The Rohrbaugh Forum
Miscellaneous => The Water Cooler -- General Discussions => Topic started by: PursuitSS on August 27, 2006, 07:04:25 PM
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First we pull over a vehicle that one of the four occupants was yelling unprintables at us. The jerk that yelled at us started in on us as soon as we walked up to the vehicle..................THEN the parents of one of the teenagers showed up and started to interfer with the vehicle stop.
I asked politely for them to return to their vehicle, they didn't and started in on me...............at this point I informed them to IMMEDIATELY return to their vehicle or they would be arrested!
Three hours later we are fueling up at a gas station (2 am) and a vehicle drives by and stands on it! We have to hang up the nozzle, jump in, start the vehicle and engage. The vehicle we are in pursuit of is a late model small Ford two door 4 cyl. He has almost a mile lead on us as we punch it. We are in my partners car, a 1996 Caprice 9C1 Interceptor.
If they stay on pavement they DON'T STAND A CHANCE OF SHAKING US! They didn't, they hit the first gravel road. We lose sight of them (which breaks "Fresh Pursuit" guidelines). We continue to look for them but CAN'T find them. As we are backtracking we see the vehicle parked by a house. We are out of jurisdiction so we ask for the nearest Deputy to continue on to our location.
When we go up to the house they meet us in the yard, SUPRISE,
we have arrested one of the people before (active warrant). The vehicle license checks back to the sister of the driver of the vehicle we had issues with earlier this evening. They inform us that the vehicle has not been moved since 15:00 (ELEVEN HOURS AGO), SUPRISE AGAIN.........the engine is HOT! The Deputy doesn't want to push the issue even though under current RSMO (Missouri Law) it's a FELONY!
We go back to the station and write reports............BAD night!
PursuitSS
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I wish they could be thrown in jail for a couple of years.
Bill
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PursuitSS:
Those types never learn. You'll collar them. It's only a matter of time.
Stay safe, and thank you for your service.
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A more interesting night then I had.
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Being that I furnish my own vehicle I'm considering retiring the 1996 Impala SS that I drive and picking up a 2002 LS1 Camaro B4C (Police package). I don't need the increased top end (161 mph) but I do need the off the line performance (1/4 mile in 12.9 seconds).
This situation has happened way too many times.
PursuitSS
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Pursuit - I do not envy you either your frustrations or your dangers.
Stay safe.
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They make you buy your own police car?
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Get a Ford GT ;D about 4 seconds or get a large truck with a hugh engine plow and 4 wheel drive. ::)
Tom
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They make you buy your own police car?
Small Department. It's quite common for small Departments to require their Officers to provide their patrol cars.
Get a Ford GT ;D about 4 seconds or get a large truck with a hugh engine plow and 4 wheel drive. ::)
Tom
How about this instead????
(http://www.bellum.nu/armoury/Mi24Hind.jpg)
Just kidding, I couldn't afford the fuel!
PursuitSS
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PursuitSS,
When my wife and I travel, we constantly see extreme tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, and high speeding.
I often joke that it would be nice if police could shoot one offender a day until conditions improved. Then, a decision could be made about what frequency would be best.
I am only half-serious, of course. Make that 50-70%, please.
I am a great admirer of law enforcement officers and often wave when they drive by. They probably think I'm some sort of dork.
Thank God we live in a country where the police have so much power in their hands, yet we enjoy ourselves without fear of mistreatment. I think about that often.
George Orwell said: We sleep safe in our beds only because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
Thank you, PursuitSS. You are appreciated every day.
Bill
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Thanks for the kind words, believe it or not, I do it because I enjoy it.
PursuitSS
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Persuit SS and all,
Persuit SS, thank you for your service. I do not know you but I get the feeling that you are a good Police Officer.
The problem is that about 10% of the officers out there should not be wearing the uniform and those 10% make the other 90% look very bad on many occasions. But the other problem is that the 90% of decent officers are reluctant to get the bad apples kicked off the force, it has something to do with the "thin blue line". Police forces are going to have to start dealing with the problem of bad apples because the longer they put it off, unfortunately, the public's opinion of police forces in general suffers greatly.
Read closly: I like Police, we need police but the lowered general public opinion of police officers is not solely due to the fact that the general population seems to be getting sleezier. When we see on TV where Police Officers from many jurisdictions and even some New Orleans officers were manhandleing people and confiscating private propery(guns) from people who were on there private property. That kind of image gets some people really p***** off. Of course a few weeks later a Federal Judge directed all illegally confiscated guns to be returned to their owners pronto. But what is the punishment for the officers who broke the law? Nothing. Do you know why police officers sometimes call their badge a "shield",? because it shields them from prosecution.
My intention with this post is not to stir the pot or p*** anybody off. These are simply the facts as I have come to know them in my 43 years on the planet. I am prepared for criticism but I won't be flamed.
Mike
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A few "ramblings".
A lot of what you state is true. With 680,000 Law Enforcement Officers in the US there is going to be some "bad apples". What the term "Thin Blue Line" refers to is that we are all that stands between a polite society and anarchy.
