Whats with our local Police?

[Chris142]

When I was a teen my friends and I were constantly Harassed by the local Fuzz. We put up with it knowing that we can't "beat the man" per say.Once I got older, Cut my hair and had cars with paint instead of Primer they pretty much left me alone.

Except for about 10 yrs ago. I was working late hrs and I would get pulled over almost every night by the same cop using the same "License plate light out" lie as an excuse to pull me over. After 2 weeks of this I went to the Police station and had a talk with the seargent. Explained to him my hrs and why I was out @ 2-3 am.That stopped that harassment.

Our cops are on the front page often. A few years ago some got into hot water after they were caught having relations with HighSchool girls that were in the Police Explorer club as well as other things they shouldn't do regardless of being Police or not.

I realize that not all police are bad but For a small area our cops sure do get into a lot of trouble and our police seem to have the Cop attatude.


VICTORVILLE • An Alhambra police officer was recently sentenced to 270 days in jail for drunk driving and causing a head-on crash that involved another San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy, who is also accused of driving under the influence.

Jose Luis Vaca, 50, of Victorville, was driving north on Highway 395 about a half-mile north of Bear Valley Road during the early morning of May 23, 2010, when he collided with a Toyota Camry that was traveling southbound.

The two male passengers in the Camry told investigators that Vaca drove all the way over to their side of the road and shoulder when he was about 100 feet in front of them. The victims tried to avoid the collision by veering toward the northbound lane, but Vaca maneuvered back into his own lane, where they collided, according to a court document.

An off-duty officer at the Alhambra Police Department, Vaca had a blood alcohol level of 0.11 percent, above the 0.08 legal limit, according to his probation officer’s report.

A female passerby pulled over to help the injured. But then a sport utility vehicle driven by Rebecca Sue Long struck her and then hit Vaca’s vehicle.

A 27-year-old San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy, Long was also off-duty at the time and was charged with drunk driving.

All five people involved were transported by ambulance to local hospitals.

Vaca accepted the prosecution’s offer in October and pleaded no contest to driving under the influence causing great bodily injury. Victorville Judge Miriam Morton sentenced him on Dec. 16. Neither Vaca nor his attorney could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Long, who is currently assigned to the Adelanto Detention Center by the Sheriff’s Department, is awaiting trial and scheduled to appear for a hearing Wednesday in Victorville Superior Court. Her attorney couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

After accepting the plea bargain, Vaca told his probation officer “the victims got in his lane” and denied veering into the oncoming lane. But he admitted to drinking five alcoholic drinks during a friend’s promotional celebration a few hours before in Long Beach, according to the report.

Vaca had worked 28 years for the police before retiring in January. He has no prior criminal record, according to court documents.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/crash-32091-lawmen-victorville.html

 

[CivicFan]

At least yours sometimes get jailed. Ours will drive while drunk, kill people and still be free (search for "bisard case"). They frequent strip clubs, drink-drive, take bribes, etc. and are still on the payroll.

As far as the "good cops" go, I try to avoid finding that out. Having a white skin and high end cars helps.

 

[SuperDave456]

My Uncle is a one of those High End Muckedy Muck lawyers you don't want to have a visit from.
He works with Insurance Law and purposely stays away from cops.

He says: "They think they know the law, they will knock your teeth out trying to convince you that they know, but they have only covered the bases and taken the most basic law classes."

His famous quote is: "Working with a cop is all about knowing what side of the bed he woke up on."

Meaning that one day they will be polite and cooperative, the next they will change their mind and have a temper tantrum because "I'm a Police Officer! I know the Law!"

BTW, I still have respect for them. There is a reason they are all in counseling. There is some sick stuff that goes on in a city.

 

[Pablo]

Cops are just people.

In high stress jobs.

And they assume they have special rights and privileges. They do not. I wonder if this is even mentioned in the "police academy"?

 

[MuzzleFlash40]

That is not the norm. When you have close to 250,000+ Police Officers on the street in this country , then add in Corrections Deputies, Border Patrol and other Law Enforcement departments and there are over 300,000 men and women in uniform protecting the streets. In those numbers you are going to have bad apples. Even if you say that there are 300 case a year of some kind of chargeable police misconduct thats less than 0.1% of the police population.

Police are supposed to be held to a higher standard. Well we are. When you have 1% of the total population in this country locked up. 1% is alot greater than 0.1%.

When you hear of a case now in then of a person in a uniform doing bad things just remember of how many others of us that are out there that are putting our lives on the line everyday and are doing our best.

