Cops on Phones

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
1

In the “reasons I don’t like the cops” file:

So today I’m driving in Pullman, Washington doing some locates for work and I stop at a light. Up next to me pulls a cop. I look over at her and she’s on her cell phone laughing in a conversation. Now mind you Washington has just passed the retarded “hands free” law. There are menacing signs around the state informing us that, “It’s the law.”

So I get her license plate and call the cops for the second time in my life. I inform the dispatch that one of their officers with license plate such and such was on her cell phone in a personal call and should be using a hands free device like the rest of us. The dispatch gets bitchy over a mere citizen reporting this and informs me that the law doesn’t apply to emergency vehicles. Cute.

The law aside, you’d figure professionalism would dictate not behaving in such a way. Not only is it demeaning to us supposed proles, but I wonder how effective a patrol she is running.

mike

2

[quote]Mikeyali wrote:
In the “reasons I don’t like the cops” file:

So today I’m driving in Pullman, Washington doing some locates for work and I stop at a light. Up next to me pulls a cop. I look over at her and she’s on her cell phone laughing in a conversation. Now mind you Washington has just passed the retarded “hands free” law. There are menacing signs around the state informing us that, “It’s the law.”

So I get her license plate and call the cops for the second time in my life. I inform the dispatch that one of their officers with license plate such and such was on her cell phone in a personal call and should be using a hands free device like the rest of us. The dispatch gets bitchy over a mere citizen reporting this and informs me that the law doesn’t apply to emergency vehicles. Cute.

The law aside, you’d figure professionalism would dictate not behaving in such a way. Not only is it demeaning to us supposed proles, but I wonder how effective a patrol she is running.

mike[/quote]

She doesn’t play be the rules. Illegally talking on a cell phone while driving? I don’t even think dirty harry was that badass.

3

So you hate cops because when you go out of your way to hate them, by telling them you hate them, by complaining directly to them about their performance, you do not get good results?

4

[quote]nothingclever wrote:
So you hate cops because when you go out of your way to hate them, by telling them you hate them, by complaining directly to them about their performance, you do not get good results?[/quote]

Nah. I believe he’s pissed off because that cop was violating a law she’s supposed to enforce. And that’s understandable.

5

[quote]lixy wrote:
nothingclever wrote:
So you hate cops because when you go out of your way to hate them, by telling them you hate them, by complaining directly to them about their performance, you do not get good results?

Nah. I believe he’s pissed off because that cop was violating a law she’s supposed to enforce. And that’s understandable.[/quote]

1.) I think there are too many dumbasses on the road who talk on the phone while ignoring that THEY CAN’T DRIVE and talk at the same time.

2.) There is no way in hell I would have wasted any seconds of my day to call the police (hopefully no one was murdered during this distressing phone call) just to report that an officer was on the phone.

I mean, honestly…a fucking phone call?

3.) I think seeing cops run red lights for no reason without their lights on (sometimes with them on before they turn them right off) beats a random phone call anyday.

6

[quote]Mikeyali wrote:
In the “reasons I don’t like the cops” file:

[/quote]

Pul this one in your cops and guns file:

Court officer shoots himself in foot

By MARK OUELLETTE
Union Leader Correspondent
Friday, Aug. 1, 2008

MERRIMACK �?? A courthouse bailiff will be limping around these next few days, after his pistol went off yesterday morning at the Merrimack District Court while snug inside a left ankle holster, police said.

Two co-workers were near the security officer when the gun went off, causing minor injury to his left heel, police said. The misfire did not take place inside a courtroom, and the courthouse was not evacuated.

“It came in as a 911 call as an emergency medical dispatch, and that there had been an individual who had suffered a possible gunshot wound,” Merrimack Deputy Police Chief Mark Doyle said. “When we responded, we found out that it was the administrative officer of court security who had been injured in his foot from his duty weapon after suffering an accidental discharge.”

Police said the weapon was a 25-caliber Beretta automatic. The Web site www.berettausa.com lists a Bobcat that fires .22 and .25-caliber rounds. It is a little less than 12 ounces, has a 2.4-inch barrel and holds seven rounds.

Doyle said the name of the officer is being withheld while the investigation is under way.

The shooting was reported by the court about 11:40 a.m. yesterday. No prisoners or citizens were in danger of being hit, police said. District court bailiffs are employed by the New Hampshire Administrative Office of the Courts.

District Court Administrative Judge Edwin Kelly said court officers are trained through Police Standards and Training, and all are required to wear firearms. Weapons are not standardized, and many officers use their own firearms on the job, he said.

Kelly said he was surprised to hear the pistol was in an ankle holster, but he did not know if policies allow ankle holsters or not.

“I thought they all carried their weapons on their waist or shoulder,” Kelly said.

Doyle said police took the pistol and the holster and will send it to the state laboratory to make sure it was functioning correctly. Police also retrieved the bullet, which was embedded in the courthouse floor.

The officer was transported to St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua for additional treatment. As of 4 p.m. yesterday, police had not interviewed the man.

“We really haven’t had the chance to discuss it with him because when we arrived there he was already being attended to by some of his fellow co-workers, and they were administering first aid as paramedics were arriving to take him to the hospital,” Doyle said.

Police plan to talk with the wounded officer as soon as possible, he said. More statements will be gathered from the people working with him.

“We’ll notify the Administrative Office of the Courts about our findings and get information from them regarding his qualifications and his length of employment and basic background information that we need,” he said.

“We’ll also be communicating with the Attorney General’s Office and the County Attorney’s office just to bring them up to speed with the nature of our investigation,” he said.

