Work alongside them professionally as a paramedic.
9 times out of 10 - no issues. Glad to have them on scene and most of them are fair and reasonable with the patients/people we deal with. I'd say even most of our patients don't have bad interactions with them either, even if they aren't happy to see them. Most are polite but firm. Definitely been happy to have them around when there's violence or scene control issues.
But every so often you get a crew that's lazy and doesn't want to deal with something, or decides to antagonise the patient for some ridiculous reason, and it makes my job way more difficult than it should be. They're not very common though. The only egregious thing I find is that it's usually a *crew* and not a *single officer* \- I'd hope that in a two person crew that one of them would speak up when the other is making life difficult but it never happens.
Won't put any specific instances though out of professional respect.
I agree with the 9/10 assessment for most things the police do in general. Prick of a job that I wouldn't want in a million years, dealing with people at their very worst. All things considered I'm happy to see them out and about.
Also work with them regularly doing heavy haulage. Most are nice folks, and have no issues with them. Sometimes you get one that is less so, but you just roll with thr punches. Have had the same cop be great on one job, and a complete prick on another. Never know what someone might be dealing with in their own life, especially with thr crap they put up with.
I got pulled over after running a stop sign one night on the way to work. Copper literally said "i'm giving you a warning tonight but you're lucky i'm not a traffic cop, they'd just book you"
Fair assessment.
When I was in the job and in uniform many moons ago I had my fair share of rude ambos saunter in and fuck up all the rapport I'd spent the last 30 mins building. Wankers in any profession unfortunately.
100% there’s awful officers in QAS too… being on shift with them for 12+hrs a shift isn’t fun either!
I feel like we have a bit less tolerance for it in QAS these days due to professional registration… and let’s say *systemic issues* with complaints management. Like there’s no way I’m letting my partner mess everything up because I’ll get dragged down with them too.
It feels like a really good thread to remind people that when you see a police car traveling on the road you automatically don’t have to slow down. If you’re doing the speed limit, keep doing the speed limit. No need to crawl along behind them. It’s weird and it makes you look hella suspicious.
I witnessed a truck/bicycle fatality a couple of years back and they were fantastic to me. They were incredibly empathetic and offered counselling and checked up on me a few days later. Otherwise the only interaction I have really had is a brief chat with a female officer while we both waited for our takeaway coffees. Nothing but respect on my end - it’s a tough job, I couldn’t do it.
Pretty much the only interaction I've had with them was almost 15 years ago.
It started bucketing rain whilst I was waiting for a bus at a stop with no cover and they offered to give me a lift.
So that was nice.
I'm a firey, we see them interact with the public all the time and the amount of extraordinary patience they show with drunken idiots who have done stuff like crash a car and try to run away is just amazing. I have a ton of respect for them, truly. I know not all are great but the ones I've seen have been, I've been in the job so observing for 7 years now.
I've been on both sides.
Getting raided by 12 cops with guns out... and then I've been the victim who called them due to DV. In all instances they were understanding, patient and compassionate. Even when my house was being raided and I was in shock they weren't arseholes, they listened to what I was saying that the guy they wanted never lived at our house and didn't treat me like scum.
I had an officer spend a Friday night driving around searching for a suicidal friend. For hours. He called me regularly across the night and eventually found him. That cop saved him and then continued to check back in with me for weeks.
I see the Americanisms of the ACAB shit creeping into Australian discussions and I just can't agree that Qld cops are wholesale bastards at all.
Are there dickhead coppers? Sure. But there are dickheads everywhere.... Mostly in banking. 🤣
QPS seem ‘okay’.
HWP is where the cunts seem to end up, as confirmed by other police haha.
Lack of oversight/consequences for the bad apples in the bunch is more concerning to me than the actual individual police
My dad was a QLD cop for 43 years.
From 17-60, 1977-2020 compulsory retirement. I was supposed to be 3rd Generation police.
He saw the changes in the system through that time. He always wanted me to be a cop right up until around the mid 2000’s when I was coming of age. Said the system as a whole is broken and more cops these days are pieces of shit than there were in the past.
He thought the Fitzgerald enquiry was necessary but believed it also splintered the working relationship between the higher ups in both the underworld and state/federal police.
Suddenly policing became a lot more difficult and a power vacuum was created across the country. The people who kept the unwritten code of conduct between crims in check were no longer around.
He likened it to a prison where the screws no longer could show any discretion to minor crimes in order to keep the peace. This in turn led to more violent and serious crimes occurring that sometimes involved innocents and even police themselves.
All this lead to a worsening public sentiment and trust of the police as a whole where nobody wanted to help the police catch the people doing the wrong thing for either fear of reprisal or the fact they just no longer respected the position they have.
As a cops kid, I’ve done the rounds in court for several things in my past and never been given a pass for my family name, neither should I have been. But my experience of the judicial system is the same that very little discretion seems to be shown anymore for minor crimes.
Minor crimes being ones that don’t affect anyone but myself such as possession and drunk and disorderly.
Anyone who hurts or affects others with their shit deserve the full force of the law to fall hard and fast on them.
Just my 2c
Couldn’t agree more, seems to go hand in hand with less tolerance for minor stuff in our schools. Most people given a chance in the early years grow into solid, moral people.
Always good to hear a different perspective like this.
How much of it do you think is old school "I just wanna be able to arrest the bad guys, and the people who look like me aren't bad guys" and how much of it is "the force is actively getting worse"?
Honestly not sure how to answer that one.
But my view is cops back in the day knew a fuckhead crim from a troubled kid/bloke with mental health issues and also had the scope to deal with the problem on a micro level themselves which i think garnered a greater respect from the public than being thrown in the system
We didn’t require police go through 4 years of uni studying some pseudo bullshit rather they were educated on the job and interacted with the community on a closer level again which I believe fostered a greater respect between police and community.
It allowed them to get to the root cause of issues in people’s lives quicker rather than just letting the system fuck them up making them feel marginalised and fostering a hate towards the police themselves.
Harsh view, but some people deserve a solid flogging to set them straight. Others need a lighter touch and to be shown some empathy.
A grey area that doesn’t seem exist within the police anymore with everything being on caught on camera with smart phones as well as body cams.
Ask yourself, would you show discretion towards someone if it was all caught on camera and it could cost you your job?
> worsening public sentiment
It couldn’t have got any lower than it was pre-Fitzgerald. Whatever changed afterwards was worth it as they were a corrupt mess beforehand.
Just my view as a cops kid.
I understand my view may not be entirely correct and skewed. But when shit goes wrong who you gonna call?
Not the ghostbusters.
The police commissioner was getting bags of cash delivered to his house in Paddington. Whole sections of some police branches were on the take. Good cops were being harassed and pushed out. Some citizens who talked even went missing. A stasi-lite secret police branch was harassing citizens. Our future premiers had files on them because they protested the corruption.
It was a hot mess.
Hopefully when I call decent police will come. Back then the odds were lower.
Do you mean that kids of cops are more likely to end up in the justice system? The one kid I knew whose dad was a cop got famous amongst our school friends for stealing a car and being on a Cops style tv show.
>Minor crimes being ones that don’t affect anyone but myself such as possession and drunk and disorderly.
this effects others fyi. People want to be able to walk on the street without some cretin pissing, yelling or accosting people.
Never said I wasn’t guilty. Also never said I pissed on the street or accosted people either. All I said was perhaps a degree of discretion could be used in these instances.
But hey, you’ve obviously already made your mind up about it so I’ll leave you to it ✌️
The one time I had to call 000 for police, pretty much every cop in town turned up within about two minutes. Dozens of em. Like Gandalf arriving with reinforcements at Helm's Deep. And they were extremely helpful. Those crews really put the Service in Queensland Police Service that day.
That's not to say I think they're all angels or that their hands (as an organisation) are squeaky clean. However I think a lot of the ACAB shit is childish (although I don't dismiss those peoples' grievances) and doesn't really accomplish much of anything in terms of any systemic change that's required.
I hope the police get their resourcing issues sorted and I hope they get paid more money because I believe only a certain type of person should be a police officer and those types of people aren't going to be attracted to job where you get punched, spat, pissed and shit on not to mention shot and stabbed when all you get in compensation is mid-range pay and lifelong trauma.
Thanks for providing an insight into the life of a police officer.
Out of curiosity, given your 14 years of experience, would you still sign up to be a police officer again today?
Possibly….. I didn’t enjoy the academy experience which of course is the first glimpse into the job. After learning about how I learned, it wasn’t conducive to my kinaesthetic style - but I got through in the end because I put the effort in. That was my first hurdle. I have made life long friends however, been involved in amazing things/events. I probably would join up again, if I couldn’t be a pilot first which was my life long dream.
I now know having worked in a regimented organisation like the police, that I should’ve joined the military first. I think that would’ve prepared me better for the police, in the sense of life experience, communication skills etc. We naturally get many ex ADF because they enjoy working in an organisation with Rank.
Thanks for the insight. Police definitely see some eye opening stuff that the average human would often never get to witness. However, psychologists are in the same boat with the mental load of their clients and they still have a duty of care.
Thank you for your insight and service, I’m currently weighing up the challenge as I’ve been a public servant for 15 years (auditing) and whilst its been a interesting career and better pay the desire to make a meaningful difference to someone’s life is huge. I’ve had a taste of it when auditing farmers as the poor buggers are on edge due to life events (deaths, marriage breakdowns ect) and their season hinging on my assessment so you do get to see raw emotion. It’s incredibly humbling to listen to their stories and say it’ll be right mate. Everyone thinks I’m crazy for leaving a cushy job but its now or never so I think I’ll give it a crack.
99%? Your dreaming or must work outside of the south east where pockets of apathetic attitudes have developed into poor work place cultures all over every station. No one cares anymore, from the quality of the work they do, to keeping on top of task lists, to even doing what’s right by their colleagues.
Their is no appetite to work harder or more efficiently, everything has become about pushing more work back down to gds and then if you are there, doing the bare minimum to get through the day in an operational system that is no longer fit for purpose.
Yes it busier and the job has evolved, but some just come to work and do whatever they want to do, because they know there are no consequences. Overdue tasks to investigate crimes? Doesn’t matter no one cares. Skip a DV job on your iPad? Doesn’t matter no one checks or cares. Spend an extra hour longer on a job than you should back at the station talking to your mates or planning what u will buy for lunch? Doesn’t matter, no one cares.
