Quote:
Originally posted by DavidI
The ride along is no ruse at all. I will show someone what police work is like with "the bark on." It is 50% boredom, 45% routine, and 5% sheer terror. I can show you first hand what the aftermath of a driveby with an AK47 looks like. You can see first hand the despair in the mother's face as we tell her, or she sees for herself, that her "baby" had half his head torn away and brain matter is splattered over the cold street. To say it is a "ruse" is childish and naive. Come on out, I'll introduce you to the reality of what we see and deal with daily, David
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The despair is in the face of the people, not the police. The people suffer, not the police. The police are provided special privileges to defend themselves. The people are the ones who are left defenseless and suffer as the victims of crime.
If I come along for a ride can I carry my handgun? Can I carry the special police issue firearms? Will I be immune from my actions? Will the tax payers pick up my legal defense? Will the court provided me with special rights and privileges not available to the ordinary citizens to conduct my job? After all, every person should be entitled to the protections and privileges as the police. Better yet, why can't I protect myself to the same level as the police in their absence?
I am very familiar with the antics of the South Central police. A close relative of mine was on the patrol force for 10+ years. Another close family friend is a former sergeant in a Los Angeles police unit. I have heard many stories. His son an officer in another Los Angeles county. My perception is based not upon news clippings, but from words from the horse’s mouth. Each of these have told me if there was a shooting, they would be sure to take their time to respond. This would ensure the shooting was completed before their arrival, ensuring their own their own safety.
Do police get harmed or killed in the line of duty? Of course, but the people are in greater risk of being harmed than the police.
Thank you for the offer of a ride alone, but why do I need the police for a ride along since I can experience these things on my own? By your own accounting, the people, not the police, are the victims of crime. Police arrive after for the clean up. And therein lies both the problem and the answer. The streets are no more dangerous to the people than the police. If fact, the police are more protected since they are less likely to be the target of a crime. Criminals know police are armed and trained, unlike the general population who have been stripped of their rights of defense and the presumption of guilt and left without any defense except a police department who has no obligation to protect.
The parties with the obligation to protect the citizens from crime have failed in their duties permitting the criminal element to control. Laws are written and enacted, but instead of being enforced, cops are more concerned with writing traffic tickets to generate revenue. The 50% boredom should be used to prevent and solve crimes. The police should not be bored. There is no absence of crime. The boredom is the lack of effort to "Serve and Protect" a standard which the US Supreme Court has held does not apply to the police force. This leaves the police as little more than a revenue generating machine and after-the-fact crime scene investigators.
Please understand this is not a personal attack. I am sure that you are a fine officer who takes his job seriously and does the best he can. The problem is with the political structure of the police department which has rendered the structure of the police department impendent in the enforcement of the laws and turned it into a money generating entity.