getting pulled over
 

Last night I was coming home at 12:30am when all the sudden I saw a car riding my a**. I changed lanes and saw a light bar on the car. Oh well, I was doing anything wrong. I put on the turn signal to turn down my street and he gets right behind me and continues to ride me. Finally he turns his lights on, I was doing 25 so I pull over and wait for him to come up on me. He asks to see the usual and keeps asking me about alcohol consumption and controlled substances. Finally he asks if I knew what he pulled he over for, I said no, I was unaware of anything. Then he claims he clocked me at 55mph in a 40. The needle in my speedometer never hit 45 and there was NO WAY I was going 55. So I politely asked if it was possible for me to see the gun, he replies, "No, I didn't log it and cleared it" Then claims I took a turn too fast, didn't signal while changing lanes, which is both bs. Finally after 15 minutes he was writing up tickets and tells me to get the hell outta here because I would have lost my license if convicted. WTF! Cops can be such d**ks!

He must of been having a bad day. Sorry to hear about that bud! You can probaly fight that one in court and win. Might cost ya but cheaper than insurance raising your prem.

The donut house must've closed up earlier than he expected. That would explain the bad mood.

Dan.

To me it sounds like a investigative stop. Meaning, by asking you first about drugs and or alcohol somthing else was on his mind. The speeding/lane change sounded secondary.

*Not a good idea to ask to see radar. Asking violates rule #1. "POP" Pissing Off Police. Nobody, especially Police like being challenged, like it or not.

Nothing like harrassing the public after some good donuts:D

Did he give you a speeding ticket? I would highly doubt they can give you ticket with no proof, Thats BS if they can :rolleyes:

Later,
Nick

Not sure
 

I'm still not quite sure as to whether you actually got the citations or not.

Rev

To my legal knowledge. If it is not State Police, or (State Patrol). The officer, by law, has to show you the radar if asked. So you most likely will get out of that. If you decided to fight it.

Brandon

If you ask me to see the radar gun, you will end up with a ticket and not have seen it anyway. Theres no law, atleast in Tennessee about showing it to anyone for any reason.

I do not need "Proof" in court, you will. The court is is already on my side, and heres why.

I have wrote massive tickets over the years. I go to radar school anually and check my radar everytime I turn it on. Self testing unit and w/tuning forks. The judge sees me every week in court and when he signs warrants for me. He knows and trusts what I say to be truthful, we swear to it in court. Untill I screw that up, the Judge will place the burden on you. Yes I do have rules and I abid by them.

Also note* I have already determined your speed before I transmit. Radar only confirms my suspicion. I have to estimate vehicles to within 5mph, "Without Radar." I can not get re-certified if I do not.

Im out here busting my balls trying to make a difference in my community on and off duty. I spend my time off, in school training and in court.

Thats why I personally don't wish to be called a liar.

Thats all I have to say about that.

No ones calling you a liar
 

If you think you can "estimate" speed within 5 MPH and have it stick in court, then I would like to see you on the stand being cross examined by a good lawyer. No offense meant towards you, but I'll put my money with the lawyer.

Rev

That is a GA law. It might just be a county thing. I not quit sure. I need to brush up on my legal learnings. Mustang11460, pat on the back. We need more cops out there, especially in this area, that work hard, and have pride in what they are doing.

Brandon

yup
 

Yup, Mustang460 is a good honest cop. He's always made that perfectly clear. Never anything else.

Rev

No, I didn't get the tickets, which surprised me, this guy was a real d*ck. Sorry for the confusion.

In Florida, if you ask, they need to show you. But it is more or less your word against his without that gun, and in court (if they even show up, most cops don't around here) like mustangII said, the judge is leaning towards the cop's side right away. It's biased if you are truly in the right and the cop feels like being a dick, but that's the way the law works to get the people who try and abuse using court to get out of tickets. My brother was nailed doing 53 in a 30 turning from a 45 zone into a 30 zone (a normal road, 90degree turn onto a residential road). He wasn't doing close to that, probably a little under 40 at the most. The cop was also way down the normal road behind him. So there's no way to have picked him off unless it was before he turned (houses and trees in the way). I have a feeling he wanted to get a kid with a sports car. Cuz my brother's radar didn't go off (good one too) nor was it possible to make that turn at that continuous speed. And speeding down that road is retarded, we all know it, so he truly wasn't going that fast. He lost it in court, probably because the cop had a good record and obviously went to radar school. It's jumped our insurance unjustly, but like I said, cops have the biased opinion of the court. It's crap but it works most of the time.