QPS is circling the drain, but it’s apparent the union runs the organisation, not the COP. The issues the qps faces internally are almost at the point of not being able to be fixed, it’s too far gone unless you do a major overhaul of absolutely everything. Prepare to see more stories about piss poor policing I n the Courier Mail over the next few years.
I worked out of Logan District for 8 years, and yes I agree with you to a point that some people are apathetic at work, again, just like in all industries. I’m benefitted by my experience in knowing how to manage my time effectively, a skill that has to be learnt.
The workload has increased over my time, and recruitment has fallen. Things like domestic violence has broadened its definition, not to mention being louder in the lexicon of conversation. It would be nice to have less follow up work, and more proactivity, but these are the hands we are dealt. As I said, it falls back onto the community to join the police, raise our numbers and bring that workload balance back. Until then, someone has to do the job.
There are many officers, including those in the south eastern corner that do come to work to do an honest days work. They roll with the punches, and like everyone, they can have spats where they aren’t performing at their best.
Without going into detail, I can easily be one of those officers that don’t care, but I enjoy what I do, I enjoy the people I work with, I enjoy the variety in my work and the feeling that I may of helped someone along the way.
I am only talking from my experience and will not be making any comments about the union or COP. That is not my place as a boots on the ground person.
I drive a 30 year old car so I’m always on edge when I see one while I’m driving (especially since they’ve been cracking down) because who knows what’s not working on it since I got in the car at 5am but otherwise most of them seem to be chill and just trying to do their job. Never had a BAD interaction with them.
My husbands best mate left the police force to be a firey for this reason. He was sick of dealing with scumbag repeat domestic violence offenders.
He said at least in the QFES he is generally not dealing with people who have hurt each other on purpose.
I’ve never laughed so hard. The worst part is, the idiots keep breeding and creating more idiots who seem high and mighty on being ignorant about being idiots.
I remember when I first moved here like, 5 years ago from overseas – still had to carry around my passport as I didn't get an ID yet. I went to Milton market with one of those silly cloth trolleys, filled it with greens, and was on my way back via the rail. Oh, and I made the mistake of spending some awkward ten minutes looking for a bathroom/bin on the wrong side.
Anyway, I got followed on board by an unexpected group of heavily-armed police and was held on board until they interviewed and cleared me – demanding ID, background, purpose here, address.
I mean, it wasn't a *huge* deal, but it was a wee bit scary for myself as a person fleeing the school shooterino country and having two rifles held in my vicinity. A rough introduction for sure.
My guess would have been the G20 summit was on but that's a bit longer than 5 years ago. You don't normally see heavily armed police unless someone has severely over exaggerated their phone call
I was a slightly unkempt and bleary-eyed PhD student so I totally can imagine someone describing me as Madwoman On A Proper Bender, but that was *before* I started doing drugs.
I was once at a pro-choice rally and the cops turned up to tell us to quieten down for the apartments just behind the abortion clinic, because the socialist alternative crew of course hijacked the protest to yell and scream and try to spruik their magazine (I didn't take one of course). This one socialist alternative person got all hopped up about it and called it police oppressing speech but I thought it was pretty reasonable, they let us protest for quite a while before saying quieten down a bit to let the residents have a bit of peace. After the protest I saw the cops parked in the squad car I think monitoring proceedings, I smiled and waved and the policewoman in the car waved back, on the whole they were pretty nice. The person I was with when we were helping clear up after the protest thought it was too funny that I waved at police while being at the protest. I think protestors usually are negative towards police so I went a bit against the grain to give a hello wave.
Great personal insight! I think you may be just that type of nice person though. You can see how a different dispostion can go wrong in those situations.
With good reason, they're a horrible insular organisation that is deeply counterproductive. [I found this essay from an ex-member](https://onditmagazine.medium.com/socialist-alternative-raises-red-flag-ex-members-expose-all-3aa81e79eac3) that tracks with my experiences with them at the few protests I went to.
My brother is a police officer and until I heard some of the crime and other misbehavior that he has to deal with, I thought being a police officer wàs just another public service job. I have always respected the police but after my brother joined I have a great deal more. My own interactions with the police have been, on the whole, positive. It is a hard job at the best of times.which has in recent times been made a lot harder.
QPS are great. Shit job. I’ve dealt with a couple of wanker cops, but any job has them. The worst thing people do is compare them to USA, which couldn’t be more wrong.
They say traffic cops are a different breed to the rest of the force though…
They're overworked and under resourced, there isn't enough of them to do pre-emptive policing or patrol and detect crime. Its all job related or operation to achieve a goal.
Seriously need a refocus of priorities. An emphasis needs to be placed on protection of law abiding citizens, Not criminals. Too much work is done on treating criminals right but fire truck the victims. No preventative work only pretending to track down burglars. It’s the little stuff that makes good law abiding people lose faith in the police. The average person has nothing to do with police until they don’t prevent, stop or recover stuff from burglaries or a person gets a speeding find for 63 in a 60 zone. Only negative interactions with the people that are supporting AND funding them.
I was sexually assaulted a few years ago, and the experience completely changed my view on QPS. The range of professionalism I witnessed between complaint through to the court was incredibly varied between officers. Some were amazing, and while the officer who originally took my complaint frankly shouldn’t be employed, the detectives were all exceptional, thorough, considerate and highly competent. They kept me encouraged that I would see justice and made me feel protected and safe enough to see the process through (including when the person who assaulted me disappeared on bail). They genuinely cared about keeping the streets safe - like I said, completely changed my view on QPS.
I have also seen police be antagonistic, use extreme force and after our neighbours had a DV situation, the local cops shared personal views re: DV victims that have no place in modern society, particularly from police. It’s sad to me that the ones I’ve seen that lack professionalism have been traffic and the local cops (I don’t know the correct terms), who are the ones the public interact with more.
Police have always been good to deal with in my area of BNE (north side). Always had good experience even when I’m in the wrong. I once had my car broken into and guy was caught as he tried to jump start. Cops took a gun off him, he claimed he found it in my car. I had to go to the cop shop to say the gun was not mine. We all had a laugh when he showed the gun to me, it was huge and I’m a small guy. Many other good examples.
Loganholme Police are a friendly professional crew with a difficult area to work in. First experience with them after a road rage incident. No complaints
I’ve called the police about 4 times in my life. The one time they did show up, the officer was caring and helpful. The other 3 times when I believed someone to be in active danger… no one ever came. Understand it’s a resourcing issue but doesn’t really make me feel safe!
I work with QPS and I admire what they do. Of course in every workplace, there are and will be bad apples. In my opinion, if public service is your passion and it is a dream of yours to be a police office, go for it. However, there are lots of mental health issues (due to workplace stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD most of all) that may result in being a public servant. Everyday is different - you will never know what you will be responding to and who you will be dealing with.
I would advise them not work within the police force.
great job, semi average pay.(pay often not worth the risk)
Job has a very high burn out rate, still has a terrible culture around mental health (which statistically most officers will have an issue with by year 5-6) I think it has amazing potential to be a great place to work but culture needs change. It has a unique comraderie of internal support but anyone needing actually help will struggle to find it. Summary... they need to better understand models of stress. Anyone who thinks you can pull injured people from cars, see dead kids, rescue a bashed wife for the 4th time and do that every day all year and not have that mess you up has screws loose. Qld ambos found a good balance to the same issue.
Also.... get rid of paper based forms! watching an officer have to fill out a massive evidence submittal form was painful. how is that not an iPad form!
I am happy to see QPS around and have found them helpful when I need them. That said, I pass for not being part of any groups that tend to get profiled.
I know not everyone has had this, but I've had really good experiences with QPS. Going out in the valley I once asked 2 officers if they had time to walk me 2 min through a dodgy alley to get to where I needed and they were more than happy to; another time a guy was harassing me on the way to my bus, two officers coming toward me saw how uncomfortable I was, chatted to the guy and waited until I got onto my bus.
I also worked for a big Brisbane event for a number of years and the police we had onsite were really good too.
I applaud anyone who wants to join the Police for the right reasons.
They should be a position that people look up to and want to emulate.
95% of them join the Police force to do the right thing but as with any Government/Political/Religious institution, the minority will bring it down.
The 5% that join for the power trip should be weeded out sooner than they are.
I would not be OK with my family becoming cops because I would stress and worry every time they were on shift. I'm OK with the police, my daughter and I wave to all emergency services but I don't think there are enough of them.
I don't trust them in general, I see far too many stories where they have not been the pillars for justice that the job requires... which ok, mistakes can be made in recruiting... but then nothing is done to punish the bad apples. If a family member or friend decided to become one...well, we would probably just drift apart as friends and become more acquaintances.
I hear what you're saying there. I guess sometimes you dont always know both sides of the story due to court privacy etc.
One thing I do know is that you only hear when things are bad, not when they're good. So a corrupt cop is big news. A hundred good cops doing a hundred good deeds goes unnoticed. I guess because it's expected?
>Had the occasional interaction where they can be a bit short/rude, but I mean I get that every now and again with any public facing employee.. just the human element I guess, I don't hate McDonalds just because the girl was rude to me over the intercom for example... Happy to see them around unless it's the traffic guys :)
And so it should be expected! At an absolute bare minimum!
What are the hundred good deeds that go unnoticed? And are they just part of their normal job? The expectation that you would execute your role to a satisfactory level is not "a good deed", it's just doing your job. So of course people who are entrusted to literally police society are (in the very few cases that actually make the news, and then most of those result in no convictions) obviously discussed when they "do bad".
I was riding with a Police Officer in an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) Vehicle. The system went off after pinging a vehicle for not being registered.
They had the authority to dish out infringement notices with penalties. After talking to the driver, and confirming the information that the vehicle was registered to her husband's business, not her personally, the officer gave the driver a choice of paying registration on the spot or to receive a temporary registration that allowed her to drive directly home and nowhere else.
She couldn't pay the rego as she didn't have the details, took the temporary rego slip thing and opted to drive home.
The entire experience there was no animosity, no bad feelings, everybody walked away from the situation in a good position and nobody was unjustly done by.
However; the tone of her voice on the phone to her husband as we were driving away let me know that not everyone was going to walk away from the situation feeling good.
I had a period when I moved to QLD but still had a NSW license and was trying to determine if it was worth transferring over because I was basically 50/50 between QLD and NSW and I got pinged by that system so many times.
