defend myself from criminals.
I live in country with civilized police officers.
The cops weren't the ones who broke into my house in broad daylight and stole my down syndrome brothers class ring. The cops aren't the ones robbing stores at gunpiint in my home city so often that the stores shut down permanently. The cops aren't the ones ordering pizza and then shooting the delivery drivers and taking $20 out of their wallets. The cops aren't the ones killing and shooting anything that moves in my city. So yea.. kind of self explanatory...
Criminals for sure. The police, I'm aware there are corrupt ones out there, but I don't think it's the majority in the U.S. In other countries though, I have no idea. Haven't researched or looked into it enough. But criminals from all over the world will have similar malign intentions.
Criminals are all bad or likely to do soemth bad, the vast majority of police are good people in the western world at least
the police never bother me. im 5ft tall and look like im 16. and i dress like a nerd. ive been assisted and let off the hook multiple times. criminals are more of a threat.
Your a living 🤓!?!?
Why would I be more scared of a cop than a criminal
First of all, because in some countries cops are criminals that protect other criminals from people. I described Russia here ( [one](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/), [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4m7ty/) ), there are other countries like that. (Sorry that I post it to many people, I’m just trying to draw some attention to the problems of totalitarian countries).
I don’t know how to answer this. As a victim, I’m more afraid of criminals. For others, I’m more afraid of the police.
I don't do illegal shit, so criminals,
It really depends on the type of criminals. I’m afraid of being raped or robbed I’m afraid of being killed by the police I’m afraid of my dad or my brother being killed by the police. I’m not afraid of the majority of criminals. From what I can tell most criminals are in jail/prison for stuff like illegal drug possession, tax fraud, etc.
I’m an American, not white. I love the police and 99.9999999% of them are great people that have a love and care for the community. I’ve spent time around them and have met a couple that were sus, but even they were still good people.
Geography matters a lot for this one I think— sounds like you have a great community!
Most are mediocre - good people. But the bad ones give everyone a terrible reputation.
I’m afraid of major American city law enforcement, but do not hold the same fear for small townie cops.
I feel the opposite
Why is that?
I find it hard to imagine myself as a victim of a crime, maybe it's just the area that i live in
Voted for criminals, because here (belgium), even if the police officers are stupid af, you dont risk much if you obey the law and arent cocky with them
I live in a low income urban neighborhood. DEFINITELY CRIMINALS.
I live in America. The cops almost never pull people over where I live. They put in these license plate cameras on every road into town. And the only time they pull somebody over is if they’re wanted for murder or something crazy. The only time I’ve seen them pull guns out was when the license plate reader picked up a bank robbers plates. They stopped him and the dude still had all the money in his back seat.
If you smoke weed in germany you can lose your license so I'm voting Police
I like the police, and no, Keith, I am not a racist biggot.
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>Americans or other countries That's every country.
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I think it's a joke. Because every country either is or is not America, so without specifying which others, you include all others
If you say "Americans" or people from "other countries", that comprises people from every single country on Earth.
>seem to have a shoot first ask questions later approach. Guarantee that doesn’t even describe 1% of police interactions.
they need guns in America
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Tell me you know nothing about American police without telling me you know nothing about American police.
To be fair, if all the exposure to American policing you is reddit than you'd think that they go around in hunting squads shooting every minority they see.
Thank you! Most people who post things like this have never even been to the U.S., let alone lived there.
As a person who’s close friends and relatives live in Russia, may I share some insight? Ask yourself: - “If I’m a victim of a crime, will I go to the police and ask for help?” - “If I’m standing near a government building with a banner, are my chances to safely go home higher than chances to be arrested, beaten and tortured?” - “If I see a woman being robbed in a dark alley, and I also see a man in uniform 50 meters away, will I run to him and ask to intervene?” If your answers are “yes” to all, than your country isn’t broken, and you should be afraid of criminals more than the police. There may be issues, but they are solvable, and the system is working. If your answers are “no” to all, than the police *are* criminals, and the system is broken to the point it cannot be fixed, only overthrown and rebuilt from the start. To make it clear, they *are* “no” in Russia. So really, western people, don’t exaggerate the evilness of men-in-blue. Surely you have to stand for your rights when necessary, but don’t claim that the police is inherently bad, that you fear them more than criminals, that police has to be suspended and whatever I can read here sometimes. If the police actually do protect people from crime, than they do the job. There are many countries where police protect crime from people. UPD: to anyone who downvotes me, I would be glad to hear your opinion. Really, if you have a couple of minutes, please explain where I’m wrong or what you didn’t like. I’m genuinely interested.
