The police no longer fight crime. (Castle Hills, Howe: transporting, insurance, felons)

[southeasttexas]

My family drove up into east Texas recently, a 300 mile round trip. They saw 18, count em', 18 cops running speed traps during the trip. Almost everytime, they were hideing right after the speed limit drop entering small towns.

Small towns and big cities and everything in between in Texas and America is ridden with drugs, crimes, illegals, gangs, and the cops just want to hand out bushel baskests full of tickets. Quick, easy revenue collectors for municipalities, states, and insurance companies are all they are nowdays. It has NOTHING to do with safety anymore. The police fail us.

[GayleTX]

However..... it is very common and not just a coincidence that a large number of those cars that are stopped for a 'routine traffic violations' such as speeding or expired stickers are driven by wanted criminals or by people transporting illegal drugs or people who were 'impaired.' Experienced law enforment officers have a built-in gut-sense 'radar' about which 'speeders' they need to check out. ...it's not always just a random 'speed-trap' stop when they pull someone over. We saw that happen over and over on I-40 when we lived near it....and I appreciated every one of those 'routine stops' that got the thugs off the road. It also happens very often in the little rural area where I now live. (And every speeding ticket I've ever gotten....well, yes, sir, I was speeding).

[Trainwreck20]

Yeah, if not everybody and their dog drove through a small town like a bat-out-of-hell, then the police would not sit there. I have some friends in small towns, and if I asked them what their number one worry was, it would probably be their parents or kids driving on/crossing over the main street in town.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by GayleTX

... Experienced law enforment officers have a built-in gut-sense 'radar' about which 'speeders' they need to check out. ...it's not always just a random 'speed-trap' stop when they pull someone over. ...

That's some good-ol', small town stereotyping if I ever heard it. (And I hear a LOT of this nonsense almost daily here in the Golden Triangle.)

If that's what law enforecement goes by to ''stop crime'', southeasttexas is right. It has nothing to do with safety anymore.

[changeofpace]

Speeding is a safety issue as well as a abide by the laws issues.

[Huckleberry3911948]

you wont get sued lose your job or jailed for giving a speeding ticket to joe six pack.
everytime a police officer discharges his weapon his pension is on the line.
very reluctant to use it which is why in police murders, 80% of officers are killed with their own weapon. FYI lots of felons post on CDF you won't find a loving attitude towards police officers here for that reason.

[cobolt]

This is going on all over, I think. I know where I am, the budget cuts are changing the way police conduct business. They announced that they will no longer investigate/pursue home burglaries/robberies unless the stolen amout is at or above 10K.

[texdav]

Many of these traffic programs are payed for by the fedral governamnt because frankly traffic violations are rarely enforced . Look around you when driving and see the number of speeders etc becuase they get away with it. Then look at the number of traffic accidents deaths in the stae ahnd country.The only way to get trasffic law enforced is if peole think that they is a good chance they are going to get a ticket if they commit a violation;which most don't. Hard to critize cops doing their job really. Dammed i9f they do;dammed if they don't.

[GoingHome2TX]

Originally Posted by cobolt

This is going on all over, I think. I know where I am, the budget cuts are changing the way police conduct business. They announced that they will no longer investigate/pursue home burglaries/robberies unless the stolen amout is at or above 10K.

Nothing like taxpayer dollars being put to great use!

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

FYI lots of felons post on CDF you won't find a loving attitude towards police officers here for that reason.

Aside from a minor in possession (tobacco) two days before my eighteenth birthday, I have never had any ticket issued to me. I am not a felon, and I still see police as one of America's most corrupt institutions of slothfulness and wanton waste.

Several of my friends are/were law enforcement officers. This only goes to further my opinion.

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Yeah, if not everybody and their dog drove through a small town like a bat-out-of-hell, then the police would not sit there.

Go one mile per hour over the speed limit through one town down here and you better be prepared for a ticket. A friend got a ticket for 46 in a 45mph zone. I did not believe him until he showed it to me. He even contested it and lost.

They sit there because writing traffic tickets is safe, easy revenue, and a way to quickly to meet their quotas that officially do not exist.

[GWhopper]

Have you guys heard about this one:

www.mysanantonio.com >> Pets - Officer's actions as dog was dying anger driver (http://www.mysanantonio.com/pets/officers_actions_as_dogwas_dying_anger_driver100.h tml - broken link)

I don't mind the speed traps so much as I mind the officers in these incorporated areas like Castle Hills or Hollywood park. They stop people for the most minor infractions that its ridiculous. I once got stopped in a 35 for doing 37 while coming down a hill. Another friend of mine got a ticket because he didn't stop for a full 3 second count at a stop sign. That's not protecting and serving anymore, that borders on harrasment and extortion.