The official "Ask a cop/deputy anything!" thread

[gtr2M3]

I agree with Sedan_Clan on the fact that attitude is everything when wanting to elevate one’s self

I have an aunt who is a full blood native and takes in foster kids from reserves in hopes they can be put on a better path

Some do well in life, most don’t

The ones that do well get out of and stay out of the reserve, they surround themselves with other who choose to move forward instead of dwelling on how the white man stole their land and lives years ago from their forefathers and how they are owed something today to make up for it

[TrevorM3]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Disbanding or defunding the police isn't going to fix any of the issues BLM or any other social justice organization thinks it will. Statistically crime goes up with less of a law enforcement presence. It's just a popular talking point that tickles the emotions of anarchists and people who don't like being held accountable.

the fact that defunding police is even thought about right now, is deeply disturbing. This country is lost.

[jamesinaz]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Unions are not inherently bad. Unions are appropriate when you have a large number of employees (...e.g. we have over 22,000 in the sheriff's department alone; 11,000+ are sworn). Unions are also there to help employees fight against their employer for violating certain labor laws, unfair practices, retaliation, whistleblower protections, etc.

22,000

(in my best Achmed the dead terrorist voice) - "Holy Crap"

[UncleWede]

So we defund/disband the police.

Then we no longer have ANY control over who becomes a vigilante, and all the racists have zero control over who they can take out their frustration upon.

What could go wrong?

I don't have the answer, and I agree something needs to continue to change. But with no plan, it will be rather difficult to accomplish anything.

Sedan, when I get my massage this Friday, I'll do it in your honor

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

So we defund/disband the police.

Then we no longer have ANY control over who becomes a vigilante, and all the racists have zero control over who they can take out their frustration upon.

What could go wrong?

I don't have the answer, and I agree something needs to continue to change. But with no plan, it will be rather difficult to accomplish anything.

Sedan, when I get my massage this Friday, I'll do it in your honor

Make sure that massage ends happy.

[TrevorM3]

watching these violent "protests" on tv, reading about it online, i stumbled onto YT and found this.

Skip to 3 minute mark. This is what i was eluding to earlier. My god, this man is a model not for especially black men, but ALL men. Pay attention to how quickly he answers that question. I know holding yourself accountable is tough these days, but some folks out there really should start doing it.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by TrevorM3

watching these violent "protests" on tv, reading about it online, i stumbled onto YT and found this.

Skip to 3 minute mark. This is what i was eluding to earlier. My god, this man is a model not for especially black men, but ALL men. Pay attention to how quickly he answers that question. I know holding yourself accountable is tough these days, but some folks out there really should start doing it.

See, and when I say the same thing as Denzel, I get people telling me I don't know what I'm talking about.

[TrevorM3]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

See, and when I say the same thing as Denzel, I get people telling me I don't know what I'm talking about.

some people can't even comprehend what denzel said. they just gloss right over it.

Cops are bad, everyone hates black people, blm, etc etc.

[Throttlesteer14]

I love the scene in Equalizer 2 where he sets the kid straight. Denzel is the man!

[TrevorM3]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer14

I love the seen in Equalizer 2 where he sets the kid straight. Denzel is the man!

you remember the dialogue?


"i dont wanna hear about your environment, what your momma didn't give you and what the white man wont give you"


Another great set of statements made. Again, self accountability. Hell, i'll link it.

[tcabill]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Not Code 3, but what we like to call Code 2.5. That's where you see us pull up to a traffic signal at an intersection, stop traffic using the squelch/siren and flash the lights briefly, and roll through the intersection.

or "Code Brown"

[F80Pilot]

@Sedan_Clan You are absolutely right about your statement.

1. Problems do start in the house
- When you don't have a father figure to correct your behaviors and actions at a young age, you are very likely go onto a wrong path. Regardless of your race, etc. In America, you do see a lot more AA kids who don't have father figures in comparison to other races. It's SAD, and people should try to contribute to fix that problem. Looting and burning all that type of shit will only bring more negative responses from the people who already have prejudice towards the people of color.

