Handling "Calls for Service" Only - Sad

[LtJim]

Here's one for all you retirees---You probably remember back in your career, when Common Sense got turned upside down. Politicians rolled over in the name of Political Correctness, & blamed all of the evils of the world on Law Enforcement rather than the Law Breakers.

There was usually an incident that happened that the media would jump on. The media would use their tactic of switching "Nouns" to write their stories. Rodney King became a "Motorist" rather than a "Fleeing Felon". Eula Love in 1979 was portrayed as victim when she was shot and killed while attacking uniformed Law Enforcement with a knife.

How did LEO's respond for a while after they got kicked in the backsides by the Media that piled after those incidents? And are probably happening today?

The answer is quite simple. The Lack of Self Initiated by Field Officers. This would go on for a while until things calmed down, and then it was back to business as usual.

Traffic Stops were down. Traffic cites were down. Advisements were up, when a stop was even made. It was amazing how Officers never saw a crime happen. But would rather respond at a safe speed to a call for service, and gladly take a report! Hmmmm. It would not surprise me in the least if Field LEO's have shifted in that mode right now.

Who really suffers? The Law abiding citizen who gets up everyday to go to work and support his family? Or the small minority group who violates the law and panders the victim card based on the popular politically correct term to the media.

If I am wrong about my recollections, please post it here and let me know.

If you seem to remember similar issues from say 1960's to the present, please list those incidents here to refresh our memories.

The new generation of LEOs have been getting their backsides kicked in the media the last few months. Some incidents deservedly so, most---"Please"!

It's time the Old Guard who safely have our pensions locked in and can utilize our 1st Amendment rights without the fear of an I.A. investigation being launched, speak up and tell it like it is.

Can you remember some other type of incidents that here in Ca. that had this same effect?

The LT is off the Soap Box and await your responses.

[micro911]

It is a sad situation..

[tcop143]

Lt,
I wasn't working in law enforcement during the times you mentioned in your opening post, but I suspect, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, this time is different. For the most part, the lay person does not understand the importance of proactive police work. Proactive work can have a huge impact on crime prevention. By arresting that tweekball for some chicken**** warrant, dope or maybe 496 and getting him/her into cj BEFORE they can commit their next offense can play a big role in the quality of life for law abiding citizens. So I completely agree the law abiding will suffer.

There are other factors that compound the issues facing today's cops. These include technology that allows everyone to have an HD camera on their phone along with the ability to post that video instantly. The mainstream media, while suspect for some time, is so clearly biased now that getting fair, factual and unbiased news reports on LE related incidents is totally unheard of.

Lawlessness on behalf of our politians at every level has emboldened the criminals in our society. You couple that with legislation with the likes of AB109 and Prop 47, and there are effectively no dissincentives/consequences for many types of illegal behavior. Plus I really don't need to go into what sort of individuals some of our public schools/colleges are having a hand in creating do I?

As noble and courageous as it might be (obviously not as brave and courageous as attacking a police department with an armored vehicle and pipe bombs) for retired LEOs to speak out, I fear we may be at the point where that pendulum may have to swing all the way over before there's any change.

So in summary, at least in my county, the risk versus reward is approaching or has reached a critical imbalance. I can promise you that the closer I come to retirement (3 years away), the more I'm forced to consider what MAY happen if I initiate that next stop/contact.

As far as Califrornia incidents go, I think Rodney King has had the greatest impact. My apologies if drifted off topic!

[Unit74]

Had this same conversation with my partners last week. When no matter how righteous we are; no matter how much we try; no matter how much we care about our community- at some point you must decided what is more important. Do I keep my job and career or do I gamble with being tagged a criminal for doing the job I have been asked to do?

I think it's a fair assessment to say crime is going to rise in the near future. The criminal element is going to run rough shot over the community. At some point, the citizen will get furious with the police, who are not protecting them anymore and demand action.

It's a sad state of affairs when it's the police who are demonized and the criminal is the victim. And to ad insult to injury, your police administration has adopted this mentality that the officers are wrong, even if they are right just to appease the media wolves.

I made this statement, and hope it never happens to anyone in LE: if you find yourself on the short end of this situation, never, EVER, quit in lieu of termination. Regardless of your choice, if it came to this point, you will not be working in LE again. If you resign, you have NO rights of appeal. Let them fire you, take it to arbitration and mop that chief up in his own stinky agenda. When executive level LE gets the point that you cannot treat officers like this, it might change their tune. But when you have at-will Chiefs, they ARE going to bend and you are the victim now.

[tcop143]

Unit, I couldn't agree with you more. If you are referring to the McKinney corporal, I couldn't have been more disappointed. Barring some set of circumstances I'm not aware of, which is entirely possible, I think his resignation and subsequent apology threw every other honest, hard working cop under the bus. It lent credibility to every cop-hating POS that is bent on the destruction of the rule of law/civilized society.

[5.56]

Prop 47.


Do I need say more?

[1CavScout]

I was a very proactive street cop. The only way to earn respect when I was working patrol was to be a good street cop that could make self generated felony arrests. Sadly, if I was pushing a black and white today I would only respond to radio calls. I would also try and get out of patrol as soon as possible. I feel sorry for the guys that work at smaller agencies that have to work patrol for most of their careers.

[Unit74]

Case and point, Look at the Baltimore Police Commissioner. Just fired by the mayor because cops are now so worried about doing their jobs, murder has skyrocket among other things.

You reap what you so.