TheeBadOne
Member
moa
They also hired a boat load of cops to do it.
They also hired a boat load of cops to do it.
"to protect and serve" or "to sit around on my lazy **s and collect a paycheck"?
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greyhound
Member
Lots of good points here.
Seems to me that "getting tough on crime" is always a big plus at election time.
However, if what feedthehogs said is correct, I don't think when citizens call for "getting tough on crime" they don't mean to go out and buy go-fast boats, SWAT teams, or ghillie suits. "Getting tough on crime" to the average Joe is giving a crap about property crime like someone trying to steal your car at the local mall.
I personally would be glad to pay more in taxes for more patrol as long as my money isn't used for militarizing the police force.
Seems to me that "getting tough on crime" is always a big plus at election time.
However, if what feedthehogs said is correct, I don't think when citizens call for "getting tough on crime" they don't mean to go out and buy go-fast boats, SWAT teams, or ghillie suits. "Getting tough on crime" to the average Joe is giving a crap about property crime like someone trying to steal your car at the local mall.
I personally would be glad to pay more in taxes for more patrol as long as my money isn't used for militarizing the police force.
armoredman
Member
To protect and serve is the same motto of my Dept, and MEANS NOTHING! Federal courts have ruled that the law enforcement community has NO legal obligation to defend/protect the individual citizen barring a personal relationship with the LE in a specific case.
We are underfunded, officers leave every day to make more in civvie jobs, our equipment is 20 years old, training inadeqaute, but by gum we can shovel money out the door for artwork, scuplture everyone hates, mayoral pay raises, subsidies for everyone with a hand out, but dear Harry, not for LE, no, no the evil LE!
We are underfunded, officers leave every day to make more in civvie jobs, our equipment is 20 years old, training inadeqaute, but by gum we can shovel money out the door for artwork, scuplture everyone hates, mayoral pay raises, subsidies for everyone with a hand out, but dear Harry, not for LE, no, no the evil LE!
Feedthehogs-
I'm certainly not going to defend the budgeting decision of every police department out there. Heck, I cannot do it with my own. However, if you will check out how purchases and finance are conducted in departments, you will find that such purchases and creation of units often, if not always, requires the approval of the governmen entity responsible for the department. Read: the politicians OKed it, or even insisted on it (happens more often than you would think), and the people elect the politicians. I hate to say "write your congressman," but thats where its coming from. That said, do departments waste money on stupid things at times? Sure. Welcome to government work. But in general, its not like the department is given $100,000 and has freedom to decide between an "unneeded" armored vehicle or hiring two more street officers. Such decisions are made by city councils, or legislatures, or what have you.
Besides, you might be startled to know what happens that doesn't make the news. SWAT teams and command vans and stuff like that get used more times and in more ways than one might realizie. Also, they're the sort of thing that you could go ten years without "needing" (depending on how you wish to define 'need'), but when you need them, you need them really badly, and you need them RIGHT FRICKEN NOW. Not, actually, unlike defensive firearms. As a group, we tend to let our concern about no-knock raids and cops having toys that others cannot overwhelm our reason, and its always so easy to decide that The Thing I Don't Like is all bad and no good. Reality, however, is complex.
Can you imagine the whinging we would send up if some major disaster happened and the local cops were unable to do anything in a coordinated manner? What do you mean they have no mobile command post? My God. Those worthless, inept, do-nothing... etc.
Mike
PS Take today: I went run-to-run, had one 20 minute period where I was not sent a run, and for the entire shift we took NO accident reports on non-injury accidents. We were 10 runs in the hole when I went on shift, and 14 in the hole when I left. Thats on one precinct. And its only gonna get worse until the city decides to spend money on putting officers on the street.
I'm certainly not going to defend the budgeting decision of every police department out there. Heck, I cannot do it with my own. However, if you will check out how purchases and finance are conducted in departments, you will find that such purchases and creation of units often, if not always, requires the approval of the governmen entity responsible for the department. Read: the politicians OKed it, or even insisted on it (happens more often than you would think), and the people elect the politicians. I hate to say "write your congressman," but thats where its coming from. That said, do departments waste money on stupid things at times? Sure. Welcome to government work. But in general, its not like the department is given $100,000 and has freedom to decide between an "unneeded" armored vehicle or hiring two more street officers. Such decisions are made by city councils, or legislatures, or what have you.
Besides, you might be startled to know what happens that doesn't make the news. SWAT teams and command vans and stuff like that get used more times and in more ways than one might realizie. Also, they're the sort of thing that you could go ten years without "needing" (depending on how you wish to define 'need'), but when you need them, you need them really badly, and you need them RIGHT FRICKEN NOW. Not, actually, unlike defensive firearms. As a group, we tend to let our concern about no-knock raids and cops having toys that others cannot overwhelm our reason, and its always so easy to decide that The Thing I Don't Like is all bad and no good. Reality, however, is complex.
Can you imagine the whinging we would send up if some major disaster happened and the local cops were unable to do anything in a coordinated manner? What do you mean they have no mobile command post? My God. Those worthless, inept, do-nothing... etc.
Mike
PS Take today: I went run-to-run, had one 20 minute period where I was not sent a run, and for the entire shift we took NO accident reports on non-injury accidents. We were 10 runs in the hole when I went on shift, and 14 in the hole when I left. Thats on one precinct. And its only gonna get worse until the city decides to spend money on putting officers on the street.
Heck Mike, there were times in Brooklyn we`d start or end the tour holding 100+ jobs. You couldn`t respond to a job with out being flagged down on the street for another one.:banghead:
We`d take 3 or 4 jobs at a time to try and keep up but if they kept coming it was useless.
If you collared up that finished the sector car for the tour. The desk Lt. called me in on busy Sat. night to arrest a walk in who had a set of brass knuckles. He wanted to be arrested because he thought someone was after him. I would`ve taken the knuckles and tossed him out on his ear but the boss is always right. On the up side, I was OOS for the rest of the tour and made some O.T.
BTW, even though it`s in the contract, a meal is a priviledge, not a right.
We`d take 3 or 4 jobs at a time to try and keep up but if they kept coming it was useless.
If you collared up that finished the sector car for the tour. The desk Lt. called me in on busy Sat. night to arrest a walk in who had a set of brass knuckles. He wanted to be arrested because he thought someone was after him. I would`ve taken the knuckles and tossed him out on his ear but the boss is always right.
On the up side, I was OOS for the rest of the tour and made some O.T.BTW, even though it`s in the contract, a meal is a priviledge, not a right.
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