Just saw an assault rifle on a police motorcycle

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: Panzerman
I hardly think the police mind getting the revenue. Police never get a budget cut.. Anyone even suggests it, gets bashed meanwhile, we cut every other public program, such as schools to the bone. I drove by the County Sherriff dept. Yard the other day they had speedboats, airboats and even nicely detailed and painted tractor trailers, seriously, what do they need to own tractor trailers for? What do or how much do they move that they couldn't be cheaper to rent. Police depts. have insane budgets. They biggest reason, they delve into all the tactical stuff, they can and "Its cool".

Around here we get budget cuts across the board all the time. Several cities in the San Francisco Bay Area have decided to eliminate their police departments and contract out to the county. The city of Oakland has a huge shortage of personnel and issues with officers graduating from their academy and deciding to leave once their commitment is up. It's gotten to the point where the CHP is providing officers for regular police patrols in residential areas and not traffic enforcement.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_21250140/police-cuts-rumors-easy-targets-fuel-bay-area

My worry about the firepower on a motorcycle wasn't necessarily because I thought it was a show of force or the cost of the equipment. It was that it seemed a little bit too easy for anyone to just reach it and maybe try to steal it. And as it was, apparently some kids had managed to fire off a weapon in a similar setup in Southern California.


Thanks for the explanation. This must be a cluster. So if a CMP motorcycle officer catches a street thug do they have to wait for an Oakland cruiser to take him in?

 

[SEMI_287]

Originally Posted By: BISCUT

Not A SINGLE guy I work with became a cop to generate revenue...around here those are called troopers.


And they do a great job doing it too... I must see 8 of them a day at least.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: Panzerman
I hardly think the police mind getting the revenue. Police never get a budget cut.. Anyone even suggests it, gets bashed meanwhile, we cut every other public program, such as schools to the bone. I drove by the County Sherriff dept. Yard the other day they had speedboats, airboats and even nicely detailed and painted tractor trailers, seriously, what do they need to own tractor trailers for? What do or how much do they move that they couldn't be cheaper to rent. Police depts. have insane budgets. They biggest reason, they delve into all the tactical stuff, they can and "Its cool".

Around here we get budget cuts across the board all the time. Several cities in the San Francisco Bay Area have decided to eliminate their police departments and contract out to the county. The city of Oakland has a huge shortage of personnel and issues with officers graduating from their academy and deciding to leave once their commitment is up. It's gotten to the point where the CHP is providing officers for regular police patrols in residential areas and not traffic enforcement.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_21250140/police-cuts-rumors-easy-targets-fuel-bay-area

My worry about the firepower on a motorcycle wasn't necessarily because I thought it was a show of force or the cost of the equipment. It was that it seemed a little bit too easy for anyone to just reach it and maybe try to steal it. And as it was, apparently some kids had managed to fire off a weapon in a similar setup in Southern California.


Thanks for the explanation. This must be a cluster. So if a CMP motorcycle officer catches a street thug do they have to wait for an Oakland cruiser to take him in?

I think most of the patrols are in cars. Apparently they've been focusing on traffic enforcement so the local cops can do the other stuff. And the city has been paying to do it too.

http://oaklandnorth.net/2012/11/02/chp-deployed-in-oakland-to-assist-local-police/

Oakland has issues. They actually didn't operate their academy for a while due to budget cuts. They have a hard time attracting experienced cops because their assignments aren't that great. The new cops often get the tough assignments while the experienced ones get assigned to the affluent neighborhoods. When they have their own academy graduates, they get assigned to the tough neighborhoods and look to get out as soon as their commitment is over for maybe a better paying job in a cushy suburb with less gang violence.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
The most iconic police uniform to me is the California Highway Patrol basic uniform. I'm old enough to remember CHiPs.

That is definitely another one!

Originally Posted By: cp3
I don't know what the public relations is like in Auz but here they are in the schools once or twice a year talking to the younger kids. Don't know if that would make the change less scary or not.

I suspect it would help. Hollywood has always chosen to make certain things "scary" that aren't necessarily naturally scary. Look at T2. That could have undone a lot of California Highway Patrol motorcycle division public relations work for young kids. Of course, there would be plenty of kids thinking how cool it was.

It doesn't matter so much what they're wearing. If you don't make them approachable through real, friendly contact with the community, people will be apprehensive.