Your Experiences with the San Antonio Police Dept and Bexar County Sheriff's Dept.? (New Braunfels: condos, home)

[Soviet]

SAPD have been courteous and professional in all their dealings with my family with the singular exception of a few months ago when my stepdad was caught "speeding" and they exaggerated his actual speed.

That is grotesquely unprofessional, plain and simple. DISGUSTING!

In all other dealings, however, SAPD has been very professional, getting to the accident scene on time and being professional with the situation.

That being said, however, I prefer to avoid the police since if I am interacting with them, that means that something improper is going on: a car accident, I was caught "speeding", whatever. My day goes MUCH nicer when no one bothers me and annoys me and possibly steals my money. The same can be said of most others on this board, I'm sure.

Originally Posted by Bo

This post and 72 posts that follow were moved from another thread where they were off topic for the thread. As the thread title indicates, use this thread to discuss your experiences with and opinions of the two major law enforcement agencies in Bexar County.

[L210]

I'm not anti-authoritarian and would love to go into federal law enforcement someday. I'm not the type of person who thinks all cops are bad, but I have not had an overall positive experience with SAPD. In my line of work, I have had to call SAPD over a dozen times. I've also had to call them off the job.

Neighbor beaten up by her husband: SAPD took a couple of hours to come out and didn't do anything.

Several times mentally ill persons at a shelter threatened to kill themselves or other people: Ignored.

Several times I had to call the police because a child had bruises from obviously being beaten by the parent: Ignored.

One time I waited an hour literally 3 min. away from the downtown police station for the police to respond to terroristic threats. After they were done with pretty much ignoring the issue, they decided to take a tour of the fancy condos across the street when a security guard offered to show them around. I'm sure there was another call waiting for SAPD to show up while these guys were fooling around.

I had one officer tell me that he hits his son in the face all the time and it's only considered child abuse in Texas if the child dies or has to go to the hospital for his injuries. This is pretty much in line with news stories where the police were called out because a baby had bruises and the cop determined she was not in immediate danger. The mother ended up murdering the baby. I was not surprised at all.

A couple calls the police on me for delivering the Wall Street Journal and two police officers make sure they show up to my door to question me and didn't even apologize for the misunderstanding. Go figure.

[Soviet]

Originally Posted by perticusrex

oh and maybe if they stopped acting like TOOLS more people would respect them?

But....but....they ARE tools! Tools for producing revenue!

However, I do have to say this: San Antonio isn't as bad on this front as the podunk towns in the vicinity. That's one thing we have to be thankful for. At least the speed limits are relatively appropriate, although 410 could be 65 mph.

Let's all be glad it's not worse! There are easy ways to avoid a ticket.

One thing I do have to ask, though: if a cop says I was going 75 mph when I was going 66 mph, how can I prove he was wrong? If I was carrying a GPS recorder in my car that records my speed every second of every day, could that be admissible as evidence? If a 3rd party is recording it?

[huckster]

When my son was a little boy, a Bexar County Sheriff was his coach in the Great Northwest neighborhood. Many the games were held at Lackland right inside the gate at the soccer fields. An affable fellow and a good guy this sheriff was, he was a good person and volunteered to coach in his spare time. I, never missed a game and my son went on to do very well with his life. This was his first exposure to team sports and Phil eventually enlisted into the military at 17 years of age, and hugely benefitting for having done this.
Kudos- to the Sheriff's Dept. who daily, hourly, perform a critical service for the commmunities here and then some.

Originally Posted by badhornet

I trust SAPD far more than I would ever anyone with Bexar County Sheriffs Dept

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Originally Posted by Dreadlockd

Wonder what makes the county boys so different...just status quo for BCSD or management issues (lack thereof)?

I think part of it is that they all have to start out working in the county jail and they develop a certain attitude there.

Even my neighbors who are sheriff's deputies who I encounter when they're off the clock act like they're so special we should bow down when we see them coming.

My FIL was a deputy (and a tool) and he always went on about how the only reason that SAPD was allowed to do anything in San Antonio was because the sheriff gave them permission to have a police force, and that SAPD had all the money that should have gone to BCSD.

On a more recent note, I called the sheriff's dept because there were two people trying to get into my house. They took one away, but left the other one hiding in my back yard, gave me a bunch of attitude like I couldn't handle my own problems, and then when they had to come back an hour later to get the second one, gave me a lot of attitude again. I don't think it's unreasonable to call the cops at 3 am when I'm home alone with my little daughters and two people are trying to get into my home, but they made me feel like I was being a drama queen for calling them.

[TexasRedneck]

HHMom, I'd have filed a complaint w/the department - first for the 'tude, second for having failed to get the #2 guy on the FIRST visit.

I'd also buy (and practice) with a gun to prepare to defend myself - because frankly, you were VERY lucky in that they didn't force entry - they'd have been in and out faster'n ANY cop could get there.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

HHMom, I'd have filed a complaint w/the department - first for the 'tude, second for having failed to get the #2 guy on the FIRST visit.

I'd also buy (and practice) with a gun to prepare to defend myself - because frankly, you were VERY lucky in that they didn't force entry - they'd have been in and out faster'n ANY cop could get there.

It took 20 minutes for them to show up each time. I didn't want to complain because then if I ever need them again, they might not show up at all.

And I do have a gun...it was in my hand before I ever picked up the phone to call 911. I've put about 1000 rounds through it in the last year and a half (I go to the range whenever I can afford it) and I'm very comfortable using it.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom

And I do have a gun...it was in my hand before I ever picked up the phone to call 911. I've put about 1000 rounds through it in the last year and a half (I go to the range whenever I can afford it) and I'm very comfortable using it.

Right on! Many folks don't understand that those of us who ARE armed aren't doing so hoping to use it - but rather to give us the ability to have the option should the situation arise. You likely already know this, but Walmart typically has the best price on range-grade ammo. What area of town are you in? Some ranges offer annual memberships that can save ya a TON of $$$.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

Right on! Many folks don't understand that those of us who ARE armed aren't doing so hoping to use it - but rather to give us the ability to have the option should the situation arise. You likely already know this, but Walmart typically has the best price on range-grade ammo. What area of town are you in? Some ranges offer annual memberships that can save ya a TON of $$$.

I'm only a couple miles from Bullethole, but I don't like it. I usually go to Bracken Range, but last time I tried A Place to Shoot, and I think I'll be going there from now on. I really like the way you can adjust the target distance.

[TexasRedneck]

Hear you on BH. I was among the first "Life" members there, and I tore the card up over 15 years ago because I was so disgusted w/the place. I *hear* they've gotten better, but the taste in my mouth is so bad that I haven't been interested in trying it. Besides which, it would *really* be outta my way since we live in New Braunfels now. Ask APTS about annual membership - most ranges offer it, and it is a good deal if you shoot at least once a month or so.