[Edvard]

Most law enforcement in FL is handled by Counties, which are Sheriff Offices (no Sheriff Departments here). They do police work here, they aren't errand runners for the court like some areas of the country. The Counties here hold more power than many other states, and collect the majority of the taxes. Many areas have grown in the last 20 yrs and if you feel you are seeing a big police presence, you're seeing the results of large recruitment campaigns trying to catch up with growth.

[FLTPR]

I Want To Thank The Members That Replied To This Question. As A Police Officer, I Can See Why We Are Mistakenly Viewed As "being Able To Get Away With Things". The Honest Truth Is That You're Wrong. People Tend To Forget That We Only Have Spit Seconds To Make Decisions And/or Act On Our Gut Feeling. If We're Right, Nothing Much Happens. Well, Maybe A Pat On The Back And A "good Job Letter" Signed By A Supervisor That You Don't Even Know. Unfortunately, When We're Wrong, We're Held Liable In Every Aspect. We Get Punished By The Department, The Courts And Yes, Civil Issues To Worry About Too.
I Also Heard Someone Complaining About Us Speeding? Please, This Is The Last Thing The Public Needs To Worry About. Just Because We're Not Running "code", Doesn't Mean That It's Not An Emergency Call. Why Would We Respond To A Bank Robbery Or A Burglary With Our Lights And Sirens "on"? Don't You Think It Will Scare The Suspects? How About Vehicle Crashes With Road Block, But No Injuries? It's Not An Emergency, But As A Resident Of This State, Would You Want Me To Hurry It Up A Little To Clear The Road And Have You And Every Other Ticked Of Driver On Their Way. Our Cars Have Gps, Cameras, Ect. Do You Think We're Going To Be Able To Run Around Without Cause. Trust Me, With The Amount Of Crap Is See Out Here, I'm Surprised I Still Run Over The Speed Limit. I Get Paid My Hrs. Weather I'm Traveling 100 0r 45 Mph. So Tell Me, Why Would I Want To Jeopardize Getting Hurt, Hurting Someone Or Having My Supervisor Breathing Down My Throat?
Law Enforcement Has Changed. In Some Areas For The Better And In Other For The Worse. But I'll Tell You This, Most Of Us Are Doing It For The Love And Self Gratification. The Pay Sucks!!! I'm On My Second Marriage. It's Not Because We Bad To Each Other. It Was Because Of The Midnight Shifts, The On Calls, Missing Some Holiday's And The Fear That I Would Never Make It Home. I Ask That You Please Continue To Support Us. We're Doing This Job For The Right Reasons And We're Not Perfect. I Encourage Anyone That Is Interested In What Happens Inside Our Patrol Cars To Take A Ride Along. Just Stop In Your Local, County Or State Office And Make Your Request.
I'm On My 13th Year And I Hope We Can Continue To Recruit High Quality Officers So That My Young Ones Can Reap The Benefits.
Oh, About Quotas.... That Is Illegal And Trust Me, You Can't Find That Word Written Or Used By My Department. We Have Standards. If You're On Regular Patrol And The Radio Is Quiet That Day, Yes The Department Is Going To Want Some Traffic Activity. Not For Their Sake, But To Justify Our Pay To The Public. Do You Know That The Two Most Dangerous Things In Law Enforcement Are Traffic Stops And Domestic Violence Incidents? So When I Hear People Say "why Are You Bothering Me For Speeding, You Should Be Out There Preventing Robberies And So On", I Just Laugh. I Ask Myself "does This Guys Really Think We Have Robberies Everyday". Funny I Guess. But To Add To That, We Get More Drugs, Warrants, Recover Stolen Goods And So On Off Traffic Stops. So Please Next Time We Stop You, Understand That We Don't Know You Or Where You're Coming From. And No, Most "cops" Won't Write You For 6 Or Ever 9 Over. But If You Did Get One, Maybe Your Attitude Played A Role.

Ok, Ask Me Any Questions Pertaining To A Particular Incident And I'll Give It My Best To Give You A Half Educated Answer.

God Bless To All And Please Be Safe.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I live in Volusia County. The small town I live in is served by the Sheriffs department.

I have had nothing but good experiences with them. They have been responsive when I have called.

They have also done things to encourage a good relationship with the community which I appreciate.

[Petertherock]

In my criminal justice class our instructor gave us a paper with 15 things that have been recorded on in-car cameras...some of these are hilarious...

#15: "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they are new. They'll stretch out after you wear them a while."

#14: "Take your hands off the car and I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document."

#13: "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."

#12: "Can you run faster than 1200 ft/second? In case you didn't know, that's the average speed of a 9mm bullet fired from my gun."

#11: "So, you don't know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can write anything I want on the ticket huh?"

#10: "Yes sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh, did I mention that I am the shift supervisor?"