New Hampshire Union Leader staff writer Mark Hayward contributed to this report.

7

[quote]Professor X wrote:
1.) I think there are too many dumbasses on the road who talk on the phone while ignoring that THEY CAN’T DRIVE and talk at the same time.

2.) There is no way in hell I would have wasted any seconds of my day to call the police (hopefully no one was murdered during this distressing phone call) just to report that an officer was on the phone.

I mean, honestly…a fucking phone call? [/quote]

Phone call or not, it’s what would be called a stand on principles. And in this day and age, I can only encourage that.

But I tend to forget that murder is not uncommon in the States.

8

The thing is that really reporting a cop to another cop isn’t exactly something you should expect to be treated well when doing, especially when it’s something trivial.

Like really what is the guy on the other end of the line going to do? Personally call up the cop who may have stopped talking on her phone and endangering others just so she will possibly pick it up again to answer and continue to endanger people?

And what do you say? "Hey, some guy said you were on your phone and we have no proof other than what he said and no one can really do anything about it but you’re setting a bad example so like… feel bad about yourself.

Yeah!" There’s nothing anyone can really do and if you were to try to catch cops on tape doing things like this that would just make you come off as a douchebag that has it in for them so you lose either way.

When a cop is randomly assaulting people, working with drug dealers or abusing his power to intimidate others I can see a phone call totally being necessary but filing complaints about trivial things like the issue of the original poster trivializes the more legitimate complaints of others I just mentioned.

9

If it was a city cop you should have called the county sheriffs or the state police

10

Make a citizen’s arrest. Have her write out a ticket on herself right then and there. Take the ticket to the police station yourself. Of course, it’ll get torn up and thrown away and you’d better not drive in that town ever again!

A better way is to get a dog to eat a dog — take the ticket to the State Police or County Prosecutor (or the local newspaper). They may have a beef with that police dept and give 'em a ream job.

11

[quote]Professor X wrote:
(hopefully no one was murdered during this distressing phone call) [/quote]

I called the local station, not 911. And hopefully no one was getting mugged/raped/assaulted down a side alley while this cop’s attention was on her phone call instead of on her patrol.

mike

12

[quote]nothingclever wrote:
The thing is that really reporting a cop to another cop isn’t exactly something you should expect to be treated well when doing, especially when it’s something trivial. [/quote]

That assumes that this is trivial. How trivial is your $100 ticket when you get pulled over? [quote]

Like really what is the guy on the other end of the line going to do? Personally call up the cop who may have stopped talking on her phone and endangering others just so she will possibly pick it up again to answer and continue to endanger people? [/quote]

Yes, that’s exactly what they should do. They should tell her to hang up the damn phone and it should be reiterated to the officers at that station that they need to be vigilant.

We lesser folk are being told we can’t use our cell phone and drive due to safety reasons (even though it’s bullshit for them to extort money from us). So how then can this officer be attentive to her patrol AND drive AND talk on her phone safely? [quote]

And what do you say? "Hey, some guy said you were on your phone and we have no proof other than what he said and no one can really do anything about it but you’re setting a bad example so like… feel bad about yourself.

[/quote]You’re right. And while we’re at it, let’s teach our children that it’s okay to steal, cheat, ect, so long as you don’t get caught. [quote]

Yeah!" There’s nothing anyone can really do and if you were to try to catch cops on tape doing things like this that would just make you come off as a douchebag that has it in for them so you lose either way.

When a cop is randomly assaulting people, working with drug dealers or abusing his power to intimidate others I can see a phone call totally being necessary but filing complaints about trivial things like the issue of the original poster trivializes the more legitimate complaints of others I just mentioned.[/quote]

What is trivial about expecting officers to abide by the laws we citizens are expected to follow? You are also stuck looking at the small picture. Of course it’s a trivial matter. But it’s the law that they are supposed to enforcing. Where then is their authority to cite you? Do you teach your children to do as you say and not as you do?

But again, small picture. The reason I really have a problem here is that it reinforces in the minds of both citizens and police that they are a sort of priviledged class. This leads citizens to become far more accepting of violations that DO matter.

mike

13

[quote]Professor X wrote:
lixy wrote:
nothingclever wrote:
So you hate cops because when you go out of your way to hate them, by telling them you hate them, by complaining directly to them about their performance, you do not get good results?

Nah. I believe he’s pissed off because that cop was violating a law she’s supposed to enforce. And that’s understandable.

1.) I think there are too many dumbasses on the road who talk on the phone while ignoring that THEY CAN’T DRIVE and talk at the same time.

2.) There is no way in hell I would have wasted any seconds of my day to call the police (hopefully no one was murdered during this distressing phone call) just to report that an officer was on the phone.

I mean, honestly…a fucking phone call?

3.) I think seeing cops run red lights for no reason without their lights on (sometimes with them on before they turn them right off) beats a random phone call anyday.[/quote]

I’ve seen cops doing this all of the time when I was behind them on the way to an accident. they routinely have a disregard for the traffic laws they are supposed to enforce. The FD has EXTREMELY strict rules governing our emergency response, and driving in general. But cops, cops do this kind of shit all the time.

What pisses me off, is that firefighters are almost always laid off before cops are, no matter how tight the budget is. What pisses me off even more, is that when we all get to the scene, whether an accident, or an EMS run, cops don’t do shit other than “keep the peace”. Whatever.

I bet if the citizens of any municipality were asked whether they’d rather have more cops or more fire/EMS staffing, you’d see large support for the latter.

Anyways, sorry for the hijack.