I have been out of town for a couple of weeks, away from email, and am just
now catching up.....
Jon, we are friends, but in my opinion you are totally out of line with this
line of thinking. Just because you have been harrassed, with questionable
reason, does not necessarily mean that all those fitting your description
are harrassed. Have you done research to prove that the majority of cops
abuse the system? If so, I would like to see your report....Most cops,
including me, do not particularly care to go to court unless there is good
reason, and a sure conviction. Most cops will not waste time with petty
traffic citations just to make numbers. Numbers do not necessarily equate
to traffic citations. Numbers, for our department anyway, meant personal
contacts and other activity, whether or not a citation was issued. And,
although some departments may establish quotas where traffic citations are
concerned, the great majority do not. Yep, in Texas, there are podunk
police departments all over the state, and a lot of them are primarily there
for one thing, traffic tickets mean money in the city coffers. Why else
would a city of less than 200 people require a police department of multiple
officers on duty at any one time? But even at that, you can't blame the
officers if he is in fact only doing his job, and he cites someone for a
blatant violation. Texas legislature could take a cue from some other
states and halt this kind of police activity by legislating city police
courts out of business. Most states have a district court system that does
not allow local governments to reap the profits of multiple traffic
citations by having the district courts collect the fine, pending
conviction, and turning it over to the state, which in turn distributes that
money to jurisdictions all over the state to operate the district court
systems. And to be perfectly honest, I too believe that MOST cops do not
abuse the system, and if that makes me part of the problem, then so be it.
Admittedly, there are a few who find power of the badge too much to resist
the temptation to play God, but those are far and few between. I worked for
27 years in a department of 400 plus sworn officers, and more than 40
non-sworn safety officers. I saw officers come and go during that time,
several due to the inability to perform rationally in certain situations, or
unable to resist temptations presented to them in other situations. But, by
and large we all wanted to go home at the end of the shift, and the great
majority of us were not eager to up the odds of not going home by harrassing
some innocent hippy-looking guy or girl, just because of their appearance.
And the cops I knew would much prefer to give folks the benifit of the doubt
rather than spend time in court that could be spent sleeping or attending
classes. "Dignified yuppie types" were no more of a target than "hippie
types" when it came to writing citations. It was a matter of who broke
laws, and how blantant or dangerous the violation. I would much prefer to
write a violator for blatantly running a red light or stop sign than write
someone for minor speeding, and it is my belief that most officers feel that
way. After all, which is more dangerous? As for the "great blue wall,"
without it our society would be subject to a hell of a lot more harrassment
than from a few bad cops. Think about it the next time you need one...
Phil O.
-----Original Message-----
From: jon e prevo <tcbracer@juno.com>
To: goodale7@gateway.net <goodale7@gateway.net>
Cc: autox@autox.team.net <autox@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, June 29, 2000 11:54 AM
Subject: Re: Maps and window decals
>
>
>On Thu, 29 Jun 2000 07:58:42 -0600 "goodale7" <goodale7@gateway.net>
>writes:
>>
>> As a member of the Law Enforcement community I take exception to
>> this.
>> I've written a lot more tickets to "$30K plus Bimmers" than "$3K
>> Hondas". But I get a lot more lip from the teenager in the $3K
>> Honda.
>> Please don't put us all in one group.
>
>By taking exception can we assume that it is your opinion that the
>majority of traffic cops don't abuse the system? If so, then just
>consider yourself part of the problem. I have found in situation after
>situation that patrolmen are encouraged to find any defensible excuse to
>ticket and/or unnecessarily subjugate any motorist who seems vulnerable.
>Until police departments stop basing their success on ticket and
>conviction quotas, all you self-righteous cops out there only make the
>problem worse by ignoring it and refusing to acknowledge it. Cops pick
>on kids with hotrods because they don't expect any intelligent defense.
>They pick on hippies like myself for the same reason, under the guise of
>"he looks suspicious," and because they equate long hair, old cars and
>work clothes with crime and stupidity. Cops stay away from dignified
>yuppy types because they smell too much like legal defense.
>
>Admit it and quit covering up for the great "blue wall" and you will
>deserve to be held outside the group.
>
>Jon FP 73
>Drives safely and responsibly, no tickets in 12 years.
>Stopped and harrassed for various reasons 10 times in same period.
>"I could tell you were nervous from the way you kept glancing at me in
>your mirror."
>"I couldn't see your inspection sticker clearly [headed opposite
>direction on 5-lane divided hwy at 45 mph]"
>"It looked like your license plate light was out."
>"Just checking to make sure your kids were buckled (!)."
>Wanna hear more?
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