deputydawg
Lieutenant Commander
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2004
- Messages
- 1,607
Re: Police and Seatbelts
Just got back online after a long week of 78 hours, had to jump on this one. <br />First here in nebraska the seat belt law is secondary to a citation. Meaning a person has to be isued a ticket for something else first. Not just stopped, but issued a citation.<br />Next, how can it be about the money? I know some states the cities actually get the money back into their budget, but it goes into general funds. Cops can not draw from general funds in most states, so why do we care? In my state the money from citations goes to the schools. It supplements the state monies put into the schools. if the local school here needs $500,000 to operate for a year they get $500,000 from the state. If we generate $100,000 in fine money then the school gets that $100,000 and the state kicks in $400,000. What do I care if the state saves a few bucks with my local school. There is nothing there that helps me directly, or my department. The judge likes it because for every ticket he gets $1 added to his retirement fund. My 200 tickets a year really will by his yacht when he retires in a few years. So no, HERE it is not about the money.<br />To answer the questions, NO we usually do not have anything better to do that harass those poor innocent whiney childish motorists that are breaking the laws. MY job is to enforce the laws, so why in the world would I ever want to make sure everyone that is EVERYONE is obeying those laws. Yes, with high crime rates we do SOMETIMES have better things to do. I spend most of my time on criminal investigations, but on those days when there are no investigations or I am completely burned out from trying to find out how a teenager came to end their own life, or why grandpa decided to touch his 3 year old in an adult manner, yes I like to unwind by writing innocent people tickets to save the state that $25. <br />OH yeah, I do love scraping bodies off of the roads because they have been thrown from their vehicle in front of a speeding semi. Yes, been there done that. See that once you will change your mind. Yes, it was that motorists own decision. They took their life in their hands. It was and should have been his decision to go un-belted. It was also hios decision to make his 4 year old sit in the car seat wondering why daddy is laying on the highway hurt for 10 minutes until one of us pond scum found the time to go help. It was his decision to give us first responders the memory we will live with for the rest of our lives. I really enjoy people that give me the oppurtunity to see their broken bodies. <br />How upset would everyone here be if someone was speeding past your home while your child or grandchild was in the front yard playing? Now how upset would you be if a cop was sitting there watching that motorist speed by and did nothing for fear of being accused of harassing that poor motorist? But that would be different wouldn't it?<br />I have to admit I am a hypocrit though, I do not wear my seatbelt around town. I do on the highway because I have seen what happens in most cases when poeple don't. I must also admit I have only written about 4 or 5 seat belt tickets in my 10 year carreer. <br />The click it or ticket is a national deal put on by the national highway safety department. They gete no extra money from tickets issued. They do a lot of work for traffic safety, car seat clinics, all kind of demonstrations. Last year and this year our department participated. The only thing we got in return is some overtime money for our deputies and a digital camera. The only thing this is is a media campaign. We as a department do a survey to report how many people are using seat belts. We submit this infgormation. If our area is the highest in the state for seat belt use we get a grant for a peice of needed equipment. MOST departments rely on grants for everything, and with homeland security and the way the economy is going the grants are about gone. We don't get more money for each ticket, all we get is a chance to report the usage in our area. <br />Now, I am sorry that I came off like this. From behind the badge I can say that it gets old people complaining that we do not do our job, then complaining when we do. I guess we are a figure to sit on a shelf to be taken down and flashed around whenever someone feels threatened then put away until next time? I hope by my rantings someone will think next time, what is that cop doing? Instead of immediately going off making assumptions, think of what is really happening. Then maybe make a set of rules that we are supposed to do unless this or that, then change them to fit your needs. <br />Better yet, if you are curious about cops or don't think they do their job right, check into your local department. Most have ride along programs. Take a few nights out from behind your safe secure locked door and see what they are really doing. I have opened more peoples eyes this way. When anyone complains I invite them to ride. Most have a great eye opener. <br />Again I am sorry for offending anyone with my harsh opinion. Now I am going to go back and harass more innocent people breaking the law, or maybe see if I can determine which ones the law applies to and which ones it does not. And then I will wait patiently for Monday night at 6P.M. when I go off duty. I hear a lake and a fishing pole calling my name!
