|
| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
FormerFlint
F L I N T O I D
|
Im a cop down in a large city in FL, but I still have friends in the Flint PD and Genesee S.O. I know there is not much difference between where I work and good ole Flint.
The dynamics of police work have changed greatly over the last 20-30 years. Its not just catch the criminals and your done anymore. Police have become the first step on the social work ladder. We are called to aid in everything from unruly children who wont listen to their parents to fueding neighbors who cant or wont act civil to each other.
Ask any cop what they want to do and almost all will tell you they want to catch bad guys... REAL BAD GUYS. I'm lucky because I'm in a specialized unit that allows me to do just that. But you must realize that all officers cannot. Patrol guys are the first line. They do what they can but then must be available for other 911 calls. Patrol guys sometimes get to catch the BGs, but more often than not they pass on what they learned to detectives who must follow up. Police work in a large city will not work any other way. So you might think having all cops out there investigating the "home invasion" would be beneficial, but you would be sadly mistaken. There is so much more crime occuring out there that you, the general public, never hear about. If you knew the real world, it would scare most of you. Seeing how many firearms that are out there in the wrong hands and realizing how many people out there really dont care about laws when they want something, no matter who gets hurt. To have less cops out there would be the worst thing you could do.
Personally, I dont like to write citations because I know they have started to become outrageous in fine amounts, but it is still my duty to do so. How can anyone expect us to not do our job? As is always the case, if your not happy with the law, change it. Send letters to your councilmen or representative. We only enforce what we are told to enforce. And yes, much of the funding for the police is done through parking/traffic citations and fines of other sorts. I dont like to pay high taxes either, but the money has to come from somewhere. With the cost of EVERYTHING going up, do you really think the cost of running a fully functional police department has gone down?
Thats the worst problem with being a cop. Many times we are treated as a necesary evil. You need us, as long as we dont do anything that will interfere in your life.
I shoulda been a firefighter... or a mortician. Nobody hates them.  |
_________________
Uhm.... I got nuthin profound to add |
|
Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:44 pm |
|
|
andi03
F L I N T O I D
|
Howdy formerflint!!!
I am a measly volunteer through one of the local police departments and I am going to school for criminal justice, too boot. I have been on maybe 20 "ride- alongs" in my volunteer time. Um, yes, what you say is the darn tootin' truth, to be blunt, if I may be so bold.
The 911 calls or the calls to arrive before the EMS does because you are the closest "person/authority" can really take it's toll. I only know a tenth of what you go through. You have my respect fully!!!
Your post: *****There is so much more crime occuring out there that you, the general public, never hear about. If you knew the real world, it would scare most of you. Seeing how many firearms that are out there in the wrong hands and realizing how many people out there really dont care about laws when they want something, no matter who gets hurt."
My response: I think that the last sentence solidified the reason why police are called to begin with, not necessarily the firearms since the patrols that I am with don't put the volunteers in that scenario. But, the overall premise of that paragraph......"they don't care about the laws...etc.".
I am sure that there is not much difference. Have you gone to the policelink.com forums yet? |
_________________
Build a bridge and get over it! |
|
|
Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:04 pm |
|
|
Adam Ford
F L I N T O I D
|
What if we killed the seat belt laws and forced state police to aid the inner cities instead of I-75 in places like Oakland county?
How much does the drug war take it's toll on police protection? Don't gangs make a lot of money off of marijuana? If we legalized marijuana wouldn't that get rid of some gangs? I'm not sure what good FANG really does us other than put more blacks and some whites in jail. If you put one drug dealer in jail there is always another one to take his place.
If we decriminalized marijuana and got some non-violent drug offenders out of jail we would have more money for state police. If we had more state police they might be able to go after the state felony cases which would take more pressure on outgunned detective beaureaus. |
|
|
|
Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:11 pm |
|
|
FormerFlint
F L I N T O I D
|
quote:
Adam Ford schreef:
What if we killed the seat belt laws and forced state police to aid the inner cities instead of I-75 in places like Oakland county?
I also have a friend who is a Michigan State Trooper. Their main objective, as is the objective of most state police agencies, is law enforcement on state highways. Criminal activity occuring off the highway is supposed to be handled by either the local municipality or the Sheriffs office. Of course the state police can be deployed in areas where there is no local law enforcement and they are sometimes asked to aid smaller, and/or low financed police departments. But to have them step into a city (like Flint) which already has a large PD would open a polictial firestorm. It's difficult to have two agnecies see eye to eye (Flint PD and Genesee SO have never been the best of friends), now add a third one and the problems compound. You need one Chief, not three. Who would make the final decision on how to go about day to day activities? Would a state agency come in and take orders from a local Chief? Probably not. Would the local Chief or Sheriff want some other agency coming in and telling them how to treat their citizens? Probably not. But lets just say a State agency did come in and started to throw their weight around. You as citizens would lose any control over what your local law enforcement does. You may not be happy with your PD, but at least you can vote people into local positions that can make the local PD change from time to time. If a STATE agency comes in, your pretty much outta luck unless you can get a new governer. This is why local police departments were set up in the first place. To avoid all encompassing STATE and/or FEDERAL law enforcement agencies from controlling everything.
