BlueSheepdog
10 Years Experience
Around the Way, FL
Male, 40
Cheating death and fighting communism: that is how a fellow officer once described our job. It was meant to be funny, but as time went on it seemed all too true.
I spent more than ten years in law enforcement, all of it on the street in uniform patrol. I've been a patrol officer, instructor, sergeant and lieutenant.
Do not report crimes here. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. All opinions are my own.
Not really. Chances are I'd decline to give consent to an officer for search my vehicle as well. Of course, I wouldn't ask for consent to search a vehicle without some suspicion of criminal activity to begin with. So, the mere act of declining consent wouldn't affect my suspicions one way or another.
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The short answer is "That's the way the laws are written." If you believe that police officers should not be allowed to exercise discretion, work with your elected representatives to change the law. I think, however, most people want police officers to be able to exercise discretion. For example, if I stop a parent rushing to the hospital after their child was taken to the emergency room, I'm not handing them a speeding ticket. There are a whole host of reasons why I might not issue someone a citation. The point of traffic enforcement is to modify behavior. In other words, it should not be about generating income for the jurisdiction, it should be about encouraging the safe operation of motor vehicles for the purpose of reducing accidents and traffic fatalities. If I can get someone to drive in a more safe manner with an encouraging word, why should I instead drop a $200 fine on them?
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No. From the information I have gotten from officers who actually responded to that incident, the responding agencies did everything right to stop the killing as quickly as possible. From the time the first 911 call was received to when the first officer was pulling on scene was less than two minutes if I recall correctly. That was an amazingly fast response time. Once on scene, the officers deployed and went straight toward the killer to engage him. The response techniques they used are the same ones we use for these incidents. While the incident will be studied and each officer's performance evaluated, as a whole, the tactics appear to have worked as designed. However, even more children could have been saved had a armed teacher or parent been on scene.
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I'd never allow anything that puts the public at risk to happen in my presence. So the idea that I'd let a friend/family member drive if he/she is intoxicated is alien to me. I deal with the consequences of other people's actions all day, and I don't tolerate stupidity around me. The family and friends I associate with aren't involved in criminal activity, so it isn't typically a problem.
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Movie Theater Employee
Why is movie theater food so overpriced?
Border Patrol Agent
When you catch an illegal alien crossing the border, is he deported immediately?
McDonald's Manager
Did you have to deal with a lot of disrespectful customers? What would they say?
Yes. This allows time for the agency to investigate the incident and evaluate the officer's fitness for duty. Involvement in a deadly force encounter is extremely draining, emotionally and physically, and even when everything happend "by the book," it can be very hard on the officer.
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Everywhere is different. Some departments have a defined pay advancement plan (sometimes called a step plan), while others do not. My agency does not have such a plan, and we negotiate with the city for annual raises. How promotions are handles also varies. Often, there are minimum standards set for a position, such as X number of years with the department, certain training classes completed, etc. College degrees may be required for some/all advancement positions. Many police officers stay in uniform patrol for their entire career. Patrol is the backbone of an agency, and accounts for the majority of the officers. Only a few can move out of patrol into other positions. For many officers, patrol is what they like, and where they want to be. I prefer patrol over most specialty positions for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the ability to respond to incidents and help people in crisis. By the time a detective shows up to a scene, I've already done a lot to shape the course of the investigation.
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Not really. Badges vary largely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If someone comes to your door claiming to be a police officer, but you have some suspicion they might not be, simply tell them that you are going to call the department and confirm their identity before opening the door. This might be a slight annoyance to a real officer, but they should understand.
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