If police are supposed to be upholding the law, logically it should be extra illegal for cops to break the law. Domestic violence? Extra jail time, you have more authority than others and you are abusing it. Ran a red light? More expensive ticket, you should be following the rules you enforce.
edit: typo
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I agree. The people who are supposed to be upholding the law should be held to a higher standard. Here in the UK, police officers who commit crimes are sometimes shown leniency by judges. It should be the other way around.
If you’re a cop and you commit a crime, you’re abusing your power as law enforcement and should face a harsher penalty.
There should be sentence multiplyer for civil servant. Anyone who abuses power and responsibility should face increasing sentences scaling with position and responsibility. Lawyer has a higher multiplyer than police, judge higher than lawyer, politician higher than judge.
Lets start with getting the cops charged and convicted for the crimes they do first, that in itself would be a huuuuge win
I think the offense should be moved up one classification if a cop commits it; tickets become B misdemeanors, B misdemeanors become A misdemeanors, A misdemeanors become C felonies, C felonies become B felonies, and B felonies become A felonies. How’s that sound?
I also believe when it’s a ‘what you said vs what a cop said’ situation, without evidence they should always take the word of the person over the cop – chances are they are way more honest. Cops haven’t been honest….ever.
Public servants are to be held to a higher standard! Constitutional violations should be WILDLY serious for them.
I’ve thought this for years. Judges should be treated even harsher. Stripped of status and severely penalized.
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Those who have power over others should be held to a higher standard. Debate over. This cannot possibly be considered an unpopular opinion.
Not unpopular at all. You enforce the law, you must be held to a higher standard
This is a thing in France, where some offenses have harsher penalties for cops. It’s not for all offenses, and only when they are on duty, but if I had to give a few examples : rape, corruption, discrimination (and some others)
You mean a paid month off isn’t a punishment? /s
Unless they misuse their position to do it, then no.
Everyone should be the same before the law.
Considering the comments this seems to be the actual unpopular opinion
Agreed but it will never happen. Cops are upheld to the same laws as those they serve, which is not the people but the corporate elite, and that’s why they never face justice.
The only people this is unpopular among are cops
I would also like to see if there would be a snitch phone line implemented. Give cops $$ incentive for snitching on their fellow cops.
That’s true, and this line of thought exposes one of the oldest problems with law: who keeps those who uphold the systems of power in check?
Our current way is usually something like distribution, be it tri-partition of powers: legislative, executive and judicial, where there is some kind of balance and also multiple officials in each. That doesn’t prevent wide corruption which can spread across all of these. Still better that having power concentrated in one person for example.
We are still to invent more resilient system which would emphasize controlling those who control.
This is exactly how i thought the world worked when i was a kid, then I got older and realized that in the real world authority and accountability have an inverse relationship.
How is this unpopular? How do I vote? Aaaah
Pretty sure it does, here anyway.
I agree.
Had a friend who was a cop (he left for obvious reasons), his captain told everybody on the first day.
“You are representing the law, as such you are held up to a higher standard than the average citizen” (grossly translated)
Absolutely YES! This should also be applied to politicians. They are responsible for upholding and making the laws, they should be held to a higher standard if they break those laws.
I agree. I have a CDL amongst various other certifications I’m required to hold for my career as an electrical lineman. If I get pulled over for a moving violation, I am automatically punished to the maximum extent possible for that infraction because I am considered a “professional driver”. Cops, as professionals in law enforcement, should be no different.
I agree with this, really a big part of the problem is that police aren’t expected to know the law and even when they do violate it often are given far more leniency than a regular civilian. It just breeds contempt for citizens and also makes it harder for people to trust law enforcement
definitely, there should be a separate penalty applied to every case involving a public servant, punishing them for failing to respect their position of responsibility. if the charges are for something less serious like theft then this penalty can have a minimal impact, but for police officers committing violent or sexual crimes, it should give a judge power to add many years to their sentence.
Yep, because if you commit a crime against a police officer you get a harsher punishment. It has to work both ways
I agree however a cop going to prison is going to have a worse time in there for the same crime a regular person commits
I do think that if the whole thing wasn’t already corrupt top to bottom then yeah, some leniency for reasonable mistakes made in active situations. But only in good faith not obvious straight up crimes and then yes extra penalty for abusing the power. Probably like a flat charge with a specific penalty of like a minimum year of prison time or something.