I should check the laws around here, MustangII460, I didn't direct anything at you, as you sound like a very good honest cop. The officer who pulled me over just wasn't the same way.

Legal advantage
 

To win in court, you must have good legal representation. If you think that you can do it your self, then you're just out to lunch. Hire the legal expertise and pay for it for a good defense. I'll bet even Mustang 460 will agree with me on this.

Rev

mustangII460:

Since you are an officer of the law, I'd like you to tell me how a police officer can justly pull over a girl driving a new GT (*cough cough*) on an empty parking lot area on a college campus (open 24/7) just following another person (my brother's gf learning to drive stick) through the parking lot (obviously not that fast if all the other girl does is stall) and say that she was going the wrong way if the lanes are unmarked, there are no signs whatsoever concerning direction and the parking spots aren't slanted?

This happened last night when I went to go see my brother (cuz he lost a best friend, see a few threads back) in Orlando and he was teaching his gf how to drive stick, so I figured I'd let my gf drive my car around a touch. The cop seemed confused that it was my insurance and that we were from Gainesville. Asked my gf to get out of the car, asked if she had had anything to drink, then asked what we were doing in Orlando, asked if she was wearing contacts and started to stare at her eyes ("checking" for contacts)...this was a bit of a younger cop too...my guess is he saw a cute girl driving a nice mustang and decided to "investigate" or he didn't like the University of Florida sticker on my rear window (since I was at the Univeristy of Central Florida)...it was ridiculous...she was idling through the parking lot and the cop came up outta nowhere and just stuck to the bumper...

id say they must get bored at 1am, but there was this huge frat party about a block away, maybe he could have been stopping underage drinking instead...sheesh...

i'm not saying anywhere near all cops are terrible, but I have a weird feeling campus cops tend to think with more than just their heads....

oh and you gotta love when a 14 year old is placed in handcuffs and taken away to a station 45min away when the parents were standing right there to pick him up from the weekly community sponsored dance and all he was doing was defending himself against a local bully after he'd been struck down. The cops wandered in, saw two people fighting, took no statements form the witnesses, handcuffed them (14 YEARS OLD now) and took them away just because they wanted to get home early that night to get drunk (true)....

...oh and btw, that kid was my little brother.

And there was nothing you can do against the county...my dad was going to sue them, but since our school was in that county we would have to go through severe harassment from the police officers in that county everytime we went over to the border to school, to the store or to a friends house. The law can be overbearing sometimes...

just venting with this post i guess....

i just realized how bitter i sound...

mustangII460: I certainly have run into many very nice police officers and I've also had assistance from them in the past. So please don't take this as a hit towards you, I've just experienced too many bad cops in the past. :( I think it's great what teh majority of them do to keep a community in a great state.

You can beat the rap.........
 

You can beat he rap, but you can't beat the ride. That's an old axiom. Once you know that the cop's not listening with any interest, just shut up. Don't say anything else at all. Ask for a lawyer as a reponse to ay further questions.

Rev

Campus cops, geez, now there is a topic.

I can not say what goes through anyones head at any time. Why he stopped you guys only he and God knows.

I can say this for the UT Knoxville Campus Police. They are under equiped and poorly trained. I do not, nor does City Officers hold much respect for them. Campus police is usually a place to step from, into another job. A place to get your basics then leave, effecting the quality of sevice from them. Almost any officers from a City department with one year of experience or more, are over qualified for Campus Police. Does that surprise anyone?

Yes, a Frat party a block away can give a officer resonable suspicion to effect a stop. This will have to be articulated if a arrest is made. Did he stop you beacuse of the party, Who knows.

**NOTE*** Do not group me with Campus Security or police, whatever their called:)

I am not taking any of this personally, if I did, Id just be waiting at the end of ya'lls street in the morning with my radar:)

wow...jj, you think your town is bad, you should see where I live. I'm not stereotyping cops, but I've NEVER met a cop in this county that I liked. The ONLY police personel (I guess you could call him that) was the one I worked with for a community service project with a school club (yes...I was a high school geek...). The day our school's valedictorian was almost arrested for defending one of our friends (who happens to be Turkish = looks muslim) two weeks after the 9-11 bs, I was convinced that all the cops were redneck @ssholes (along with the rest of my hometown). They made her stand in the rain while he went on and on about NOTHING (oh, did I mention he called for back-up?). In the end, our parents (there were 10 of us there...so we had witnesses, credible, seeing as how we were the top ten in our class) filed a formal complaint and that cop is no longer on the streets. However, this incident should have never happened in the first place.

