Do you resent civilians approaching you to ask questions?

[KrustyKrabella]

My family and I were at a small village fair not too long ago, and there was a large police presence there to just keep an eye out for any developing problems. There were about 15 police officers, and as there wasn't much for them to do, they would congregate in small groups with each other and shoot the breeze while keeping their eyes on the crowd.

One of my kids is *very* interested in becoming a police officer, and we happened to be sitting on a bench enjoying some fair food not too far from a small group of POs socializing. I told him he should go over and talk to them and ask them if they had any advice on things he could be doing now (at the age of 12) to help him become a police officer.

He refused and said he thought they wouldn't like that at all. Any LEOs want to chime in on if it would have been a bad idea? I of course wouldn't want him to do it if they were all busy and rushing around and taking care of incidents, but they all seemed to be enjoying a bit of socializing and down time. Would an earnest kid's questions be resented in a situation like that?

 

[Ricardo187]

I honestly think they'd respond and even enjoy the little conversation. I think he should have gone and spoke to him, after all, they don't bite, unless you are a criminal.

 

[Shawn]

I honestly think they'd respond and even enjoy the little conversation. I think he should have gone and spoke to him, after all, they don't bite, unless you are a criminal.

I agree especially for a 12 year old. Too many parents use the cops as a scare tactic to their children. "Behave or I will call the police and they will lock you up" etc. etc. This is not a good parenting tactic because all its doing is making kids afraid of police officers. Police are here to help kids, be the first people kids can go to when their parents cannot help... Cops are not here to put fear in children or raise the kid.

If I had kids, they would always be around the company of law enforcement and other public safety officials.

 

[GemmaRowlands]

Almost all of the police officers that I have come into contact with say that they are happy to answer questions, so long as it does not interfere with what they are doing at the time. It is important for the public to feel as though they are able to approach the police, and part of this is answering questions that they have. Officers on the whole have a lot of patience, and are happy to talk to the people who they help out in their line of work.

 

[Ricardo187]

And I also think it'd make them feel more useful and friendly. If everyone is afraid of them, they kind of feel excluded, probably. The ones who should be afraid are the criminals and unfortunately they aren't.

 

[lei]

Police officers are just regular people with a bigger heart,more bravery and a gun&badge. When I was a kid I was afraid of them, I don't know why. Police Officers have a bigger heart. They genuinely care about other people and most police officers would love to give a 12 year old advice.

 

[KrustyKrabella]

Thanks for all the replies, folks! I'll make sure I encourage him a little harder the next time.

I definitely think it's important for parents to encourage kids to view the police as helpful and friendly. I'd hate for my kids to be somewhere and *need* the assistance of a police officer and be too scared to ask for it. In the case of my 12 year old, he wasn't afraid to talk to them, he just thought they would be unhappy with an intrusion that didn't relate to their job at the fair. I backed off because I hadn't even considered it that way, and wondered if he was right!

Thanks again, everyone

 

[PhilA]

Police offers are there to serve the public. While I am not one myself, I have family members who are police officers and I know for a fact they would welcome such questions. Any cop who does not take an interest in a kid asking those kind of questions is just rude in my opinion.

 

[bala]

It is a pleasure to answer people's queries as long as they don't invite unwanted trouble.My My mom's cousin was a cop and when we meet up i often post a lot of questions for him and it is often me who gets tired of asking questions and when i asked him the reason once to why he doesn't get fed up of questions,he answered it brilliantly.He said these questions sometimes remind you of the duties you have to do and it gets you on the learning curve,because you are only brushing up your knowledge.I was moved..!!

 

[DancingLady]

I would think a cop would like to talk to a kid who is interested in the profession as long as it wasn't a distraction from their duties at the time. There are so many people who have some level of fear towards cops, conversation tends to help overcome some of that.

 

[js85]

I hope not. I was pulled over for not having a front plate and I was more interested in discussing the police officer's new vehicles than I was worried about getting a ticket, because they're driving brand new fords and I think they look awesome, haha. I don't think he minded talking about his cruiser, but now I hope he wasn't just being polite and actually feeling resentful or annoyed.