How can you break the law when you are the law?

[CrippledPidgeon]

You have obviously never heard an Officer go down or call for help while in a fight. Running a few blocks to get your car to respond is not an option. If they want to beef us for it fine....I will take the reprimand.

Also while you are getting robbed/burglarized standby while I run out to my car rather than just jumping in and going.

On the other hand, I would prefer my police officers in their cars, and out patrolling, rather than sitting in a restaurant watching the game (with their car nearby "just in case") On the other hand, I have never had to work the kinds of shifts that these guys do, so I can't even begin to understand how boring the daily grind for them probably is.

[Matt C]

On the other hand, I would prefer my police officers in their cars, and out patrolling, rather than sitting in a restaurant watching the game (with their car nearby "just in case") On the other hand, I have never had to work the kinds of shifts that these guys do, so I can't even begin to understand how boring the daily grind for them probably is.

Uh, they have to eat...

[tyrist]

What's the diff? One way or the other, it'll be over when you arrive anyways.

Wrong..Just flat wrong.

[leelaw]

Pretty likely that they would be prosecuted in the home country, in fact the home country would probably revoke diplomatic status if they clearly did something very bad.

Officer: "We are expelling your diplomat for murder and rape"
Home Country: "Oh, really? What time did this happen?"
Officer: "About 10PM this evening"
Home Country: "Oh, that's funny, because <scribble> according to our records, we fired him and revoked his diplomatic privileges at 9PM today...."

[FreedomIsNotFree]

I cant remember exactly where I seen it, but it was a site dedicated to LEO's complaining about other LEO's citing them for VC violations. To say there isn't an expectation of "professional courtesy" is naive...but for a LEO to count on it at every turn is just plain stupid. Some LEO's give themselves chubbies by citing other LEO's.

[retired]

Until I read the article in the paper about the toll roads and some of those who have confidential plates not paying the tolls, I was unaware it was possible to do that. I have always paid the toll on them. I have a confidential plate, but even now that I know I could probably avoid the toll, I wouldn't even think of doing so and shame on those that do. I'm a very infrequent user of them, but I would still pay; not to do so would be wrong.

[Fate]

Wrong..Just flat wrong.

Tyrist, I obviously struck a nerve with reporting about the CNN story. Then you decided to make it personal and include me in your scenario. I don't know what kind of superheros you have on the force in OC that are able to show up before a thug can finish saying, "gimme your wallet" but up here in LA, response time is QUITE a bit slower.

I HAVE experienced that poor performance first-hand, several times, in life-threatening situations over my 24 years living as an adult in LA. In all cases, the police arrived 30-45 minutes after it was long over or never showed at all.

Recently I had someone kick in my front door on Christmas Eve. Wife called 911 and retreated with the kids while I grabbed my pistol. Her 911 call requested immediate help from LAPD (whose jurisdiction we are in), dispatch decided to connect us with LASD. LASD said, not our area and tried to connect us back to LAPD. Instead we were connected to Simi Valley PD. They tried to connect us back to LAPD and ended up disconnecting us completely. All parties said "stay on the line, don't hang up, we're on our way." I locked up the house, armed my wife and we sat it out. End result? Perp vanished (likely after hearing me shout "get out, I have a gun!"). Cops never showed. No happy ending, but no casualties either. Ultimately, I gave up trying to file a report as I had no description of the guy.

Tyrist, if indeed the police in Orange County are faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, please send some of them up here to L.A. We could really use them.

[Glock22Fan]

Recently I had someone kick in my front door on Christmas Eve. Wife called 911 and retreated with the kids while I grabbed my pistol. Her 911 call requested immediate help from LAPD (whose jurisdiction we are in), dispatch decided to connect us with LASD. LASD said, not our area and tried to connect us back to LAPD. Instead we were connected to Simi Valley PD. They tried to connect us back to LAPD and ended up disconnecting us completely. All parties said "stay on the line, don't hang up, we're on our way."

Did your wife say "I think they have guns, and we have them too."?

I understand that dispatchers treat "gun involved" incidents more seriously. I wonder if firing a warning shot into the ground within the hearing of the 911 operator would help speed things up, or make things worse afterwards?

However, I well believe your story. Anyone who thinks 911 gives an immediate response is guilty of wishful thinking.

[Yankee Clipper]

Did your wife say "I think they have guns, and we have them too."?

I understand that dispatchers treat "gun involved" incidents more seriously. I wonder if firing a warning shot into the ground within the hearing of the 911 operator would help speed things up, or make things worse afterwards?

However, I well believe your story. Anyone who thinks 911 gives an immediate response is guilty of wishful thinking.