My car model was already a cop magnet so when that system didn’t find my name instantly the cops would think it was unregistered. I had so many cops doing the authoritative ‘you are driving unregistered’ ‘no I’m not’ ‘yes you are…oh wait ok it’s loaded you fine you’re free to go’. Only one was ever nice and friendly during one of those stops. Most were dicks.
I've been on the receiving end of this myself. The officer understood my problem, admitted he made the same mistake himself a few weeks earlier, issues me with the fine but waved the $1000 fine that goes with it!
If it wasn't for the officer experiencing the issue himself, it may have been a different story.
So the police officer applied a normalized sense of logic and fairness in a situation that *could* have called for more extreme policing. That sounds to me like doing your job rather than a good deed. Good on the officer for doing that.
> more extreme policing
You mean "Doing their job" ?
If you drive an unregistered vehicle, you are still bound by the laws and penalties that come with it.
Choosing not to apply the harshest outcome in the situation can be considered a good deed because no one was worse off at the end of the day.
Personally, I’ve never had a police officer speak to me in a kind way, even just for a routine/random interaction (e.g. random breath test). They don’t seem present in the community when people actually need help (look at the thread in this sub recently about the countless people that called the police in serious situations and they just never showed up).
They are severely understaffed and it seems like the police system isn’t doing well. If I were in danger I would be scared that a) they wouldn’t take my situation seriously and/or b) they would just never show up at all.
Unfortunately never had a great experience with them, When I’ve needed help I haven’t gotten it. My uncle was a cop and he really comes across as one, always ready to be unfriendly and judgemental.
I'm a middle-class middle-aged white guy, so I have no reason to have a problem with QPS.
If I was indigenous, a DV victim, a recent migrant, suffering from severe untreated mental health problems, etc., I'd probably hold a very different view.
had 50/50 experiences. had some be called on me for skating in public and they were very nice and just told me to move but also had another time where the cop was trying to say something and it was just simply untrue and there were 30+ people who were trying to explain what really happened and wouldn’t believe or let us talk. also never even resolved the issue they were called for
Hit and miss, I have had 2 positive encounters that were just pretty standard interactions you'd have like talking to a random on the street. One time however I was pulling out of the driveway from my work to go home after doing a 8 hour shift doing pizza delivery, an officer who had a stick up his ass from the start gave me the "pushy authoriative" treatment and proceeded to swab test me 4 times on the roadside till he got a false positive on me for cannabis (I am a prescribed patient and have low THC, high CBD prescriptions and onky take them before bed the nught before work) he brought me back to the police station when one of the 4 tests got a feint positive so he could test me at the station 30 minutes away. I was 100% negative on the machine, I was made to find me own way back to my car at 1.45am, when my car was pulled over in helensvale, and I was taken to the logan station 
I hated cops. I was in housos getting raided all the time as a child and they'd always pick on my family. Until i was old enough to realise my mother was druggy always involved in doing the wrong thing.
Been a cop now for twenty years. I've lived the other side and now walk this side. Only thing that really gets under my skin is people who have no idea trying to tell me how to do my job. If you think you can do it better go sign up or shut up.
Coming from someone that works in youth mental health, they need way more training on how to deal with mentally ill people and domestic violence situations in particular.
I've had to call the police for both of those issues more than once. In my case the police were really good at handling the situation. I know thats not the experience for everyone but i am really grateful for my local police.
Tbh police should only be escorting H professiinals in these instances. No way police can cope with MH issues. But yes. More training to ID an MH situation ad act accordingly
Couldn't agree more, as someone who's suffered with mental health issues and had dealings with QPS there's a definate lack of cognisance or training when dealing with mentally unwell folks.
On the flip side I've had great interactions with popo in other circumstances 🤷. Like others have said, good apples and bad make up the bunch we've got.
Agreed.
I’ve spent my fair share of time in psychiatric hospitals, and during a recent admission there was a patient who was very unwell and had hurt themselves and was threatening to do it again. An ambulance and the police were called, as is protocol, and I just happened to walk past two of the police officers as I went down the hallway. One of the officers looked me up and down and laughed to his partner and muttered ‘oh they really do have some fruit loops here don’t they!?’
I was absolutely appalled by the comment and told the nursing staff about it, but nothing ever came of it. I know a lot of people don’t understand mental illness or the treatments involved with it, but by the very nature of their job, police officers interact with the mentally ill community on a very frequent basis, and at the bare minimum they should receive basic training on what is appropriate language, idealistically they’d get regular in-depth training and lived experience consultation.
Honestly kind of assumed that all cops are cunts but have had two good interactions with police lately and has really helped change my opinion of them a lot.
It’s a bloody tough job and they deal with all sorts of crap from the public and their own top brass ( who are political puppets I think) . I wouldn’t do it for the money . Good for them I say
I’ve only had one experience myself with them (not serious) and it was unnecessarily aggressive and negative. I do also agree with others it’s a difficult role to fulfil, but I think there’s a lot structurally broken.
That said I also think they have serious challenges to address that, and when they are trying still face hurdles like the recent situation where they have removed unsuitable people from the force but they’re going to be reinstated due to workplace law/unsuitable process internally. Brutal.
Generally fine. A few bad eggs like every vocation. The amount of shit they have to deal with on a daily basis would have to turn them into a fairly terse kind of person, so if you have an interaction with a police officer don't be surprised or annoyed that they don't greet you with a happy smile and doting small talk. If you call them in an emergency you'll want them there in a hurry and to deal with the situation swiftly.
In general, I see them positively. The bad stories I have are just because they were abrupt and rude, and in retrospect, being curt isn't a crime. These are the very mildly negative experiences I've had:
I was stopped on the street because the officer said I stared at him as he drove by. He did a u-turn and pulled up beside me as I was walking. He made me hand over my backpack and searched through it. I was scared but nothing happened. (That was in Toowoomba actually, and I was 17 at the time) Also, that was in 2000, so a different era.
I also used to deliver magazines, driving all night on a Tuesday from about 10pm. My district was Southside- Wynnum, Logan, Woodridge, through to Woolloongabba. I generally was pulled over twice every shift, just to ask what I was doing. Usually, when they saw a hi-vis vest, they let me go, although I did have one officer who was rude: "What do you think you're doing? "
I've since worked as a high school teacher so I know more of what it's like to be worn down by daily opposition. I've never yelled at anyone or lost my cool, but I know the emotional toll it took on me, getting nothing but negativity every day. That has made me more sympathetic.
Asking on Reddit you'll usually be met with an anti-police sentiment. Perception on the individuals for me is good, mostly cool people, friends with a few. IMO though there are not enough of them to deal with everything and they are let down by the justice system (no punishment for offenders), kind of assume I'm on my own for the most part if I ever needed help due to sweet fa staffing.
Had the occasional interaction where they can be a bit short/rude, but I mean I get that every now and again with any public facing employee.. just the human element I guess, I don't hate McDonalds just because the girl was rude to me over the intercom for example... Happy to see them around unless it's the traffic guys :)
>unless it's the traffic guys
Even other cops don't like the traffic guys lol. There's a social hierarchy in the QPS, down the bottom are the traffic officers/highway patrol/insert bext name change.
Everyone should always maintain a healthy disrespect for authority.
I hope that should I ever require intervention in my life from any Police force that they will act in my/society's best interest, that they will be equipped to deal with the situation at hand efficiently and effectively and without (or with minimal) violence.
I live my life on the assumption none of those hopes will be met. I have seen behaviour from QPS over the years that adds to the hope, and behaviour that takes the hope away.
Assuming you're from QPS - work on the assumption that everyone rightly mistrusts you, and do everything to earn community trust, constantly, forever. Anything less is sliperry slope to more corruption/violence/abuse of power.
I am pissed that they never created a whole new division to hunt down thieves and get my shit back.
nah but seriously they have been fantastic to me, leaving me alone and only really having the sergeant and business wear coppas coming and checking up on me to see if im alive lol, they have been super generous to me and non judgmental and always has been honest with advice and in general instead of just the standard professional response even when i ask dumbass questions or act sus. Seeing some of the shit they deal with on a daily basis gives me extra respect for them, especially witnessing in person.
Never had an issue with QPS outside of when I broke the law speeding. Seems to be some correlation there. They do hard work, that the majority of the general population don't see, and have to deal with idiots filming everything and then only showing half the story.
Agreed. Unfortunately I feel that because of the stigma cops have gotten over the past few years, no one wants to trust them and think they are all bad (ACAB) when really most cops are good people trying to make a living like everyone else
My heart aches as I plead for more police aid in my community, yet their duty is gravely impeded by restrictive policies and regulations. To add to the distress, social workers, ambulance medics, and law enforcement officials are impotent in compelling necessary medical care for blatantly ill individuals. During interactions with these emergency responders, I couldn't help but notice their exhaustion, dejection, and discouragement as they struggle to confront their overwhelming workload. Repetitively, they confront recidivist criminals who are released by judges or endeavour to persuade the gravely ill to seek much-needed medical care, furthering their agony.
https://preview.redd.it/maphrya3mzza1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4152e360a4e96048197c62ca45882003784f5549
I think this is a pretty cool thing they are doing in Brisbane at the moment.
The traffic guys are assholes on a power trip. The others seem to be fairly decent humans but understaffed with local police stations closing at 4pm and areas being forced to have the city police attend after those hours. In the world where everyday there is another break in attempt or stolen car posted on Facebook i feel they need to do better.
But honestly that's more down to the politicians and budgets than the actual people doing the work.
The easily threatened universally don't like them by default, the emotionally immature edgelords pretend not to like them ('ACAB' and 'bootlicker' are sure signs) but would be the first to be an abusive cop if they were in the position, then you have the other end of the spectrum who have had to do deal with some bullshit or even harassment from the police and as such don't like them either which is kinda understandable, or who have a conflict of interest don't like them.
Some people realise the bullshit they have to deal with, with the fuckwits in the first two groups being the very tip of a depressing iceberg of bullshit trauma and fuckwittery that many simply don't have the life experience to begin to imagine, and some people do or otherwise appreciate that fact and are either nuanced in their feelings toward police, or deeply appreciate them for the beneficial interactions they have with society and kinda look past a bit of the uglier human side encapsulated in moments that sometimes become highly publicised in order to maintain a high view of them for the thousands of other moments which aren't.