 

[andrewg]

The whole society in this country has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. The police are no different.

 

[MuzzleFlash40]

Originally Posted By: andrewg
The whole society in this country has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. The police are no different.


Thats the truth. I think everyones attitude has become more confrontational.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
That is not the norm. When you have close to 250,000+ Police Officers on the street in this country , then add in Corrections Deputies, Border Patrol and other Law Enforcement departments and there are over 300,000 men and women in uniform protecting the streets. In those numbers you are going to have bad apples. Even if you say that there are 300 case a year of some kind of chargeable police misconduct thats less than 0.1% of the police population.

Police are supposed to be held to a higher standard. Well we are. When you have 1% of the total population in this country locked up. 1% is alot greater than 0.1%.

When you hear of a case now in then of a person in a uniform doing bad things just remember of how many others of us that are out there that are putting our lives on the line everyday and are doing our best.



I've driven/stayed/vacationed in five states in US and live in Chicago.

I feel much safer in States than in my former eastern european country.

 

[Andy636]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
That is not the norm. When you have close to 250,000+ Police Officers on the street in this country , then add in Corrections Deputies, Border Patrol and other Law Enforcement departments and there are over 300,000 men and women in uniform protecting the streets. In those numbers you are going to have bad apples. Even if you say that there are 300 case a year of some kind of chargeable police misconduct thats less than 0.1% of the police population.

Police are supposed to be held to a higher standard. Well we are. When you have 1% of the total population in this country locked up. 1% is alot greater than 0.1%.

When you hear of a case now in then of a person in a uniform doing bad things just remember of how many others of us that are out there that are putting our lives on the line everyday and are doing our best.



I've driven/stayed/vacationed in five states in US and live in Chicago.

I feel much safer in States than in my former eastern european country.


And what country is that if you don't mind me asking?

 

[stockrex]

Chris, I think it is a small town in socal attitude, don't me wrong, but my team member are facing the same treatment as you described below, sometimes we need to be at work at 3 am and some of would go out to get some food and in our parking lot (shared with a healty food store) we get to meet the our finest, in Colton, CA. We just stopped shopping in that city, their loss.
I can be driving, pulled over in a parking (tim hortons after buying coffee) at any hour in the morning and the most I will get is a nod with a good morning from a policeman nearby.

Ahh, there was one little town in MO, where the ford plant was between liberty and N kansascity, those guys were horrible, pulled everyone who passed through at one time. I got pulled over for NOT having a front lic plate, I did not even know that I did not have a front lic plate. I thanked him for pointing it out. he did not know what to say, let me go with a warning.



Originally Posted By: Chris142
When I was a teen my friends and I were constantly Harassed by the local Fuzz. We put up with it knowing that we can't "beat the man" per say.Once I got older, Cut my hair and had cars with paint instead of Primer they pretty much left me alone.

Except for about 10 yrs ago. I was working late hrs and I would get pulled over almost every night by the same cop using the same "License plate light out" lie as an excuse to pull me over. After 2 weeks of this I went to the Police station and had a talk with the seargent. Explained to him my hrs and why I was out @ 2-3 am.That stopped that harassment.

Our cops are on the front page often. A few years ago some got into hot water after they were caught having relations with HighSchool girls that were in the Police Explorer club as well as other things they shouldn't do regardless of being Police or not.

I realize that not all police are bad but For a small area our cops sure do get into a lot of trouble and our police seem to have the Cop attatude.


VICTORVILLE • An Alhambra police officer was recently sentenced to 270 days in jail for drunk driving and causing a head-on crash that involved another San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy, who is also accused of driving under the influence.

Jose Luis Vaca, 50, of Victorville, was driving north on Highway 395 about a half-mile north of Bear Valley Road during the early morning of May 23, 2010, when he collided with a Toyota Camry that was traveling southbound.

The two male passengers in the Camry told investigators that Vaca drove all the way over to their side of the road and shoulder when he was about 100 feet in front of them. The victims tried to avoid the collision by veering toward the northbound lane, but Vaca maneuvered back into his own lane, where they collided, according to a court document.

An off-duty officer at the Alhambra Police Department, Vaca had a blood alcohol level of 0.11 percent, above the 0.08 legal limit, according to his probation officer’s report.

A female passerby pulled over to help the injured. But then a sport utility vehicle driven by Rebecca Sue Long struck her and then hit Vaca’s vehicle.

A 27-year-old San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy, Long was also off-duty at the time and was charged with drunk driving.

All five people involved were transported by ambulance to local hospitals.

