I don’t trust cops. This stems from a deep distrust of the police-force in large.
It rarely has anything to do with individual cops, since by and large I’ve been treated decent by cops in my few encounters with them. I still don’t trust cops since I feel that the organization is deeply flawed and mismanaged. The legal system in Sweden has some rather odd peculiarities, such as having a higher scale of punishment for poaching a moose than raping a woman, and this is the system that cops have to follow.
I’m certain that the vast majority of cops are perfectly nice people. I’m certain that they believe they’re doing the right thing, keeping criminals at bay and serving the public. My distrust is with the organization and how it’s used and abused by politicians with ulterior motives.
With that said, there are of course dickhead cops as well. Cops who become cops simply because they want the power, that they believe cops are above the law and better than normal people. Today I encountered such a cop.
I was at my local grocery-orgy and as I was about to enter I noticed someone had parked a large non-descript late-model Volvo almost literally right outside the entrance. People were having trouble getting around the car since it blocked the flow of people.
As I wondered what kind of asshat had done this a beefy-looking female cop came out of the supermarket with loaded bags and opened the rear of the Volvo, after which she started loading said bags into it. She acted incredibly brusquely, not minding that she occasionally shoved into people as they were trying to file around the car. She was wearing her uniform, so my guess is that the car was either a civilian cruiser or her own personal vehicle.
An elderly lady approached her carefully, and I believe she inquired why the officer had parked at such an inconvenient location.
Normally it’s strictly forbidden to even drive vehicles this close to the entrance since it’s a walkway and designed to only be accessible by foot. Apart from this female cop the only vehicle I’ve ever seen so close to the store is the security-people when the store is closing – and even they stop at a respectable distance from the entrance to allow the flow of people to be unhindered.
I couldn’t hear the reply the cop gave her, but I heard her tone of voice. It was annoyed, overly self-assured and implied that the old lady should mind her own goddamn business and leave better people to their own devices unless they wanted a beating by nightstick. The elderly lady backed off, the cop finished her loading and drove off.
So, thank you, unknown female police officer for making sure that everyone there understood that cops are arrogant dickheads who feel the rules are for everyone except them.