To all cops who don't take the power and the fact that they can hide behind a badge/gun for granted--my hat is off to you. However, to all the b*stards out there with nothing else to do but incite innocent behavior--you're no worse than the scum you haul down to jail.

lol, youd drive to florida for that? id almos feel special..:)

the UF cops aren't too bad, theyre actually the city cops too...probably since this town is the college..heh...most of them only flash their lights at you if youre going a touch too fast or if your stopped in the wrong place...i think theyre more strick with the bicyclists sometimes :)...i kind of admire the ones on campus here, they do a good job...especially since we have 46,000 students attending here, UCF has about 39,000...but they probably are strickly campus police...and i found out that there isnt a krispy kreme donut place within 3 miles and the dunkin' donutrs place was closed down a few months ago..probably cranky cuz they have no donut place at 1am :\ hehe :)

I think this thread will boil down to, some cops are good and some are bad. That can not be argued, atleast by me.

Good service is sometimes hard to get, whether you dial 911 or Domino's Pizza.

Sometimes we expect more from people than we should. I think expecting nothing short of the best in a officer, is a givin. Do not blame the untrained officer, but blame his department for putting him out there.

I do not do this job for praise or recognition. I do it because I can help people that have exhausted their every means. Their last option being me, is a load on my back I look forward to. Being a father,brother,friend,preacher,roll model is something very serious. What I say,do or imply, can effect someones life permentally and we can not take that lightly.

I wish there were more people just like you--having the same ideals and morals--in this world.

Sorry if I offended you before, but my town is known for its ignorance and imbreeding (how else could they be so stupid). I know I may have gotten a prejudiced view from only one source, so sorry if anything I said offended you.

lol, great quote...sad but true...the problem is that 911 mainly deals with life/death situations and domino's is just my dinner...so i wish that wasn't as true as it is :\

in Texas.... they HAVE to show you.... :yes:

Most of the cops back in Oregon are real cool, every now and then u get that @sshole or stupid cop, most ended up in the State police side. Most of the County Cops are cool.


Now here's a car we woundn't mind being pulled over in.

I'll have to agree about the notion that some cops are good and some are bad, it just depends on where you are. I have to say that at least everyone on this post isn't stereotyping cops as all being bad and are looking at individual incidents. I hate when someone learns I'm a cop and then looks at me like I've got the plague or something.
The main reason you have such a wide variation in quality of officers is that law enforcement is not considered a "profession" in society. Most agencies may require some kind of higher education, but most require a minimum of a police academy and nothing else. I love my job and I could do anything I wanted for a living. It would be very easy for me to go back to college and get my Masters degree, but I am satisfied with what I do. I work at an agency with close to 100 deputies and I am only 1 of 4 with a 4 year degree. When people start to pay officers what they are worth, they will have better candidates to choose from. BTW, I have a really cool tape of me chasing(and catching) an 86 Mustang GT at 130 mph for 11 miles. It was scary and I'll never do that again.

I hate it too when ppl say that all cops suck. In the Af, we have Sp's. Some are really dumb(doesn't take much to be one, most of the dumbest ppl are sp's, when they flunk out of something else, they can choose to be sp's.) But when friends base all sp's on one or two, that makes me mad because I have a lot of good friends that are so.


So, where is this really cool tape of yours?

The tape is at my house. Too bad the best chase I ever got into, my tape had run out and I was enroute to meet my LT who had a new tape for me. It lasted 17 miles and we drove through fields, around houses and ended when he couldn't make a turn and ended up in a deep puddle of muddy water. Too bad I ended up in the deepest part.

I've been pulled over on "investigative stops" before. I was driving the Mustang home from work about 10:00 at night in the middle of nowhere. An DPS in a pick-up pulled a U and got right on my tail. When we passed, I didn't notice the markings, so I had no idea he was an officer. I hadn't done anything wrong up to that point. In fact, it was a rare occurance that I had actually followed the suggested speed for this long, slow curve. Anyway, the po-po stays on my tail...right on my tail...for about 3 miles.

He eventually backed off to about 2 cars back as I was coming to my turn. Now I'm not stupid. I'm not going to pull up to my house in the country late at night with some strange pick-up following me after obviously turning around and tail-gaiting me. So when I turn onto the road to my house, I mashed the pedal.