Just got back online after a long week of 78 hours, had to jump on this one. <br />First here in nebraska the seat belt law is secondary to a citation. Meaning a person has to be isued a ticket for something else first. Not just stopped, but issued a citation.<br />Next, how can it be about the money? I know some states the cities actually get the money back into their budget, but it goes into general funds. Cops can not draw from general funds in most states, so why do we care? In my state the money from citations goes to the schools. It supplements the state monies put into the schools. if the local school here needs $500,000 to operate for a year they get $500,000 from the state. If we generate $100,000 in fine money then the school gets that $100,000 and the state kicks in $400,000. What do I care if the state saves a few bucks with my local school. There is nothing there that helps me directly, or my department. The judge likes it because for every ticket he gets $1 added to his retirement fund. My 200 tickets a year really will by his yacht when he retires in a few years. So no, HERE it is not about the money.<br />To answer the questions, NO we usually do not have anything better to do that harass those poor innocent whiney childish motorists that are breaking the laws. MY job is to enforce the laws, so why in the world would I ever want to make sure everyone that is EVERYONE is obeying those laws. Yes, with high crime rates we do SOMETIMES have better things to do. I spend most of my time on criminal investigations, but on those days when there are no investigations or I am completely burned out from trying to find out how a teenager came to end their own life, or why grandpa decided to touch his 3 year old in an adult manner, yes I like to unwind by writing innocent people tickets to save the state that $25. <br />OH yeah, I do love scraping bodies off of the roads because they have been thrown from their vehicle in front of a speeding semi. Yes, been there done that. See that once you will change your mind. Yes, it was that motorists own decision. They took their life in their hands. It was and should have been his decision to go un-belted. It was also hios decision to make his 4 year old sit in the car seat wondering why daddy is laying on the highway hurt for 10 minutes until one of us pond scum found the time to go help. It was his decision to give us first responders the memory we will live with for the rest of our lives. I really enjoy people that give me the oppurtunity to see their broken bodies. <br />How upset would everyone here be if someone was speeding past your home while your child or grandchild was in the front yard playing? Now how upset would you be if a cop was sitting there watching that motorist speed by and did nothing for fear of being accused of harassing that poor motorist? But that would be different wouldn't it?<br />I have to admit I am a hypocrit though, I do not wear my seatbelt around town. I do on the highway because I have seen what happens in most cases when poeple don't. I must also admit I have only written about 4 or 5 seat belt tickets in my 10 year carreer. <br />The click it or ticket is a national deal put on by the national highway safety department. They gete no extra money from tickets issued. They do a lot of work for traffic safety, car seat clinics, all kind of demonstrations. Last year and this year our department participated. The only thing we got in return is some overtime money for our deputies and a digital camera. The only thing this is is a media campaign. We as a department do a survey to report how many people are using seat belts. We submit this infgormation. If our area is the highest in the state for seat belt use we get a grant for a peice of needed equipment. MOST departments rely on grants for everything, and with homeland security and the way the economy is going the grants are about gone. We don't get more money for each ticket, all we get is a chance to report the usage in our area. <br />Now, I am sorry that I came off like this. From behind the badge I can say that it gets old people complaining that we do not do our job, then complaining when we do. I guess we are a figure to sit on a shelf to be taken down and flashed around whenever someone feels threatened then put away until next time? I hope by my rantings someone will think next time, what is that cop doing? Instead of immediately going off making assumptions, think of what is really happening. Then maybe make a set of rules that we are supposed to do unless this or that, then change them to fit your needs. <br />Better yet, if you are curious about cops or don't think they do their job right, check into your local department. Most have ride along programs. Take a few nights out from behind your safe secure locked door and see what they are really doing. I have opened more peoples eyes this way. When anyone complains I invite them to ride. Most have a great eye opener. <br />Again I am sorry for offending anyone with my harsh opinion. Now I am going to go back and harass more innocent people breaking the law, or maybe see if I can determine which ones the law applies to and which ones it does not. And then I will wait patiently for Monday night at 6P.M. when I go off duty. I hear a lake and a fishing pole calling my name!