But, in all that, I don't think I have ever heard/seen anyone ever say that cops are completely without faults. And nobody should. Nobody should expect that we live in a society the precludes the odd cop coming across as a total fuckwit, either because like any organisation they might be a few when genuinely are arrogant wankers, *or* the interaction is experienced with no context to their workweek prior, or society has a gripe with cops as the 'frontline' of law enforcement when it's quite often the courts that let us all down.
It's easy to take a jab at people when you know they're meant to be held to a high standard, but we're all human. Some of us seem like fuckwits at times some of us absolute champions at times. Sometimes it's the same person.
Personally, I don't have a problem with them (as a collective) and they don't have a problem with me (as a collective). 
I was at a protest March once and saw the cops help some of the protesters set up for a selfie involving a police vehicle and a V for Vendetta/anonymous face mask.
I’ve also seen police talking to some kids who had obviously been chroming and they were very obviously trying to help them, talking calmly, sitting quietly down next to them.
Contrast this with a cop screaming abuse at us out the window of a paddy wagon for safely crossing on the red light, for disobeying the traffic signals. If he’d have paid more attention or bothered to ask, the lights were broken and we’d all stood there through 3 cycles with no option to walk with the lights. The aggression from him was quite unbelievable for a minor infraction. I reported the light to the council when I got to work.
These poor bastards have been overworked. Apparently they are trying to get old ones out of retirement and the government is trying to lure police from other states. It ain’t the police that’s the issue. It’s those that have probably closed their eyes to what is needed in order to support the police.
I think it's good to see them around, all to often only the negative stuff gets posted online, lost of them do great work
I'm not going to post personal details online but I have witnessed them do some really awesome stuff for people in need,
Good and bad , like any industry. Think they’re pretty racist and sexist as a whole. The systematic racism is probably the most problematic issue they face. Wouldn’t be encouraging of a loved one joining but would be supportive
My interactions with them have ranged from "fine but a little unprofessional" to straight up unpleasant.
Also off the job, I once had a friend of a friend who was in the force over for beers and he told us that "once someone's started injecting heroin you're no longer dealing with a human being but an animal".
I don't give half a shit if this is one bad apple out of a billion or whatever bullshit people always say to justify this crap. If someone can get through police training and work directly with drug users and still hold this kind of opinion, this reflects horribly on the entire culture in the QPS.
Until this is fixed I'm quite happy to generalise that ACAB, even if there are a handful of good apples in there.
Id say your taking that guy out of context. My mate thats a cop say similar things, but what he means is when someone is high they are strong and unpredictable, not the they are worthless. They had a guy they needed like 10 cops and bouncers to restain him cause he was high on ice.
That being said if he did mean that once you do drugs you have lost ypur human rights, hes a knobhead.
I wouldn't be supportive of a friend or family member who joined the force. the culture is incredibly toxic to the point that if you're not racist/sexist then you'll be targeted for harassment. have had more negative experiences with them than positive ones (as a white woman who has never committed a crime).
see this article that came out today - [theguardian.com/media/2023/may/15/the-startling-evidence-of-racism-queensland-police-couldnt-shrug-off?CMP=Share\_iOSApp\_Other](https://theguardian.com/media/2023/may/15/the-startling-evidence-of-racism-queensland-police-couldnt-shrug-off?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)
It’s a shame you have had those experiences, however I dispute your claim that to get along in police circles, you have to be sexist or racist.
It’s one of the oldest marketing tricks in the world, media and newspapers jumping on bad news about cops. It’s inherently compelling reading.
There are no doubt cultural issues, but I don’t know where you wouldn’t find those in any workplace.
There are more and more woman on the road now than ever before, the QPS LOUDLY embraces the LGBTIQ+ community. There is a indigenous specific recruitment program, there are culturally and linguistically diverse recruitment programs encouraging people from different countries and backgrounds to apply.
For an organisation of 16000 people, you may hear about, for arguments sake, 25 officers a year criticised in the media, and that’s an exaggerated number, but again, for arguments sake. That is still less than 1 percent of the whole organisation. To not be supportive of that relative or family member who is more likely to end up being in the 99% unless they have some serious character flaws is a shame.
Sadly however too many people have their own subjective views on how police officers are to carry out their duties, whereas police are bound by multiple pieces of legislation, policy and procedures to navigate whilst looking at the bigger picture and executing fairness.
People get annoyed when they don’t get exactly what they want from a cop, so to them, that cop is a piece of shit….
I’m somewhat anti-cop but at the exact same time I view them as just people doing their job. I’ve only had pleasant experiences with them (RBT kinda things, where I’m not in trouble they’re just doing their job) and I like watching them tackle violent people in the valley, it’s entertaining.
But like… if you want to be a cop I kinda side-eye you. Same with girls becoming nurses. Not all of them are bullies but it’s a job that bullies lean towards. See also: lawyer.
Having worked with police in many jobs. I definitely feel sorry for the amount of shit they have to deal with. With how PC many things are becoming now days, their hands are getting tied more and more.
Social media and the media in general don't help their cause either. Anything they do is scrutinised and they're more often than not, put in a bad light.
My parents have always told me that the attitude test is the first thing they look for when interacting. Yet people can't just accept something simple and it leads to a shitty situation.
Overall, they're just doing their job. If you have nothing to hide, then you got nothing to worry about.
As another comment mentions though, there are bad apples in the bunch. Don't let those couple of people make your perception of the whole group bad.
About 5 years ago I had to organise oversize loads. (Something like 400 of them).
It was very apparent the police service is a 'reactive' business.
Even with planned loads with weeks notice you don't know if you are getting a police escort until 12hours before the move. All the other parties involved have reactive businesses, too, like cranes, site labour, transport company, high wires escorts etc. But it was always the police you end up sweating on.
Anyway the point is the wide load escorts side of QPS need more planning.
I have the utmost respect for beat/local cops, but highway patrol/road cops can get fucked. I have not met one who hasn’t wanted to screw you as hard as possible.
I know three people from high school who went on to become police. They were probably the most racist of the whole grade who just wanted to shoot guns and cause trouble.
I have no issues with them personally.
It's just that the perception of the law / justice system is low because of youth crime and these juveniles getting let back in society with a slap on the wrist.
Yes I'd like to see more of the presence of police in our community. They don't need to be seeking trouble, but just their presence is often a helpful deterrent of undesirable behaviour.
Has anyone seen an RBT since COVID? What happened to all the police?
My feelings are that there's a vacuum of policing occuring, and it's just natural for vigilantism to fill the void.
I grew up in one of the large rural Queensland towns that has a really high intake of rookies. My opinion of police as a youth and young adult was really negative due to the way that the police in this town handle themselves.
Common example: If you are driving at night, it would be very strange to drive past a cop and for them not to spin around and give you a "random" breath test, all the while treating you like a total criminal - second cop shining torch in passenger faces, visually searching your car through windows, asking for more info than they really need etc.
I have a lot of negative experiences with cops from my youth where they treated me like a criminal while I was legitimately doing nothing illegal. I also have other experiences where things were done to me and the cops did nothing while knowing and admitting that they had enough evidence to do something.
In saying all of that, ever since moving to Brisbane I have had no negative experiences with police and I respect what they do for the community. It's a tough job that I don't envy.
Full disclosure though, my age between these two sets of experiences is very different and could be part of the differing outcomes.
Never see cops around and ive lived here 16yrs, in all honesty I probably see 1 cop car per 3months, and 1 cop per 2 years on foot. everytime I see a cop it sticks out coz I never see them. Not sure what their supposed to do in the community besides police the citizens.
Personally, I don't mind them; haven't had any negative interactions. Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with them too much over the course of my life. But I'm not so ignorant as to disbelieve those people who have had terrible encounters with them, especially mistreatment and police brutality.
As a general rule pretty positive, a couple of years ago a bloke murdered his missus next door and the cops there were really great to us when they came around to ask questions and when we had to give statements at the station they were really good considering it was midnight by that point and most of them had been called in to deal with the investigation
That being said though, my partner and I have put in approximately 15 noise complaints about our next door neighbours (different house) playing really loud music nearly every night of the week and they haven’t done squat about it
Work alongside them professionally as a paramedic. 9 times out of 10 - no issues. Glad to have them on scene and most of them are fair and reasonable with the patients/people we deal with. I'd say even most of our patients don't have bad interactions with them either, even if they aren't happy to see them. Most are polite but firm. Definitely been happy to have them around when there's violence or scene control issues. But every so often you get a crew that's lazy and doesn't want to deal with something, or decides to antagonise the patient for some ridiculous reason, and it makes my job way more difficult than it should be. They're not very common though. The only egregious thing I find is that it's usually a *crew* and not a *single officer* \- I'd hope that in a two person crew that one of them would speak up when the other is making life difficult but it never happens. Won't put any specific instances though out of professional respect.
I agree with the 9/10 assessment for most things the police do in general. Prick of a job that I wouldn't want in a million years, dealing with people at their very worst. All things considered I'm happy to see them out and about.
Also work with them regularly doing heavy haulage. Most are nice folks, and have no issues with them. Sometimes you get one that is less so, but you just roll with thr punches. Have had the same cop be great on one job, and a complete prick on another. Never know what someone might be dealing with in their own life, especially with thr crap they put up with.
Traffic cops are the worst of the worst. So I’ve been told - basically the cops in all of departments look down on them
I got pulled over after running a stop sign one night on the way to work. Copper literally said "i'm giving you a warning tonight but you're lucky i'm not a traffic cop, they'd just book you"
This
Yeah I've heard this from a few different ppl now
Fair assessment. When I was in the job and in uniform many moons ago I had my fair share of rude ambos saunter in and fuck up all the rapport I'd spent the last 30 mins building. Wankers in any profession unfortunately.
100% there’s awful officers in QAS too… being on shift with them for 12+hrs a shift isn’t fun either! I feel like we have a bit less tolerance for it in QAS these days due to professional registration… and let’s say *systemic issues* with complaints management. Like there’s no way I’m letting my partner mess everything up because I’ll get dragged down with them too.
Health worker here, they come on a bit hot sometimes but yes, I’m often very grateful for them
0 118 999 88199 9119 725.........3
It feels like a really good thread to remind people that when you see a police car traveling on the road you automatically don’t have to slow down. If you’re doing the speed limit, keep doing the speed limit. No need to crawl along behind them. It’s weird and it makes you look hella suspicious.
But make sure you slow down to 90kms or less at the fixed speed camera on SE freeway.
