Why the police do not do their job anymore. . .

[Animal]

As a former peace officer, I feel I need to respond to the statements I've read here.
Police were intended to enforce laws. Most police forces do not issue parking tickets, these are handled by city officials and is strictly a city matter, of course this may vary depending on where you live.
Excess speed kills, period. The whole point of issuing a ticket is in homes that it will deter the offender from speeding and potentially risking innocent lives. Mix speed and alcohol and it becomes a deaadly mixture thus traffic is a very important aspect of law enforcement. Lower speeds save lives!
However, I don't believe that your beef is with your local law enforcement agency but rather with your politicians who are deciding the funding needs for the force, who are undoubtedly under funded and over worked.
Police officers put their lives on the line every shift without question and an incredibly stressful environment. Traffic stops are always an unknown.
Your friend may not have been a dangerous criminal, but he may have been so therefore backup was necessary to protect the lives of the officer and your friend.
It would be nice if we could have an officer posted on every street corner or receive tips on every robbery, murder or rape before it happens, but that is un realistic and logistically impossible so police patrol higher crime neighborhoods.
I worked both traffic and green team for four years, usually 4 ten hour shifts on and three days off. My ten hour days often turned into 13 or more hours, beause of the tremedous amount of paperwork required to be completed for something as simple as a broken taillight.
It's not a drastic restructuring of law enforcement that's required. The police are doing their jobs by enforcing the laws and a broken taillight is a ticketable offense. As for the search of the vehicle I am not privy to the entire details of the stop, but I'm sure there was sufficient suspicion to warrant a search. The police are protecting you, my friend.

[AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe]

Ticketing speeders may be a law, but a ridiculous one, reckless driving, yes that should be a ticketable offense, if you are driving out of control, even going 20 you are a danger and should be dealt with, but lets say you are on the freeway cruising at 80 and there is almost no one else on the road on a sunday afternoon, whats the point in taking radar when the police could be preventing a real crime that would have a real victim. I got a speeding ticket a while back, and in the city i live in on top of court costs, which is complete BS they made me pay a victims fee. that is completely ridiculous. And as for my friend OK he had a tail light out that he was unaware of, maybe it even burned out as he was driving to where he was going that day, they give him a ticket, maybe a bit excessive, but whatever, police like to waste everyone's time, either way what right do they have to search his car? thats a complete perversion of the bill of rights, which was set up i remind everyone by our founding fathers, who knew how valueable these rights were and knew that they needed to be protected at all costs, because one could not live in a free society if they were not guaranteed these unalienable rights. granted with slavery and women's right not everyone was entitled to these at first, and that was a travesty, and in my consideration a dark point in american history, but now everyone is 'guaranteed' these rights, but that guarantee is hollow, because it is not delivered, and the people that are mean to enforce these basical laws for the safety and well being of our society waste their time on things of much lesser importance. This whole attitude completely disgusts me, as it should any American. Even people not doing anything wrong 'fear' police harassment, and thats just not the way things were intended.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by Animal: As a former peace officer, I feel I need to respond to the statements I've readAs for the search of the vehicle I am not privy to the entire details of the stop, but I'm sure there was sufficient suspicion to warrant a search. The police are protecting you, my friend.

Animal, I agree with [edit/] most of [\edit] what you say, but I have NEVER met a peace officer who didn't believe there was sufficient suspicion to warrant a search. That's why so many searches get thrown out of court by us lawyers.

[ 09-25-2002, 05:13 PM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe: thats a complete perversion of the bill of rights, which was set up i remind everyone by our founding fathers, who knew how valueable these rights were and knew that they needed to be protected at all costs, because one could not live in a free society if they were not guaranteed these unalienable rights. .

\

Hey AzRaeL, you simply do not understand the rights you're asserting. The 4th Amendment protection in the constitution is from *UNREASONABLE* search and seizure, and was debated in the Federalist Papers when the Constitution was being drafted, as well as later when the Bill of Rights (being the first 10 amendments to the Constitution) was being put together. There are legal tests as to what constitutes "reasonable suspicion" and "probable cause" to search you in different situations - and the law differentiates between the cops' ability to search you when they fear you have a weapon as opposed to when they simply think illicit activity is afoot.

As far as privacy, that is a separate and distinct right (more or less) from the one mentioned above, and does not apply in the case where you're in your car. The "Right to Privacy" is not stated *anywhere* in the constitution or bill of rights, but is a right that has been *found* in the constitution by the Supreme Court, which says it is part of the "penumbra" of rights that "emanates" from a larger group of amendments - sort of an underlying theme that the Court found in several amendments, including the 4th Amendment. However, the Supreme Court has said there is *NO* reasonable expectation of privacy when you are in your car, which is reasonable since you're in full public view of anyone who wants to look through the window. That's why I leave my crack, heroine, and alcohol still at home. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Lord of Alcohol]

I ran a stop sign the other night. Yes I was ticketed [img]tongue.gif[/img] Sucks! But I have to admit I was guilty of the violation. Errr actually I ran two stops signs but since I was cooperative he only gave me a ticket for one. Woops!