It would make things worse: in most cities it's illegal to shoot your firearm and there might be a stone or small piece of metal just below the surface that would cause a ricochet into a member of your family or you.

[Glock22Fan]

It would make things worse: in most cities it's illegal to shoot your firearm and there might be a stone or small piece of metal just below the surface that would cause a ricochet into a member of your family or you.

Oh dear, I'm being attacked by bad guys and it is illegal to shoot my gun. This is because I can't be trusted not to cause a ricochet.

Why do we have guns then? Oh yes, it's so we can use them with sense and discretion when the situation is serious enough to merit it, i.e. one feels that one's life is in danger.

[BillCA]

I have to disagree with the OP and his quoted source.

Sure, there are cops who extend "professional courtesy" to other LEOs. However, there is also a limit. This limit can vary by agency, county or the individual officer. If the driver is a LEO, Firefighter or similar government agent, doing 9-10 mph over the limit will probably get you warned to slow down. Same for slowly rolling a stop sign or not stopping completely on a right-turn-on-red.

If the LEO is doing 45 in a school zone, however, he'd best be on-duty and responding somewhere. If a LEOs spouse is driving solo in the HOV lane or bypasses the bridge toll booth, expect a ticket. Driving recklessly or DUI will likely not get you much professional courtesy from an outside agency.

Keep in mind that police officers, et al, have to keep a fairly clean driving record for their jobs. And they get used to certain bad habits when driving a patrol car, such as not signaling or rolling stop signs to save minutes during the shift.

What I think is wrong is when off-duty cops expect to be let off for traffic violations. Especially those who get wood by showing it off with non-LEO friends in their car.

Where it gets bad is when you have government employees attempting to extend this to their spouses, kids etc too. Some time ago, the wife of a CHP officer was following my truck too close. On a 40 mph road four idiots ran across just in front of me, leaving 2 "undecided" idjits at the curb. I slammed the brakes and felt a slight thump in the rear. I eased off and pulled over. The trailer hitch had gone up as I braked and her Honda's hood went under it. When we parted ways, the trailer hitch took the top of her hood and radiator along. SJPD showed up (he'd been going the other way). When the PD said he was going to cite her for following too close, she objected by saying "You can't give me a ticket! My husband is a highway patrolman." After twice more insisting, she dialed her husband's cell phone saying "Talk to him. He says we'll never get tickets anymore!" Well, at least she got the ticket.

[retired]

Bill, she was an idiot and certainly deserved a ticket.

When I was in patrol, I had no problem giving professional courtesy to leos and firemen. But, as you said, there is a limit. Getting in an accident with someone hurt wouldn't get professional courtesy from me. I wasn't about to put my career on the line. Thankfully, I was never faced with that situation.

On the other side of the coin, I gave out numerous warnings (verbal) to "regular" people also for rolling stops and other minor violations. If they seemed to get the warning and didn't let their mouth get ahead of their brain, that is all I did; warn them.

For the flagrant violations and those who weren't receptive to the warning and demanded to know why I wasn't out catching robbers, murderers, etc., they got a ticket. Heck, the only way to get one guy to shut up was to advise him that I could put 4 violations on each ticket and each book contained 25 tickets. He finally caught on and I was able to get him on his way with only the initial violation.

[tyrist]

Tyrist, I obviously struck a nerve with reporting about the CNN story. Then you decided to make it personal and include me in your scenario. I don't know what kind of superheros you have on the force in OC that are able to show up before a thug can finish saying, "gimme your wallet" but up here in LA, response time is QUITE a bit slower.

I HAVE experienced that poor performance first-hand, several times, in life-threatening situations over my 24 years living as an adult in LA. In all cases, the police arrived 30-45 minutes after it was long over or never showed at all.

Recently I had someone kick in my front door on Christmas Eve. Wife called 911 and retreated with the kids while I grabbed my pistol. Her 911 call requested immediate help from LAPD (whose jurisdiction we are in), dispatch decided to connect us with LASD. LASD said, not our area and tried to connect us back to LAPD. Instead we were connected to Simi Valley PD. They tried to connect us back to LAPD and ended up disconnecting us completely. All parties said "stay on the line, don't hang up, we're on our way." I locked up the house, armed my wife and we sat it out. End result? Perp vanished (likely after hearing me shout "get out, I have a gun!"). Cops never showed. No happy ending, but no casualties either. Ultimately, I gave up trying to file a report as I had no description of the guy.

Tyrist, if indeed the police in Orange County are faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, please send some of them up here to L.A. We could really use them.

It is rare that we catch them in the act...however I have caught numerous suspects after the fact. We have airships and other units in the area. We broadcast suspect decriptions and put up perimeters and bring in K-9s for searches.

I am sorry that you felt I made it personal...I did not intend that.