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Originally Posted by Scott S.
Nothing special about being able to get one. Thank the thugs at the North Hollywood shootout for upping the ante to the point that patrol Officers NEED high powered rifles to protect themselves. The last Officer killed at my department was shot in the head with an AK-47.
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I've thought a lot about that incident and it was a tragic situation. I don't really have an answer about that. fortunately, it doesn't happen that much, but i think militarizing the whole police force may not be a good idea.
My comment about "special" was that you are getting special treatment whereas another person who is not LEO cannot buy an AR15. You can get a department letter to send in, whereas if I lived in CA, I could not get one legally no matter what.
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Yeah cops are normal people and some of them screw up or are less then worthy to carry a badge. You want to start talking about lawyers? They have taken an oath as well. Many of them are put in a position of authority and abuse it.
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It's a good point and a real problem, however, lawyers can't arrest you when they are having a bad day and you say the wrong thing to them and it's rare that a group of lawyers shoots someone while in court. Also, if a lawyer sues you, the court does not presumptively assume he is telling the truth. I am sure you know that the courts always presume a cop is telling the truth in testimony.
I live in NYC and I am a little freaked out about the police shootings that just keep happening here. (i.e. police shootings of what turn out to be innocent individuals). It seems to be about one wrongful shooting per month lately.
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How about our recent story with an OC judge looking at child porn on his laptop while at the bench? For every bad cop story I could find 10 bad lawyer stories. Simply because this Country is hemmoraging lawyers. Do I think all lawyers are bad? Nope. I have many great friends that are lawyers and a brother that is a judge.
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Well, not all judges are lawyers you know. In many places, judges are elected, so I can't really reply to that element (a judge).
Your 10:1 ratio is probably correct, but the difference in a bad cop story vs a bad lawyer story is the difference in a trip to lockup (or a morgue) vs a newspaper story about a guy jacking off. It sucks that a judge was looking at kiddie porn while on the bench, but the real effect of that may be limited (especially in jury trials) while the effect of a false arrest can be life changing in a negative way, or worse, if you are shot because you were in the wrong place a the wrong time.
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See you kinda lose me when you throw in the stupid free donut crap. I'll listen to you but stuff like that just makes you look ignorant. I work for a department that has about 1000 cops. I've NEVER seen any donuts in any building (we have 4 stations and an academy) and never seen a cop eat one on duty in four years. Never. And we don't go around asking for free stuff. People gives us discounts because they know we are stuck eating out almost everyday and they want to show us that they appreciate us. They also know we only eat in few places that we trust not to spit in our food or put glass in it. We actually all leave the full amount and the waitress gets a good tip and we can't be accused of taking free stuff.
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You're right, my comment about donuts etc was offbase and silly. It is a silly stereotype that is probably absurdly untrue nowadays, esp with the impetus on obesity and avoiding crap foods.
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You want to talk about freebies then lets talk about Americas Heros...the fireman.
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ROFL.. no comment.
(ok, just one. the FDNY union set up a fund to assist fireman in the numerous paternity suits they deal with. apparently it is a huge "secret" here that these guys spend the day banging girls in their firehouses and end up siring a lot of little bastards.. talk about freebies..)
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Now lets talk about mr smokeycar. The wants to "harass someone" statement is so worn out. You know what the less then stellar cops want to do ? Nothing! As little as they can. I've yet to say or hear a guy say "Let's go harass that guy." And if the guy gets pulled over for the smoke...you know what? Smog the damn thing! I for one am glad CARB has been put in place. I grew up here and remember the days I would come home wheezing from the smog. I can't remember having that happen for at least 15 years.
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My point wasn't about the cop who wants to do as little as possible, it was about the cop who had a shitty morning (like MOST people do) and is in a "taking no shit" mood.
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I also am not gonna feel sorry for some guy that thinks it's wise to leave a look alike gun in plain view in a car and wonder why he is being ordered out at gunpoint.~~~snip~~~If I did find a roach I doubt the guy would get more then a ticket...if that.
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You are missing my point.
What I was getting at was that, depending on which state you live in, there is a generally set number of circumstances which fall into 'probable cause' for a search.
I was making the point that because of the highly-regulative nature of California's legislature, there are substantially many more reasons a cop can pull you over for something -- then end up searching your car or your person which escalates the stop.
This doesn't bother you, because all you need to do is show your badge and that's that. I don't know about CA, but several years ago, the number of LEOs who got a speeding ticket was ... (wait for it)... ZERO! Cops don't speed when they are off duty? Riiiight..
But most people can't do that. And they get pulled over for a bullshit reason, and then are sitting in the back of a squad car instead of going into work, and then get hauled downtown and have to hire counsel to get them off the charge.
By creating a high-regulated society (and then not enforcing it consistently, much like the DML) you create a situation where most people can ignore the rules, but some people get reamed by them (like you and I did).
As far as Mr Smokeycar, he got a multi-million dollar judgment for false arrest and imprisonment. I can dig up the case, but it is a California state case, so you guys should be familiar with it. I think it was Costa Mesa? I am really foggy on it. The end result was that a stop for smog check would not empower the ofc to a search (since the Airsoft gun was clearly a toy -- it was still in the box -- ofc claimed he did not know it was a toy.)
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Anyway. I'll talk veiws and opinions with you all you want but please keep the ignorant insults and blanket accusations to a minimum. I know you can.
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you're right, i can. i apologize for the stupid donut comments.
i want you to know that i do have respect for good cops and i know plenty of them ( i clerked in the AG office and dealt with a lot of cops ) guys who do bust their asses and get home late because they volunteer for stuff in the community and who feel their job is a huge responsibility and take it very seriously, even if they are not encouraged to by their "leaders".
The Light Bulb Thread
