What is interesting is that I am 50 years old, and the last time I had a traffic stop was decades ago. I think I was in my 20's. Could it be that bald, middle-aged white males are not cop magnets?
Know who else is a cop magnet?
1. Small, harmless-looking white gals in cities that have begun recording the race of those pulled over to combat profiling. Risk-free way of bumping the numbers of white folks one pulls over and perhaps generate revenue, if some infraction can be ticketed.
2. People on the way to church at 7:30AM Sunday. When I still had a radar detector, I got more positive hits on the highway then than at any other time. Another risk-free way to generate revenue and pad the race count.
Yes. I have about 30-40 friends and coworkers who are police officers, and no there really are no quotas. Now, it's pretty obvious you have a bone to pick with police and nothing I say is going to stifle your emotional response to police, so you can say and feel what you want. But if you care to take the time to do some fact finding and actually go talk some officers, you maybe find yourself with a little more information to counteract those feelings. But then again, you may believe just walking in the front door of a police station will get you tased.
Also, take a look at the stats for vehicle related deaths in the US and then try to say making sure people don't willing break traffic law isn't an important thing to do. But again I am certain the emotional response of "Well I felt harassed so I KNOW I must be right" will trump any use of fact or statistics.
Err, not quite...
yea guys that set records for writing tickets are not admired on their side of the blue line. i've heard them described in less than flattering ways. unfortunately at least once i was cuffed and the cop was writing me while another searched me and got ready to haul off my bike. the cop cuffing me told me how to beat the tickets though so it worked out ok
There usually is no explicit
quota, but there is an
accepted range and going below or above that range by a significant amount will attract negative attention. If you have easy access to public records, take a sampling of what day of the week/month they are issued on. You'll likely see a convex beta distribution when plotted over a calendar time period (usually month):
Red =JotS Blue=Lackadaisical Green=Combined
Why? Johnny-on-the-spot traffic LEOs get into the accepted range right quick and then coast the rest of the month. More lackadaisical traffic LEOs coast most of the month and than hurry to get their numbers up.
It functions like a quota and looks like a quota. To anyone not invested in the myth, it
is a quota.
do they have cams in that area? miked officers? then monkey has been given an opportunity to strike a blow for freedom. he can foia the tape and do something. its a great chance for him to not just be an internet commando and send a message. or not. he'd have to decide if the principle means more than a post on aps.
My suggestion, too. Matter of fact, this sort of thing ought to be done more often.
Of course, that takes time...in addition to the time already involuntarily taken from him. I think most petty abusers of power rely on their targets making a cost/benefit analysis and deciding it is not worth the trouble. It is only folks who reject the common sense conclusion and eating the cost of taking it further. Of course, the abusers use that against those who would hold them accountable, indicating that their accusers are unreasonable, deranged, irrational, etc. for going to the mat over a petty abuse.
Last, I really must question the intelligence, imagination, & motivation of the LEO int OP. There are so many infractions he can draw on as a "legitimate" reason to pull someone over. Musta rode the short bus to school.