Vaca accepted the prosecution’s offer in October and pleaded no contest to driving under the influence causing great bodily injury. Victorville Judge Miriam Morton sentenced him on Dec. 16. Neither Vaca nor his attorney could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Long, who is currently assigned to the Adelanto Detention Center by the Sheriff’s Department, is awaiting trial and scheduled to appear for a hearing Wednesday in Victorville Superior Court. Her attorney couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

After accepting the plea bargain, Vaca told his probation officer “the victims got in his lane” and denied veering into the oncoming lane. But he admitted to drinking five alcoholic drinks during a friend’s promotional celebration a few hours before in Long Beach, according to the report.

Vaca had worked 28 years for the police before retiring in January. He has no prior criminal record, according to court documents.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/crash-32091-lawmen-victorville.html

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
I wonder if this is even mentioned in the "police academy"?


Hard to say: There were seven of them but their training experience seems to be indicative of what the local department here would receive.

 

[steveh]

From a local paper www.jsonline.com/watchdog/131554703.html

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: Andy636
Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
That is not the norm. When you have close to 250,000+ Police Officers on the street in this country , then add in Corrections Deputies, Border Patrol and other Law Enforcement departments and there are over 300,000 men and women in uniform protecting the streets. In those numbers you are going to have bad apples. Even if you say that there are 300 case a year of some kind of chargeable police misconduct thats less than 0.1% of the police population.

Police are supposed to be held to a higher standard. Well we are. When you have 1% of the total population in this country locked up. 1% is alot greater than 0.1%.

When you hear of a case now in then of a person in a uniform doing bad things just remember of how many others of us that are out there that are putting our lives on the line everyday and are doing our best.



I've driven/stayed/vacationed in five states in US and live in Chicago.

I feel much safer in States than in my former eastern european country.


And what country is that if you don't mind me asking?


How did you guess?

 

[BISCUT]

As one: Please, everyone just take into account a few points. We (cops) come from the same lot of individuals as YOU! We are no better, no worse. Luckily, and I have come across thousands and thousands of cops, the overwhelming majority of us do exactly what we are suppose to do. We certainly do a very small percentage that do not belong!!

An increadible amount of misbehavior, especialyl in a 100 man or less department is derivred from the top!! If the tone is we will not accept or tolerate certain behaviors, they tend not to manifest themselves.

Agree, disagree, that is merely what I have observed.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: MuzzleFlash40
That is not the norm. When you have close to 250,000+ Police Officers on the street in this country , then add in Corrections Deputies, Border Patrol and other Law Enforcement departments and there are over 300,000 men and women in uniform protecting the streets. In those numbers you are going to have bad apples. Even if you say that there are 300 case a year of some kind of chargeable police misconduct thats less than 0.1% of the police population.

Police are supposed to be held to a higher standard. Well we are. When you have 1% of the total population in this country locked up. 1% is alot greater than 0.1%.

When you hear of a case now in then of a person in a uniform doing bad things just remember of how many others of us that are out there that are putting our lives on the line everyday and are doing our best.



I've driven/stayed/vacationed in five states in US and live in Chicago.

I feel much safer in States than in my former eastern european country.


let me re-phrase: police force-wise.

every country has it's good and bad places

 

[91344George]

Originally Posted By: andrewg
The whole society in this country has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. The police are no different.


I think we can safely say that the US is fragmenting more rapidly then ever, it can't go on much longer without something giving.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan


As far as the "good cops" go, I try to avoid finding that out. Having a white skin and high end cars helps.



Why are you going there? Let's think back to my death in the hotel thread, eh? I have major issue with you claiming this, as if it is some kind of bias.

The OP is from CA. Given the amount of ILLEGAL activity Id imagine that cops should be on edge.

Quote:
One-fourth of the nation’s unauthorized immigrants reside in California (by contrast, the state’s share of the nation’s overall population is only about one-eighth). In both California and Texas, illegal immigrants constitute about 7% of the population, the highest concentration in the United States.


http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=818

Get that? ILLEGAL.

I was just listening to the Chicago news, and it indicated how illegals refuse to call the cops when crimes go down, because they are afraid of being caught. What happens when crime occurs unchecked.

And that was Chicago, not in CA where the statistic above applies, and the OP is from.

How about you not go there if you get all antsy about the topic?

If police are "above the law", they should be terminated. They should be held to a higher standard. I take many of their actions as being excessive in the name of "safety", but given the situation in CA, per the comments earlier, I see no excuse against being careful.