Nothing severe...no squeeling tires, no fish-tails, didn't even break the speed limit. I just left him in the dust. When he turned the corner he saw me long-gone and cranked his lights, thinking that I'm running from him. I pulled over directly in front of my house (only house for at least a mile) and he comes up and asks for the usual and tells me he pulled me over for crossing the center stripe when I turned the corner. Of course, that is complete nonsense as there is no way he could have seen it from his location. I just got a warning.

Anyway, my point is this. If you want to pull me over on an investigative stop, DO IT. DON'T fly up on me and tail-gate me for miles. DON'T pull me over and make up some lame excuse. Just freakin' pull me over and say something like, "We've been concerned about potential drunk drivers and drug activity in your area, and I just wanted to talk with you." Don't make up some bull story.

Anyway, that's my take on that aspect.

--nathan

i was profiled one night coming back from my gf's house back home (driving the old foxbody gt)...i was doing the speed limit, saw a bunch of cops sitting around at the bowling alley as i drove by, about a mile down the road i see light roarin up on me, then i saw two more sets of lights roaring up beside him, they slowed as they came to my rear, lined up like a caravan, stayed for a sec (running the plate prolly) and pulled me over with all 3 sets of sirens blaring...scared the SHlT outta me! lol...this was about quarter to 1...the officer asked for my license...i handed it to him shaking...i asked "i wasnt going that fast was i?" (sincerely)...he didnt reply....i said "you guys must be bored tonight to have this many cops pull me over"...still nothing...he asked where I was coing from ...i said my gf's house, he asked if we had had a fight (lol, riiiight...never have with her)...he said they were looking for a mustang like mine (black was all) because someone had supposedly thrown someone out of a mustang that night...i was like "wow, like mine? its a droptop with a saleen wing and cobra hood??...oh and by the way, the cars blue"...that was the end of it...they had nothing on me...so i was able to go...its just odd cuz i drove that stretch (small town) of about 10 miles at least 4 times a week at that exact time most of the summer...i guess they finally got tired of seeing me drive by...lol

MustangII460, and any other cop who happens to be flying through this topic, there is a lot here that ticks me off.

First off, people using their lawful rights should not be treated with disrespect. Somebody asking to see your radar if they know you're lying about the speed is a good thing. It keeps cops and departments way more honest if they know they can't get away with pulling people over for garbage. If you give somebody no reason to ask, and they still ask, they're not calling you a liar, they're just making sure you're doing your job. So why are you upset about it? If you're doing your job, you don't have to worry about it, and it just gives police a BETTER reputation if they're all forced do do a better job. Wouldn't you like it better if more people gave your profession the respect it deserves? I know it makes me feel a lot better to know the officer knows that he's dotting his i's and crossing his t's. It makes for less people wrongfully charged, and for those who are rightfully charged, a swift kick in the nuts from the scales of justice.

Second, the judge should never, ever side with a cop because they are a cop. I'm sorry, but it's directly against this country was founded on. Innocent until proven guilty. If it comes down to an officers word against an accused, and nothing else, the accused should win every single time. That's what the law was designed to do. The burden of proof is supposed to be on the prosecution, and if you think otherwise, you should be ashamed of yourself. You should have no more pull in court than a janitor. Present the facts, not the profession.

I agree there are good cops, and bad cops. They are people, not machines, and you're gonna have those who are better naturally, and those who've made themselves better consciously. In my mind, a police officer showing a grudge towards a person who's just making sure his rights are protected is an officer who needs to look at the situation from the other person's shoes, and re-examine the principles this country was originally built on.

There are times you get busted for stuff you shouldn't, and there are times you don't get busted when you should. The idea behind our system of law is that nobody should be busted when they don't deserve to be, even at the cost of getting away with stuff you shouldn't sometimes. People who do break the law with regularity are bound to get nailed. Even if it's a minor deal like light speeding.

Rev, have you ever been to court, and seen how effective a lawyer is? LOL. Forget it. The lawyer is expensive as hell, and the chances of him getting you off from something like that is almost nil. I've seen probably 20 trials of that nature, and the ONLY thing the lawyer is good for is plea bargaining, for the exact reason MustangII460 is so confident in court. Illegal, and inexcusable bias. If the cop shows, you're screwed, unless you're really good, and the cop does very poorly (unlikely since they are schooled on how to present their case in court).

I'll also tell you prosecutors do really respect a person who does their homework and presents it to them professionally. You're likely to get the same deal a lawyer will get you if you're bargaining. I know from experience. There are instances where lawyers know each other well, in that case, you may get off a little lighter by using a lawyer.

