Cops Above the Law??

jpete wrote:

Northern Maine wrote:
Interpretation....gods gift to man!

Are we a country of laws or interpretations?

Must we be held to the vague and random notions of a sociopath with a gun?

A country of interpretation of the law....extremism at work in your second comment!

Northern Maine wrote:A country of interpretation of the law....extremism at work in your second comment!

If law is subjective, then we are subjects. My tag-line has relevance here.

Northern Maine wrote:

CoaLen wrote:He's apparently serious about this issue but he went about it all wrong. He would have produced better results if he would have presented this video to an elected official while a news reporter was present. The only motivation these people respond to is some personal loss to their position in their government employment.

Much better approach...however, the officer would have had to give the person permission to be recorded!

Not sure where you got that from but you do not need permission from the officer to record him in public.

coalkirk wrote:
Not sure where you got that from but you do not need permission from the officer to record him in public.

In some parts of the country you do!

Maryland has a very strict wire tap law that forbids voice recording without consent. In a high profile case here last year, the court ruled that you do not have to have consent to video a police officer during the course of his duty in public. Many cops think so but it's not the case.

Does HE care if you do? Would he write you a ticket for it?

Probably not. My guess is he would drive me home and tell me to not be an ass. Despite being pulled over several times, I have only ever received 1 ticket.

More importantly, would he write ME a ticket for it?

Most likely.

Even in my line of work sometimes we have to go outside the lines to achieve the ultimate goal. It might not always be right, but it is what it is.

Rwalker wrote:

Does HE care if you do? Would he write you a ticket for it?

Probably not. My guess is he would drive me home and tell me to not be an ass. Despite being pulled over several times, I have only ever received 1 ticket.

More importantly, would he write ME a ticket for it?

Most likely.

Even in my line of work sometimes we have to go outside the lines to achieve the ultimate goal. It might not always be right, but it is what it is.

Then the laws mean nothing if they only apply to some people and not others. We live in a dictatorship where the ones with guns control the rest. America is dead.

I could never be a police officer because I could not deal with drunk, stupid people; those being one in the same typically. I have no ambition to clean up puke out of the back of my squad car in the performance of my job. For that reason alone, I give the police some latitude on whether they wear a seat belt or not, or break other petty laws.

NoSmoke wrote:I could never be a police officer because I could not deal with drunk, stupid people; those being one in the same typically. I have no ambition to clean up puke out of the back of my squad car in the performance of my job. For that reason alone, I give the police some latitude on whether they wear a seat belt or not, or break other petty laws.

it's definitely a challenge that one has to balance with being courteous and professional that's for sure....I commonly have some in the public who tell me what I can and can't do "with explicative" language! With this I present to them written language that shows that I can and also explain that I have a job to do as they do...if they have a job....and I show them respect as to their concerns, but also explain that it is imperative that they do the same....be diplomatic usually works!

Yep, that must be it Jeff.

jpete wrote:

Rwalker wrote:

Does HE care if you do? Would he write you a ticket for it?

Probably not. My guess is he would drive me home and tell me to not be an ass. Despite being pulled over several times, I have only ever received 1 ticket.

More importantly, would he write ME a ticket for it?

Most likely.

Even in my line of work sometimes we have to go outside the lines to achieve the ultimate goal. It might not always be right, but it is what it is.

Then the laws mean nothing if they only apply to some people and not others. We live in a dictatorship where the ones with guns control the rest. America is dead.

freetown fred wrote:Yep, that must be it Jeff.


Then the laws mean nothing if they only apply to some people and not others. We live in a dictatorship where the ones with guns control the rest. America is dead.

[/quote]

a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession...Jpete your muse is tainted!

As a rule the police are pretty reasonable I believe...

A few years ago I went off on a cop and he took it well. I ran into a seat belt check where they funnel cars into a check point and see if you are wearing one; I wasn't because...well...I never do. So he pulls me over to give me a ticket and I let loose. Not yelling, but in a agitated voice told him just what I thought.

You see I am a foster parent and I had just returned from the District Attorney's Office where the DA had just told my 17 old Foster Child that they were NOT going to prosecute her biological father for incest and statutory rape. They said they believed her but that there was no evidence. I had to try and calm this poor kid down even though it was total blarney. Her father would come home from work, enjoy his daughter and then share her with his drinking buddies, to the point where she was impregnated and had to have an abortion due to the implications of a dad also being the granddad to the unborn baby. So the evidence was there, with dna and all that, they just did not want to prosecute a case that would be high profile when the girl was now safe, doing well and would be badgered by the press. This happens a lot in the foster care system; about 80% of the time, which is sad, but I digress.

So I tell this cop this story and he starts apologizing all over the place, telling me that he hates these checks, and that they are just doing this to get his quota and that he hates not being able to go out and protect children and lets me go.

But here is the thing, I KNOW they see bad car accidents where people are killed because they don't wear seat belts so they see some pretty bad stuff that could easily have been avoided. I understand that, and I have no issue with being ticketed for breaking the law...hey I got caught, it is against the law and consequences happen...what gets me is that getting a ticket increases my Legalized Extortion Rates...otherwise called insurance. Now that makes my blood boil!