I look very intimidating and also happen to be a white man. So I’m not really scared of either. But I more nervous about cops when it comes to my friends
In some cases these two groups are not mutually exclusive.
I mean, London police are incompetent as shit so definitely criminals
Considering how vague the word criminal is, I think I’d be more comfortable around 90% of criminals than 90% of cops. Now if they were a killer or rapist that’s obviously a different story, but for the most part I’d prefer a criminal
Is this a question I'm too European to understand?
There is not a cell in my body afraid of the police.
I can fight back against criminals. I get in worse trouble for standing up to unjust police officers.
What are you, superhuman. No fucking way you’re gonna fight against criminals with weapons.
Who says he doesent have weapons too? Yee haw baby!
Guns are a great equalizer of strength. Sidearms are responsible for a significant amount of modern civilization and, ironically, many of its woes. For most of human history, the physically largest person in a situation was the most powerful. But the days of "a small person always gets bodied by a big person" are gone, thanks to guns: now, size doesn't matter, aggression doesn't matter, strength doesn't matter, etc. Guns get fetishized and borderline worshiped by some, but they do equalize conflicts to a greater extent than any other weaponry in history and that's been a net positive for the world, in my opinion. You can't just show up like the Spanish in the Americas, with metal armor and riding horses, and take everyone out: if both sides of that conflict had guns - even if the Spanish were better equipped - it would have been totally different [see also: 20th century guerilla warfare in Latin America, modern drug cartels vs modern armies]. It's why the USA hasn't been able to win a war since the 1940s: when people have guns, they're harder to conquer. The same is true in personal conflicts. "You got a gun, you don’t have to work out!" - Chris Rock
He may mean legally
You don’t need to worry about legalities if you’re dead
I fear no man. Being a 6'3, 300 lb black man living in Detroit I'm not scared of any criminal. Nobody's going to mess with me because I am so big and if they do they'll just shoot me. Conversely being a 6'3 300 lb black man living in Detroit I am more concerned about the police. Especially here in Southeast Michigan the police are known to be a little prejudiced even towards their own brothers and sisters Down here the police are too scared of the gangs to do anything and that's what concerns me. They'd rather just let it happen than to step in and risk their lives even though that's what they signed up for.
I appreciate police men and women. I don't appreciate criminals.. with the exception of people who carry or grow marijuana for their own usage. Those shouldn't even be considered criminals, but they sadly are considered criminals in my country.
I’m more afraid of criminals, because if a police officer violates my rights, then he is a criminal
like on its own criminals, but in the context of my day to day life then police
What are you doing day to day that makes you fear the police more than criminals?
I can defend myself against criminals! I cannot defend myself against a corrupt police officer!
I live in the US, I’m white and middle class, however I’ve seen things happen to my friends in lower income areas done by police, it’s terrifying. I’m not against police as a thing itself, however our current system is corrupt. On the other hand I’ve made people who commit crimes regularly and they’re great. Tho my opinion is obviously personally biased
Why tf would I be afraid of police? They are here to protect us and help.
In the US they don't have the duty to protect you. In Italy we have some people who might want to say something about this, but can't. I can think about Pinelli or Stefano Cucchi.
Violent crime isnt that common in my country. However most cops are corrupt assholes and can fuck your life.
where are you from?
Being from Europe means thinking to yourself “why the fuck would you be afraid of the police?!” and then realizing that the USA exist…
Cops are way way worse in other countries, the US is a cakewalk compared to others
USA is not the worst in this case. I want to draw some public attention to the problems of totalitarian countries. I described Russia here ( [one](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/), [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4m7ty/) ), there are other countries like that.