2. Disbanding the police is not the fix for systematic racism
- if you live on earth, you will need LAWS. Who fking serve and protect? POLICE!!!! We are all humans, and we make mistakes, because we aren't perfect. The justice system will never be perfect, so it needs to improve, not to be destroyed. If you are having a good fking night of sleep and not have to worry about someone breaking into your home, Thank those thin blue line heroes who are doing the work.

3. If you actually try, you will make it regardless of your race.

[Hawkeye]

@Sedan_Clan

If an officer forgets to have the person they are writing a ticket to actually sign it, is it still valid or is that a basis for contesting it?

Officer wrote me a front plate violation instead of a fix it ticket because my car isn't old enough to qualify to not have a front plate apparently. Never been warned or pulled over before (in 10 years). Plus the officer was kind of an asshole. Normally I'd just pay it but all those things along with the fact that the $20 ticket gets up to $86 due to court costs even if paid electronically makes me want to just show up and get it dismissed.

Sorry for the rant. What's your thought?

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

@Sedan_Clan

If an officer forgets to have the person they are writing a ticket to actually sign it, is it still valid or is that a basis for contesting it?

Officer wrote me a front plate violation instead of a fix it ticket because my car isn't old enough to qualify to not have a front plate apparently. Never been warned or pulled over before (in 10 years). Plus the officer was kind of an asshole. Normally I'd just pay it but all those things along with the fact that the $20 ticket gets up to $86 due to court costs even if paid electronically makes me want to just show up and get it dismissed.

Sorry for the rant. What's your thought?

Sorry you dealt with an asshole.

Unfortunately you failing to sign isn't enough for a dismissal, at least not here in California. People refuse to sign often. I know you didn't refuse, but the citation is still valid despite the officer forgetting.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

Sorry you dealt with an asshole.

Unfortunately you failing to sign isn't enough for a dismissal, at least not here in California. People refuse to sign often. I know you didn't refuse, but the citation is still valid despite the officer forgetting.

Well thats a shame. Thanks for the response.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Soul_Glo

Have you ever let someone off a ticket out of Christmas spirit?

What's the most tickets an individual racked up in a night? For example you issued it but they did it again intentionally or by mistake so you had to issue another?

What do you like most about your job?

I have let people off with warnings for a variety of reasons, Christmas included. These days I've resigned myself to not looking for trouble and only answering calls for service. The last 4 months have put me into career survival mode. I'm actually looking to leave patrol by next summer and seek an assignment that is not patrol oriented. It's just not worth it to be on patrol anymore in my humble opinion. I can go into it more if you're interested.

I used to enjoy being on patrol, helping people and making change, however small. My goal was to eventually make it to Special Victim's and help victims of rape, human trafficking, etc., but with the defund movement in full force, our SVB has been nixed along with every other special division we had.

As for the ticket inquiry....

....I can't recall a time where I wrote multiple tickets to the same person at different times during the shift, but I can recall a time where I should've taken someone to jail, but I let them go and ended up responding to their residence an hour later and arresting them. That's what I get for being nice.

[rwheels]

Hey Sedan, I have a question about double yellow lines. If a pair of double solid lines represents an island, are vehicles in opposing traffic required to pull aside, when an emergency vehicle travels through?

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by rwheels

Hey Sedan, I have a question about double yellow lines. If a pair of double solid lines represents an island, are vehicles in opposing traffic required to pull aside, when an emergency vehicle travels through?

Per California Vehicle Code 21806(a)(1), vehicles shall yield to the right to make room for emergency vehicles. In those instances you needn't worry about violating the various other CVC's. We realize that your movement was performed for emergency purposes.

[Reborn_]

One time I passed a couple of slow cars in the carpool lane on my bike. I waited for the break in double yellow, hit about 85 as I maneuvered out and back in. Saw the cop in my mirror so I dropped to 65. Sure enough he lit me up. It was nighttime so no way I was pulling on the left shoulder. So I turned my blinker on and cruised 2+ miles until the double yellows broke. It took forever. Pulled off on the shoulder and did all the right things. No ticket.

My question is, in that scenario, was I right to not cross the double yellow right in front of him to get over to the shoulder faster, even though it cost him time, and I’m sure he was waiting for me to run the entire time as well.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Reborn_

One time I passed a couple of slow cars in the carpool lane on my bike. I waited for the break in double yellow, hit about 85 as I maneuvered out and back in. Saw the cop in my mirror so I dropped to 65. Sure enough he lit me up. It was nighttime so no way I was pulling on the left shoulder. So I turned my blinker on and cruised 2+ miles until the double yellows broke. It took forever. Pulled off on the shoulder and did all the right things. No ticket.