If this is unpopular, it certainly shouldn’t be. It makes sense
This opinion is only unpopular for cops.
In Germany a rule like that exists for firefighters and paramedics (professional and voluntary). Every citizen is required by law to help anyone in need of first aid to the best of their abilities, and refusing to do so for no good reason (like self preservation, e.g. not running into a burning building) is a crime. The punishment for this crime is harsher for firefighters and paramedics, because it is generally understood that they have been trained for this sort of thing and have more knowledge, skill, and experience with it than average citizens. No clue if something similar exists for police
Not really unpopular
And the ladder of law has no top and no bottom. Equal justice for all.
Silly notion, but likely not unpopular.
I think people involve in policing should be held to a higher standard but that should be in terms of standard of “being convicted” not standards of punishment
They don’t get paid enough for all that tbh but I feel you
100% extra authority should come with extra responsibility
only an asshole likes cops. this is a wildly popular opinion.
It doesnt where you live?
The same should go for anyone in the position of authority like politicians, teachers, the clergy, judges. The list goes on.
Yup, I’d say automatically 2x standard sentence.
Fine you want to make it simple make it its own crime to break the law as a police officer. Make it like dui. First offense they get leniency second and onward you cant have the union represent you. All restitution if any comes from the cops pension. Suspension without pay while investigation is ongoing.
With great power comes great responsibility and greater accountability
Yep, as uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsability”
They run red lights and stop signs all of the time lol.. Speed too. Usually always on their phones and computers whilst doing so.
They say that every person, because of the complexity of the law, commits like three misdemeanors a day without even knowing it.
I would agree with OP’s idea. But if it’s found that the cop did it intentionally, then yes an extra penalty should be applied.
Obly thing they getvis extra safety
Wait…this opinion is unpopular?
In most countries it is.
I agree. Cops are given a monopoly on violence and therefore should be held to a high standard of behavior.
Agreed. I mean, when you’re in the military and you do something illegal off base, you deal with local authorities AND the UCMJ. Why shouldn’t law enforcement
And any corruption politicians make should have higher penalties too.
Good luck getting those laws passed and upheld!
Absolutely. A speeding ticket, an assault, a murder etc, the punishment for all should be double what a civilian gets. If I get harsher punishment for killing a cop it should work both ways.
The only place this is an unpopular opinion is in a police station. We will never fully trust police until they’re held accountable.
Individual charges should not necessarily have increased or decreased penalties based solely on occupation, but I do feel that there could be a charge in the nature of “Use of official position to commit or conceal a criminal act.”
Well, in my country, it does (in theory).
Cops aren’t there to protect you, they are there to protect property for people with money.
I just think you should get standard time but unable to work in security or law enforcement of any kind. They shouldn’t be allowed to even be a mall cop.
The penalty for an enforcer of the law breaking the law should be death….
Agree… it should be considered treason because you undermine the fabric of the system. Same with politicians or judge who get bribes or benefit in any way.
Yeah, insane. Like a corrupted referee making one basketball team win over the other. When they find out, they bench them for 2 minutes and let them return. Uh, no it’s ejection, you literally screwed up the game.
I have some good news for you. Police who commit crimes while doing their job do face penalties that other citizens don’t. Deprivation of rights under color of law is a federal crime that police can be charged with that other people cannot.
The federal sentencing guidelines in the U.S. provide a sentencing enhancement for criminals who “abused a position of public or private trust” while committing or concealing a crime.
Many felonies do have an “under color of authority” modifier in my state
It’s a nice idea, but too easily abused when bad cops want to get rid of their whistle-blower partners.
The cops don’t make the rules, we pay them to enforce the rules our representatives make.
Othering our security forces like this will only lead to more conflict.
Look up, policing by consent
I wish this were more popular. My buddy who was a cop for a while had this idea in his head that cops should be given extra leeway because they’re just people. But they have so much power and can so easily abuse it and they’re protected so much from punishment. Abusing their authority should absolutely be met with severe punishment because we entrust them to protect us. Betraying that trust should come with severe consequences.
Wait, isn’t this already true?
Cops lie and do whatever they want FTP
if the people in the military gets extra punishment for our crimes, and things that aren’t even real crimes outside of the military, then why do people who should know the law like the back of their hands not get extra punishment, and often times get off scot free because of their positions?
I get it, but that’s not how law works.
They’re supposed to be in theory, and there are specific penalties for stuff like this written into law. One example is Section 242 of Title 18.