BTW: The retired police association of Maine gives a lot of $10 dollar gift certificates to Burger King to these foster kids. In the case of this girl, while her dad was not prosecuted, the police did give her a gift certificate which I thought was a nice gesture.

NoSmoke wrote:As a rule the police are pretty reasonable I believe...

A few years ago I went off on a cop and he took it well. I ran into a seat belt check where they funnel cars into a check point and see if you are wearing one; I wasn't because...well...I never do. So he pulls me over to give me a ticket and I let loose. Not yelling, but in a agitated voice told him just what I thought.

You see I am a foster parent and I had just returned from the District Attorney's Office where the DA had just told my 17 old Foster Child that they were NOT going to prosecute her biological father for incest and statutory rape. They said they believed her but that there was no evidence. I had to try and calm this poor kid down even though it was total blarney. Her father would come home from work, enjoy his daughter and then share her with his drinking buddies, to the point where she was impregnated and had to have an abortion due to the implications of a dad also being the granddad to the unborn baby. So the evidence was there, with dna and all that, they just did not want to prosecute a case that would be high profile when the girl was now safe, doing well and would be badgered by the press. This happens a lot in the foster care system; about 80% of the time, which is sad, but I digress.

So I tell this cop this story and he starts apologizing all over the place, telling me that he hates these checks, and that they are just doing this to get his quota and that he hates not being able to go out and protect children and lets me go.

But here is the thing, I KNOW they see bad car accidents where people are killed because they don't wear seat belts so they see some pretty bad stuff that could easily have been avoided. I understand that, and I have no issue with being ticketed for breaking the law...hey I got caught, it is against the law and consequences happen...what gets me is that getting a ticket increases my Legalized Extortion Rates...otherwise called insurance. Now that makes my blood boil!

BTW: The retired police association of Maine gives a lot of $10 dollar gift certificates to Burger King to these foster kids. In the case of this girl, while her dad was not prosecuted, the police did give her a gift certificate which I thought was a nice gesture.

In my non professional opinion and outside of my job....THAT biological father should be cast into the depths of hell and suffer the most excruciating pain that can be given! I am glad you and your spouse had the opportunity to be a part of this young lady's life! Compassion in these instances by all you come in contact with is above board and support your not getting a ticket!

NS, don't be busting cops balls because of the screwed up judicial system we've let run rampant--that ADA/ DA were VOTED in. It's pretty easy for people to get "LOST" in the woods in this area if push came to shove.

I grew up in a foster home, only it was reversed; my parents were foster parents so I have seen a lot of stuff. I wish that was the worst case, but unfortunately it is not.

That would have to be my sister; an adopted sibling (My parents had 3 biological children and adopted 6 more). At 15 MONTHS she was raped by her step-father. They also beat her so bad that she quite breathing, but the neighbors heard the ruckus and called the police, who came in, gave the infant CPR and sent her to the hospital. Fearing criminal reprimenands for this, the parents came into the hospital, put a garbage bag over the infant and tried to suffocate her. A nurse saw this and called the police who immediately put my sister in our foster home. Even then, they tried to abduct her several times.

They were never tried for their crimes, but their crazy lifestyle killed the mom and my sisters step-father by getting Aides and dying. My sister is dead as well, killed by a car accident in 2001 at the age of 19...killed while answering a cell phone call. As luck would have it, a police officer was behind her, but could not do much to save her life as she was not wearing a seat belt and decapitated. Still ge got 17-1/2 years thanks to a police officer so twice was not in the cards.

The parents were such low-lifes that they said my sister was "retarded" because at 15 months she could not walk. yet when the nurse put her down to change the crib sheets, she RAN down the hall. Now I could not wait for my daughter to take her first steps, and watched her do so. What kind of parents could not tell that their daughter could walk? What it happened was, when she cried they would beat her, so my sister learned to lay down when they were in the room. She learned to walk on her own. HOW SAD!

There have been other sad cases as well; two adopted brothers were raped by their dad at age 7 and 6.

Another adopted brother had two broken legs: at 2 months old. The parents broke his legs in a fit of rage because he cried all the time. The only thing he knows is our home having never left at 2 months old.

There are other stories, like the woman that killed her 18 month old by putting her in the stove and cooking her alive, or the dad who took a screwdriver to a 2 years old daughters "neither region", destroying all chances of her having children, yet received all but 2 years suspended sentence.

Today the abuse of children is not what people picture: physical abuse. 90% of abuse to kids today is sexual abuse because of the sexualized society we live in. As foster parents we get by simply by knowing at that time in a childs life, we have provided a safe place to go and have shown them what a real family life is like. Most foster Children however fall into a trap of humanism; after about a year they forget what their real home was like, and remember only the good, and often elect to return home. Typically after a month they call back and want to come back to our home, but by then...sadly...another child has taken its place and legally we can only have x amount of kids in the house; whatever we are licensed for.

Please do not take this as bragging, because it is NOT. I have done some cool things in my life: worked at ground zero after 911, welded the bow section of the first Zumwalk Class Destroyer, welded steel for the Big Dig Project, etc...but my greatest accomplishment has been building a home and having morals to become a Foster Parent. I believe it shows caring, love, and perseverance and I put it on my resume. With that one accomplishment it shows that I have been finger printed, background checked, inspected and scrutinized and passed the test and I cannot imagine an employer that would not want those morals as an employee.