Or 40k over the story bridge
Or literally any of the bridges in the CBD. The William Jolly Bridge was the bane of my existence for a while there.
And when in public in general 😅
Yes I’ve passed them many times. I’ve got nothing to worry about
I usually speed past them lol, they are so slow sometime.
Good afternoon officer PR PS news.com blows
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Fair.
I witnessed a truck/bicycle fatality a couple of years back and they were fantastic to me. They were incredibly empathetic and offered counselling and checked up on me a few days later. Otherwise the only interaction I have really had is a brief chat with a female officer while we both waited for our takeaway coffees. Nothing but respect on my end - it’s a tough job, I couldn’t do it.
Pretty much the only interaction I've had with them was almost 15 years ago. It started bucketing rain whilst I was waiting for a bus at a stop with no cover and they offered to give me a lift. So that was nice.
Legends.
I'm a firey, we see them interact with the public all the time and the amount of extraordinary patience they show with drunken idiots who have done stuff like crash a car and try to run away is just amazing. I have a ton of respect for them, truly. I know not all are great but the ones I've seen have been, I've been in the job so observing for 7 years now.
I've been on both sides. Getting raided by 12 cops with guns out... and then I've been the victim who called them due to DV. In all instances they were understanding, patient and compassionate. Even when my house was being raided and I was in shock they weren't arseholes, they listened to what I was saying that the guy they wanted never lived at our house and didn't treat me like scum. I had an officer spend a Friday night driving around searching for a suicidal friend. For hours. He called me regularly across the night and eventually found him. That cop saved him and then continued to check back in with me for weeks. I see the Americanisms of the ACAB shit creeping into Australian discussions and I just can't agree that Qld cops are wholesale bastards at all. Are there dickhead coppers? Sure. But there are dickheads everywhere.... Mostly in banking. 🤣
Cheers for the insight!
QPS seem ‘okay’. HWP is where the cunts seem to end up, as confirmed by other police haha. Lack of oversight/consequences for the bad apples in the bunch is more concerning to me than the actual individual police
My dad was a QLD cop for 43 years. From 17-60, 1977-2020 compulsory retirement. I was supposed to be 3rd Generation police. He saw the changes in the system through that time. He always wanted me to be a cop right up until around the mid 2000’s when I was coming of age. Said the system as a whole is broken and more cops these days are pieces of shit than there were in the past. He thought the Fitzgerald enquiry was necessary but believed it also splintered the working relationship between the higher ups in both the underworld and state/federal police. Suddenly policing became a lot more difficult and a power vacuum was created across the country. The people who kept the unwritten code of conduct between crims in check were no longer around. He likened it to a prison where the screws no longer could show any discretion to minor crimes in order to keep the peace. This in turn led to more violent and serious crimes occurring that sometimes involved innocents and even police themselves. All this lead to a worsening public sentiment and trust of the police as a whole where nobody wanted to help the police catch the people doing the wrong thing for either fear of reprisal or the fact they just no longer respected the position they have. As a cops kid, I’ve done the rounds in court for several things in my past and never been given a pass for my family name, neither should I have been. But my experience of the judicial system is the same that very little discretion seems to be shown anymore for minor crimes. Minor crimes being ones that don’t affect anyone but myself such as possession and drunk and disorderly. Anyone who hurts or affects others with their shit deserve the full force of the law to fall hard and fast on them. Just my 2c
Great comment. Thanks for sharing.
The corruption in the police force was rampant in the Fitzgerald Inquiry days. I worked for Hector Hapeta in those days…I know of many bought cops.
Couldn’t agree more, seems to go hand in hand with less tolerance for minor stuff in our schools. Most people given a chance in the early years grow into solid, moral people.
Always good to hear a different perspective like this. How much of it do you think is old school "I just wanna be able to arrest the bad guys, and the people who look like me aren't bad guys" and how much of it is "the force is actively getting worse"?
Honestly not sure how to answer that one. But my view is cops back in the day knew a fuckhead crim from a troubled kid/bloke with mental health issues and also had the scope to deal with the problem on a micro level themselves which i think garnered a greater respect from the public than being thrown in the system We didn’t require police go through 4 years of uni studying some pseudo bullshit rather they were educated on the job and interacted with the community on a closer level again which I believe fostered a greater respect between police and community. It allowed them to get to the root cause of issues in people’s lives quicker rather than just letting the system fuck them up making them feel marginalised and fostering a hate towards the police themselves. Harsh view, but some people deserve a solid flogging to set them straight. Others need a lighter touch and to be shown some empathy. A grey area that doesn’t seem exist within the police anymore with everything being on caught on camera with smart phones as well as body cams. Ask yourself, would you show discretion towards someone if it was all caught on camera and it could cost you your job?
> worsening public sentiment It couldn’t have got any lower than it was pre-Fitzgerald. Whatever changed afterwards was worth it as they were a corrupt mess beforehand.
Just my view as a cops kid. I understand my view may not be entirely correct and skewed. But when shit goes wrong who you gonna call? Not the ghostbusters.
The police commissioner was getting bags of cash delivered to his house in Paddington. Whole sections of some police branches were on the take. Good cops were being harassed and pushed out. Some citizens who talked even went missing. A stasi-lite secret police branch was harassing citizens. Our future premiers had files on them because they protested the corruption. It was a hot mess. Hopefully when I call decent police will come. Back then the odds were lower.
Fair call
Do you mean that kids of cops are more likely to end up in the justice system? The one kid I knew whose dad was a cop got famous amongst our school friends for stealing a car and being on a Cops style tv show.
There’s a saying amongst us, we either go one way or the other. Few sit in the middle.
>Minor crimes being ones that don’t affect anyone but myself such as possession and drunk and disorderly. this effects others fyi. People want to be able to walk on the street without some cretin pissing, yelling or accosting people.
Never said I wasn’t guilty. Also never said I pissed on the street or accosted people either. All I said was perhaps a degree of discretion could be used in these instances. But hey, you’ve obviously already made your mind up about it so I’ll leave you to it ✌️
Nice try Dutton. Get outta here!
Yuck.
The one time I had to call 000 for police, pretty much every cop in town turned up within about two minutes. Dozens of em. Like Gandalf arriving with reinforcements at Helm's Deep. And they were extremely helpful. Those crews really put the Service in Queensland Police Service that day. That's not to say I think they're all angels or that their hands (as an organisation) are squeaky clean. However I think a lot of the ACAB shit is childish (although I don't dismiss those peoples' grievances) and doesn't really accomplish much of anything in terms of any systemic change that's required. I hope the police get their resourcing issues sorted and I hope they get paid more money because I believe only a certain type of person should be a police officer and those types of people aren't going to be attracted to job where you get punched, spat, pissed and shit on not to mention shot and stabbed when all you get in compensation is mid-range pay and lifelong trauma.
Great points.
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Thanks for providing an insight into the life of a police officer. Out of curiosity, given your 14 years of experience, would you still sign up to be a police officer again today?
Possibly….. I didn’t enjoy the academy experience which of course is the first glimpse into the job. After learning about how I learned, it wasn’t conducive to my kinaesthetic style - but I got through in the end because I put the effort in. That was my first hurdle. I have made life long friends however, been involved in amazing things/events. I probably would join up again, if I couldn’t be a pilot first which was my life long dream. I now know having worked in a regimented organisation like the police, that I should’ve joined the military first. I think that would’ve prepared me better for the police, in the sense of life experience, communication skills etc. We naturally get many ex ADF because they enjoy working in an organisation with Rank.
I agree with these comments, I’m a sparky and we have apprentices making more than a friend of mine who is a sergeant.
Thanks for the insight. Police definitely see some eye opening stuff that the average human would often never get to witness. However, psychologists are in the same boat with the mental load of their clients and they still have a duty of care.
This is Brisbane Reddit. We chill.
Thank you for your insight and service, I’m currently weighing up the challenge as I’ve been a public servant for 15 years (auditing) and whilst its been a interesting career and better pay the desire to make a meaningful difference to someone’s life is huge. I’ve had a taste of it when auditing farmers as the poor buggers are on edge due to life events (deaths, marriage breakdowns ect) and their season hinging on my assessment so you do get to see raw emotion. It’s incredibly humbling to listen to their stories and say it’ll be right mate. Everyone thinks I’m crazy for leaving a cushy job but its now or never so I think I’ll give it a crack.
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99%? Your dreaming or must work outside of the south east where pockets of apathetic attitudes have developed into poor work place cultures all over every station. No one cares anymore, from the quality of the work they do, to keeping on top of task lists, to even doing what’s right by their colleagues. Their is no appetite to work harder or more efficiently, everything has become about pushing more work back down to gds and then if you are there, doing the bare minimum to get through the day in an operational system that is no longer fit for purpose. Yes it busier and the job has evolved, but some just come to work and do whatever they want to do, because they know there are no consequences. Overdue tasks to investigate crimes? Doesn’t matter no one cares. Skip a DV job on your iPad? Doesn’t matter no one checks or cares. Spend an extra hour longer on a job than you should back at the station talking to your mates or planning what u will buy for lunch? Doesn’t matter, no one cares. QPS is circling the drain, but it’s apparent the union runs the organisation, not the COP. The issues the qps faces internally are almost at the point of not being able to be fixed, it’s too far gone unless you do a major overhaul of absolutely everything. Prepare to see more stories about piss poor policing I n the Courier Mail over the next few years.
I worked out of Logan District for 8 years, and yes I agree with you to a point that some people are apathetic at work, again, just like in all industries. I’m benefitted by my experience in knowing how to manage my time effectively, a skill that has to be learnt. The workload has increased over my time, and recruitment has fallen. Things like domestic violence has broadened its definition, not to mention being louder in the lexicon of conversation. It would be nice to have less follow up work, and more proactivity, but these are the hands we are dealt. As I said, it falls back onto the community to join the police, raise our numbers and bring that workload balance back. Until then, someone has to do the job. There are many officers, including those in the south eastern corner that do come to work to do an honest days work. They roll with the punches, and like everyone, they can have spats where they aren’t performing at their best. Without going into detail, I can easily be one of those officers that don’t care, but I enjoy what I do, I enjoy the people I work with, I enjoy the variety in my work and the feeling that I may of helped someone along the way. I am only talking from my experience and will not be making any comments about the union or COP. That is not my place as a boots on the ground person.
