And how many of the people you pull over for running red lights ran said light because they had to get somewhere in a hurry? Probably the great minority. Most people run lights because they get impatient, and they think it’s stupid to have to wait for a light when there are no cars on the cross street. Because cops are human, I ascribe the same motivation. Being cops, however, they don’t run the risk of getting a ticket for their impatience.
Sua
No. Actually, whenever a measure comes up on the local ballot to raise tax funds for the cops, I vote no. The cops in my town literally have nothing better to do most of the time than pull people over for going 5 MPH over the speed limit. I live in a small town and hardly anything happens here. Screw them if they want more money.
Another thing is that they enforce laws that I think are wrong. People may say that they are just doing their job, but I firmly believe that you cannot enforce a wicked law without being wicked yourself.
By that reasoning, anyone who pays taxes is guilty of wickedness, because our tax dollars pay for the enforcement of those laws. Our votes elect the people who write them and fill the benches of the courts which uphold them. We are all equally guilty-- to despise the police is killing the messenger.
I certainly wouldn’t agree that my husband is wicked because he works in a prison. He’s dedicated his life to helping people. Not only does he help to protect the public by keeping dangerous offenders from the streets, but he also strives to ensure that those same offenders are kept in safe, healthy environments and that their rights are not violated-- and that once they’re released, they have work and a home to go to.
I disagree with the death penalty, but I did not condemn him for working on an execution team. He swore an oath to uphold the laws of our state, and that oath didn’t have a clause for differing opinions. Whether or not he personally agrees with a law, he is oath-bound to obey it.
The law may punish for transgressions, but it also protects us. The police enforce those protections, too.
I pay my taxes. So I support my local police. The local police force here (Peel Region) seems reasonably competent, so I guess I will continue paying my taxes. But let’s be honest, I would anyway.
I see no reason to offer the police any more support than paying my taxes and being cooperative if they need my assistance in a case.
I am on official police business. I am not late for a dental appointment. I’m going to a burglar alarm or a call for a suspicious person. I am not impatient, I am expected to get there in a timely manner. If I am not on a call why would I go through a light? It’s not like I am going to get home quicker. I still have to patrol for 11 hours.
Other than pay taxes, what does this mean? I support the police just like I support schoolteachers or firemen, I pay my taxes. If they need millage for a new police station, sure I’ll consider it. Do I automatically take their side? No. There are good cops and bad ones.
sigh
An old lady with arthritis may need to lean on the door in order to come to a standing position. However, in my case the video clearly showed me walking steadily and standing perfectly well on my own. There is a big difference between needing help to get yourself up out of the car and leaning on the car for support once you’re up. No, I don’t expect cops to be medical professionals, but I don’t expect them to make stuff up, either. The cop said I had trouble standing. His own video showed I did not.
The police video showed exactly what I said. Cop lights come on, I put on my turn signal, wait to pull over until there was room. There was no weaving, but the officer said there was, in his report.
We had an expert review the video, which showed the various roadside tests, in addition to showing up other inaccuracies in the officer’s report. The expert was able to point out flaws in the procedure. I’m not going through them one by one, but the instructions I was given to follow did *not * match up to the official standards. In fact, the expert’s testimony would have shown that there was not even probable cause for arrest, had the judge not thrown the matter out before it was necessary to go any farther.
The name thing went as follows: “So, what should I call you?” “You can call me ‘Mrs. XXX.’” I don’t think that’s rude or obnoxious, do you? There was no reason for him to allege that in his report.
The other case was my daughter. She had hit a pole a few blocks from home, while trying to avoid hitting an animal in the road. She did not want to go to the hospital and did not want to have a blood test. “Look,” said the cop. “If it shows *anything * under <legal limit>, the whole thing will be dropped.” She went along with it. At the hospital, they swabbed her arm *with alcohol * before taking the blood sample. I know that for a fact. She knew very well what alcohol smells like from having to treat her pierced ears. The cops claimed betadine was used, but I know that was also a lie because betadine leaves a brown stain on your skin. I’ve seen that many times. There was none. There was also no custody of the sample documented and maintained from the hospital to the lab. For all we knew the sample could have been mixed up at the lab. Even with all that, her BAC showed *some * alcohol (she had a glass of wine at the end of her bartending shift) but significantly under the limit. She also had witnesses that she had been at a diner for 2 hours after leaving work and had consumed only soda with her food. However, they did not, as was promised, throw out the charge. They gave her a license suspension anyway.
If cops are college educated, then I want to know just what level of college they are required to be educated at. Jr college? Associate’s degree? University?
the local cops around here (suburb of Chicago) sure aren’t–or they don’t act it.