They’re just almost never charged or applied, because the legal system is set up to incentivize corruption, not justice.
this is a popular take
I have a similar thought for a “trusted citizen” license. The license would give the holder social acknowledgment that they are true to their word and would be seen as such in times such like car accidents, bank/home robberies, etc.
Though, if they are ever caught lying or skewing pertinent information. They would then be punished more than if they were not licensed.
The idea still needs work, but It’s a thought.
Of course it should be treated a lot harsher but also police should be trained and paid well at the same time for such career to be tempting to best people out there and not losers that likes power, but of course this can happen only in dreams because by design people that enforce law are there not to serve people and be nice but to have mindset that let them do their job efficiently, too nice, too inteligent, too independent people are not desirable in police
Just make them bound by the military laws, UCMJ they are far stricter and carry harsher sentences than civilian laws. Plus a lot of cops are veterans so they already are used to it. It is also a code that already exists so no issues trying to change it.
Not only extra penalty, but a lower standard of proof. Cops get away with so much because people can’t prove it to ‘beyond reasonable doubt”. At the very least, anything less than complete acquittal should be a permanent ban from law enforcement.
I agree. They are someone who should set an example, so a crime from a police officer should be punished more than regular
Upvote because I 100% agree, downvote because this isn’t really an unpopular opinion.
Wholeheartedly agree. I think in the US, if you are a semi-truck driver, the rules over drinking and driving are much more strict, though not the legal penalties as op is expressing should be the case, but at least the working penalties are super strict. Similarly, at the very least, a police officers job should be on the line anytime he commits a crime on or off duty. And I understand the bs idea of qualified immunity such that pretty much anything they do on the job isn’t illegal, but one can wish.
Yes!
If your entire duty is to uphold the law, and do absolutely anything to break the law, the book and the entire prison should be thrown at you.
Finally, some sense.
Former military here. We get the book thrown at us if we mess up.
Yeah, I think cops should have the following:
Judges get absolute immunity instead of qualified, but mostly have the same sentencing upgrade.
Thinking about it a bit more, it might just be as simple as making being a cop or a judge automatic high culpability.
All misconduct by police that results in monetary payout or court costs should come directly from the police pension fund. Watch how quickly the learn how to behave when it costs them
Money and not to tax payer.
IMO this should only be true for abuse of their position/authority. but people should not be punished just for being police.
Policing should be a community thing, people who are part of the community helping each other out.
Think of you and a group of people on an island. You see Bob try to steal Sarah’s coconut so you stop him. Now you are the cop. Do you deserve negative consequences for that? No you do not.
I like this idea.
How would that be enticing to the scumbags that usually fill the ranks of police? The immunity is a job perk that is essential to maintain staffing. There just aren’t enough ” good cops” to go around.
For things in the scope of their duties, or where they used their position to break the law, there already are additional penalties. My state has a separate charge called “official oppression.” Federally, you can get hit with a similar criminal charge for deprivation of rights under color of law.
People who have a CDL get an extra penalty why shouldn’t a cop?
Many laws contain clauses to this effect generally in language under the negligence portion its just in the US at least judges dont actually enforce the guideline on cops even if they do other licensed professionals for the same charges.
we talking as a private citizen. then definitely not. no favourites in the legal system. it is surpose to be fair to all and the moment u add exceptions then ita pointless and might as well add more exceptions.
while on duty, thats harder because some laws need to be broken to enforce them. aspects like detainment are technically illegal, but thoese are thrown away when other things over ride them like public safety. they do not have hours to pour over the legal ramifications of such detainments. when the issue of safety of potentially hundreds are at stake, the decider must be free to act in good faith. this is why police officers are useally not punished for acts they do in the line of duty.
either way, i disagree in its entirety thay they should be treated different
Yes. And there should be mandatory always-on body cams. If the camera isn’t recording (and there isn’t a damn good, demonstrable reason for why) the cop is automatically legally/criminally responsible for whatever crimes they reasonably are accused of (“this cop punched me and broke my jaw while I was cuffed in the back of the cruiser”, “they shot my dog that was on a leash in my fenced yard.” Etc).
“Undue burden on police?” Get fucked. They should be held to a higher standard because of all the power they are allowed to wield. Abuse that? Then pay a steep price.