Preach.
I drive a 30 year old car so I’m always on edge when I see one while I’m driving (especially since they’ve been cracking down) because who knows what’s not working on it since I got in the car at 5am but otherwise most of them seem to be chill and just trying to do their job. Never had a BAD interaction with them.
Knowing what I know about the general public: It would take a saint to put up with the shit cops do.
This x10. As I often say, I couldn't be a cop, cos I couldn't be trusted enough with a gun to not thin out the herd at the idiot farm
My husbands best mate left the police force to be a firey for this reason. He was sick of dealing with scumbag repeat domestic violence offenders. He said at least in the QFES he is generally not dealing with people who have hurt each other on purpose.
I’ve never laughed so hard. The worst part is, the idiots keep breeding and creating more idiots who seem high and mighty on being ignorant about being idiots.
The idiots keep breeding because they're not smart enough to be able to read the instructions on the condom packet
I remember when I first moved here like, 5 years ago from overseas – still had to carry around my passport as I didn't get an ID yet. I went to Milton market with one of those silly cloth trolleys, filled it with greens, and was on my way back via the rail. Oh, and I made the mistake of spending some awkward ten minutes looking for a bathroom/bin on the wrong side. Anyway, I got followed on board by an unexpected group of heavily-armed police and was held on board until they interviewed and cleared me – demanding ID, background, purpose here, address. I mean, it wasn't a *huge* deal, but it was a wee bit scary for myself as a person fleeing the school shooterino country and having two rifles held in my vicinity. A rough introduction for sure.
You should stop wearing your *Eau de AR-15* out in public.
Nothin' gets the ladies and gents going more than the sweet, sweet smell of Gun Oil Personal Lubricant ™️.
I do actually quite like the smell of g96 which is a gun lubricant
My guess would have been the G20 summit was on but that's a bit longer than 5 years ago. You don't normally see heavily armed police unless someone has severely over exaggerated their phone call
I was a slightly unkempt and bleary-eyed PhD student so I totally can imagine someone describing me as Madwoman On A Proper Bender, but that was *before* I started doing drugs.
Never had a problem with them. Helped me out greatly in a crisis last year. Very professional, and understanding.
I was once at a pro-choice rally and the cops turned up to tell us to quieten down for the apartments just behind the abortion clinic, because the socialist alternative crew of course hijacked the protest to yell and scream and try to spruik their magazine (I didn't take one of course). This one socialist alternative person got all hopped up about it and called it police oppressing speech but I thought it was pretty reasonable, they let us protest for quite a while before saying quieten down a bit to let the residents have a bit of peace. After the protest I saw the cops parked in the squad car I think monitoring proceedings, I smiled and waved and the policewoman in the car waved back, on the whole they were pretty nice. The person I was with when we were helping clear up after the protest thought it was too funny that I waved at police while being at the protest. I think protestors usually are negative towards police so I went a bit against the grain to give a hello wave.
Great personal insight! I think you may be just that type of nice person though. You can see how a different dispostion can go wrong in those situations.
tangential, but I was mildly invested in the whole student politics thing way back when and christ all-fucking-mighty did everyone hate SALT
With good reason, they're a horrible insular organisation that is deeply counterproductive. [I found this essay from an ex-member](https://onditmagazine.medium.com/socialist-alternative-raises-red-flag-ex-members-expose-all-3aa81e79eac3) that tracks with my experiences with them at the few protests I went to.
My brother is a police officer and until I heard some of the crime and other misbehavior that he has to deal with, I thought being a police officer wàs just another public service job. I have always respected the police but after my brother joined I have a great deal more. My own interactions with the police have been, on the whole, positive. It is a hard job at the best of times.which has in recent times been made a lot harder.
As I always say, if you approach them, they are almost always really nice and helpful. If they approach you, there is almost certainly an issue
QPS are great. Shit job. I’ve dealt with a couple of wanker cops, but any job has them. The worst thing people do is compare them to USA, which couldn’t be more wrong. They say traffic cops are a different breed to the rest of the force though…
They're overworked and under resourced, there isn't enough of them to do pre-emptive policing or patrol and detect crime. Its all job related or operation to achieve a goal.
Seriously need a refocus of priorities. An emphasis needs to be placed on protection of law abiding citizens, Not criminals. Too much work is done on treating criminals right but fire truck the victims. No preventative work only pretending to track down burglars. It’s the little stuff that makes good law abiding people lose faith in the police. The average person has nothing to do with police until they don’t prevent, stop or recover stuff from burglaries or a person gets a speeding find for 63 in a 60 zone. Only negative interactions with the people that are supporting AND funding them.
I get it.
I was sexually assaulted a few years ago, and the experience completely changed my view on QPS. The range of professionalism I witnessed between complaint through to the court was incredibly varied between officers. Some were amazing, and while the officer who originally took my complaint frankly shouldn’t be employed, the detectives were all exceptional, thorough, considerate and highly competent. They kept me encouraged that I would see justice and made me feel protected and safe enough to see the process through (including when the person who assaulted me disappeared on bail). They genuinely cared about keeping the streets safe - like I said, completely changed my view on QPS. I have also seen police be antagonistic, use extreme force and after our neighbours had a DV situation, the local cops shared personal views re: DV victims that have no place in modern society, particularly from police. It’s sad to me that the ones I’ve seen that lack professionalism have been traffic and the local cops (I don’t know the correct terms), who are the ones the public interact with more.
Thank you for sharing.
Literally saw a huge fight breakdown at the valley at 4 am yesterday. Their response time was quick but idk I’m new here
Police have always been good to deal with in my area of BNE (north side). Always had good experience even when I’m in the wrong. I once had my car broken into and guy was caught as he tried to jump start. Cops took a gun off him, he claimed he found it in my car. I had to go to the cop shop to say the gun was not mine. We all had a laugh when he showed the gun to me, it was huge and I’m a small guy. Many other good examples.
Hectic 😅
Loganholme Police are a friendly professional crew with a difficult area to work in. First experience with them after a road rage incident. No complaints
I’ve called the police about 4 times in my life. The one time they did show up, the officer was caring and helpful. The other 3 times when I believed someone to be in active danger… no one ever came. Understand it’s a resourcing issue but doesn’t really make me feel safe!
I'm in psych nursing and ive had many interactions with them. I've got no issue. Even out in general public I've never had an issue.
Differing opinion to others I've seen in similar fields. Nice to know!
I work with QPS and I admire what they do. Of course in every workplace, there are and will be bad apples. In my opinion, if public service is your passion and it is a dream of yours to be a police office, go for it. However, there are lots of mental health issues (due to workplace stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD most of all) that may result in being a public servant. Everyday is different - you will never know what you will be responding to and who you will be dealing with.
I would advise them not work within the police force. great job, semi average pay.(pay often not worth the risk) Job has a very high burn out rate, still has a terrible culture around mental health (which statistically most officers will have an issue with by year 5-6) I think it has amazing potential to be a great place to work but culture needs change. It has a unique comraderie of internal support but anyone needing actually help will struggle to find it. Summary... they need to better understand models of stress. Anyone who thinks you can pull injured people from cars, see dead kids, rescue a bashed wife for the 4th time and do that every day all year and not have that mess you up has screws loose. Qld ambos found a good balance to the same issue. Also.... get rid of paper based forms! watching an officer have to fill out a massive evidence submittal form was painful. how is that not an iPad form!
I am happy to see QPS around and have found them helpful when I need them. That said, I pass for not being part of any groups that tend to get profiled.
Police: generally good. Politicians controlling the police: generally bad.
I know not everyone has had this, but I've had really good experiences with QPS. Going out in the valley I once asked 2 officers if they had time to walk me 2 min through a dodgy alley to get to where I needed and they were more than happy to; another time a guy was harassing me on the way to my bus, two officers coming toward me saw how uncomfortable I was, chatted to the guy and waited until I got onto my bus. I also worked for a big Brisbane event for a number of years and the police we had onsite were really good too.
I applaud anyone who wants to join the Police for the right reasons. They should be a position that people look up to and want to emulate. 95% of them join the Police force to do the right thing but as with any Government/Political/Religious institution, the minority will bring it down. The 5% that join for the power trip should be weeded out sooner than they are.
Too true.
I'm glad they don't sing anymore. Overated and sting is not very talented.
Though what ever step you take, they’ll be watching you.
Don't Reddit so close to me.
You'll be fine as long as they don't put on the red light.
I would not be OK with my family becoming cops because I would stress and worry every time they were on shift. I'm OK with the police, my daughter and I wave to all emergency services but I don't think there are enough of them.
I don't trust them in general, I see far too many stories where they have not been the pillars for justice that the job requires... which ok, mistakes can be made in recruiting... but then nothing is done to punish the bad apples. If a family member or friend decided to become one...well, we would probably just drift apart as friends and become more acquaintances.
I hear what you're saying there. I guess sometimes you dont always know both sides of the story due to court privacy etc. One thing I do know is that you only hear when things are bad, not when they're good. So a corrupt cop is big news. A hundred good cops doing a hundred good deeds goes unnoticed. I guess because it's expected?
>Had the occasional interaction where they can be a bit short/rude, but I mean I get that every now and again with any public facing employee.. just the human element I guess, I don't hate McDonalds just because the girl was rude to me over the intercom for example... Happy to see them around unless it's the traffic guys :) And so it should be expected! At an absolute bare minimum!
What are the hundred good deeds that go unnoticed? And are they just part of their normal job? The expectation that you would execute your role to a satisfactory level is not "a good deed", it's just doing your job. So of course people who are entrusted to literally police society are (in the very few cases that actually make the news, and then most of those result in no convictions) obviously discussed when they "do bad".
I was riding with a Police Officer in an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) Vehicle. The system went off after pinging a vehicle for not being registered. They had the authority to dish out infringement notices with penalties. After talking to the driver, and confirming the information that the vehicle was registered to her husband's business, not her personally, the officer gave the driver a choice of paying registration on the spot or to receive a temporary registration that allowed her to drive directly home and nowhere else. She couldn't pay the rego as she didn't have the details, took the temporary rego slip thing and opted to drive home. The entire experience there was no animosity, no bad feelings, everybody walked away from the situation in a good position and nobody was unjustly done by. However; the tone of her voice on the phone to her husband as we were driving away let me know that not everyone was going to walk away from the situation feeling good.
