I was in the same position back in August 2001, just a few weeks before 9/11. The job market for several months was far worse than it is now. Supporting a family of 4 on that pay isn't easy, but I would be more than happy to have that salary if I were single.
We try to let the birds take the chase if they are available and depending on the crime committed. Some are such serious offenders that the risk can't be taken to keep ground units too far away in the off chance that the bad guy escapes. DPS has 4 helicopters for various regions of the state. However, at any time they can be pulled from an active pursuit or other LE mission to assist in their primary mission as DPS Air Rescue. That would involve medical missions such as collision scenes or even mountain rescues. Often times, the bad guy will still wreck despite the pursuit being called off...PERIOD
No I don't believe that you shouldn't protect yourself. I too, am a CCW holder, and fully intend on defending myself until officers arrive should the situation it be required. Take note that the [quote] indicates a quote belonging to another person. Quoting myself in the first person seems ridiculous, doesn't it?
There are currently over 200 positions available state-wide for officers, many in the metro Phoenix area. Due to the governor and the glorious legislature, we haven't been able to add any new officers above and beyond the existing counts for 10 years. Yet in that time, the entire Loop 202 was built, Loop 101 was also constructed, and several freeways were extended/widened. The East Valley Holiday DUI Task Force is just about the only time of year you truly see enough officers on the streets, albeit one specific area of concentration. Sadly, it doesn't seem to slow drinking and driving down, because year after year new records are set for BAC and total arrests. More and more of those arrests are DUI drugs as well.
You do have the right to be left alone if doing nothing wrong. But suspicion plays a big role in police work, and they have the right to find out if you are harmlessly poking around in a bush ir if you plans on molesting it. There's nothing that says an officer can't ask you what you are doing, and it's truly best to answer up as though you have nothing to hide (because it's the truth, right?)
The guy getting arrested for ignoring the officers most likely was for failure to obey a police officer. If they tell you to stop, do so. Look at it this way. You're sitting on a park bench, replacing that micro, when an officer drives by and see it. In my mind, that would trigger suspicion, because that tin could hold information for a drug dealer or some other type of crime. I would choose to investigate and ask a few questions. If you or anyone else felt that was wrong and was in the situation directly, by all means contact the officers supervisor. That's what chain-of-command is all about.
99% of cops out there are good, and not looking to flex the brass muscle they wear on their chest. As I've said before, a few bad ones ruin it for all, and we shouldn't let that mar our perception of officers. Heck, a few of the officers I work with on a daily basis I might consider jerkish at times, but largely they are great people.
Brian
Team A.I.
HA! From where I am at (no job at all), $36, 816 sounds pretty damn good to me. They don't like it? Try McDonalds or some other low-paying job like the rest of the working class world and see how they get by.
By the way, I never liked Napolitano anyhow.
Safe society.
Or the guy who carjacks your car while high on methamphetamine should be allowed to take it home and enjoy his spoils until he gets bored with it and torches it somewhere in the desert with the body of a hooker he killed for drug money in the trunk.
I never understood the big drama about getting a jacked car back: why don't cops just follow with a chopper instead of instigating a big show with all the cop cars chasing, closing down freeways, dangerously high speeds, etc? (and don't say "(helicoptor=expensive, how much does it cost to tie up 2 or 3 departments in a freeway chase, not counting productivity and work hours lost because the guy rolled the vehicle trying to get away, tying up all those commuters on the road.) Let the guy think he got away with it so he drives normally. After the guy gets to where he is going and THEN gets out of the vehicle, go ahead and move in. My vehicle is INSURED, if someone steals it, let it go, I don't care. Don't put innocent people at risk. But no, it's this big testosterone macho rush to go get the "bad guy" and be the hero. Hey, I paid my insurance premiums, that's what they are for. Please don't kill someone trying to get my friggin vehicle back. I can get another one.
[quote]
Law enforcement is a thankless job, but I believe that the cops bring a lot
of that upon themselves. We seem to forget that our safety should fall on
our own shoulders first and that we should be responsible for our own safety.
[/quote]
I disagree.
[quote]
Really? You disagree with the fact that I should protect myself or that the cops bring it upon themselves? Please clarify
I cordially invite you to spend a shift with me in OpComm at DPS Headquarters. If that doesn't change your belief that there aren't enough cops on the streets (in this case, the metro-Phoenix highways), nothing will.
I actually agree that there should be more cops on the freeways. Speeds there average 20 mph over the limit. It has gotten ridiculous out there. If I am going 10 over, people are still flashing headlights behind me and speeding past at 90-95 mph. They need to slow it down. (And then they complain about how much gas costs these days, go figure.)
Back to the real issue...harassment of Geocachers.
That was the original issue, but the case o' worms was opened when such a harshly toned attack on police officers (LE in general) was sent out.
Being questioned by an officer while geocaching doesn't constitute harassment.
But don't I have the RIGHT to be left alone if I am not doing anything WRONG? The courts think so, and found in favor of a guy who just kept on walking down the street after trying to be questioned by officers. They ended up arresting him. It was here in the Phoenix area, too, I believe. He just ignored the officers and kept on going about his business, nothing of which was illegal.
Now, that being said, it is not in MY best interests to ignore a cop when questioned. Someone poking around in a bush at midnight WOULD probably look suspicious, therefore I do my caching during daylight hours. It would seem that ONCE AGAIN, geocachers have run into "SuperCop". Most officers have common sense, this guy seems to need a refresher course. It would be very easy to find out the name of this individual, by getting in touch with the supervisor, they can see who was where at what time. I would even write a letter (or a few of them).
That's all.
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