Any crime committed where the offender was acting in a position of public trust should have an accentuating penalty. However, solving the police problem is simple even without that. You just need to require them to get insurance. That will completely change the dynamic. Anyone who is uninsurable simply cannot remain a police officer. Insurance companies will quickly become expert at sussing out the bad apples.
Tbh, I think there absolutely should be a higher standard for cops, but only while on duty, or while in uniform, or when they identify themselves as a police.
This opinion will only be unpopular with cops and assholes lol. Our society fuckin sucks.
If they do it while on duty it usually does.
Higher level of trust and authority in our society should come with more punishment when you break that trust.
For the US, the first step in getting to this ideal is rejecting the idea that the police can (or should) police themselves. If corrupt cops are investigating corrupt cops, then nothing will change.
I know locksmiths do basically 2x time if they rob a bank.
Yes!
Double time in prison AND a random close relative or friend will also be liable.
I dont think this is an unpopular opinion. It is unpopular for cops maybe. I would add the same for anyone working in goverment.
Cops should be made to hold their own personal liability insurance. Police payouts should not be on the taxpayers.
Like losing their job?
Not just cops, status/power in general. Cops, politicians, rich people, etc. The higher someone’s status, the higher the standards they should be held to.
Yeah I had an idea of an “abuse of power” modifier charge. Then I got older and found out not only that it is not and will not ever be a thing. But we do the opposite and grant cops immunity.
Not sure how this is unpopular. Only shoe leather connoisseurs would feel otherwise.
Yes, it should be
Cops and Lawyers: 1.5X
Judges: 2X
Law makers: 3X
We do this for the military.. I don’t understand why we don’t do it for the Police.
The Police should be held to a higher standard than the average citizen. But in reality we hold them to a lower standard. Which makes no sense!?!
Just because I have a cdl my dui threshold is lower, no matter what or when I’m driving.
It does. You just dont see it because that’d go against the media’s anti-police agenda.
I generally agree, but not as a universal penalty for any and all crimes. Like for example if a cop has a side hustle and does some white collar shit, I don’t think the fact that they’re a cop should increase any penalties/punishments.
Like if Officer Donut Lord has a donut food truck and homeboy skimps on his taxes, in that scenario, I don’t see how he’s abusing his power as a cop.
The whole “ignorance of the law” line really makes me believe this sentiment as well… If ignorance of the law is not an excuse, blatant disregard for it should be a determining factor for punishment
And the criminal activity of cops should be investigated and prosecuted by a special Federal court system or something. Just as no man should be able to be jury or judge of himself, no police and prosecutorial system should be policing itself or prosecuting its own wrongdoers.
Prosecutors are loath to prosecute the police that work with because win or lose they’ve been potentially cannot rely on the other police or the acquitted police officer to work with them in matters matters of law enforcement.
Like once you prosecute a particular cop can you rely on that cop or his friends to not sabotage any future case you prosecute just to make you look bad and get you fired.
People are that petty, and cops are particularly Petty people.
I mean look at how much they hate the idea of internal affairs and how much they propagate this thin Blue line that tells cops that they have to stand behind the crooked cops within their organization rather than being “a snitch.” Etc.
Self-regulating corporations, self-let regulating police forces, self-regulation is a bunch of bullshit. And we’re living through the aftermath of that idea gone to its natural conclusions.
I agree, and they should immediately be drummed out of the force and banned from ever doing police work again.
If you cannot uphold the law, you cannot enforce it
I’d love to hear the Police Union’s response to this.
This does exist to some extent. Certain crimes are punished more harshly when committed “under color of law”. But the list of crimes this applies to is way too short and it’s often only applied at sentencing. In other words, they don’t consider that it was a police officer during the trial itself so it doesn’t prejudice the verdict, at least that’s the theory.
Yeah dude, make it harder for cops, not like they have a vital role in society. Imagine if they could never shoot anyone for the fear that it might be a mistake and then the criminals rule the streets.
Committing a crime while in the possession of a firearm
I agree completely, my take was that it should be counted equivalent to a regular person‘s second offense, because they’re supposed to know the law and be slightly better than a regular person when it comes to matters of law, crime, & justice.
I got argued & downvoted hard a few places.
So many cops don’t deal with consequences
Truckers (professional drivers) are subjected to higher fines for traffic infringements for exactly that reason. Even in their personal vehicles. I’ve always wondered why it wasn’t the same for law enforcement.
Doesn’t make any sense to already have a system like that in place and not apply it.