I do not, and will not give to the State’s Sheriff’s Assn or whatever when they call. I do not and will not give to the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Men in Uniform or whatever it’s called. Why should I? I pay my taxes. I work in a nasty, dirty service job as well–yet I don’t troll for tips/extra money. Nurses face guns on the job, and violence from pts and visitors–not to the same extent, but much more so than an office worker. Cops CHOSE to be cops. And they can defend themselves–all nurses can do is get away from the attacker. (hitting pts is frowned on by State Boards).
And some cops are just plain jerks. I once did a very rough study of pulled over cars in this area. I counted 9 black people pulled over for every 1 white. My suburb isn’t 90% black. Tell me the white executive in the BMW doesn’t blow lights like the black guy in the rusty Ford. :rolleyes:
I appreciate some aspects of cops. They were nice (meaning polite) to me when I was accosted in the parking lot by a Peeping Tom–but this is suburbia. I wouldn’t have gotten the time of day in NY or even downtown Chicago. I looked at some books to try to identify the guy–filled with white males. It was depressing. But it left me with a question that has never been answered–if most petty crime around here is being done by white males, why are so many black males being pulled over for “traffic violations”? I dunno-but they are.
I am glad to see security (or cops) at the mall or at a concert–I see them as peacekeepers then. But I also see them getting off on the adrenalin rush that a call can give them–look at me, Barney Fife and I’m important! I see the same behavior in newer nurses when code blues are called. Adrenalin is an overrated hormone. The burglar most likely will get away, so does the cop really need to do a U-turn across 4 lanes of traffic? Loach says maybe, and maybe he’s right. But it certainly doesn’t endear them to John Q Public.
I went to court to fight a ticket that a cop gave me once. He cited me for “improper lane usage” in a bumper to bumper trip to Midway Airport. I hadn’t done any such thing–I signalled and got into his lane. I think he thought that I cut him off. I went to pay the ticket and the guy at the counter refused to take my money (this was long before paying online)–he said, “what did you do-drive down the wrong side of the street?” I said no and he told me to fight it. I did–and the look on that cop’s face is the face I think of when I think of cops–he was pissed that I got out of that ticket. I could be reading into this, but I do recognize extreme anger when I see it. It made no sense then, and doesn’t now. Maybe he had issues: great, now he’s a guy with issues and power and a gun. I feel safer already.
I’m sure there are good, honest, hard working cops–it’s a difficult job and must get to them. But I hear of the sexism toward female cops, the profiling, the looney tunes sociopaths and I think–this profession needs a revamping.
And there does need to be some kind of oversight body. Not a self-policing one, either.
Geeze, I never realized how little Police officers were liked. I’ve only run into one idiot cop in my life. I can’t say that about most professions. Obviously I have been very lucky so far.
As I said, I live in Suburbia and our Police officers are professional and good. I donate money directly to them and it goes to several real functions including a sports program.
I have never given to a fraternal order, most are complete ripoffs. One lied outright and tried to change his story when I called him on it. I just reported the number and organization to the local Police officers .
When I lived in Howell, my wife was being stalked by an ex-boyfriend. The Howell Police officers showed up very quick and talked to the Police officers in his hometown. They had a long talk with him and we never saw him again and only heard from him once.
I had a 2nd cousin I didn’t know who was close to my Mom when they were young. He was NYPD, he was killed in a domestic dispute in Queens that got out of control. So the adage that a Police officer is always in danger is legit as far as I am concern.
Are there bad cops, of course, but there are bad people in every profession, Police officers just have more power to mess with people.
I almost forgot, every cop in my town has at least an Associates degree and I thought most if not all the NYPD had degrees now.
Jim
[QUOTE=Loach]
You say that you don’t pre-judge and then you paint thousands of people from all across the country with the broadest brush possible. Of course that is prejudiced. If I had a bad experience with an Afican-American, Latinio etc and let that cloud my judgement of the entire group I would be prejudiced. Your entire post is full of assumptions without any facts. You presume and prejudge all the cops you meet to be uneducated and low class.**
First, I didn’t paint thousands of people, I painted TENS of thousands. Second, I simply cannot get to know every single cop before I pass judgment on them so I’m forced to generalize based on the data I possess. Third, who are those Afican-American and Latinios you speak of? Alright, that was a cheap shot 
See, you paint this rosy picture but it’s just not consistent with what I’ve seen out there. More’s the pity…
Nope. I have found the police to be intimidating, insensitive and callous. Never been arrested btw. I know they aren’t all like that but the ones that have been have left a permanent mark. I know I’m biased but I never said I was totally rational and w/o emotions.
I don’t support the drug laws and I don’t support trying to destroy someone’s life over an isolated mistake. There are still more arrests for marijuana than for murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault combined.
http://www.konformist.com/2000/pot-arrests.htm
However the police who go after serious criminals (serial rapists or gang members for example) I support.
