Cops from the Old Days?

Anyone here an LEO in the 70s or early 80s? Laws were different and equipment different. I come from the Atlanta area..Back then perfectly legal (and taught by the Ga Police Academy) to shoot fleeing felons...Was taught by Academy...people trying to elude officers in cars...fair game to shoot tires first and driver second..Result-nobody ran from police..

Any old geezers on this site??

Wouldn't call myself an old geezer like yourself, but I have 21 years in. Even times 21 years ago were very different. Definitely a huge turnaround in public perception post 9/11 years.

I remember the old school Deputies would go to the local bars and get shit faced and go back on duty in there cars. Lots of good stories from the good old boys.

We used to get caught drinking beer sitting in New developments. The guys would roll up, lights off. Check us out, and say”finish the beer and go home.” A few knew us by first names. Good times.

We would have "choir practice" name taken from Choir Boys. Our shift got off at 03:00 and we'd congregate at local park with the radio operators....lotta fun in so many ways

Tennessee v. Garner still applies. That and Graham v. Connor are taught extensively in our academy.

Old school policing is long gone. Even in the 5 years I did patrol it changed dramatically. Glad to be in another role.

Our way of life in 70s &early 80s was different and I am glad I left when I did. Same for being a prosecutor- I left at the right time.

I always wanted to be a cop but went in a different direction. Had I chosen that profession, though, I would have started my service in the mid-70s. Things were very different back then. My wife's god-father was a cop in the '40s through '70s. He once told me that in all his years as a beat cop and detective, he never once had to pull his gun from his holster. That in and of itself is a statement. I used to love listening to his stories, even though by today's standards they'd be considered pretty tame.

I salute you past and present officers.

I had 2 defense weapons at my disposal! Actually three, a 4-cell kel light which actually did the job of a nightstick as I used it even on the day shift. We had no tasers , we had no partners , we were miles from help and that left one thing! And those things you to have live with. Too many of my friends were carried by 6

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My grandfather (who just passed away actually) started as a beat cop in New York in the 60's. Possibly the 50's. Apparently he was given a gun and a badge and sent on his way. One of his favorite stories was being in a car chase and the guy driving the car he was in managed to get next to the car running away. My grandfather was able to put a hole in the engine block at that point. Apparently the bullets he was using weren't department issued.

He got tired of the snow and moved to socal when my mom was young. He got picked up by West Covina PD were he stayed for 26 years I believe. Funny part is he was amazed they put him through an academy.

There was no national accreditation back then- so it was smart to send all new officers through an academy. I missed my depts academy because I recently finished the state mandate academy

CobraBob said:

I always wanted to be a cop but went in a different direction. Had I chosen that profession, though, I would have started my service in the mid-70s. Things were very different back then. My wife's god-father was a cop in the '40s through '70s. He once told me that in all his years as a beat cop and detective, he never once had to pull his gun from his holster. That in and of itself is a statement. I used to love listening to his stories, even though by today's standards they'd be considered pretty tame.

I salute you past and present officers.
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My father who was a state trooper for 32 years said the same thing. Never once had to pull his gun.

Back then people respected LEOs and knew it was far safer to stay out of trouble than to tangle with police. Most all of my fellow officers were "just off the boat" from Viet Nam and hated anti war protestors. They had our backs and one did not want to antagonize them

My dad's friend growing up, become a cop. I don't know all the details, but I know he ended up in the FBI. No clue how many years he did before that or anything, but from time to time I see a FB comment about the old days. I saw one where he made a joke to the number of times he used his car to hit someone, who was running on foot. Don't think that old trick goes over too well today. LOL

I knew several police officers through my folks growing up. Wash DC police, surrounding suburbs. The one that was most odd, was my dad's war buddy. He quickly rose in rank, but it's like he was scrubbed from the face if the earth. He had a family too. Baltimore. My pop always thought he went to work for a letter agency All those PO'a were larger then life to me as a young kid. Always laughing and enjoying life.

jshen said:

Back then people respected LEOs and knew it was far safer to stay out of trouble than to tangle with police. Most all of my fellow officers were "just off the boat" from Viet Nam and anti war protestors. They had our backs and one did not want to antagonize them

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This!

jshen said:

Anyone here an LEO in the 70s or early 80s? Laws were different and equipment different. I come from the Atlanta area..Back then perfectly legal (and taught by the Ga Police Academy) to shoot fleeing felons...Was taught by Academy...people trying to elude officers in cars...fair game to shoot tires first and driver second..Result-nobody ran from police..

Any old geezers on this site??

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Yep old geezer LEO, started in 85. If I pulled over a muscle car for speeding they were shocked. I just wanted to BS about their car! No ticket.

One thing I remember is when I was stationed in Long Beach from '67 - '69. The CA Highway Patrol was SUPER tough, especially the motorcycle cops. They'd pull you over for just about anything, and you'd best not be a smart ass. Chirp tires = pull over. Loud exhaust = pull over. Turn a corner too fast = pull over. Ask me how I know. LOL. Most of the local southern Cal cops in and around Long Beach were just as tough. VERY different from the cops back then in CT that I remember.

Well, got 25 years now and would have to say the one thing that has changed the most in LE is the people they hire these days coupled by the people that simply dont apply. The Media has made being a Cop a very evil and disliked profession. No one seems too like cops these days and all these snowflake protests and "Cop Reform" bills prove it!

In 1994 when I took the written exam there were 4000 ppl that came out for the exam. In 2018 there where 800 ppl that came out. The city and the PD are still the same size at about 150k residents with 450 cops.

In the past u had to score relatively high to make it thru the entire process. If u didnt score a 90 or better u weren't going to the second phase.

NOW...... u can be at the bottom of the list and as long as u PASS the exam and the steps in the process u get hired simply because they dont have enough applicants. Half fail the run so ur left with 400 candidates for 30-40 positions. Its a joke! And now the PD has them scared to death to do ANYTHING that might upset the liberal snowflakes running our Democratic city.

I see on YouTube how southern State Police or Highway Patrol agencies are now begging ppl to just apply! But when u pay them minimum wage ur simply not gonna get any good candidates.

I could not function in a world of cellphone cameras! As for those LEOs that say they never had to take their gun out of their holster- they must have been either 6'9"- or either in Mayberry...Again, we had so much territory in Atlanta area that backups were not as timely as conditions dealt in many cases and one did what one needed to do. I was courteous, fair and never/seldom yelled- but if was time to act..we did what was necessary+1. Grady hospital in Atlanta had their own holding cells for those needing "treatment" before the jail could clear them to enter. God Bless all vets especially the Viet Nam vets I worked with..One of which drew this poster..and Gave me a snapshot of it.