Why do people display an attitude toward the police?

They are mean to cops because they are either easily influenced people or they have a past with the police and do not like them because they got themselves in trouble and the cops were simply enforcing the law.

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I think that there are probably other reasons too. Unfortunately, cops are sometimes mean as well, and some people are scared of being bullied or treated badly, and they react by being mean. People definitely need to be nicer to cops, and more patient with what they need to do for their jobs... but Cops also need to learn to be more patient with and nicer to people in general.

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This is one of those questions like "Why do people like Apples?" There can be 100 reasons from personal experience, personality, or culture.

Usually, when someone deals with an officer, they are in a high stress situation. Their home was broken into, they were caught speeding, they were in an accident, or a variety of other situations. Almost every time, they were either breaking the law or victimized by someone that was. High stress situations tend to naturally bring out people's worst personality attributes. It is just the way it is. Someone under a large amount of stress may act out in ways they normally never would. There are also cultural aspects that tie into how officers are treated. The officer can be doing everything they can to help that person, but they are associating all of their negative experience with that officer's presence.

If you live in a high crime area with friends being arrested regularly, you may view officers different than someone who doesn't. If your favorite musicians sing songs like "F*** the Police" or "Cop Killer," it may have an influence on how you view law enforcement in general.

Personality plays a large role. If you are a person who tends to rebel, be strong willed, hates to be corrected, or cannot deal with other people have authority, you will probably have an aversion to police officers before you ever even deal with them.

Lacking understanding of procedures or the profession can also be a factor. People will often get angry that an officer will not do certain things for them, but do not realize that the officer is following regulations. They cannot often bend the rules without putting their career in jeopardy. People also do not stop to think that while they are screaming and complaining that there is a dent in their car, that the officer may have just left a crime scene where a parent killed their child, or someone that they have arrested five times literally just spit in their face after the courts released then yet again. They are only human, and even the best are going to be in a bad temper from time to time.

Like all professions, there are also some officers with better people skills, personalities, and ethics than others. Whereas some officers are really wonderful people, people that would die for you without even knowing you, there are others that are not. There are some very rude or even corrupt officers. There are some officers that are there because they do have power issues. Unfortunately, sometimes it happens. When it does, it reflects a poor light onto the entire profession. There are also those that really do care about people and their job, but have been at it so long, they forget how they sound to the average person. When they come across rough, people often respond the same way in turn. It is important to remember to treat people as individuals, and not assume they are a certain way because of the job they have or the uniform they wear. This is true for officers and civilians.