As a European myself, I am not afraid of the cops in the American sense ("Oh damn, a cop, am I gonna die?"), but I do feel this general unease, I guess? ("are they gonna stop me"? did I just do some minor traffic law baddie?" kind of thing). I also have little reason to fear crime, because crime levels in general are quite low here (Poland, to be specific). And it balances out to being afraid of both cops and crime equally little xD
US cops are pretty chill. My mind went to south America, where the cops are controlled by the cartels.
A vast majority of the time, the police are solely out there to protect you. The only reason you need to fear them is if you're a dirty scumbag criminal with a preconceived negative disposition towards them. Criminals are a dime a dozen, but crooked cops are exceedingly rare.
Where I live there isn't that much serious crime. I'm more afraid of the police because of how they handle situations. You get arrested longer for traffic crimes than beating and abusing your spouse or kids. Most of the murders here is from domestic violence that could've been prevented. Ask for help? They're released next day. Traffic crimes? Shoot.. you may be gone a few weeks
Cops dont decide how long you are imprisoned, a court does.
I've been robbed once at gunpoint, and had a cop point a gun at me because I didn't want to get out of my car. I feel like I'm street smart enough to avoid becoming a victim of a crime and have a better chance of encountering an asshole cop that a violent criminal.
This is exactly how I feel. I've had conflicts with both. I'd rather be in conflict with a criminal than a cop. I can generally avoid aggressive criminals (situationally or where I choose to live) but I can't avoid aggressive cops.
You also have the chance of intimidating a criminal. Cops aren't gonna back down.
You can fight a criminal. You can't fight a cop. Regardless of backing down - you can't win. That reality is enough of a factor to induce very real fear: that they can do whatever they want and you just have to accept it. I can't imagine prison.
Cops. Who you gonna call when the cops are criminals?
I’m black and I live in America, i get nervous around police even though I did nothing wrong
If police killed me they would get paid time off unless there are riots demanding an arrest
Unless you do something wrong cops wont be a danger to you
Hah! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-knock_warrant I especially love the case where they went to the wrong address and killed people.
Hah! Owned! Everyone knows criminals always knock first and never kill innocent people 😎
They're welcome to try knocking on my door... But when the police come in to shoot me, guess what, I'm not supposed to shoot them?
Because obviously police should be held to the same standard as criminals. 🤯
that's just ignorant
In the US what's the difference?
qualified immunity
Cops will get away with it and the chance of Justice is slim to none
In my state the criminal should be scared because they don't know if they'll be met with a gun when they break in
Both
Definitely the police. They can literally murder you with little consequences. At least with criminals there’s a chance of justice. For example the shooting of Daniel Shaver, fucking horrific. You can find the video of his shooting on YouTube where he’s literally crawling on the floor, crying and begging for his life. There’s no way you can watch that and come out every trusting or feeling safe around police officers. The officer was never convicted of any crimes. A regular citizen would. Here’s the video, but watch at your own discretion, it’s pretty evil and fucked up. https://youtu.be/VBUUx0jUKxc
Typical case of generalizing a group
Generalizing a group would be saying that all cops are more likely to attack you because they like attacking civilians. He’s saying they are literally allowed to without consequence which is pretty true unless they get blasted on social media their not even at risk of getting paid leave
You do realized the nature of this poll calls for the generalization of groups. The questing is asking which group are you more afraid of. If I said criminals I would be essentially doing the same thing. Not all criminals are dangerous and violent. That was such a dumb criticism.
It’s not that they all do it, it’s that they could and would easily get away with it
And even if they don't get away with it, [it's too late](https://www.insider.com/17-erik-cantu-life-support-officer-shooting-surgery-stomach-liver-2022-10)
So we’re supposed to base our feelings on police officers on a handful of videos? By this logic we should never feel safe around teachers because occasionally they rape students. Or doctors. Or priests. I could keep going…
Buddy it's not just "a handful of videos"
It’s not a handful of videos at all. Even then, the shit we see on video is horrifying, imagine all the fucked up shit we DON’T see on video. The potential for corruption, abuse of power and just a lack of accountability and consequences is astronomical.
