The Sheriff's Office is a completely separate entity from the governing authority. They can't leverage us to do anything. We don't work for them. They have no command and control over us. Period. The Sheriff is the legal level of control. He and he alone is the boss. There is absolutely no financial gain for us for writing tickets. None. There is nothing to leverage. Period.
I'm speaking from a GA law perspective. I can't tell you how they do it Cleveland, but this is the law in GA and all 159 counties in this state.
One more time, please do not turn this thread into another tiresome thread on "revenue generation."
I had an ER nurse in a class. I noticed she kept taking all head shots. Her response when asked why, "'I've seen too many people who have been shot in the chest putting up a fight in the ER." Point taken.
Read the original article and post things relevant to it, or not. But, this isn't the thread to air your personal grievances against specific policing policies.
I'm as pro-freedom as anyone, and just as critical of police when it's warranted, but this isn't the bitch about the cops in general thread. Please and thank you.
I've pointed out to people how the whole "revenue generation" thing is false economy, it costs more to write tickets than you make off of them, and a myriad of other arguments. I might as well be trying to convert an ISIS henchman to Buddhism for all the listening that they do, and the "yeah, but"s I get.
Anyway, a really good article, and thanks for posting it.
In a six degrees of separation kind of way, most people have a horror story concerning themselves or someone they know being pulled over by a cop who was an absolute xxxxxxx. That trauma colors peoples' perception of law enforcement for many years to come and it's disproportionate in its effect. One unprofessional cop more than makes up for nine good ones.
Without trying to get into the sociology of it all, it's easy to understand why people in government subsidized projects view the police as an occupying army. The militarization of police forces hasn't helped in that regard but it keeps the police safer. The irony is that law abiding people who live in high crime areas still have a love/hate relationship with cops. "The New Centurions" is a timely today as when it was written.
I now like to read the comments on the local newspaper's website, particularly the crime stories; the comments are a good barometer of anti-cop feeling, which are way stronger than I ever would have thought. In the suburbs of New York City, for example, it usually revolves around the incredible (as in can't be believed) police salaries and the perception of how little work is done for these salaries as compared to the police who work in the cities.
Closing, I'll include a video making the rounds today of a cop saving a women he had just pulled over from choking. This deep down is what most cops want to be, it's only that they have lousy clients that keep this from being the norm.
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/vi...oman.wood.html
There is no militarization of the police. Period.
Moon bat conspiracy nuts to the contrary.
Recently I heard one of the reasons some people think "militarization" is cargo pants. Seriously?
The "traditional" uniform so many of these folks think of as "police" came from where? Blue is traditional in LE for what reason?
It flatters you due to your eye color?
The police uniform is a tradition as old as the field of law enforcement itself In 1829 the first modem police force, the London Metropolitan Police, developed the first standard police apparel. These first police officers, the famous "Bobbies" of London, were issued a dark blue, paramilitary-style uniform.. The color blue was chosen to distinguish the police from the British military who wore red and white uniforms at the time. The first official police force in the United States was established in the city of New York in 1845. Based on the London police, the New York City Police Department adopted the dark blue uniform in 1853, Other cities, such as Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Detroit quickly followed suit by establishing police departments based on the London model, including the adoption of the dark blue, paramilitary-style uniform.
It's false economy. In just about any geographic area, higher paying agencies pay less per officer because they face fewer lawsuits related officer misconduct. There's a very small pool of people that are qualified to be police officers, higher paying agencies have the purchasing power to hire and train qualified candidates or better hire qualified officers that were trained by a lower paying agency. Lower paying agencies can't hire and/or retain good officers.
Don't think blue goes with dark brown, I'd have to defer to folks with fashion sense as I have none.
In the US, mainly out east, it was mainly due to hand-me-down uniforms from the Union army. ETA; apparently out west as well; http://www.laphs.org/docs/blue-in-history-section.pdf
Coppers getting free stuff from the .mil, shocking militarization of the police!!!!!!!!, it was just 150 years ago is all.
Wish I had a copy of the pic of some of our cops from back in the 1890s posing next to the department Gatling gun.
Who wore the "Smokey the Bear" hat first, cops or doughboys?........................
Who issued .38 revolvers first, the Army or the po-po?...................
Last edited by Chuck Haggard; 08-13-2014 at 02:03 PM.