I had a period when I moved to QLD but still had a NSW license and was trying to determine if it was worth transferring over because I was basically 50/50 between QLD and NSW and I got pinged by that system so many times. My car model was already a cop magnet so when that system didn’t find my name instantly the cops would think it was unregistered. I had so many cops doing the authoritative ‘you are driving unregistered’ ‘no I’m not’ ‘yes you are…oh wait ok it’s loaded you fine you’re free to go’. Only one was ever nice and friendly during one of those stops. Most were dicks.
Thats just traffic cops in general ha.
I've been on the receiving end of this myself. The officer understood my problem, admitted he made the same mistake himself a few weeks earlier, issues me with the fine but waved the $1000 fine that goes with it! If it wasn't for the officer experiencing the issue himself, it may have been a different story.
So the police officer applied a normalized sense of logic and fairness in a situation that *could* have called for more extreme policing. That sounds to me like doing your job rather than a good deed. Good on the officer for doing that.
> more extreme policing You mean "Doing their job" ? If you drive an unregistered vehicle, you are still bound by the laws and penalties that come with it. Choosing not to apply the harshest outcome in the situation can be considered a good deed because no one was worse off at the end of the day.
Never had a negative interaction with them. We don't need to bring this stupid aLL cOPs ArE bAsTArDs culture in from America.
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Personally, I’ve never had a police officer speak to me in a kind way, even just for a routine/random interaction (e.g. random breath test). They don’t seem present in the community when people actually need help (look at the thread in this sub recently about the countless people that called the police in serious situations and they just never showed up). They are severely understaffed and it seems like the police system isn’t doing well. If I were in danger I would be scared that a) they wouldn’t take my situation seriously and/or b) they would just never show up at all.
Unfortunately never had a great experience with them, When I’ve needed help I haven’t gotten it. My uncle was a cop and he really comes across as one, always ready to be unfriendly and judgemental.
Well you are Villanelle The Villain.
I'm a middle-class middle-aged white guy, so I have no reason to have a problem with QPS. If I was indigenous, a DV victim, a recent migrant, suffering from severe untreated mental health problems, etc., I'd probably hold a very different view.
had 50/50 experiences. had some be called on me for skating in public and they were very nice and just told me to move but also had another time where the cop was trying to say something and it was just simply untrue and there were 30+ people who were trying to explain what really happened and wouldn’t believe or let us talk. also never even resolved the issue they were called for
Hit and miss, I have had 2 positive encounters that were just pretty standard interactions you'd have like talking to a random on the street. One time however I was pulling out of the driveway from my work to go home after doing a 8 hour shift doing pizza delivery, an officer who had a stick up his ass from the start gave me the "pushy authoriative" treatment and proceeded to swab test me 4 times on the roadside till he got a false positive on me for cannabis (I am a prescribed patient and have low THC, high CBD prescriptions and onky take them before bed the nught before work) he brought me back to the police station when one of the 4 tests got a feint positive so he could test me at the station 30 minutes away. I was 100% negative on the machine, I was made to find me own way back to my car at 1.45am, when my car was pulled over in helensvale, and I was taken to the logan station 
I hated cops. I was in housos getting raided all the time as a child and they'd always pick on my family. Until i was old enough to realise my mother was druggy always involved in doing the wrong thing. Been a cop now for twenty years. I've lived the other side and now walk this side. Only thing that really gets under my skin is people who have no idea trying to tell me how to do my job. If you think you can do it better go sign up or shut up.
Huge comeback story!
Coming from someone that works in youth mental health, they need way more training on how to deal with mentally ill people and domestic violence situations in particular.
Huge yes. I mean most people in society need that type of "awareness training". But even more so when it's a key part of your working day.
I've had to call the police for both of those issues more than once. In my case the police were really good at handling the situation. I know thats not the experience for everyone but i am really grateful for my local police.
Tbh police should only be escorting H professiinals in these instances. No way police can cope with MH issues. But yes. More training to ID an MH situation ad act accordingly
Couldn't agree more, as someone who's suffered with mental health issues and had dealings with QPS there's a definate lack of cognisance or training when dealing with mentally unwell folks. On the flip side I've had great interactions with popo in other circumstances 🤷. Like others have said, good apples and bad make up the bunch we've got.
Agreed. I’ve spent my fair share of time in psychiatric hospitals, and during a recent admission there was a patient who was very unwell and had hurt themselves and was threatening to do it again. An ambulance and the police were called, as is protocol, and I just happened to walk past two of the police officers as I went down the hallway. One of the officers looked me up and down and laughed to his partner and muttered ‘oh they really do have some fruit loops here don’t they!?’ I was absolutely appalled by the comment and told the nursing staff about it, but nothing ever came of it. I know a lot of people don’t understand mental illness or the treatments involved with it, but by the very nature of their job, police officers interact with the mentally ill community on a very frequent basis, and at the bare minimum they should receive basic training on what is appropriate language, idealistically they’d get regular in-depth training and lived experience consultation.
I know 2 cops. One of them beat my sister when they were dating. Not a fan really.
Honestly kind of assumed that all cops are cunts but have had two good interactions with police lately and has really helped change my opinion of them a lot.
It’s a bloody tough job and they deal with all sorts of crap from the public and their own top brass ( who are political puppets I think) . I wouldn’t do it for the money . Good for them I say
I hear ya.
I’ve only had one experience myself with them (not serious) and it was unnecessarily aggressive and negative. I do also agree with others it’s a difficult role to fulfil, but I think there’s a lot structurally broken. That said I also think they have serious challenges to address that, and when they are trying still face hurdles like the recent situation where they have removed unsuitable people from the force but they’re going to be reinstated due to workplace law/unsuitable process internally. Brutal.
Generally fine. A few bad eggs like every vocation. The amount of shit they have to deal with on a daily basis would have to turn them into a fairly terse kind of person, so if you have an interaction with a police officer don't be surprised or annoyed that they don't greet you with a happy smile and doting small talk. If you call them in an emergency you'll want them there in a hurry and to deal with the situation swiftly.
Considering the prevalence of lunatics and sovereign citizens I’m always happy to see them.
In general, I see them positively. The bad stories I have are just because they were abrupt and rude, and in retrospect, being curt isn't a crime. These are the very mildly negative experiences I've had: I was stopped on the street because the officer said I stared at him as he drove by. He did a u-turn and pulled up beside me as I was walking. He made me hand over my backpack and searched through it. I was scared but nothing happened. (That was in Toowoomba actually, and I was 17 at the time) Also, that was in 2000, so a different era. I also used to deliver magazines, driving all night on a Tuesday from about 10pm. My district was Southside- Wynnum, Logan, Woodridge, through to Woolloongabba. I generally was pulled over twice every shift, just to ask what I was doing. Usually, when they saw a hi-vis vest, they let me go, although I did have one officer who was rude: "What do you think you're doing? " I've since worked as a high school teacher so I know more of what it's like to be worn down by daily opposition. I've never yelled at anyone or lost my cool, but I know the emotional toll it took on me, getting nothing but negativity every day. That has made me more sympathetic.
Asking on Reddit you'll usually be met with an anti-police sentiment. Perception on the individuals for me is good, mostly cool people, friends with a few. IMO though there are not enough of them to deal with everything and they are let down by the justice system (no punishment for offenders), kind of assume I'm on my own for the most part if I ever needed help due to sweet fa staffing. Had the occasional interaction where they can be a bit short/rude, but I mean I get that every now and again with any public facing employee.. just the human element I guess, I don't hate McDonalds just because the girl was rude to me over the intercom for example... Happy to see them around unless it's the traffic guys :)
>unless it's the traffic guys Even other cops don't like the traffic guys lol. There's a social hierarchy in the QPS, down the bottom are the traffic officers/highway patrol/insert bext name change.
I have no problem with the QPS. There’s bad apples in the force no doubt but one apple doesn’t shape my opinion of the 99 other honest apples.
Everyone should always maintain a healthy disrespect for authority. I hope that should I ever require intervention in my life from any Police force that they will act in my/society's best interest, that they will be equipped to deal with the situation at hand efficiently and effectively and without (or with minimal) violence. I live my life on the assumption none of those hopes will be met. I have seen behaviour from QPS over the years that adds to the hope, and behaviour that takes the hope away. Assuming you're from QPS - work on the assumption that everyone rightly mistrusts you, and do everything to earn community trust, constantly, forever. Anything less is sliperry slope to more corruption/violence/abuse of power.
Top comment. Don't know how to actually make it top comment though 😅
I am pissed that they never created a whole new division to hunt down thieves and get my shit back. nah but seriously they have been fantastic to me, leaving me alone and only really having the sergeant and business wear coppas coming and checking up on me to see if im alive lol, they have been super generous to me and non judgmental and always has been honest with advice and in general instead of just the standard professional response even when i ask dumbass questions or act sus. Seeing some of the shit they deal with on a daily basis gives me extra respect for them, especially witnessing in person.
Never had an issue with QPS outside of when I broke the law speeding. Seems to be some correlation there. They do hard work, that the majority of the general population don't see, and have to deal with idiots filming everything and then only showing half the story.
Agreed. Unfortunately I feel that because of the stigma cops have gotten over the past few years, no one wants to trust them and think they are all bad (ACAB) when really most cops are good people trying to make a living like everyone else
I do absolutely everything in my power to never have to interact with them. They have never done anything to help me.
I find the further you drift out of the city the less police presence there is within the community.
My heart aches as I plead for more police aid in my community, yet their duty is gravely impeded by restrictive policies and regulations. To add to the distress, social workers, ambulance medics, and law enforcement officials are impotent in compelling necessary medical care for blatantly ill individuals. During interactions with these emergency responders, I couldn't help but notice their exhaustion, dejection, and discouragement as they struggle to confront their overwhelming workload. Repetitively, they confront recidivist criminals who are released by judges or endeavour to persuade the gravely ill to seek much-needed medical care, furthering their agony.
What's your field of work if you don't mind answering?
https://preview.redd.it/maphrya3mzza1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4152e360a4e96048197c62ca45882003784f5549 I think this is a pretty cool thing they are doing in Brisbane at the moment.
Wow. I could only imagine what that would attract. But is a great initiative.
The traffic guys are assholes on a power trip. The others seem to be fairly decent humans but understaffed with local police stations closing at 4pm and areas being forced to have the city police attend after those hours. In the world where everyday there is another break in attempt or stolen car posted on Facebook i feel they need to do better. But honestly that's more down to the politicians and budgets than the actual people doing the work.
