Re: My turn to rant
OK, I'm not going to get all excited here, just wanted to clear a thing or two up. <br /><br />SBN, I can't speak for all Cops, no more than you can speak for every man in your trade. The ones that work for me, pretty much know where I stand. WE ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW, we are Law ENFORCEMENT Officers. Just because the law gives allowances for Troopers, Deputies, and Officers in the Performance of their Duties, it DOES NOT, at any time, relieve them from Responsibility of their actions. That is why it is so important to get good qualified Officers, that can make good rational decisions, to be responsible enough to be inventive, and tactful, in providing qualified service to the Community. <br />Like it or not, there are situations where lights and sirens hinder a promp response to Officers getting to a scene. The down side of this is, Officers responding in this way, should be very cautious, and know that if they are the cause of an accident, they are Criminally and Civilly responsible for their actions. At no time was I condoning driving 80 plus MPH in heavy conjested traffic, or Subdivisions. Even though I will admit to Pursuing an Armed Robbery suspect in a Subdivision at 70 MPH, but it was at 5 in the morning, and I did have lights and Siren blasting. <br /><br />BubbaKat, I'm glad I got to read your post before you edited it. I thought it was a good reply, and I understand where your coming from.<br /><br />OB, Never, was what said, meant that other folks don't work hard, but if you'd see a few of these guys in this town leaning on shovels and planting flowers and trees, beautifing the city, while we get told there is no money in the budget for a raise, except for every 4th year at Election time, knowing he making the same pay, with almost the same benefits as you, with no pressure of Post Certifications, yearly re-certifications, anually First Aid Certifications, with the knowledge of getting personally sued for any minor mistake in trying to do his duty, doesn't bother the guys you have carrying guns, someone needs to go back to the drawing board and think this over again. I seriously doubt that the City Maintenance workers have as many law suits filed against them as Officers. Like I told SBN above, that is why it is important to get qualified Officers on the road, and the way the system is going now, it is hard to attract smart men with thier act together, with common sense to take the risks, for the amount of pay, when it is easier for them to make the same pay doing less, or a job with less risk to their health or loss of income in a law-suit. Hopefully, now you know what I was trying to say. <br /><br />Also OB, if you read my first reply, I did say, that I had lights and siren blaring, when approaching the intersection that got blocked off from the Median to the Shoulder. I agree that most drivers do keep their eyes forward, but they should have Mirrors, and they should use them more often than combing their Mustache, or putting on Eyeliner. Also if they are not Hearing impaired, "I suffer from hearing loss" they should be able to hear one approaching, and know what to do when an Emergancy Vehicle is approaching. Again, I'm not condoning a Missle, but you should hear some of the penny anti complaints I get. Most that wouldn't even be a complaint if they were following the law themselves. Look at how many people went into an Uproar when Troopers started running rolling roadblocks. I see citizens every day running rolling roadblocks, then say, I was driving the speed limit. Well, the left lane is the fast lane, it is made to over take a vehicle and get back into the right lane, leaving the left lane open for faster and Emergancy Traffic. It is not a citizens job to slow the other speeders down, let them go, they'll run into radar somewhere up the road. <br /><br />Ebb, thanks for the kind remarks, and I appoligize if I was the one that blew the crome off your door handle.
I do allow my guys to blow the sut out their engines on the Interstate, but I do suggest that they do it on Sunday morning, preferably at 3 or 4 am, when there is less traffic, and the drunks have made it home. City Officers w/interseptor engines, patroling in conjested areas, or slow moving burglar patrols, need to be blown out once in a while, or the Captain gets grouchy when they have to change those expensive sensors that carbon up. <br /><br />Kenneth Brown, you proved what I was saying above, the officer that was clocked at 90 plus in a 35 should have never happened. In fact, he should have never been hired after pulling a gun on another officer and being fired from the first agency. I guess it is hard to find qualified people, when you have to hire other agencies rejects. We just don't have enough good citizens with common sense applying for the job, these days. I also agree, I don't make it a practice to speed for no reason, but I ain't gonna sit here and lie, and say I've never sped when I didn't have too. It happens, we are human, we make mistakes, we have bad days, we make a bad decision every now and then. The down side is we have a few seconds to make a decision, while a Judge and 12 jurors, have weeks to make the same decision we made in a second or two. <br /><br />Law Enforcement just keeps getting more confusing. They want us to catch a speeding idiot, or criminal, and they want us to do it with a guarantee that no one will get hurt. Sounds like a job for God if you ask me, no wonder I'm always falling short. <br />
