Re: Questions answered here
Here anyone arrested is issued a citation, but the signature line we write held to post bond. Signing the bond form when released is the same as the ticket.<br />Here we are required to use a field sobriety test at the scene. This is for porbable cause only. After arrest we are required to administer a blood or breath test. This one is also required by law to submit. He may have refused this test. Either way the state must have either a printed card fvrom the second alcohol test or lab reports from the blood test. If he was accused of refusal when he did submit, then he needs to get a lawyer and fight it. Some departments don't use their in car cameras unless the defense requests the tape. He needs to have his lawyer file discovery motions to get any and all evidence and reports. <br />Most states do have a drunk-per-say law. If they can prove he was under the influence even if he is below the legal limit then he can still be prosecuted. Sounds like he is getting the shaft from a dirty cop, or he is mistaken about what happened. What you are describing is wrong of the officer, and he is definately a butt monkey or worse.<br />Thanks 12footer, I was having a bad day last week. Got accused of improper activity while on duty, only problem is I was gone on vacation. Stupid rumors. Anyway the boss didn't believe a word of it but still made me mad.<br />The B&E question is a hard one. ALl situations are different. We are very limited on manpower too, and try to make all calls immediately. Some do have to wait though. They are dispatched by priority, not monetary value lost because the old womans cat in the tree is just as important to her as the man who had his home burglarized. They are dispatched as first come first served after public safety has been secured.<br />Burglaries and thefts are so hard because there is never any evidence left. Finger prints are good, but they are a television thing. In 10 years I have never made a case on prints. They are just too fragile of evidence. The hardest thing is finding a starting point. At the local lake we get a lot of theft calls from campers. There will be 15,000 people there on any summer weekend, all from out of the area. Finding where to start and who to point to is impossible unless we have a witness. Usually we know our locals M/O and start there. Most of the time we do reports for the victims insurance and file it as unsolved in the file that matches. If people have serial numbers (usually not) we take that information and enter the items NCIC in case they turn up later. Then behind the scenes I will hit up all of my informants since drugs and theft are always related. We work them a lot behind the scenes. Sadly for lack of physical evidence and lack of manpower most go unsolved. Even catching a turd with the goods, we probably won't get a conviction on the theft. <br />Last summer I caught a kid who stole a 4 wheeler. He bragged to friends, borrowed ramps to load it on the day of the theft. I recovered the ATV in a vacant building near his home, he had re-painted it. I got receipts from the local parts store where he purchased the same paint, caught him with spray cans lab matching the paint used, found his tire tracks at teh scene (each of the 4 tires different tread) found his footprints at the scene. Could not get a conviction because of a lack of physical evidence!<br />I carry a 40 cal baretta. I use hydroshock hollow points with what is supposed to be an armor peircing tip inside of the hallowpoint. I use this for maximum stopping power. I want to end the threat with one shot. I also have in my car a mini14, and a 12 guage. The guage uses 00buck and slugs. The buck is for close range, inside a house etc where I don't want to punch through a wall and hurt anyone else, slugs are for bustin barricades. Also have bean bag rounds for less than lethal.<br />The coffee break, tempted to but no. Liability is too high, and big brother is always watching!<br />Long reply but I enjoy answering questions.