And as far as killing the seatbelt law. Ok. If thats what you want to do, we as police will enforce what the people vote in. But what about the speed traps? Or the DUI checkpoints? Or even the overweight semi-trailers on the road? Where will you as citizens draw the line and say "these are ok, but these need to be enforced"? Traffic crashes kill and injure more people in the US every year than all shootings, stabbings, and beatimgs combined. Without laws to govern vehicular travel, you would see a fatal crash everytime you took to the road. Sooner or later it would involve you.
|
_________________
Uhm.... I got nuthin profound to add |
|
|
Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:11 pm |
|
|
Adam
F L I N T O I D
|
It seems strange that state police would not have jurisdiction over state felonies.
The autobahn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn has a pretty good safety record. I have heard about the DUI checkpoints in Florida recently. You just reminded me of that though. I was surprised to see it on one of my many surveys I receive. I rarely drink but would be very irritated if I got pulled over for no reason.
A few state police were patrolling Flint for a while but I haven't seen them lately.
I don't mind state police enforcing felony stuff. I wish our local police would focus more time on those instead of the cyclical drug war. I've heard some police don't even bother with marijuana anymore. |
|
|
|
Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:55 pm |
|
|
FormerFlint
F L I N T O I D
|
All felonies are state crimes, that is true. And I assume any law enforcement officer certified in the state of michigan can make a FELONY arrest any where in the state of michigan if they see the crime actually occuring. That is how it is here in FL. But local police departments are responsible for prosecuting those crimes. Again, were going back to having a STATE POLICE enforce the laws where elected local officials should be in control (ie the Sheriff or the mayor who is the Chiefs boss). That is why we dont have a national police force. Its the essence of democracy and one of the great things about our nation. If you dont like the way your city is being run, you can change it by voting. If that doesnt work, you can move right down the road to the next town where things are more than likely a bit different, depending on the citizens and the people those citizens put into office. If you have a state agency run the show.... your outta luck if you dont like it.
Speaking on the Autobahn, it is untrue that there are no speed limits in place. In fact, there are speed limits on the majority of the roads. Only in the less populated areas (think I-69 between lansing and flint) are there no speed limits for SOME VEHICLES. Buses, trailers, trucks, and others still have speed limits. And there you can actually get a ticket for running out of gas on the expressway. You see there is absolutely no stopping allowed unless you are in a crash or you are stopped for traffic. Running out of gas is seen by law enforcement as a preventable traffic hazard. And most of the cars doing extreme speeds are not like the cars you see on highways here in America. They use VOLVO, PORSCHE, VW, and other high end vehicles tuned for that style of driving. Your not gonna see Silverados, Hummers, F150's, Expeditions, Trailblazers, etc doing over 100 mph there. Our nation is slowly changing, but were still a truck driving society. Big trucks and 100 mph just dont mix well for the most part.
As for marijuana, well. If not for big tobacco lobbyists and their money, It may very well be legal already. However, just like prohibition on alcohol 100 years ago, it is currently illegal and police must still enforce the laws.
And to ANDI03, thanks for voluntering. If more people did that, police work would be alot easier and more cops would be able to go after bad guys than handling things that could be done by civilians. Good luck on a career in law enforcement. |
_________________
Uhm.... I got nuthin profound to add |
|
|
Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:44 pm |
|
|
twotap
F L I N T O I D
|
One thing you forgot to mention about the Autobahn. Those drivers actually know how to drive.  |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
|
|
Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:04 am |
|
|
Adam Ford
F L I N T O I D
|
There was a constitutional ammendment to make alcohol prohibition legitimate.
I'm pretty sure all Michigan Highways have a 70 mph or lower speed limit.
I don't think the state police should patrol all of Michigan just places where the local and county police are outgunned like Flint and perhaps Detroit etc. I don't think Flint should need any state police patrolling it but it seems to me like we do have the current need for that. |
|
|
|
Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:36 am |
|
|
Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
|
| They're here. A State Police car had someone pulled over near my house the other night. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
|
|
Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:29 am |
|
|
twotap
F L I N T O I D
|
| Wasnt their a plan some years back that pulled the troopers off the interstate and stuck them in Flint to lend a hand with the huge criminal element. You would see state police cruisers up and down dort hwy among other places. |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
|
|
Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:39 am |
|
|
Ponycar
F L I N T O I D
|
| I was stopped on a seat belt check once. The cop said " your eyes look red, have you been drinking or smoking weed"?, I replied " your eyes look glazed, you been eating donuts"? |
_________________
A government big enough to give you everything is also powerful enough to take it all away. |
|
|
Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:06 pm |
|
|
|
Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Open chat