I would argue that 10% of Officers are "bad", the days of the good old boy system have pretty much passed. The reason that you hear about problems like LA's Rampart Division are that GOOD Cops turn them in. We tend to weed out the "Badge Heavy" jerks, I volunteer at the local Academy and we are always watching attitude of the cadets.
For the most part you MUST want to help your fellow man or you will not last. We had a situation a few years ago where we had a barracaded hostage situation, how can you pay the average person enough to knowingly do a dynamic entry when you know there is a stong chance of taking a round(s)? When I went in I had to clear my mind of my wife and kids and "let go". A "bad apple" will not have the internal fortitude to place his feelings aside to save someone else.
IF you are going to be a "good" Cop you have to realize that one night you might have to give it all for a stranger you have never met. My wife was an Officer for fourteen years and knows what can happen and supports my profession. (but she will NOT listen to a scanner)
PursuitSS
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Very well said.
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Persuit SS and all,
I thank you and all the good cops that help protect us all. I do support law enforcment in the best way I know how in calling for more city jails, more county jails, more state prisons and more federal prisons. The Liberals always wine and moan about how we have the largest percentage of our population of any industrialized country in the world in prison. Well WAAHH. The only solution to the problem is more judges, more prosecutors, more jail space and of course judging from some of the very evil sick crimes that I hear about on all the various news outlets, I would say that we need about 1000 executions per year in this country to start to get things straight.
Of course we could make a lot of prison space by legalizing certain drugs. But this is a non starter as if we legalized some drugs there would be a whole lot of county, state and federal law enforcement people with nothing to do. The Justice System is after all a giant goverment beurocracy and they are not about to put themselves out of a job by cutting back on the so called "War on Drugs".
Once again this is not intended to p*** anyone off. These are only my opinions and I learned long ago that my opinions don't mean S***. The world is going to do what it is going to do and there really isn't anything I can do about it.
Mike
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Umm...well, usually things stay pretty civilized here...but living in a podunk Texas county that has ended up with the biggest drug corridor in the country going through it...as long as anything is illegal, it will be smuggled, and the people involved with it will be BAD.
I really think the least a prosecutor or cop is worried about is that crime might drop so low they'd be out of a job -- do you have any idea how LITTLE a prosecutor or a judge is paid relative to an attorney in private practice? And then they have those little Mexican cartel %&% put bountys out on them, on top of being paid about half of an average salary.
The war on drugs did not make the smugglers violent, or criminal -- the possibility of large profits with little investment, and an amoral mentality created them. If drugs were legal, they'd switch toward human smuggling, or weapons, or kidnapping or extortion, or something else.
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Aglifter,
I think things are very civilized on this forum.
Now on your writings about drugs and smugglers etc. It is my opinion that it is not necessarily the drug that causes all the problems, it is the MONEY that can be made that causes most of the problems. Take the money away(legalization and regulations and inspections etc.) You know another big government beurocracy, so that people can purchase their hashish at the liquor store instead of haveing to go to the bad part of town and deal with the wrong kind of people and most of the violence associated with drugs would go away because there is no MONEY to be made. Except by the goverment of course.
You say if drugs were legal they would switch to human smuggling, well that is a whole nother topic and comparing smuggling drugs to illegal immegration is like comparing apples to oranges. As far as kidnapping of extortion goes, I think even the dope smokers would be all for our law enforcement and judicial system to put a hammer to that stuff fast. The U.S. ain't Mesico yet and kidnappings are one thing that get a lot of attention here real fast.
As far as smuggling weapons goes. I am sure that there are people in this country who would pay a lot of money for crates of AK's and RPG's but I have not heard of any for sale and I can't go to the bad part of town and buy any either.
My opinions only, Mike
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The most abused drug in the U.S. is alcohol. So you think that legalization is the answer. Pull the lifeless body of a four year old girl out of a car wreck that is the result of being hit by a drunk driver. Then try and explain to the mother of the little girl where her daughter is when she regains consciousness in the ambulance. Look at the picture the local paper prints of a State Trooper completely breaking down in tears. Then you tell me that ANY drug is "victimless".
We have WAY TOO MANY LEGAL DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!
Rant mode off.
PursuitSS
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Pursuit SS,
I understand exactly where you are comming from but what is your solution? Make alcohol illegal? That was tried once and it gave rise to the Mafia because there was money to be made.
In my opinion the solution to the alcohol/drug problem is do what you want but do it at home. If you do it out on the roads you will be hammered.
I agree with you alcohol is a problem. In contrast you don't see to many people who are just high on pot involved in a lot of terrible motor vechicle accidents. And you won't see any people on Cocain involved in many traffic accidents because these people are if anything are very ALERT. Now Meth is a different story and should be illegal as well as Narcotics because they are physically addictive.
My opinions only, Mike
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No problem...............if we adopt Bulgaria's punishment for driving under the influence.
First offense is YOUR LAST OFFENSE!!!!!!