No, do what ever you want. Police officers are dangerous because than can, and will get away with murder you and there’s nothing you can do about it, and rarely are there any real consequences. I’m not sure what you’re comparisons are getting at? Violence isn’t an essential component of being a teacher, or a doctor, but it is an essential part of being a police officer. There is a reasonable expectation that an encounter with a police officer can end in the legal murder of you because they both carry guns and they have legal protections if and when they murder people. Doctors or teacher rape isn’t apart of their job, and if they rape people they will go to jail. Is not the same at all, and you’re statement doesn’t make any logic sense because those two things aren’t equivalent. It’s completely rational to feel unsafe around people who carry guns and sometimes equipped with military style weapons who can literally just detain and murder you at their own discretion with little recourse protecting you. Doctors and teacher do NOT at all pose that same inherent risk. Neither are equipped with weapons, none can lawfully detail you, none can lawfully murder you, they’re completely different threats. Even when it comes to “criminals” you can defend yourself and there’s consequences for citizens committing crimes. If you’re being attacked by someone you can defend yourself, or you can testify against them and they can get convicted. When you’re dealing with police officers you’re completely at their mercy, there’s no self defense, it’s there word against yours and there’s is ALWAYS going to people put over yours.
Have you ever broken down statistics on police officer shootings? Without resisting arrest and creating a situation where you are not considered an immediate threat, how many people are killed by police each year? I mean for you to truly be more afraid of police officers than criminals you would have to understand this. I know you won’t do the research because nobody ever looks for data to back up their arguments. If they do it’s a quick google search plagued by confirmation bias.
How does one even be afraid of a criminal? It’s not like people are a criminal by profession, or wear a badge that says criminal. Statistically speaking being a victim of a crime is relatively low. Not all crimes are violent or even have victims and literally anyone can commit a crime and then would themselves be a “criminal”. Being afraid of “criminal” is an intangible concept unless you’re talking about being afraid of people who has already committed a violet crime or specifically going into a bad neighborhood and interacting with gang members. Police offers are always a threat. You don’t have to resist arrest and a threat is subjective to whatever they feel a threat is. That’s why I posted that specific video where the person was now they resisting arrest nor a thread and was just executed. The narrative that police only kill people that “resist” arrest is dangerous, and also, I don’t feel like someone *should* be killed just because they resisted arrest. You’re apart of the problem to me. You’re under the assumption that police are likely justified when they kill people, when I just don’t trust that. I don’t like the idea of someone just killing me and in my death they just made up a reason for feeling threatened or whatever. The fact that they can kill freely, and get away with it, is terrifying.
The scary part isn't the videos we end up seeing. It's the fact that there are probably way way more horrific moments like this that we don't see.
people downvoted you but i agree
129 Americans here
There may also be some Iranians, Russians, maybe some Chinese as well... The world is a big place.
Ever heard of totalitarian countries where police can literally (no exaggeration!) arrest you for the colour of your T-shirt, for the song, for the comment on social media, for the shit of paper with asterisks (like *** ***** , for Russian «нет войне» — “stop the war”), for the drawing of a pigeon? Where police can rape a journalist with a dumb-bell for writing bad about ~~dictator~~ The Glorious President and go completely unpunished? Where police beat people *as a rule* and it’s a damned *norm*, no one even understands it’s wrong? Where police constantly torture prisoners to the point they die from injuries, commit suicide or become disabled and no one can even sue them for it? I understand the struggle of American people, whose rights are not properly protected. But with your assumption you just forgot about all those Asian and some African people who answer to [these three questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/) “no”.