My question is, in that scenario, was I right to not break the law in front of him, even though it cost him time, and I'm sure he was waiting for me to run the entire time as well.

You did the right thing. Kudos to you. You maximized both your safety and the officer's safety all while improving visibility with regards to oncoming traffic.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Soul_Glo

Yes I'm interested. Pray do tell.

This career is great.......was great. It has always been a risk-reward proposition buoyed by great compensation and a good retirement, the latter two references adding incentive for placing ourselves in danger every shift and being willing to die for something larger than ourselves. Additionally, qualified immunity allowed for us to be able to make mistakes made in good faith without the fear of callous legal ramifications and/or prosecution. Essentially it allowed us to be human. The current climate expects perfection from law enforcement; an unrealistic expectation. Couple that with the very real proposition of losing our pensions, a reduction of resources due to the "defund the police" movement and body cameras designed to allow hindsight criticism of highly dangerous, rapidly evolving and fluid situations, and you have a recipe for career disaster. It was bad enough that one incident in your career would likely lead to termination or forced retirement. Now, one incident will likely lead to an officer being charged with murder, for example, over a textbook and easily justified shooting (...e.g...criminal points gun at officer, officer shoots criminal, it's all caught on camera and the criminal's gun was recovered at the scene, but the officer gets charged with murder. WTF?!?!).

I was told many years ago by older officers that they "felt for me and others who were just beginning their careers." They went on to state that the world was no longer friendly nor respectful towards law enforcement and that I/we'd have a very difficult time bridging the chasm. These officers also stated they would never have chosen to become cops in today's world. Fast forward many years and I finally understand what they meant. It isn't worth it, and I feel for those applying and trying to get hired in a world that becomes more unfriendly by the day.

Ultimately there will be people in uniform to carry the torch, but disenchantment awaits them. It's unfortunate because the vast majority of us enter this profession to do good things and protect innocent people. We are not flawless, but we are full of heart and we enjoy being of service. It's unfortunate that we are just pawns in a much larger scheme.

[Murf993]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

This career is great.......was great. It has always been a risk-reward proposition buoyed by great compensation and a good retirement, the latter two references adding incentive for placing ourselves in danger every shift and being willing to die for something larger than ourselves. Additionally, qualified immunity allowed for us to be able to make mistakes made in good faith without the fear of callous legal ramifications and/or prosecution. Essentially it allowed us to be human. The current climate expects perfection from law enforcement; an unrealistic expectation. Couple that with the very real proposition of losing our pensions, a reduction of resources due to the "defund the police" movement and body cameras designed to allow hindsight criticism of highly dangerous, rapidly evolving and fluid situations, and you have a recipe for career disaster. It was bad enough that one incident in your career would likely lead to termination or forced retirement. Now, one incident will likely lead to an officer being charged with murder, for example, over a textbook and easily justified shooting (...e.g...criminal points gun at officer, officer shoots criminal, it's all caught on camera and the criminal's gun was recovered at the scene, but the officer gets charged with murder. WTF?!?!).

I was told many years ago by older officers that they "felt for me and others who were just beginning their careers." They went on to state that the world was no longer friendly nor respectful towards law enforcement and that I/we'd have a very difficult time bridging the chasm. These officers also stated they would never have chosen to become cops in today's world. Fast forward many years and I finally understand what they meant. It isn't worth it, and I feel for those applying and trying to get hired in a world that becomes more unfriendly by the day.

Ultimately there will be people in uniform to carry the torch, but disenchantment awaits them. It's unfortunate because the vast majority of us enter this profession to do good things and protect innocent people. We are not flawless, but we are full of heart and we enjoy being of service. It's unfortunate that we are just pawns in a much larger scheme.

I agree with everything you said my friend. The sad part is that what is happening is not what the vast majority of folks want but because of the actions of a small militant group who are supported by the MSM and virtue signalling politicians. Take care of yourself and those you work with. Stay safe.