I think (from knowing some cops) that some people who become cops were the kids in school who were either not the smartest, or who had authority issues and are now very happy to be “tough guys.” Everyone that I know who has been pulled over or had interactions with cops has encountered rude, nasty cops who were unnecessarily harsh in their interactions.

Cops are used to people listening to them and when cops don’t get their way, they can get loud and scary. I imagine when the cop goes home and the wife doesn’t bow down to him, he goes off the rails and starts slapping. Cops also, traditionally, have gone easy on other police officers’ infractions so if the wife of a cop were to call the cops, it would be swept under the rug. Maybe this is changing now, but that’s how it’s been.

In doing the child protective work that I used to do, there was an incident of a police officer’s wife picking up the kids at the day care, and she was drunk. The day care let her drive the kids home (which was very wrong on their part) and then called the cops. The cops didn’t charge the wife, but it did become a report for child protective, plus the day care would have faced serious charges if anybody pursued it with them. Long story short the wife never got her act together and ended up losing the kids, but this is an example of how the cops cover for each other.

Things are changing now, in part thanks to cameras being everywhere and liability on everyone’s part, but traditionally, I think the wives of cops had to just deal with it.

Maybe I’ve been lucky, but I’ve personally known four cops very well.

Growing up, my uncle (who later ran a jail) and a close family friend (went to HS with my dad, now retired, working at a funeral home). Both were super sweet guys who led with compassion. Never heard a bad word about either one.

Later, as an adult, my wife’s two best friends were both Boston cops. Both Hispanic females. Certainly tough ladies who knew their shit, but good people who always tried to help.

That said, my wife did work in law enforcement-adjacent jobs for years (prison, probation) and knew a lot of cops who were angry, misogynist, meatheads — so I know they exist.

Well that is still 60% who are NOT wife beaters. I agree with both comments above.

However I wonder if its a mentality when groups of men work, socialize together that produces this behavior.

But to be fair on that statement i do take into consideration that some bad apples do exist, but how come they didn’t weed those ones out during recruitment?

Time to tell the story of Chris. The bag of shit that fathered my sisters first kid. He was 20 and she was 17 and he knocked her up.

My sister had her own place at the time and since my mom was a bit of a disaster I moved in with my sister when I had just turned 15. My sister was about six months pregnant and I had only lived there for about a week.

So I hear yelling and run downstairs one night and Chris has my sister pinned on the bed and is hitting her stomach. Chris is 250 pounds. At the time I was 120 pounds.. I call 911 since he would wreck me and it would just make him angrier. And there were guns in the house.. Sooooo…

Chris had always wanted to be a cop. My sister didn’t press charges (he would be out the next day and get really angry) but just having the domestic violence record was enough to disqualify him from getting a cop job in Oregon.

So he just moved across the river (15 minutes away) and got a job as a copper in Washington. Because the states don’t share that info.

And he is a big time power-tripping racist fuck that I had to kick out of my apartment a few Thanksgivings ago when he showed up head to toe in Trump merchandise and was just spouting the vilest shit. I snapped and we showed him and his kids and his mom the door.

A real shame too because I like his kids and mom.

The Stanford Prison Experiment showed just how authority can turn otherwise “normal” people into acting cruel and violent. I think the job can bring out the worst in some people. That said, I do think the profession of law enforcement has an appeal to people who have a grudge with society and are looking for payback. I also know some pretty cool cops. I think the answer is complicated and has many layers.

Those do not seem accurate statistics.

^ I know! I’d expect it to be closer to 90%.

“ I think the job can bring out the worst in some people. ”

@gorillapaws: I know this first hand. My wife is the sweetest, most helpful person I’ve ever known. She always wanted to help people and had some good street smarts.

After a year working in a prison, three years removing babies from crack houses for the state, and ten years as a probation officer handling pedophiles and wife beaters, she was starting to become jaded and bitter and spoke about the people she was trying help in less than favorable terms.

This is why she quit, walked away from a state pension and got into education. Terrible decision financially, much better for her emotional well being.

I’m going to guess both. :/