Bottom line is a cop generally does what he's told to do by his commanding officer, who gets his agenda from the mayor/legislators and/or city council, who get their perogative from the people. The people don't want to be harrassed, and they don't want illegitimate tickets given out. They want convictions for violators, and the innocent not bothered. If the officer decides he knows best by going against what the community wants, he's likely to get the boot or at least a re-alignment of priorities from his superiors. :D Knowing, and exercising your rights is the most effective way to make sure the good guys get respect, and the bad ones get the boot.

Being a police officer is supposed to be a profession, not a power trip. Here's a toast to those who exercise that belief!

Unit: Very well put I must say. You're absolutely right that it's unjust, but it's unjust up the line, so the innocent sometimes get dragged in and there's no sense in fighting the government. Which sucks too...

UNIT 5302,

Thought id fly in again.

Para #1 Other than you flaming me, where did I disrespect anyone or treat them unjust? If you want to change Tennesse law, move here and vote. My deparment can adopt a right to see the radar unit, but they do not. The side of the road is not the courthouse, respect or not. When did I say I was upset?

Para#2 Judge not siding with officer? Did you realize what you just said? I am a (Professional Witness) Not only do I testify for the state but also in civil matters unrelated to persons I have traffic with. Not giving the tie to the officer would be deadly. I could see where a janitor might not be able to testify in a traffic violation, questioning radar. But that same janitor would be called as a proffessional in his field of service. I do not see a point there.

Para #3 I can not change the constitution.

Para #4 I just do not understand anything in it.

Para#5 What you call inexcusable bias, again goes back to Para#1 I am a professional witness, not only on radar but many other areas also. I do agree a lawyer in traffic court is probibly a waste of money. It is easier and cheaper to ask the any officer what might happen in court. Remember this is traffic court and not General Sessions or Circut Court. You can appeal your ticket to the higher court for a trial, but if you lose, you pay alot more court cost. I have yet to go to any trial on a citation.

Parar#6 I can go with that. May vary a little with different lawyers etc..

Para#7 Generally true. Although I have the last word on what I do. Nobody can change my decision except the court. People in the city can change what type of persons the department hires, but almost never do. I guess you mean ( Exercising your rights) you mean voting? and not asking about radar.

Last line: Thanks for the toast.

I entered this thread to shed light from "The other side." I do not think anyone on this site claims to know everything about anything. I simply stated what goes through MY head and others close in my job, for everyones benifit. I never post anything flaming anyone else for what they know to be truthful to them, somthing not wise for me to do. When anyone starts flaming they tend to lose any credibility in what their argument is about. Thats why I do not flame, I really do not care about getting flamed.

I do not get ticked off at anyones opinion or beliefs. I simply take it in to figure out people, kinda fun.

The best part about it, I can feel the love:)

You tell him 460......... Of course the court takes the side of the officer when he performs his legal duties. If the court didn't, then anyone could say "no I wasn't speeding" and have it dismissed. Thats the way it works. If you don't like it, move somewhere else and see if you like it any better. The U.S.A. is not perfect, but it is the best DAMN country in the world period. People are so quick to condemn officers but think about this.....if you advertised on all of the major networks, newspapers and other media outlets that there was going to be a five day period without, let's say, lawyers or doctors or teachers. At the end of those 5 days the country would still be the same and for the most part, life would continue as normal. Now do that with the police and it would take years for society to recover from just a few days where everybody could do pretty much what they wanted to. We are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated, but we do it because someone has to. When you lie in bed at night sleeping without a care in the world, there are people like me who don't know you from Adam who are putting their lives on the line so you can enjoy your God given freedom.
As for the radar issue, that is pretty much standard everywhere you go. Officers are trained to estimate speeds and use the radar to confirm their opinions. If someone is certified to estimate speeds using radar, then they don't even have to have a radar in the car.....period. It is also a safety issue. When we pull cars over, we do not know what is going to happen. We have to rely on our training and gut instincts to make sure we go home to our familes at the end of our shift. It is up to the individual officer as to whether he asks the driver to step back to his car or remain in the drivers seat. If you allowed drivers to determine whether or not they can exit their vehicle and come back to a patrol car, then you are in effect taking away one of our safety tools. When you get pulled over the officer has the final word when it comes down to issues of safety. The roadside is not a courtroom and there is no reason to stand on the side of the road or make an officer stand there any longer than needed with traffic whizzing by because you don't agree with what he says. I hope I this will help you understand why some things are done the way they are.
Sorry for the rant, but I feel we are always the target of unjust criticism. If we act on something we are labeled "gung ho" and if we use caution and something happens because we didn't act fast enough then we are accused of not doing our job. The old damned if you do, damned if you don't syndrome. Sleep good tonight.

