Contrary to what I have been reading, it is not always up to the cop to write a citation or not. In most jurisdictions an officer has to turn in a log sheet or worksheet at the end of his/her shift accounting for your activities. If you make a contact (see a misdemeanor being committed) some jurisdictions require that a citation be issued and if not you get into a lot of hot water. If you fail to log it you are also in hot water if anything comes up later.
I have thought long and hard about even responding further to this subject, but you know me, can't keep my big mouth shut.
I just wonder what the heck is the matter with some of you guys? Who would want to live in a town where a police department got to decide which laws they wanted to enforce and just ignored the others? Ok, so why didn't he go and catch real crooks instead of issueing the citations? I hear that all the time and frankly it's a stupid remark. Anyone who would say that hasn't a clue about crime, the police or society in general. Do you have any idea how many serious felonies are solved from enforcing misdemeanor laws? I do. Probably many more time that than those from true assigned investigations! Who do you think makes all the really big drug busts? Traffic cops that's who. Check your newspapers. Every day some traffic stop nets thousands of grams of cocaine or heroin or whatever the drug of choice is at the time. What do you think is the greatest cause of violent deaths and loss of property? Traffic accidents! Even with strict enforcement about 55,000 souls, men women and children die each year on our highways, usually caused by excessive speed. Can you imagine what it would be if there was no citations issued or no enforcement at all? I do. It would be in the millions! More people are killed and/or mangled in one year on our highways than from the entire span of the war in VietNam, and we as a society couldn't live with the war in 'Nam! The property loss is in the multimillions, several times over what is lost in thefts. (But that was 20 years ago. It's probably in the billions of dollars now). Quotas? I never had a quota and I didn't ever talk to a cop from another city that did. True, there are some speed traps usually located in small towns where they depend on traffic fines for the city finances. I don't condone that at all. That is wrong. My state recently passed a law to curtail speed traps. Quotas in real police departments? Never. But if you were an officer and went 8 hours without seeing even one traffic violation you were either lieing or asleep, or both!! Who wants that kind of officer "protecting" you or your family? I know. Noone!
Donuts? Well, you got me there!
I do/ did like donuts. Coffee too. That's probably why I have stents in my arteries now! Truth of the matter is that when I was a rookie cop if it hadn't been for "Mr. Donut" or some other such franchise I would have had to go without eating the entire shift as I got paid so poorly. $250.00 a month before deductions didn't go far even in '60s dollars. I lived on that and TV dinners for the best part of 3 years before we got even a token raise. My first raise put me into a higher income tax bracket and my net takehome pay was reduced by $3.00 a month! And that was touted by the politicians as the biggest pay raise in police history! We couldn't keep an officer long enough to make him a "good" officer. And yes, it was my choice. I could have made much more money in some other occupation all those years. But I felt a moral obligation to stay after seeing some of the things I saw, especially when children were involved. So I am not crying or asking for sympathy, rather asking for a little less harsh judgement from you the critics. And I ask not for me but for the guys and gals still in that line of work. Yes some of them are on a power trip, some of them are not sincere and worse of all some are down right crooked. But that happens in all professions and in police work you don't last long or wind up in prison for crossing the line.
Well, I've vented and sorry if I offended. Please don't take it personal, it wasn't meant to be hurtful and for that I apologize. And for the guys who got the citation for metal detecting, I'm sorry that happend and this is not directed at you personally. The end. M
nty
and this junk about obeying the code of ethics, well the code of ethics should be bent a little just like that cop should have bent the law.
but thats an different topic altogether.)
