That's just not the job you're payed to do. Police, being selected from the populace at large, will have various competencies, attitudes and prejudices. You go to the call handle it and go to the next. That's what you're paid to do, that's the oath you take. Sometimes backing up another officer will be about making sure things are handled reasonably and don't run off the rails. If you can't take the heat get out of the oven.Originally Posted by Cookie Monster
-All views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect those of the author's employer-
I get it, I don't know why I am compulsive and need to reply.
God Bless the Good Cops (and probably 99% of cops even the mediocre one) - It seems like the work you do isn't worth the risk to the reward. You are a better man than I.
I think the point I was trying to make is that the incentive to do proactive policing and anything above the minimum isn't there.
I'd be out of the oven, though I never had the balls or the skill to get into it in the first place.
I am very curious to hear/see how Minneapolis and Seattle turn out, trying to keep an open mind but I have my own predictions. It would seem that these reformers want to decriminalize drugs and other things and have "police"/whatever the PC word is, go after serious crime ? But what do they consider serious enough to pursue?
I would not be surprised to hear about mass resignations/blue flu walkouts among LE. Mob justice and weak pandering pols make it not worth the risk.
Most of our vehicles were equipped with GPS units so they could be tracked. I think that happened about 7 years ago. Before that it was possible to more or less disappear. They could contact you within CP range but they didn't know exactly where you were. Now they do.
I found it interesting that the units were installed when the vehicles went in for maintenance but was never informed of that by management. I had a few friends who were mechanics so I knew when it happened.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
That held it all together for me. You signed up and once you get to the point of not doing the job you're paid to do then it's time to leave. Some of my biggest problems with people that worked for me was their attitude about their job. A few thought they were owed a pay check for just showing up. Those people went to work someplace else if they couldn't understand what was needed for them to collect a pay check. Slackers were tolerated in some departments but unfortunately I had x amount of work to do and x amount of time to do it. Time is big bucks in the construction bidness.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
And that's exactly what a lot of cops are going to do. Take their runs. Nothing more, nothing less. Little to no self-initiated activity or proactive policing. And it's exactly what the brass will want, and the politicians. Fewer proactive stops, fewer chances something goes wrong and you have to kill someone.
You get more of what you reward and less of what you punish, and the bare minimum pays exactly the same.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
Where I live there are only 10 sheriffs deputies assigned to 100 sq miles and 18000 people. If you report a property crime it will be days before anyone shows up to take a report. They have 4 hours a month to process concealed carry permits and all that is done by volunteers, not paid staff.
People here just don't rely on the sheriff that much and I don't hear a lot of complaints. Maybe that's where we're heading.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
Other than the Conservation Officers my granddad knew, I can count on one hand how many times I've seen any law enforcement out by the "old homestead".
There was also zero murders for decades-long stretches in that county. I don't think the city police or county sheriff has ever lost an officer to a shooting. As opposed to an average of roughly 3 murders a week and an officer killed every 3 years or so in my current county.
I expect it won't translate as well in urban areas.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
Officers per population probably depends on the crime rate. High crime rate, more officers. But honestly, if all the police do is show up to a crime scene and make a report, what good is a large contingent of police. If they have orders to not shoot criminals, even when attacked (Micheal Brown comes to mind) to avoid a riot, what's the point of having 17 officer per 10K (average) population?
I know you don't have an answer for that but I'm just throwing it out there for discussion. It seems to me the solution isn't more police or even better trained police. If policy is to avoid shooting criminals what is left for LE to do except patrol and write reports?
Understand that I'm not or have I ever been a LEO so this is just from the perspective of someone who doesn't know anything except what I read online and my local situation.
I expect that you feel this is all going in the wrong direction and I appreciate your input.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
I don't even know where to start on that except to say shoot criminals, patrol, and write reports aren't really all we do and shooting people is a tiny tiny part of it. An important one on occasion, but a tiny amount of our job description. Figure most officers *never* shoot anybody, some small percentage has one shooting, and a tiny percentage has more than one. I've locked up a lot of people, both as patrol and as a detective. I've done a lot of investigations leading to people being put in prison for seconds to decades (well, probably hours to decades) without shooting them. I've shot exactly one suspect.
As well as the multitude of non-law-enforcement tasks police perform.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
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