So have you heard about this site
RateMyCop.com? It's a place where users can sign up and write reviews of their dealings with police officers, all based on this massive database of cops from across the country. Although the site doesn't include personal information like home addresses, or the names of undercover officers, police organizations have roundly condemned the site, and the
resulting controversy has gotten it kicked off a couple hosting providers. Seeing as we already have sites that rank the popularity of
movies,
video games, and
Cracked articles, what's wrong with a site that ranks cops? Are the police just being babies here?
Right off the bat the site has a huge problem. Any data gathered will have a pretty strong selection bias - people who have positive interactions with the police are unlikely to visit the site, so the only people to write reviews will be the ones with complaints. Statisticians refer to this as the
"whiny bitch bias." The whole site could very easily turn into a big cop-hating bitch fest. Anyone who's predisposed to disliking cops, will upon visiting the site be presented with a litany of evidence that all police everywhere are arrogant dicks. The truth - that no more than 60% of the nation's police officers are arrogant dicks - will be lost on them.
On a positive note, rich new veins of pig/bacon/pork related humor may be discovered and exploited within the site's forums.
Any attempts to compare police officers or rank them will also be flawed (Try to imagine this site