CountyMounty
Well-Known Member
Wow too much to respond to, thats what happens when I dont get on for a couple days.
I guess I can only speak for the way things are around here and I know it is different elsewhere. I can believe that there may be some agencies that set up speed details because they need the money. However for the most part, again in my area, speed limits are set by some highly educated engineer that works for the Department of Transportation based on several factors including population density, land features, intersections, ect ect. For some of the rural town roads they can set there own speed limits and my experience has been that there is almost always a group of citizens in every neighbor petitioning the town to lower the speed limits.
As for quotas there is absolutely no such thing in my agency or any other area agency that I am familiar with. While it is true that sometimes an officer may be told that he should be writing more tickets (especially in the State Police) it is not because of a quota or that they want more money but because their supervisor can tell, based on normal statistics or other officers, that they apparently have spent their free time goofing off instead of patroling.
Do some agencies have quotas? I dont know, possibly, but I bet not many do.
As for officers breaking the law to enforce the law. If the police had to obey every single law (traffic or otherwise) by the book that would greatly affect their ability to enforce some laws. I will certainly agree that many officers violate laws when they shouldn't (speeding, talking on the cell phone, etc) and that is an issue that should be addressed on an individual basis. I do not think that because officers are allowed to break some laws that is means we have "no real justice system". There is a very very strict set of rules that officers must obey, not your oridnary laws, but the ones that deal specifically with obtaining evidence, police procedures etc. It is very complex and as someone mentioned there are plenty of lawyers out there that make that police follow those rules, they get criminals off everyday on minor technicalities.
Nice debate everyone.
I guess I can only speak for the way things are around here and I know it is different elsewhere. I can believe that there may be some agencies that set up speed details because they need the money. However for the most part, again in my area, speed limits are set by some highly educated engineer that works for the Department of Transportation based on several factors including population density, land features, intersections, ect ect. For some of the rural town roads they can set there own speed limits and my experience has been that there is almost always a group of citizens in every neighbor petitioning the town to lower the speed limits.
As for quotas there is absolutely no such thing in my agency or any other area agency that I am familiar with. While it is true that sometimes an officer may be told that he should be writing more tickets (especially in the State Police) it is not because of a quota or that they want more money but because their supervisor can tell, based on normal statistics or other officers, that they apparently have spent their free time goofing off instead of patroling.
Do some agencies have quotas? I dont know, possibly, but I bet not many do.
As for officers breaking the law to enforce the law. If the police had to obey every single law (traffic or otherwise) by the book that would greatly affect their ability to enforce some laws. I will certainly agree that many officers violate laws when they shouldn't (speeding, talking on the cell phone, etc) and that is an issue that should be addressed on an individual basis. I do not think that because officers are allowed to break some laws that is means we have "no real justice system". There is a very very strict set of rules that officers must obey, not your oridnary laws, but the ones that deal specifically with obtaining evidence, police procedures etc. It is very complex and as someone mentioned there are plenty of lawyers out there that make that police follow those rules, they get criminals off everyday on minor technicalities.
Nice debate everyone.