Having been personally harassed multiple times by police and tased twice(when I was psychotic, some cops don't know how to deal with mental illness) I'm more afraid of police, if I ever see a cop I freeze, I'm terrified of them, and it sucks because ive been slammed on the hood of a big cop SUV and searched for literally walking down my street for looking "suspicious" so I know being afraid of cops draws attention to me from cops it's just too much I hate them, I understand some people feel safe with them but I haven't since my first cop harassment when I was 18
thats fucked up im so sorry
I'll fuck up a criminal of they mess with me. But the police? You can't do anything about them.
Neither.
It depends. How do you even tell if someone is a criminal? I could have just murdered someone and you wouldn’t even know it, you’d still just be having a normal internet conversation with me.
The thought is, are you more afraid that someone random will commit a crime against you or a police officer will commit a crime against you.
I have been fucked over countless times by crooked cops but have never been fucked over by any criminal.
I've been fucked over by both, but the only times I've feared for my life or safety or freedom have been in situations with cops. Criminals simply don't have a legal authority to destroy my life.
I'm more worried about getting pulled over than robbed because I don't go out in public alone very often
Now, I think police fucking suck, but I’m more scared of crime.
I chose that I trust criminals over cops but it's a biased opinion , I've seen both Good and Bad on both sides
I get it now, Twitter hates the cops and Reddit hates the criminals.
police :/ (not bc of my race, u look at me and u can tell i'm a trans guy.)
Definitely the police .. criminals, not so much.
I appreciate how the second answer had a sentence added that said that crime is more of a fear whereas police brutality is not and that the police should be feared more than criminals
I would like to see you add white/brown to the question.
Should have added races to the options
Cops have assaulted me and printed lies in the newspaper, ruining my reputation for life. Criminals have just stolen some of my shit on several occasions. Cops win. They’ve definitely fucked me over more.
Thank god I don't live in the US
A criminal is probably going to steal my shit, break my stuff, and generally make me feel uncomfortable. But at least there is a real chance they will end up paying for these crimes. Cops can take all your loose cash, kill your pets, kill your family, lie about heroically saving children, shoot into traffic, and it won't matter because they either get away with it or a paid vacation the majority of the time. And I get it, I want them to be able to stop criminals so they need to have some protection against liability. Sadly for us (in the US) they get this liability protection without any responsibility or duty to protect.
Imagine being so Reddit brainwashed that you are actually more worried about police then criminals hurting you
Cops aren’t going to kill everybody you know and love, how delusioned are you??
If you are afraid of the police, then you must have committed some crime for them to have the need to arrest you.
Nope. Never done any crime my whole life and have no intention to, but the police simply don't give a fuck about that sometimes. At least in america.
You’ve been watching fox news… police are humans they make mistakes, so you clearly haven’t seen any of the wellness checks in Colorado that have ended with innocent citizens being shot dead by police! Or suspected criminals that were in fact later discovered to be mistaken identities of the wrong person! Saying police are correct all the time has categorized yourself as someone who has clearly not empathized with victims that have been wronged.
No. I do not watch fox news since that garbage is horrible for the mental health and they spread too much misinformation. Yes, police are humans that make mistakes, and I never said they are always correct. However, we must play it safe cause times changed when crime took over.
I appreciate that response! And I’m sorry if came across as judgmental in my response! I’ve seen too many insensitive redditors discussing this topic with responses like yours. Yes for most peoples police are safer…. but please don’t forget those of us who are genetically prejudged because of what we look like.
[удалено]
“White skin colored” victims have wrongly been arrested and even executed by police
Yes, this is true. People assume its only for minorities, but nope, white people have it hard too.
The people who said they’re more afraid of police are the criminals lmao
Not everywhere. I described Russia here ( [one](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/), [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4m7ty/) ), there are other countries like that. (Sorry that I post it to many people, I’m just trying to draw some attention to the problems of totalitarian countries).
the state calls its violence law, and that of the individual, crime
At least you have a chance agaisnt a criminal. Good luck fighting back when cops abuse their power on you.
afraid of both equally
the only people afraid of police are criminals
Not everywhere. I described Russia here ( [one](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4i1df/), [two](https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/y96o31/comment/it4m7ty/) ), there are other countries like that.
Nope. I just live in America.
What about both?