There's the occasional bad apple but just remember they deal with absolute scum all day long. It's amazing that they're not all bad apples.
Very true. Also, Crows v Lions GF this year.
It’s not a job I would want.
Police are fine but seem understaffed
Defund the police now….oh sorry wrong country……they’re fine actually , easy to talk to, there when you need them.
The easily threatened universally don't like them by default, the emotionally immature edgelords pretend not to like them ('ACAB' and 'bootlicker' are sure signs) but would be the first to be an abusive cop if they were in the position, then you have the other end of the spectrum who have had to do deal with some bullshit or even harassment from the police and as such don't like them either which is kinda understandable, or who have a conflict of interest don't like them. Some people realise the bullshit they have to deal with, with the fuckwits in the first two groups being the very tip of a depressing iceberg of bullshit trauma and fuckwittery that many simply don't have the life experience to begin to imagine, and some people do or otherwise appreciate that fact and are either nuanced in their feelings toward police, or deeply appreciate them for the beneficial interactions they have with society and kinda look past a bit of the uglier human side encapsulated in moments that sometimes become highly publicised in order to maintain a high view of them for the thousands of other moments which aren't. But, in all that, I don't think I have ever heard/seen anyone ever say that cops are completely without faults. And nobody should. Nobody should expect that we live in a society the precludes the odd cop coming across as a total fuckwit, either because like any organisation they might be a few when genuinely are arrogant wankers, *or* the interaction is experienced with no context to their workweek prior, or society has a gripe with cops as the 'frontline' of law enforcement when it's quite often the courts that let us all down. It's easy to take a jab at people when you know they're meant to be held to a high standard, but we're all human. Some of us seem like fuckwits at times some of us absolute champions at times. Sometimes it's the same person. Personally, I don't have a problem with them (as a collective) and they don't have a problem with me (as a collective). 
QPS is definitely more visible than NSW police. On a like for like basis.
Like & subscribe, for more police visibility!
You just posted this on the Gold Coast page. Hello news article
It’s a great band
I was at a protest March once and saw the cops help some of the protesters set up for a selfie involving a police vehicle and a V for Vendetta/anonymous face mask. I’ve also seen police talking to some kids who had obviously been chroming and they were very obviously trying to help them, talking calmly, sitting quietly down next to them. Contrast this with a cop screaming abuse at us out the window of a paddy wagon for safely crossing on the red light, for disobeying the traffic signals. If he’d have paid more attention or bothered to ask, the lights were broken and we’d all stood there through 3 cycles with no option to walk with the lights. The aggression from him was quite unbelievable for a minor infraction. I reported the light to the council when I got to work.
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These poor bastards have been overworked. Apparently they are trying to get old ones out of retirement and the government is trying to lure police from other states. It ain’t the police that’s the issue. It’s those that have probably closed their eyes to what is needed in order to support the police.
Good call. UK cops are answering the call apparently.
I think it's good to see them around, all to often only the negative stuff gets posted online, lost of them do great work I'm not going to post personal details online but I have witnessed them do some really awesome stuff for people in need,
Very happy to see them around
Really appreciate them and their Job. Along with all our emergency services.
Good and bad , like any industry. Think they’re pretty racist and sexist as a whole. The systematic racism is probably the most problematic issue they face. Wouldn’t be encouraging of a loved one joining but would be supportive
Not promising to hear at all.
My interactions with them have ranged from "fine but a little unprofessional" to straight up unpleasant. Also off the job, I once had a friend of a friend who was in the force over for beers and he told us that "once someone's started injecting heroin you're no longer dealing with a human being but an animal". I don't give half a shit if this is one bad apple out of a billion or whatever bullshit people always say to justify this crap. If someone can get through police training and work directly with drug users and still hold this kind of opinion, this reflects horribly on the entire culture in the QPS. Until this is fixed I'm quite happy to generalise that ACAB, even if there are a handful of good apples in there.
Id say your taking that guy out of context. My mate thats a cop say similar things, but what he means is when someone is high they are strong and unpredictable, not the they are worthless. They had a guy they needed like 10 cops and bouncers to restain him cause he was high on ice. That being said if he did mean that once you do drugs you have lost ypur human rights, hes a knobhead.
I wouldn't be supportive of a friend or family member who joined the force. the culture is incredibly toxic to the point that if you're not racist/sexist then you'll be targeted for harassment. have had more negative experiences with them than positive ones (as a white woman who has never committed a crime). see this article that came out today - [theguardian.com/media/2023/may/15/the-startling-evidence-of-racism-queensland-police-couldnt-shrug-off?CMP=Share\_iOSApp\_Other](https://theguardian.com/media/2023/may/15/the-startling-evidence-of-racism-queensland-police-couldnt-shrug-off?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)
It’s a shame you have had those experiences, however I dispute your claim that to get along in police circles, you have to be sexist or racist. It’s one of the oldest marketing tricks in the world, media and newspapers jumping on bad news about cops. It’s inherently compelling reading. There are no doubt cultural issues, but I don’t know where you wouldn’t find those in any workplace. There are more and more woman on the road now than ever before, the QPS LOUDLY embraces the LGBTIQ+ community. There is a indigenous specific recruitment program, there are culturally and linguistically diverse recruitment programs encouraging people from different countries and backgrounds to apply. For an organisation of 16000 people, you may hear about, for arguments sake, 25 officers a year criticised in the media, and that’s an exaggerated number, but again, for arguments sake. That is still less than 1 percent of the whole organisation. To not be supportive of that relative or family member who is more likely to end up being in the 99% unless they have some serious character flaws is a shame. Sadly however too many people have their own subjective views on how police officers are to carry out their duties, whereas police are bound by multiple pieces of legislation, policy and procedures to navigate whilst looking at the bigger picture and executing fairness. People get annoyed when they don’t get exactly what they want from a cop, so to them, that cop is a piece of shit….
Thats f'ed. Here's hoping more comes to light to bring about change. But you need good cops in there to bring this stuff to the light.
If you treat the cops like scum guess how they're gonna treat you
I’m somewhat anti-cop but at the exact same time I view them as just people doing their job. I’ve only had pleasant experiences with them (RBT kinda things, where I’m not in trouble they’re just doing their job) and I like watching them tackle violent people in the valley, it’s entertaining. But like… if you want to be a cop I kinda side-eye you. Same with girls becoming nurses. Not all of them are bullies but it’s a job that bullies lean towards. See also: lawyer.
Having worked with police in many jobs. I definitely feel sorry for the amount of shit they have to deal with. With how PC many things are becoming now days, their hands are getting tied more and more. Social media and the media in general don't help their cause either. Anything they do is scrutinised and they're more often than not, put in a bad light. My parents have always told me that the attitude test is the first thing they look for when interacting. Yet people can't just accept something simple and it leads to a shitty situation. Overall, they're just doing their job. If you have nothing to hide, then you got nothing to worry about. As another comment mentions though, there are bad apples in the bunch. Don't let those couple of people make your perception of the whole group bad.
Strongly positive
About 5 years ago I had to organise oversize loads. (Something like 400 of them). It was very apparent the police service is a 'reactive' business. Even with planned loads with weeks notice you don't know if you are getting a police escort until 12hours before the move. All the other parties involved have reactive businesses, too, like cranes, site labour, transport company, high wires escorts etc. But it was always the police you end up sweating on. Anyway the point is the wide load escorts side of QPS need more planning.
Hardy to get cops for overtime work when there aren't enough cops for general duties I guess 😮💨
I have the utmost respect for beat/local cops, but highway patrol/road cops can get fucked. I have not met one who hasn’t wanted to screw you as hard as possible.
I find if you give respect you get respect regardless of the situation.
Gives me the shits when the have average speed zone cameras. For fuck sake do the speed limit not 20 under
I know three people from high school who went on to become police. They were probably the most racist of the whole grade who just wanted to shoot guns and cause trouble.
I have no issues with them personally. It's just that the perception of the law / justice system is low because of youth crime and these juveniles getting let back in society with a slap on the wrist.
Yes I'd like to see more of the presence of police in our community. They don't need to be seeking trouble, but just their presence is often a helpful deterrent of undesirable behaviour. Has anyone seen an RBT since COVID? What happened to all the police? My feelings are that there's a vacuum of policing occuring, and it's just natural for vigilantism to fill the void.
I grew up in one of the large rural Queensland towns that has a really high intake of rookies. My opinion of police as a youth and young adult was really negative due to the way that the police in this town handle themselves. Common example: If you are driving at night, it would be very strange to drive past a cop and for them not to spin around and give you a "random" breath test, all the while treating you like a total criminal - second cop shining torch in passenger faces, visually searching your car through windows, asking for more info than they really need etc. I have a lot of negative experiences with cops from my youth where they treated me like a criminal while I was legitimately doing nothing illegal. I also have other experiences where things were done to me and the cops did nothing while knowing and admitting that they had enough evidence to do something. In saying all of that, ever since moving to Brisbane I have had no negative experiences with police and I respect what they do for the community. It's a tough job that I don't envy. Full disclosure though, my age between these two sets of experiences is very different and could be part of the differing outcomes.
I think very highly of them. I would not support anyone I know joining the police though, shit job that they don't get paid enough to do.
Never see cops around and ive lived here 16yrs, in all honesty I probably see 1 cop car per 3months, and 1 cop per 2 years on foot. everytime I see a cop it sticks out coz I never see them. Not sure what their supposed to do in the community besides police the citizens.
Personally, I don't mind them; haven't had any negative interactions. Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with them too much over the course of my life. But I'm not so ignorant as to disbelieve those people who have had terrible encounters with them, especially mistreatment and police brutality.
True.
Honestly prefer to have them in a pharmacy store when some customers are getting unreasonable. Or maybe in the public transport too.
I appreciated Stewart Copeland's work in video game music composition.
First two albums rock. Stewart Copeland was a monster on the skins.
As a general rule pretty positive, a couple of years ago a bloke murdered his missus next door and the cops there were really great to us when they came around to ask questions and when we had to give statements at the station they were really good considering it was midnight by that point and most of them had been called in to deal with the investigation That being said though, my partner and I have put in approximately 15 noise complaints about our next door neighbours (different house) playing really loud music nearly every night of the week and they haven’t done squat about it
I've had nothing but positive experiences even when doing the wrong thing.