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Pharmacist you have been reported, and will be dealt with accordingly....
Smart Guy!!

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Pheonix

It's true. Cops get paid decently. Some would even argue not enough for the violence that some cities display. I have absolutely no idea what life in Canada is like, and to be honest I haven't got the energy to check right now, so I don't dare pontificate on what you and your cops face. I have no idea how your officers are used in your neck of the woods.

Down here, in this state and I suspect many other stations throughout the US, in each precinct you've got ward officers, assigned to handle various portions of their own little slice of the city. Some of those officers do nothing but answer calls. Another portion of those are what you may call task force; e.g. drug raids, warrant pick-ups, fugitive hunts, etc. Maybe this is what you would consider the returned investment. Lord knows simple domestics get redundant. Finally, a much, much smaller (and I do much much smaller) section of officers do nothing but check radar. There's nothing else for them to do. Calls are being handled. Raids are being carried out. The officer must do something. He either patrols the streets (I'm sure this pleases the average citizen) or he looks for traffic violations.

You might be astounded to discover how many American criminals will ride around speeding or driving in an otherwise reckless manner. An amazing number of fugitives are caught doing nothing more than breaking the speed limit. Traffic stops are kinda good at that, too. Wouldn't you like to get a criminal off the street, by any means necessary? Look at the sheer amount of Spike clips showing fugitives being apprehended on traffic stops, and you see what I mean. In short: traffic stops are for far more than speeding, and it could even be argued they themselves are a full return of investment.

As to your additional points, I agree. A fair amount of officers let it go to their heads. What can ya do? You instigate him, and you only add to your charges. Yeah, you can fight 'em in court, but at the point of initiation, he's got the upper hand and your not going to change that by pissing him off. It may not be right, but that's the fact. A lot of others are hard-working family men and women like you or I, who happen to carry a badge and a gun. Its like calling all movie theater employees ******** cuz the one kicked you out after catching you sneaking in food. (Maybe thats a local thing, I dunno if Canadians are allowed to bring in outside food). Maybe a bad analogy

Finally, I really don't know of very many extraneous abuses of taser power. The only ones I see are the ones who wind up on CNN, and at least in the case of the old lady who was tased...well, she refused a directive to stay put so the officer could check her, and wandered back to her vehicle where who knows what was waiting. Officers have been killed that way. It was a hard judgement call, but he made it. As far as anything else...well, lets see. Nightstick abuse? Check out Rodney King and what happened to his officers. And don't let an officer discharge his weapon for anything other than a legitimate reason. There goes the career, and likely every dollar he'll ever make. Even if it's ruled a justified shooting, the chances of a lawsuit are still great.

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"The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Pharmacist

and why do i care what happens in nyc or russia or the planet venus? i only care about the situation in my country because that's where i live. i'm sure cops in nyc are on holiday compared to cops in mexico or colombia or pakistan or any such countries.

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler

Pheonix

At least this much we agree on. Those drug wars are out of control.

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"The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Pharmacist

huh? we're having a debate here, either join in or

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler

blue660r01

Why do you care? Because you base a population off a sample.

We all know you care because you feel the need to come back and continue your needless and ridiculous "bashing"

fairladyZ34

i believe that this Pharmacist guy is the same one that complained about someone parking next to him when the lot was empty and then got bashed back because he was the one that parked off center. correct me if im wrong

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From Z to G to BMW and back to a G! Nismo for life

blue660r01

Sounds right to me

blue660r01

Just wanted to reiterate

Pharmacist

ok u make some good points. i'll address them. over here, violent crime and armed crime are very low, so cops rarely ever get shot at or killed. and yes, departments here are just like yours. they have units that deal with drugs, or gun crime, or taskforces for gangs, or prostitution, etc.... and there are also units that only do traffic enforcement. actually, since most southern ontario have their own municipal police departments, in these areas the entire provincial opp departments are practically nothing more than a speed enforcement unit on the highway.

You then mentioned that since other officers deal with crimes, the remaining ones have nothing to do but traffic enforcement. If that's the case, that means they have more cops than needed. Why not just fire some of them, and trim down the police budget? Over here in toronto, for example, even in a recession the police budget is skyrocketing. the cop salaries keep going up, in addition to bonuses and overtime, and they also keep hiring more cops and all that, despite statistics showing crime is actually going down! and of course their mafia-like police union makes sure to derail any effort to restrain the police budget.

As for criminals getting caught in speed traps, yes it happens but not that often, nor is that the purpose of speed traps. nor is it impossible to do by targeted policing (e.g. anti crime units). but hey, by all means arrest those 1 or 2 criminals, but let the remaining several hundred non-criminal motorists off with a warning

As for tasers there are all sorts of examples from the media, youtube, etc.. about them used on seniours, teenage girls, cripples in wheelchairs, etc.... and they were used in many situations where there was NO threat whatsoever to the cop's safety. we also have a notorious case here of robert dziekanski who DIED because one of your heroic cops tazed him. he was neither armed nor dangerous. just a polish immigrant who doesn't know a single english word and getting angry and agitated because he couldn't find his relatives nor communicate with the airport staff.

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler

blue660r01

Something called the PBA keeps you from getting fired

Pheonix

Well, nothing to do may have been the wrong choice of words. Lord knows, don't let a Lt see an officer doing nothing. The point was meant to illustrate however, that without calls to go on or being included in the other tasks, there is only so much left that an officer can do. If he's caught up on reports, and his directed patrols...well, ride the neighborhoods in his ward, and look for violators. Would you rather see an officer patroling or sitting by the side of the roadway/eating a doughnut inside a Mapco?

At least in this city, if we were to fire cops...the masses would cry foul. We actually need more police on our streets; it's gotten a bit rowdy out here. Trying to keep crime under control when its determined to rise as more and more folks lose their jobs and turn to desperate measures, or people snap on (former) loved ones...or just decide today is the today and damn all the consequences. Armed robberies are freakishly common out here. If we were to downsize our police force...our already angry populace would uprise.

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"The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Chriz

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PW 7AT w/Sports Pkg
Hook Em!

Pharmacist

careful, it's usually the cops that are stereotyped as having low iq. i ask for evidence that speed traps reduce accidents and deaths, and this is the smartest you have to say great, so why are you here? you're not even part of the debate! so heed your own advice and go away unless you have something relevant to the debate

no i didn't get bashed back. and i didn't bother centering the car because i was late for work, and the lot is empty anyway. not sure how is any of that relevant to this discussion?

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler