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Rate My Cop Gives Citizen Jane a Place to be Heard

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GG Staff | 03/10/2008 - 08:31 | 8 comments

Online assessment of law enforcement officers sparks controversy

In a restaurant, you rate the service with your tip. At your doctor's office you rate your satisfaction by switching or not switching to another physician. You can rate your teachers and even your professors online. And now you can even rate the police.

Rate Your Cop?Rate Your Cop?Toting itself as a new public service website, RateMyCop.com gives anyone who owns a computer a chance to sound off on police performance. But it's not without controversy.

Some people like the idea of being able to evaluate the overall law enforcement of an area. Are the officers approachable, sympathetic and, eager to help? Or are they distant and condescending? It could be great tourism PR (the kind you can't buy) or kill the reputation of a city.

It could also be a recipe for disaster. Law enforcement agencies worry it invades the personal privacy of officers and puts their families at risk.

Here's what some officers think of the site:

"I have gone through great measures to keep my information private. I have had people in custody that have given me threats and told me where I live and the color of my house."

"Looks like a shopping center for cop killers to me."

What do you think? Will it bridge the gap between the law and the people they protect or will it put our officers at unreasonable personal risk?

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Comments

I think that this is a good

Submitted by Portland (not verified) on Thu, 01/07/2010 - 11:52.
I think that this is a good service, but the critiques should not mention police officers specifically. Overall evaluations of the local police department can help department managers determine if policy changes need to be implemented.

Cops are so funny.... oh no

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/24/2008 - 19:16.
Cops are so funny.... oh no we must not be scrutinized.... Like it's there name and badge number... what's wrong with that? As long as we have cops "stepping over the line" and we all know that many do. We need to keep track of them. We rate doctors, lawyers and politicians. Why not cops? It's good for them! They should also put their pictures on there, thats all public information too, just like the sex offenders site is public with names and addresses, but you don't hear people complaining about that, i say if they are not out there doing anything wrong to people, what does it matter whats fair is fair.

Cops..... They are public

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 23:58.
Cops..... They are public servants, are they not? As a police officer, you are required to identify yourself when contacting the public. Hey they chose to be what they do. I am sure that those that are decent and treat the public fairly will be judge the same way. How many speeding tickets have you received? How many has the officer that sped past you had? Oh that's right he was going to an emergency call...... in his civilian clothes? Maybe an emergency at this house, or girlfriends.

I lived with a cop for

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/13/2008 - 11:41.
I lived with a cop for 10mos. He decided to go back home & attempt to salvage his marriage b/c he could not financially afford the fees for the divorce. He wanted to ensure that I did not interfere with his plans so he therefore felt the need to have me arrested on STALKING charges. He has since been stalking me but b/c he is a member of law enforcement I guess that makes it OK.

I have been beaten up by a

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 23:37.
I have been beaten up by a cop only to wind up in court to be charged with resisting arrest. plausible deniability isn't something i favor anymore. and now that i know there is a chance that i can tell everyone to watch out for a certain cop when they come into contact with him/her, i would be proud of the fact that i helped everyone know the malice this person has in their heart for a person unwilling to do everything they says just because they said it. i understand that they enforce they law but they are not God. gun or no gun. and its a violation of my right of freedom of speech to try and stop me telling everyone about the way i was treated by this individual. i say yes to this web site but i would also take things that people say with a grain of salt because things written in rage aren't always thought out very well. also about screening this site, if that happens there is no point of having the site in the first place. at some point people are going to just have to trust eachother and realize there are some bad and some good. make alliances with the good and deal with the bad when the show their faces. do not treat everyone like they are to dumb to draw their own conclusions,. this is what perpetuates ignorance. those that would trade freedom for safety deserve neither.

Funny, several governments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 13:04.
Funny, several governments and police departments have all MY personal information, and nobody is concerned that I'll be murdered by someone browsing it in a website. Lay off the drama, Po-po. Oh noes, a shopping center for cop killers! When every cop can be trusted to be professional and confidential with personal information they collect, then I might be sympathetic. Compare the ONE site, possibly listing an officer's name, with the hundreds of sites devoted to police department links, such as tmz.com. Stop your sniveling,the real reason your worried is someone might actually hold you accountable for your actions.

What I find funny is that

Submitted by Former Teacher (not verified) on Tue, 03/11/2008 - 09:18.
What I find funny is that people think these ratings will make a difference. Most of my colleagues don't pay any attention to the "rate my teacher" stuff because they know the ratings are skewed. Got a good review? Nice. Got a bad review? It's a student venting their immature anger online, nothing to worry about. I think people over-estimate how much their opinion is worth!

Cops are so funny.... oh no

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/10/2008 - 22:20.
Cops are so funny.... oh no we must not be scrutinized.... Like it's there name and badge number... what's wrong with that? As long as we have cops "stepping over the line" and we all know that many do. We need to keep track of them. We rate doctors, lawyers and politicians. Why not cops? It's good for them!

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