Sorry, But I've got to do something rare here... Side with Unit... ;)

I don't see how there can be a "tie" in a factual case. You either have definitive evidence that a law was broken or you don't... (hence the radar...)

If the court always sides with the officer, even though there is no evidence to support it besides an officer saying there was a violation, what keeps a "bad" cop in check? (Not saying that there are any here.. ;))
Are we saying that even a "good" cop cannot make a mistake or miscalculation because they are trained? I don't feel to comfortable with that assumption.

If you can't provide evidence in court, I'm sorry Unit is right.
Innocent until PROVEN guilty. Not just because Officer so and so said so....

No evidence, no case. As true in traffic court as it is in circuit court.

As per standard overly defensive officers automatically assume I'm flaming you. If you're a good officer, there is no reason to be upset cause you know you've done your job. You don't know what the other jerk-off police officers may be doing, do you? You can't relate, just like I can't relate to somebody who does a crappy job. All I know is I'd rather those who are doing crappy jobs be let go or at least have pressure put on them to do a good job. If that means I have to perform, and prove I'm doing something occationally, then so be it.

Being a professional witness is an interesting assumption. You're not a professional witness. You're a professional police officer who's duties happen to cross over to testifying. Does that mean a running back on a pro football team who throws a pass is a professional quarterback? You are trained on how to present your side of the story while on the stand as a witness, but it's not what your main job duty is.

How about if you pull over a lawyer? He's a far more professional witness than you could ever hope to be. Does that mean his word is better than yours? How about a true professional witness who makes a living testifying (ie expert witness)?

A persons word is a persons word, and officers DO make mistakes. Obviously, you feel an officer cannot possibly make a mistake as though they are robots, and their word should therefore be law, but I have a tendency to believe an officer should have to back up his case in court with more than "he was speeding because I said so." What makes you think you're more honest or able to determine what I was doing at a given time than I am able to know my own actions? On just about anything more important than a traffic citation the prosecution needs more evidence than just an officer saying "he did this." They need some evidence of what was done, how it was done, and establishing a picture of how it all went down. It's called making a case. Your radar evidence, your speed measuring devices historical accuracy, your FCC license and training to use the equipment, conditions during the use of the equipment, and your testimony all serves as evidence. Along with the ticket, and your write up and/or notes on the event. Without this it would be nothing more than your word against his, and you should lose in that scenerio every single time, as our legal system is setup.

SVOCOP the LAWS have ruled what you are bound to do. Not your personal belief laws put you in harms way. If you feel your job is too dangerous, you can pick a different profession. I never stated I think this country is a bad place to live. I do think it's getting worse all the time because of government sticking it's nose into peoples lives where it doesn't belong, and partially because they've decided police should be used to enforce norms. I don't give police a single shred more credit than anybody else. It's your profession, and chances are, you are less skilled than a 4 year college graduate punching buttons on an office keyboard. Just because you chose your profession doesn't give you some sort of medal of honor in my opinion. You do your job, and I hope you do it well.

I also don't like the argument police officers are underpaid. If you're not paid enough, change departments. Officers here start at $50,000 per year, plus. In the Phoenix area they hire at up to $38,000 per year, which equates to about $50k a year here. There are good paying police jobs in a lot of areas if you care to look, and you qualify. Overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated? Please. Insert egotistical, arrogant, and on a power trip. If police were off for 5 days, the national guard could be used or the army. Regardless of what you think, most people are honest, and we have no need for police officers to keep an eye over our shoulder. If the investment brokers all quit work for 5 days the economy would crash. If the telecommunications industry went on strike for 5 days and service was shut off, the country would completely malfunction.

My personal opinion about police officers are they are more often than not, underqualified, poorly trained, and are self-righteous. People earn my respect with actions, not with a title. If you don't make any money, you've either decided to stay where you're at because you like your job, you haven't been looking, or you're in the above description and don't qualify for better pay/hours/benefits at another location.

SVOCOP... If ya come over the mountain I'll by ya a beer.

I also conceed in this thread:) Its just a waste of my time and those reading it.

Amen brother..........it's not worth it.