The Retort

Who Are the Real Pigs?

October 7th, 2011 by Paulina Carrillo Of The Retort Staff

“F--- the pigs! F--- the law!”

Yes, we have all heard this one before, either from a “thug,” or from almost every young adult’s status on Facebook.

I can’t say how many people I have seen throw the “F” bomb, the “finger,” and other derogatory terms at an office since it just happens way too often.

My question is, “Why?” Sure, criminals have a reason to not necessarily love the police, right? After all, police officers do tend to throw them in prisons and interfere with their fun of committing crime. But besides criminals, what is it that gives people the right to disrespect those who risk their own lives in order to keep us safe? I mean, do these ignorant and ungrateful citizens actually believe they look cool acting this way?

Although I can’t particularly read people’s minds or clearly understand why it is they choose to take such actions, I have taken the time to do some observations on those who tend to perform these acts, and unsurprisingly enough, I found a pattern.

Some of the things that I found these people to have in common are: one, a relative or friend in prison because of a crime committed; two, a history of getting in trouble with the law; and three, the belief that all cops abuse their power.

Needless to say, these three common observations that I gathered are nothing but hypocritical excuses that come from either the uneducated or the criminals themselves.

In addition, the belief that cops abuse their power is something that I found to be very amusing. There is no doubt that some officers do abuse the power of their badge, but don’t a lot of people do this? And the thought that criminals are angry over this just makes my stomach turn. They shouldn’t even be breaking the law.

I like to compare police officers with U.S. soldiers. Soldiers risk their lives fighting for their country and the safety of their people, while police officers risk their lives fighting against those who break the law in order to keep their country and citizens safe.

Go ahead, call me the ungrateful and ignorant one, but soldiers don’t always do one of the things they are supposed to be doing, either. By this, I mean that there have also been news headlines of occasions where instead of keeping citizens safe, a soldier has done the opposite.

For instance, I’m sure everyone has seen cases in the news where a soldier is being charged for rape, murder, or assault. Regardless of this, I am more than positive that people don’t go running around disrespecting soldiers. Disrespecting an officer is like disrespecting a soldier.

So my question is, “Who are the real pigs in America?” Those who work hard in order to keep us safe, or those who decide to break the law and hurt the innocent? And are cops really the only people who abuse their power? If you were a cop, would you? Remember, one in a thousand does not represent a million.