#9: "Warning? You want a warning? OK, I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."

#8: (my personal favorite) "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"

#7: "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy, and step in monkey poop."

#6: "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."

#5: "In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC."

#4: "Just how big were those 2 beers?"

#3: No sir, we don't have quotas any more. We used to have quotas but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we want."

#2: I'm glad to hear the Chief of Police is a good personal friend of yours. At least you know someone who can post your bail."

And the best one...

#1: You don't think we give pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't....sign here."

[mrs1885]

"In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC."

My favorite!! I love that!!

To all the people out there putting their lives on the line day in, day out to keep the public safe even though they do complain about everything in the world

THANK YOU!!

There honestly are more of us out here that are so grateful to you for what you do and think it's unfair the way you are treated. Sorry, but I still feel that the laws are being turned around to protect the criminals. I think this country is getting too soft and the first to be hit are those putting their butts on the line for us. I just don't think it's fair. Everyone's entitled to their opion; that's mine.

[anonymous in PSL]

The PSL Police have a tendency to arrest people for no reason. If you’re up for that, come on down!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MyHomeIsInOcala]

I think each officer that writes tickets for speeders should get a cut of each as a bonus. Too many people speed and drive while on the phone or in la la land. I do not believe there is such a thing as a speed trap... UNLESS you are speeding! hahahaha

I have issues when I walk my youngest child to school and people get P.O.ed about going 20 MPH in a school zone (they yell at the crossing guard, call her names, give her the bird and so on...), many hate to stop.

I have nothing but respect for police / troopers and Hwy Patrolmen and women. But I will, and Have, complained to the chief when needed.

THANKS for your service!

[tallrick]

I have had several bad experiences. Once I recieved a ticket for going through a green light, just because the officer felt like it. Lucky for me I have video surveillance in my car and went straight to public works and the Miami-Dade police headquarters with my video. Another experience was a police officer giving me a ticket for going through a stop sign, too bad the stop sign was on the ground face down. A letter from public works convinced the magistrate to throw that one out. Another time I was ticketed for going 30 MPH in a school zone. Too bad the enforcement time was covered with grafitti. Once for no reason I was stopped on Kendall Drive near 107 Ave and the officer was yelling at me but went to his car and drove off, that was wierd. The most frustrating experience was when I was followed by a grey car with red and blue LED lights on the sun visor. I did not stop and drove to my parents home and called 911. The "officer" was bangi ng on the door and I had my gun ready if the door was broken down. And all for what? He never explained it when the real police cars arrived. I have had only one good police experience, an officer helped my dad push his car off the road when he broke down and drove him home. That was surprising and I was very grateful. As for the highway patrol I have been harassed by them a couple of times for having an "unsafe vehicle" but to me they just looked like the kind of officer that sits behind the bushes looking for speeders. My opinion changed when I witnessed one personally pull a driver from along I-75 out of the water. There are good and bad officers, and how we feel depends on our experiences with them. One thing I have to admit is that the traffic court system in Miami-Dade and Monroe is fair and some of the Magistrates there are serious about following the law. Most of us limit our police encounters to traffic citations. Seeing police assist stranded motorists or control domestic disputes shows the bravery and dedication some officers have despite danger. The ones on a "power trip" need to be reassigned to be a janitor or groundskeeper.

[TKramar]

Originally Posted by FLTPR

I'M INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW FLORIDIANS FEEL ABOUT LAW ENFORCEMENT IN FLORIDA. IT WOULD ACTUALLY BE INTERESTING TO KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT CERTAIN AGENCIES: COUNTY, CITY, HIGHWAY PATROL, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, MARINE PATROL, ECT. ANY WAR STORIES OR MEMORABLE STORIES? I WOULD LOVE TO SHARE WHAT FLORIDIANS THINK ABOUT US WITH MY CO-WORKERS. BE SAFE GUYS, IT'S CRAZY OUT THERE!!!!

Honestly? P.I.T.A.

I've been stopped a few times just out walking, minding my own business, when some cop will pull up to me and ask me what I think I'm doing.

Nothing. Just walking. Maybe coming home from the bar...or from work. Maybe I wanted to get a pack of smokes. Just out walking, and they want me to present ID and all. It really got annoying there for a while in '93 or '94 when I was getting off work between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and was getting stopped practically EVERY night. After the 4th time...in a row...I got ticked off and told them I'd have them sued for harassment if they stopped me YET again. And it stopped...those officers stopped bugging me.

Luckily, it took years for me to have any kind of similar problem. But it IS annoying.

[Tarastomsgirl]

Originally Posted by MyHomeIsInOcala

I think each officer that writes tickets for speeders should get a cut of each as a bonus. .

THANKS for your service!

Oh man that'd be nice! My husband seems to be the only one writing tickets and napping drunk drivers lately... I might be able to buy my beach house!