Quote:
Originally Posted by jar_e
I think there's two points that need to be highlighted. A large portion of the identification comes down to the officer's belief that there is reason you need to be identified. Your walking down the street, cop pulls up, and says you match the description of a robbery suspect. Are you going to give your ID, even if you weren't the offender in the robbery? The officer has belief that you match the description, however you have done nothing wrong. I don't think either of those posters are saying they are "beyond reproach, infallible and incapable of making an error in judgement" as you described.
Secondly, I think people (not necessarily you in particular, but the general public) severely underestimate the powers police legally have to ask for your ID. Any infraction, from municipal bylaw to criminal offense, requires you to identify yourself. Driving in a vehicle, you may be pulled over for to simply ensure compliance with insurance, license, registration, sobriety. Flick that cigarette butt to the ground? That's an offense as per the municipal bylaw and your required to show your ID. Spit in public? Also a bylaw. There are so many bylaws/provincial acts/criminal charges on the books that a cop can identify you for thousands (?) of infractions beyond just the belief part that I talked about before.
I get that people hate/dislike/question/critique the cops and CP has this incredibly cyclical nature to it in these threads. I know that no one is going to be able to change your opinion and obviously vice versa. However, its worth noting, that speaking locally, CPS has some of the highest approval ratings in Canada and North America from the public. These surveys are conducted by a third party company and are unbiased. I believe the past 10 years they have been > 90%. CPS has been incredibly pro-active in the community whether it be online through social media, through school groups with now having officers assigned to pretty much every school from elementary to high school. CPS are regularly in various community fairs and meetings, diverse groups, and other things. People have this opinion that all cops do is sit in an office 24/7 and wait for stuff to happen. That's not true at all and just because individuals don't see this, doesn't mean it isn't happening.
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Thanks for the response.
Maybe it's just because the police departments I deal with the most are some of the worst, VPD, Seattle PD. I've never had anything but positive experiences with Calgary PD.
It's not the officers in question, it's the expectation of compulsive compliance with directives from strangers because they have a badge on. It's taking offense to using my charter rights to protect myself. The attitude is visible in this thread from a self-described officer.
I don't think dissentowner is a bad dude or a dirty cop or whatever, but calling someone a crappy person because they exercise their rights and freedoms is an alarming position for a police officer to take publicly, considering they are charged with an authority to preserve those rights and freedoms and up hold them for others.
That it's a pervasive attitude amongst police officers, local and federal, is disconcerting to say the least.