Rob Van Dam went off on the way police handle everyday situations, saying too many officers are more focused on finding something to pin on regular people than actually chasing serious criminals.
During the One of a Kind podcast, Van Dam said the problem starts when cops respond to a call and immediately treat the person on the other end of the phone like they’re telling the full story. In RVD’s eyes, that can turn into officers building a case around a conclusion before they even know what really happened.
“Anyone can call and say anything, but they take it like it’s fact because it’s their job to create a crime that they can use against you. That’s what their job is, to create a crime using the cooperating evidence. They can line up the evidence so that they can frame the narrative to fit the description that they want. And then, bam, whether it’s real or not, they feel like they did a good job.”
RVD then took it a step further and questioned how often the average patrol cop is actually catching murderers and predators compared to pulling over normal people for smaller stuff.
“People think cops are here to catch the bad guys, and you want them for that, but do you imagine, like, in a regular day or week or any given window of time, when an average cop is out there on patrol driving and stuff, do you think that he has run-ins with more good people that just maybe didn’t come to a complete stop or failed to hit their turn signal? Or do you think he runs into more murderers and child molesters and puts them in jail? Because I think those are going to be the very few, unless they’re special task forces that are aimed and geared and located to handle specific crimes. But otherwise, I think they’re around making crimes and making criminals out of good citizens way more than they are actually catching the bad guys.”
Van Dam did make one thing clear — he wasn’t pretending he had a stack of statistics sitting in front of him. His issue is the mindset. RVD said he believes some cops look at just about anybody as a possible criminal if they follow them long enough.
“That’s not based on doing research and statistics, other than seeing a lot, observing.”
“I think that they think people are potential criminals because I think they all believe if they get behind a car, if they want to, they can find a reason to pull them over.”
The conversation eventually shifted from cops to people losing their minds when they feel disrespected or uncomfortable, and RVD’s message there was just as direct — anger screws up your judgment.
“Bottom line is anger is the enemy. That’s our lesson to take from this. Anger — it’s really hard to ever think of a time when being angry is advantageous. You know, it turns you into an asshole. It takes over your decision-making. And so, if you ever feel like you’re angry, try to be aware, try to stop and take notice and say, ‘Wait a minute, my emotions are off because I’m angry. I need to change my mindset and not fucking double down and be more of an asshole.’ No matter how right that sounds right now, it’s only because I have the Incredible Hulk mind and I’m raging.”
RVD said the better move is learning how to shut that reaction down before it turns a dumb situation into something worse. That rolled right into what Van Dam calls “RV Theology,” where he says he has no problem tossing out an opinion that might piss people off if that’s genuinely how he sees things.
“Try not to ever be angry, you know? Work on that shit and you’ll be a better person, in my opinion.”
“It’s very true. And I talk about all those points when I talk about my perspective. We call it RV Theology because I’m not afraid to have an unpopular opinion. I give my honest — this is how I feel — even if it offends somebody. Some people don’t ever take the time to reprogram themselves as adults, and they don’t grow up to make up for it in certain areas. So they’re stuck with thoughts that they were taught when they were young, even if it don’t make sense anymore.”
RVD covered a ton of ground, but the message stayed pretty simple — he thinks too many people in power, and too many people in general, stop thinking once they decide they’re right. And when anger gets thrown into the mix, that’s when things can go sideways fast.
What do you make of Rob Van Dam’s take on police, anger and people refusing to challenge their own beliefs? Do you think he nailed it, or did he take it too far? Drop your thoughts and leave your feedback in the comments.