You blow .08 on a Datamaster, you get a blindfold and cigarette. The same for ANY level of cocaine, pot, meth, etc. And if you think that pot, hash, coke, doesn't effect your reaction times do a check with your local MADD chapter. This has been tested in laboratory tests.
The last stats I saw for Bulgaria was TWO DWI's for a year.
PursuitSS 1*
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Any profession is going to have good and bad.
There is a huge difference between alcohol and many other drugs - that difference being that the level of addictiveness of alcohol is low enough so that we don't see friends of 15 years killing each other over 1 gram of it. Still, I rarely drink at all (typically 3X per year), limit myself to 2 drinks per occasion when I do, and think we treat drunk drivers way too gently. I will never understand why some people place so much importance on the waste product of the metabolism of a single celled organism.
There is an entire class of people who don't use drugs simply because they are illegal. That is why those places that have legalized drugs have turned into cesspools.
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Bill,
I reject your premis that "those places that have legalized drugs have turned into cesspools". Could you be more specific?
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Exhibit A: Amsterdam.
While the first article is a bit off topic, it does a good job of revealing just what a cesspool a society that legalizes drugs can become. While the article points to a wide range of other problems, I submit that any society that legalizes drugs also has a lot of other basic values problems that will lead to these consequences.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50472
Here is another article that describes the drug problem in Amsterdam a bit better:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21583
It would appear that those who support legalizing drugs have quite a bad example to overcome.
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Now I know why I've always had good luck with Bulgarian employees...
;D
Any employee that accepts totalitarianism works out just fine ;D ;D ;D
Maybe I'm finding myself too humorous at the moment -- don't have to be back to work until Monday...spent the last few days visting friends, fishing, shooting, cooking -- no more chocolate for at least a few more days...
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Bill,
I had a feeling you were going to say Amsterdam/Netherlands. I did not go to the links you posted. I don't have to. Amsterdam and the Netherlands is not a cesspool. Would I rather live in say Saudi Arabia or Mexico, or the Netherlands?, I would pick the Netherlands any day. But of course these are just my opinions.
Mike
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Netherlands, Mexico, or Saudi Arabia for a residence as an
American? That is a no brainer. First of all, you as amercan
can only be a guest/worker in Saudi Arabia.
I became engaged with two medical students in the Riyadh
Marriott coffee shop a few years ago and they told me that
their justice system was superior to ours because they had
few prisoners and not too many lawyers.
That is a tough argument and the only thing I could come up
with is that we pay a price for freedom; they may have their
version of justice but they have few freedoms inside the king-
dom. The conversation shifted to another subject.
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Worked in all of those places. Glad to be here now. What Tracker said! 8)
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Hi Mike,
That is quite a list of bad options.
Can you point to an example of legalization of drugs working?
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I just though I'd let you know that using such a right-wing Conservative source as http://www.worldnetdaily.com to support a right wing conservative argument really does nothing to support that argument. Maybe if you found an article or story about the dangers of legalized drugs on from an NPR affiliate, it might have a little bit more swaying factor.
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Bill,
Certainly, the repeal of prohabition right here in the U.S. Of course the Mafia was already loaded with money and organized by that time and so they just diversified and so it has taken us many decades to pretty much minimalize the U.S. Mafia.
Mike
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Career criminals victimize decent family people while they are out of jail doing their crimes. Then when these career criminals are on the inside these same decent family people have to pay for the career criminal once again. Kill 'em all and let God sort them out. Take the money that is saved and help our elderly and infirmed along with tons of other worthy causes.
~Just say 'no' to career criminals. Hey, you can not rehabilitate everyone. Three strikes your dead.
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I'm for that big time.
Tom
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Bill,
Certainly, the repeal of prohabition right here in the U.S. Of course the Mafia was already loaded with money and organized by that time and so they just diversified and so it has taken us many decades to pretty much minimalize the U.S. Mafia.
Mike
Mike,
I already pointed out one difference between alcohol and drugs. Other differences include typical usage patterns and potency. So, comparing prohibition to drugs doesn't work.
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Bill,
I have to disagree with you. Alcohol is a drug no matter how you look at. Alcohol is simply a "socially acceptable" drug. Marijuana is not physically addictive in any of it's forms, hashish, hash oil, whatever. Cocaine is also not physically addictive. A Cocaine user might think he has to have it but if he doesn't get it the body does not go through any physical withdrawels. Meth is bad. It is known as "poor man's Coke". If Cocaine were available(cheaply) you would see Meth virtually disapear. Narcotics on the other hand are physically addictive and should not be legalized.
Anyway Bill, I think that you are not going to convince me of your opinion and I am not going to convince you of my opinion so it is probably best if the topic were dropped. You can make a closing statement if you wish. I will not respond on this topic any further.
Mike
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Sometimes - we have to agree - to disagree :)
(I won't add to the debate'' LOL! )
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American Heritage Dictionary: " drug: a chemical substance,
such as a narcotic, that affects the central nervous system,
causing changes in behavior and often addiction".
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Sometimes - we have to agree - to disagree :)
(I won't add to the debate'' LOL! )
I think Chris put it best.