I was originally going to title this “Why I love Cops” until I had a couple of run-ins with the douche-bags of the police force. It was then that I realized my relationship with cops wasn’t so loving; there was a bit of hate thrown in too. I love the cops that do their jobs and follow the law enforcement motto,”To protect and serve”. I hate the cops that abuse their power and think they can get away with anything simply because they have a badge and a car with flashing lights.

I wasn’t always a good driver. From the age of 18 to the age of 21 I was pulled over approximately 11 times, most of which were for speeding. Of the 11 times I was pulled over I received 1 ticket, 1 written warning, and 2 verbal warnings.

One of the times I was pulled over stays clear in my memory. It was a time that I thought to myself, “I love cops.” I was 18 or 19 and was driving with my friend Rose from Vinton, IA to Newton, IA to see a concert. We were running late so I, of course, was speeding. I was going 70 mph in a 50 mph when we passed an oncoming sheriff. I looked in my rear-view mirror to see him pulling a u-turn and I’ll admit, for a moment I thought about turning onto one of the dirt roads and hiding. I was terrified of getting a ticket in a different state (I am not an Iowan), but ultimately I decided it was best to pull over. The sheriff approached my car and asked me if I knew why he pulled me over. I responded that I had been speeding. He then asked why I was speeding. I told him we were lost and running late for a concert. He said, “You must be pretty excited about this concert to be going so fast, who are you going to see?” I pulled the CD out of my purse, handed it to him, and said, “This guy.” The sheriff smiled and said, “He must be pretty good.” He then asked for my and Rose’s identification and my insurance card and went back to his car to run them. When he returned he asked where we were heading and we told him. He then pulled out a map of Iowa told us exactly how to get to Newton from where we were and let us keep the map. He ended the situation with saying, “Alright, you’re good to go. Just slow down and be safe. It’s better to be late to the concert than not get there at all.” Rose and I were both shocked I didn’t get a ticket, and absolutely delighted with how polite and helpful he had been.

My second story is about a cop who wasn’t so nice. Yes, I was breaking the law, but there are better ways to handle that sort of situation. This was a time when I thought to myself, “I hate cops.” I grew up in a township outside of city limits where speed traps are incredibly rare. In fact, this incident was the first time I had ever seen one and I haven’t seen one since. The road I lived on had a speed limit of 55 mph for most of the road, but as it gets closer to town it slows down to 40 mph and then 30 mph. To be honest, most of the time I ignore the 40 mph section and continue to go 55 mph until I reach the 30 mph section, which is what I was doing in this case. I was zooming up one of the many hills and when I got to the top I spotted a city cop car waiting at the bottom (we usually only see sheriffs out there). There was no time to slow down, he had already spotted me. As soon as I passed him his lights and siren turned on and he pulled out onto the road. I pulled over and waited to receive my ticket. I was expecting the standard, “Do you know why I pulled you over? License and proof of insurance please.” Etc. But that is not what happened. The cop approached my window and BLEW UP. His rant went something like this, “YOU PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS SPEEDING THROUGH THIS AREA! YOUR TOWN PAID ME TO SIT OUT HERE AND CATCH SPEEDERS AND YOU KNOW WHO I KEEP PULLING OVER? YOU TOWNS PEOPLE! I DON’T CATCH CITY PEOPLE SPEEDING OUT HERE LIKE THIS! YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO RESPECT FOR THE LAW!” I was taken aback. His continued use of “you people” was incredibly insulting and made me feel like he just had a prejudice against township folk. And of course he was only pulling over towns people. Who else would be driving out there? And the city people who do drive out there usually go under the speed limit because they have no idea where they are going. By some miracle I did not get a ticket, and for that I am grateful, but I still think the way this cop handled the situation was incredibly rude and unprofessional. I may have broken the law, but I was completely polite and cooperative and did not deserve to be yelled at the way that I was.

There have been many other times when I have been helped by cops, such as when my tire treads were so bad I wasn’t able to go more than 40 mph on 1-35 and a cop pulled me over and gave me an alternate route home. Or the times that my car has broken down on the side of the road and cops stopped to make sure I was alright. And during those times I have loved cops.

Then I see cops turn on their sirens and lights simply because they don’t want to stop at a red light. I’ve seen cops ignore yield signs, stops signs, and speed limits. And a few days ago I was tailed so closely by a cop that if I had had to stop suddenly he would have hit me instantly. These are the times I think the system is corrupt.

Through all of my encounters with the police force I have learned that not all cops are good just as not all cops are bad. Why? Because just like you and me, they are human beings. Not all of us are good just as not all of us are bad.