I also don’t like the lack of oversight. I don’t feel the police can be trusted to police themselves.
What also really bothers me is how many police officers despise internal affairs, but want the public to like them. That has always struck me as hypocritical, to be full of hate for people who do to you what you do to the public. IA does their best to nail cops using anything at their disposal from stalking to lies to high tech surveillance. If a police officer can’t handle that with maturity he doesn’t deserve to be treated by the public any better than he treats IA officers. Plus when the police do get in trouble they are smart enough to understand the law. The average layman has no idea how to resist the psychological pressure put on him/her by the police or what their rights are. I find it very hypocritical and uneven for police to expect respect for their job but to not give any to IA officers.
I sure do support my local police, every time I pay for a speeding ticket, or cell phone violation. I seem to support them pretty often lately.
Heh. Good one!
Did it show what happened before the cop light cames on? Meaning, did it show them tailing you for a few minutes before they pulled you over?
From my personal experience, it’s possible to get an “expert” to prove any point you wish. There is an “expert” here in town employed by a local attorney that *guarantees *he can beat any drunk-driving charges, because he can always find a procedural flaw of some kind. A cousin of mine (who was as guilty as sin, by the way) beat his charges using this lawyer’s services.
It depends. I wasn’t a witness to the incident. Why did he ask you, “So, what should I call you?” I’ve never had a cop ask me that-- it seems like an odd question, if it was out of the blue. Were you complaining about being called by your first name?
Refusing to take a blood test would make them suspicious automatically. I’ve been in four car accidents in my life, and never once has the cop asked for one. They have suggested transporting me to make sure I’m not injured, but they have never wanted to test me for drinking. Again, they must have had suspicions.
I am not a doctor, but I don’t believe that using rubbing alcohol to swab the arm would taint the test results. Just because they’re both called “alcohol” doesn’t mean that they’re chemically the same. (If you drank isopropyl alcohol, you would die.)
This site says much the same:
(Emphasis mine).
Unless you’re positively certain that the hospital utilized the ethanol-based rubbing alcohol and poked her while her arm was still wet, I’d say this doesn’t hold water.
Oh, please. Really-- this is an OJ-style defense. Mix-ups are extremely infrequent, especially since they probably affixed a lable immediately, nor did they likely have a lot of blood-alcohol tests to do that evening, if you’re in a small area. It may pass legal muster if you’re fighting evidence in court, but the chances of it actually happening is pretty slim.
Again, I am not a doctor, but it seems very strange to me that a single glass of wine would remain detectable in the blood stream more than two hours later, especially after consuming a meal. It should have been well metabolized by then.This article seems to support it:
(Emphasis mine)
After two hours and a meal, she should have been clean.
I assume this was done by a judge?
Just a note to you, everyone else can disregard. The two biggest national police organizations are the FOP and the PBA. In NJ the vast majority of departments are affiliated with the PBA. The state policy for the PBA (I’m pretty sure it’s anational policy too) is that there will be no phone solicitations only by mail. The mail solicitations can be easily verified as real. If you get a call claiming to be from the PBA it is a scam. If it is from the FOP it may be from them. IMHO the FOP will whore itself for money any chance it gets. I have no idea where the money goes but it doesn’t go to your local department.
Thank you,
Pretty much what I thought and what I have heard.
As I said, I only give directly to the local Dept. The check goes directly to their address.
Jim
[QUOTE=Gozu]
Ok so I have a crappy keyboard that sticks as well as a typing handicap. I don’t expect you to meet every police officer to pass judgement. You shouldn’t be passing judgement at all. What would you call me if I passed judgement on a particular ethnic group because I met a few “bad” ones? Prejudiced would be the least of it. I think that word works for what you are. What other groups of people are you prejudiced against?
I hope you realize that unless you are talking about dealing a marijuana arrest usually consists of a summons and a small fine if convicted. It usually takes a little more time than getting a speeding ticket. I won’t presume to know about the laws in all 50 states so if there are examples of differences I believe you. I know it’s been done to death here before. Still comparing it to those felonies is like comparing apples and Toyotas.
Loach:
Just curious are you Local or State?
If local are you Rural, Suburban or City?
Or if willing, what township are you with? (My Email is public if you want to answer but not post).
Jim
Depends on the department. More and more are going in that direction. You are more likely to see higher education requirements on departments that pay more. There is usually a large number of applicants for few jobs, higher requirements cut down on the number of applicants. Most departments that I know of tend to want slightly older and more experienced recruits than what was normal in years past. I can’t tell you what every department requires but I’ll give you an example from around here. The New Jersey State Police requires each new recruit to have a bachelors degree or an Associates degree and four years active duty military.