Instead it comes with extra abilities to cover it up
Because if they aren’t investigating themselves, it’s their co-worker
All animals are equal…
Yup, if your job is to make sure others abide by the law you should be the prime example of it
This seems like a pretty popular opinion after 10 seconds in the comments. I agree with it, too.
Same should apply with the politicians that write the laws. Let’s throw judges onto the pile as well.
I’ve always believed that settlements from lawsuits involving law enforcement should come from their pensions. If their entire future livelihood was at stake, then they might think a little harder before making decisions.
Nah, you right. Even as someone who supports the police, they absolutely should face steeper punishments than normal if they’re to be the once enforcing the law
100%. Judges too. Anyone in a lawful position of authority should have much harsher consequences for breaking the law than regular citizens.
Popular opinion; OP is just soapboxing.
But not wrong.
Truckers get stiffer penalties for traffic violations. Why? Because they are said to be “experts” and “professionals” when it comes to driving. (I think it’s actually anybody with a commercial license.) It’s so bad that cops will ignore normal cars most of the time, if they’re trying to get a quota, because one semi is worth 4-5 regular cars.
The real suggestion is a sliding scale where your financial ability and other factors (such as authority and responsibility) come into play. Most rich people/companies break the law because the penalties for doing so are so small compared with what they make, it barely affects them, and/or their profits are greater (see Apple’s recent legal issues). Put it on a sliding scale, to where poor people have a little less burden but rich people have to pay millions for a speeding ticket instead of $500? They will stop, or at least they will do it far less.
Fo’ sho’!!!
Or politicians getting caught doing the opposite of what they preach (looking at you David Vitter). Should be consequences.
I support this including all elected officials and in addition all elected officials should be treated as if they under oath with everything they say as if in court, making lying or purposely misleading the public a crime.
/r/lostredditors
This seems like a very popular opinion to me
Unpopular opinion but this is a direct result of the power given to their union. It’s so powerful it lobbies for legal exemptions and immunity from prosecution.
100% agree. I’ve always thought that any cop that abuses their power at all should instantly get lengthy prison time
Hard agree. Many other public service jobs face extreme consequences to at least their jobs if not sentences
Impersonating a cop is a crime on its own since you are taking advantage of people’s trust and using a uniform meant to uphold law and order (the mentioned “trust” in police obviously varies for people).
So if that’s a crime, isn’t abusing your actual public service job worse?
Hard to do when you are asking the police to police the police.
Sure. Just pay them significantly more for it since they have to carry the burden of their profession into their personal life. Illegal is illegal. There is no “extra illegal.” Law enforcement already has laws against abuse under the color of authority. EVERYONE knows domestic abuse and running red lights is wrong. So I guess you should deal with the “extra illegal” consequences too.
The penalty for falsifying evidence or otherwise deliberately convicting or attempting to convict an innocent person should be the same as for the crime they were accused of.
Do you guys not have disciplinary penalties accumulated to the (already higher) penalties coming with “abuse of statepower”(not sure if that is the correct legal term, but i think it conveys the meanimg) and corruption?
Should we tell OP how it really works?
Should be. Military does.
You do something and get trouble/charged in civilian court, you also get charged by military under UCMJ.
Double whammy
Down voting solely because this isn’t unpopular.
They cannot even get charges to be filed let alone a guilty verdict and a TOUGHER sentence.
🔥🔥🔥
This is an extremely popular opinion. Downvoted
This is only unpopular with cops and their bootlickers. Realistically your post should be wildly in the negative with how popular it is, especially here on Reddit.
Pretty sure places have extra charges for this but unions fight tooth and nail to defend a lot of them so it’s best to just fire their asses and move on or just cover it up, of course I noticed that they tied to do the latter more often than not.
I gotta agree. Not just because they be held to a higher standard, but because they can be way more dangerous than an average criminal thanks to the resources they have access to.
I imagine if the average cop does prison time, it’s gonna be a lot less fun than a regular criminal. So I guess in a way extra punishment is baked into the system. Even if it isn’t officially so.
Not an unpopular opinion, unless you are a cop or are married to one. If they want to be above the law then when they break the law they should be treated harsher
This is a popular opinion.
Do I downvote if I agree with this? This should not be unpopular.
I agree, I call it a violation of public trust and should double any penalty received and bar the recipient from any unelected future position of public trust AKA any government job that deals with the public (most of them).